Ranuncoside's attenuation of scopolamine-induced memory impairment in mice via Nrf2 and NF-ĸB signaling.

Scopolamine is a well-known pharmacological agent responsible for causing memory impairment in animals, as well as oxidative stress and neuroinflammation inducer which lead to the development of Alzheimer disease. Although a cure for Alzheimer's disease is unavailable. Ranuncoside, a metabolite obtained from a medicinal plant has demonstrated antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties in vitro, making it a promising treatment with potential anti-Alzheimer disease properties. However, as ranuncoside has not been evaluated for its antioxidant and anti-neuroinflammatory properties in any in vivo model, our study aimed to evaluate its neurotherapeutic efficacy against scopolamine-induced memory impairment in adult male albino mice. Mice were randomly divided into four experimental groups. Mice of group I was injected with saline, group II was injected with scopolamine (1 mg/kg/day) for 3 weeks. After receiving a daily injection of scopolamine for 1 week, the mice of group III were injected with ranuncoside (10 mg/kg) every other day for 2 weeks along with scopolamine daily and group IV were injected with ranuncoside on 5th alternate days. Behavioral tests (i.e., Morris water maze and Y-maze) were performed to determine the memory-enhancing effect of ranuncoside against scopolamine's memory deleterious effect. Western blot analysis was also performed to further elucidate the anti-neuroinflammatory and antioxidant effects of ranuncoside against scopolamine-induced neuroinflammation and oxidative stress. Our results showed memory-enhancing, anti-neuroinflammatory effect, and antioxidant effects of ranuncoside against scopolamine by increasing the expression of the endogenous antioxidant system (i.e., Nrf2 and HO-1), followed by blocking neuroinflammatory markers such as NF-κB, COX-2, and TNF-α. The results also revealed that ranuncoside possesses hypoglycemic and hypolipidemic effects against scopolamine-induced hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia in mice as well as scopolamine's hyperglycemic effect. In conclusion, our findings suggest that ranuncoside could be a potential agent for the management of Alzheimer's disease, hyperglycemia, and hyperlipidemia.

Folicitin abrogates scopolamine induced oxidative stress, hyperlipidemia mediated neuronal synapse and memory dysfunction in mice.

No effective drug treatment is available for Alzheimer disease, thus the need arise to develop efficient drugs for its treatment. Natural products have pronounced capability in treating Alzheimer disease therefore current study aimed to evaluate the neuro-protective capability of folicitin against scopolamine-induced Alzheimer disease neuropathology in mice. Experimental mice were divided into four groups i.e. control (single dose of 250 µL saline), scopolamine-administered group (1 mg/kg administered for three weeks), scopolamine plus folicitin-administered group (scopolamine 1 mg/kg administration for three weeks followed by folicitin administration for last two weeks) and folicitin-administered group (20 mg/kg administered for 5 alternate days). Results of behavioral tests and Western blot indicated that folicitin has the capability of recovering the memory against scopolamine-induced memory impairment by reducing the oxidative stress through up-regulating the endogenous antioxidant system like nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor and Heme oxygenase-1 while prohibiting phosphorylated c-Jun N-terminal kinase. Similarly, folicitin also improved the synaptic dysfunction by up-regulating SYP and PSD95. Scopolamine-induced hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia were abolished by folicitin as evidenced through random blood glucose test, glucose tolerance test and lipid profile test. All these results revealed that folicitin being a potent anti-oxidant is capable of improving synaptic dysfunction and reducing oxidative stress through Nrf-2/HO-1 pathway, thus plays a key role in treating Alzheimer disease as well as possess hyperglycemic and hyperlipidemic effect. Furthermore, a detailed study is suggested.

Navigating the Shadows of Others' Traumas: An In-Depth Examination of Secondary Traumatic Stress and Psychological Distress among Rescue Professionals.

Rescue workers, who often find themselves on the frontlines of traumatic events, face an increased risk of experiencing secondary traumatic stress (STS) and psychological distress (PD). The nature of their work, alongside professional factors, can influence the way these psychological aspects manifest and their level of severity. This study aimed to explore the relationship between STS and PD in rescue workers. Additionally, it sought to understand how factors such as age, years of experience, duration of work, training received and direct exposure to trauma explain significant variations in reporting to STS. To conduct this research, a cross-sectional study design was implemented involving a sample of 80 rescue workers from the Punjab province in Pakistan. Data was collected over eight weeks using the secondary traumatic stress scale (STSS-17) and the general health questionnaire (GHQ-12) as primary assessment tools. Participants' data was analyzed through Pearson correlation analysis, t-tests, and ANOVA. A strong positive correlation between STS and PD among rescue workers was established. Age significantly explains variation in scores, with older workers displaying reduced STS and PD symptoms. Rescue workers working for longer hours reported elevated STS compared to those working shorter shifts. Workers with more extended professional experience showcased lower STS, highlighting the potential resilience acquired over time. The study also underscored the importance of training duration: longer, well-structured training was associated with decreased STS and PD. Interestingly, longer exposure to trauma was found to be related to lower STS scores, albeit this warrants further investigation. This study underscores the intertwined nature of STS and PD among rescue workers and the various modulating factors. The study paves the way for more comprehensive research, expanding geographically and demographically.

Effective adsorption of cadmium and lead using SO3H-functionalized Zr-MOFs in aqueous medium.

Cadmium (Cd) and Lead (Pb) from industrial wastewater can bioaccumulate in the living organisms of water bodies, posing serious threats to human health. Therefore, efficient remediation of heavy metal ions of Cd (II) and Pb (II) in aqueous media is necessary for public health and environmental sustainability. In the present study, water stable Zirconium (Zr) based metal organic frameworks (MOFs) with SO3H functionalization were synthesized by solvothermal method and used first time for the adsorption of Cd (II) and Pb (II). Synthesis of UiO-66-SO3H, nano-sized (<100 nm) MOFs, was confirmed by FTIR, XRD, FESEM and BET. Effects of contact time, pH and temperature were investigated for adsorption of Cd (II) and Pb (II) onto SO3H-functionalized Zr-MOFs. The UiO-66-SO3H displayed notable rejections of 97% and 88% towards Cd (II) and Pb (II), respectively, after 160 min at 25 °C and pH (6) with an initial concentration of 1000 mg/L. Adsorption capacities of Cd (II) and Pb (II) were achieved as 194.9154 (mg/g) and 176.6879 (mg/g), respectively, at an initial concentration of 1000 mg/L. The Pseudo second-order kinetic model fitted well with linear regression (R2) of value 1. The mechanism was confirmed mainly as a chemisorption and coordination interaction between sulfone group (-SO3H) and metal ions Cd (IIa) and Pb (II). These results may support effective adsorption and can be studied further to enrich and recycle other heavy metals from wastewater.

A Qualitative Study on Posttraumatic Growth Processes in Trauma Victims: Evidence from Pakistan.

BACKGROUND: A disaster is a traumatic event that many people may have witnessed and had various implications on their mental and physical wellbeing. Psychologists have confirmed the fact that the traumatic event contributes not just to stress but also to posttraumatic growth (PTG), which evolves through the attempt to reunify after trauma or accident has disrupted fundamental life expectations. This study was conducted to explore and understand the factors leading to PTG among victims of disasters. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: Thirty victims who experienced traumatic events were included in this study. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. RESULTS: Themes created include closeness to God (Allah), acceptance, contentment, self-reliance, a vision of life, and responsibility as necessary factors leading to PTG. The highest percentage (88.1%) was observed for closeness to Allah and within that Salat and Zikr (prayers and remembrance) as coping strategies were recorded for all 30 participants. CONCLUSION: The findings show that religious beliefs and closeness to God can bring great changes in victims' life after a traumatic experience.

Exploring the level of academic procrastination and possible coping strategies among medical students.

OBJECTIVE: To identify the level of procrastination in undergraduate medical students and to explore the coping strategies adopted by low procrastinators to overcome the tendency. METHODS: The mixed method, sequential explanatory study was conducted at the Islamic International Medical College, Riphah International University, Rawalpindi, Pakistan, from April to September 2019, and comprised medical students from preclinical first, second and third years of the academic programme. The pre-validated Academic Procrastination Scale was used to assess the prevalence and level of procrastination in the subjects, followed by semi-structured interviews with students having low level of procrastination to explore the coping strategies used by them to beat the negative habit. Data was analysed using SPSS 21 and was further subjected to manual thematic analysis. RESULTS: Of the 255 subjects, 85(33.3%) each were in the first, second and third year of undergraduate medical studies. Overall, the level of procrastination was high in 134(52.5%) students and low in 121(47.5%). The low procrastinators were 43(51%) in the 1st year, 46(54%) in the 2nd year and 45(53%) in the 3rd year. On the basis of interview-based data, 10 coping strategies were identified: time management, self-regulation, establishment of priorities, self-reward, goal-setting, conducive learning environment, self-reminders, task management, self-evaluation and self- monitoring. CONCLUSIONS: Procrastination is a behavioural disorder and is prevalent in undergraduate medical students, but it can be effectively treated through effective coping strategies.

Microscopic techniques for fabrication of polyethersulfone thin-film nanocomposite membranes intercalated with UiO-66-SO3 H for heavy metal ions removal from water.

Environmental remediation of heavy metals from wastewater is becoming popular area in the field of membrane technology. Heavy metals are toxic in nature and have ability to bioaccumulate in water bodies. In current study, zirconium-based metal organic frameworks (MOFs), that is, UiO-66 and UiO-66-SO3 H with a mean diameter of 200 nm were synthesized and intercalated into polyethersulfone (PES) substrate to fabricate thin-film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes via an interfacial polymerization (IP) method. TFN membranes exhibit higher selectivity and permeability as compared to thin-film composite (TFC) membranes for heavy metals, such as cadmium (Cd) and mercury (Hg). Zirconium-based MOFs are highly stable in water and due to smaller pore size enhanced hydrophilicity of TFN membranes. In addition, TFN membrane with functionalized MOF (UiO-66-SO3 H) performed best as compared to TFC and TFN with UiO-66 MOF. The effect of loading of different weight percentages (wt%) of both MOFs for TFN membranes was also investigated. The TFN membranes with loading (0.2 wt%) of UiO-66-SO3 H displayed highest permeability of 9.57 LMH/bar and notable rejections of 90% and 87.7% toward Cd and Hg, respectively. To our best understanding, it is the first study of intercalating functionalized UiO-66-SO3 H in TFC membranes by IP and their application on heavy metals especially Cd and Hg.

Know thyself: Development and validation of self-awareness of teaching skills (SATS) measuring instrument for medical teachers.

BACKGROUND: Self-awareness is measured previously in the higher education however not specifically in relation to 'effectiveness of teaching' thus leaving a gap in the literature. AIM: To develop and validate an instrument for medical teachers to measure the self-awareness of their teaching. METHODS: This was an instrument development multiphase mixed-method study design, based on Brookfield's four lenses theory. The instrument was validated after administering content validity, cognitive pretesting, confirmatory factor analysis and reliability analysis. Contrasting groups' method of standard setting was used to determine the cut-off scores for the levels of self-awareness of medical teachers. RESULTS: A 26-item preliminary draft instrument was reduced to a 19-item final instrument having four themes, that is; self-reflection, communication with students, student feedback, and peer review. Content Validity Scale was 0.92. Confirmatory factor analysis yielded a model with a good-to-excellent fit and an internal consistency of 0.85. The cut-off values were calculated to be 79%, 70%, 59%, and 53% for excellent, good, average and poor self-awareness of teaching skills respectively. CONCLUSION: The Self-awareness of the teaching skills instrument has excellent validity and good reliability in measuring the self-awareness of teaching skills of medical teachers.

Belief Salience, Religious Activities, Frequency of Prayer Offering, Religious Offering Preference and Mental Health: A Study of Religiosity Among Muslim Students.

To investigate role of belief salience, participation in religious activities, religious offering preference and prayer offering positively predicts mental health among university students. It is a cross-sectional research design carried out in International Islamic University Islamabad, February 2018 to August 2018. Demographic variables were assessed by collecting information about age, education, marital status, family income and socioeconomic status. Mental Health Inventory-38 was used to measure mental health of the students, and in order to measure religiosity, Religiosity Measure Scale tapping belief salience, religious activities, frequency of prayer offering and religious offering preference was used. The results of the present study were analyzed through SPSS 21v. For computation of the findings, regression analysis and t test were applied. Study found that involvement in religious activities, prayer offering and belief salience positively predicts mental health among university students. Along with that, female students were also found to be highly involved in prayer offerings, religious offering preference and belief salience. However, there were no significant gender differences on participation in religious activities and mental health. It is recommended that development and enhancement of belief salience and religiosity in treatment of Muslim clients with psychological issues may boost their mental health. Therefore, these may be incorporated in treatment models.

Mapping the Scientific Literature on COVID-19 and Mental Health.

BACKGROUND: Within a few months during COVID-19 pandemic, more than a thousand studies on this topic have been published in scientific journals. Hence, the aim of the present study was to review and analyze the publishing trends on mental health literature including top cited documents, productive countries, institutions, journals, authorship and collaboration, the most frequent keywords and funding bodies. METHOD: A bibliometric analysis was performed, and data were retrieved from Scopus. The relevant data was harvested and 277 relevant records were imported on July 15, 2020. The data analysis was performed using various bibliometric software. RESULTS: These documents were published by 195 journals and received 738 citations. USA ranked first with 50 articles and China is the most influential country with the highest Citation Impact. International journal of Environmental research and Public Health is the top journal for mental health studies with highest number of papers and citation impact. The trend of multi-author publications has outnumbered single-author pattern. CONCLUSION: Overall research shows that most of the papers published related to mental health care and COVID-19 were in the field of medicine and psychology. This research is first bibliometric study in the field of mental health care related to COVID-19.

ASSOCIATION BETWEEN PLACENTAL ABRUPTION AND CAESAREAN SECTION AMONG PATIENTS AT KHYBER TEACHING HOSPITAL PESHAWAR.

BACKGROUND: Ante partum haemorrhage remains to be a major cause of morbidity and mortality.30% of this haemorrhage is attributed to placental abruption. Along with other adverse maternal outcomes, it increases the risk of Caesarean sections in patients, which is a public health concern. This study was conducted to find out whether any significant association exists between placental abruption and C-section in our set up. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted from July 26th, 2011 to May 1st, 2013 (i.e., 21 months) in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Khyber Teaching Hospital Peshawar on a sample of 334 patients who presented with antepartum haemorrhage after 28 weeks of gestation. All those patients with and without placental abruption were followed throughout pregnancy and labour to detect the risk of caesarean section. RESULTS: Among study participants, parity had the highest dispersion while gestational age had the lowest. Caesarean section was performed on 26.3% (95% CI) of the study participants. Proportion of placental abruption among patients presenting with ante partum haemorrhage was 20.6%, (95% CI) out of which 7.5% underwent C-section. Association between placental abruption and C-section was found significant at α = 0.05 (p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: Risk of caesarean section is increased in pregnancies complicated by placental abruption as compared to pregnancies complicated by other causes of ante partum haemorrhage.