Psychometric properties of public trust in Covid-19 control and prevention policies questionnaire.

BACKGROUND: Public trust is a crucial concept in the COVID-19 pandemic, which determines public adherence with preventive rules as a success factor for disease management. This study aimed to develop and validate a tool to measure public trust in COVID-19 control and prevention policies (COV-Trust tool). METHODS: This is a psychometric study that was conducted in 2020 (March-August). A primary tool was developed through literature review, in-depth interviews with experts and expert panel meetings. Content and construct validity was evaluated using content validity index (CVI) and content validity ratio (CVR) indexes and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, respectively. Cronbach α coefficient was calculated to determine the internal consistency. RESULTS: A 28-item questionnaire with seven factors was developed. Factors included macro policy-making and management of pandemic, pandemic control policies implementing at all levels and their effectiveness, providing protective equipment and medicine for hospitals and public, prevention of negative socio-economic consequences of the pandemic, public participation, informing and public education and public behavior. The questionnaire reliability was calculated to be α = 0.959. Based on the experts' opinion, tool content validity was estimated to be CVR = 0.73, CVI = 0.89. RMSEA = 0.07 revealed a good model fit as the confirmatory factor analysis results for the tool. CONCLUSION: COV-Trust tool is a well-fit tool to be used during this pandemic for improving policies effectiveness and could be used in similar situations as it determines the success of public health interventions.

3D Nanochannel Array for High-Throughput Cell Manipulation and Electroporation.

Electroporation has been one of the most commonly used physical methods for gene/drug delivery. Compared to other nonviral counterparts, electroporation enables optimization of delivery efficiency by tuning the electric field applied on cells. Commercial electroporation, however, results in stochastic transfection and significant cellular damage mostly due to its "bulk" environment. In this chapter, we introduce nanoelectroporation (NEP) which has demonstrated living cell transfection in a highly controllable manner. In NEP, the electric field can be precisely focused on a single cell positioned on nanochannels. Safe single-cell electroporation as well as "electrophoretic" molecular delivery can be achieved on the same device. This system achieves significantly higher transfection efficiency and cellular viability than commercial systems. This device is unique in that it can efficiently deliver genetic molecules (e.g., DNAs, RNAs) that exceed 10 kbp in size. The NEP device based on a 3D nanochannel array prototype was fabricated using cleanroom techniques. For achieving precise cell to nanochannel pairing, three on-chip high-throughput manipulation technologies were developed, that is, magnetic tweezers (MT), dielectrophoresis (DEP), and thin-film microfluidics.

3D Nanochannel Electroporation for Macromolecular Nucleotide Delivery.

Delivery of macromolecular nucleotides into the living cells holds a great promise for the development of new therapeutics. However, its abilities for adoptive immunotherapy, cell reprogramming, and primary cell transfection have been long-term hindered by the lack of a system that can locally deliver engineered therapeutic nucleotides (e.g., plasmids, siRNAs, miRNAs) without causing any side effects. In this chapter, the performance of a novel 3D nanoelectroporation system (3D NEP) is highlighted in three scenarios-adoptive immunotherapy, cell reprogramming, and adult mouse primary cardiomyocyte transfection. Detailed protocols were given to introduce the 3D NEP system assembly, as well as their applications in (1) natural killer (NK) cells transfection by delivery of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) plasmids; (2) mouse embryonic fibroblasts transfection with OSKM factors; and (3) miR-29b molecular beacon (BMs) delivery into primary cardiomyocytes for interrogating the side effect of miR-29b-assisted treatment.

Stability of Ince-Gaussian beams in elliptical core few-mode fibers.

A comparative stability analysis of Ince-Gaussian and Hermite-Gaussian modes in elliptical core few-mode fibers is provided to inform the design of spatial division multiplexing systems. The correlation method is used to construct crosstalk matrices that characterize the spatial modes of the fiber. Up to six low-order modes are shown to exhibit about -20 dB crosstalk. The crosstalk performance of each mode set is found to be similar. However, a direct comparison between modes of equal Gouy phase shift, a parameter that ensures identical beam quality, and phase at the detector, demonstrates better relative power transmission for Ince-Gaussian beams. This result is consistent with the natural modes supported by a 100 m elliptical core fiber for which a mode ellipticity of ϵ=2 was found to be optimal. The relative power difference is expected to be magnified over longer fiber lengths in favor of Ince-Gaussian modes.

Bioinspired pH-Sensitive Surface on Bioinert Substrate.

Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) is a common biomaterial with excellent properties. However, its inherent hydrophobicity impedes cell growth and differentiation. PDMS is an intrinsically inert material, which limits its applications to specific scenarios where responsive materials are needed. Dopamine can easily adhere to various substrate surfaces through noncovalent and covalent interactions. In this work, a bioinert PDMS surface was modified into a bioactive surface by biocompatible and pH-sensitive polydopamine (PDA). The binding of PDA and PDMS in different forms was verified by the typical scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM). By PDA film modification, the contact angle of PDMS was significantly reduced. Hydrophobicity was achieved by PDA nanosphere (PDA NS) modification. PDA-modified PDMS was also found to be pH-sensitive, as validated by contact angle measurement, macroscopic friction test, and protein adsorption. Compared to an unmodified surface, the PDA significantly improved cell adhesion, proliferation and spreading. We came to a conclusion that the surface roughness of PDA-modified PDMS had little effect on cell growth and the cytocompatibility of the materials was mainly determined by the surface chemical properties. Our results further validated that PDA/PDMS is pH-sensitive and can effectively promote cell growth and proliferation.

Prevalence of Cardiovascular Disorders in Iranian Patients Suffering from Obstructive Sleep Apnea.

OBJECTIVES: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) can lead to various cardiovascular disorders (CVD) such as hypertension. There is no documented data about this relationship among the Iranian population. The aim of this study was to obtain comprehensive information about the severity of OSA as a cause of CVD and its relationship with other important risk factors. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this cross sectional study, we studied patients with OSA and apnea/hypopnea index of 5 or more. The data were collected from the patients' polysomnography report and medical files. Data analysis was done with SPSS version 18. RESULTS: The majority of patients were males (71.9%). Among the studied individuals, 26.5% showed at least one sign of CVD, and hypertension was the most common condition (74.5%). Multiple regression analysis showed that the odds ratios for one unit increase in BMI and one year increase in age were 1.13 and 1.12, respectively (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: In our study, BMI and age had the strongest relationship with CVD. Thus, public health care providers should implement weight control strategies and improve diagnostic and treatment procedures for the elderly patients.