Nurses' recovery experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic in Isfahan, Iran: A qualitative study.

AIM: The aim of this study is to explore and describe the recovery experiences of nurses working in COVID-19 wards. BACKGROUND: The global outbreak of coronavirus in 2020 has extracted job stress for nurses. Job stress has impacts on physical and mental health and performance, so recovery is essential to restore the lost energy resources. METHOD: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 nurses in Isfahan city of Iran. RESULTS: The research results were extracted as 5 main themes, 14 subthemes and 54 items. The main themes are detachment from work, relaxation, non-work activities, affiliation and meaning. The combination of these themes led to the clear statement that using recovery experiences is a major step toward relieving the nurses' COVID-19-related stress and their physical and mental resuscitation. CONCLUSION: The use of recovery experiences, including detachment from work, relaxation, non-work activities, affiliation and meaning by nurses, helps them cope with job stressors and regain their resources. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: It is the responsibility of health system policy makers, hospital managers and nurse managers to design and implement training programmes for nurses to use recovery experiences as stress management techniques in their profession.

A novel kinetic modeling method for the stabilization phase of the composting process for biodegradation of solid wastes.

Biomass degradation kinetics of the composting process for kitchen waste, pruned elm tree branches and sheep manure were studied to model changes in volatile solids (VS) over time. Three experimental reactors containing raw mixtures with a carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio of 27:1 and a moisture content of 65% were prepared. During the composting process two of the reactors used forced air and the third used natural aeration. The composting stabilization phases in all reactors were completed in 30 days. During this period, composting indexes such as temperature, moisture content and VS changes were recorded. Elementary reactions were used for kinetics modeling of the degradation process. Results showed that the numerical values of rate constant ( k) for zero-order ranged from 0.86 to 1.03 VS×day-1, for first-order models it ranged from 0.01 to 0.02 day-1, for second-order the range was from 1.36×10-5 to 1.78×10-5 VS-1×day-1 and for n-order the rate constant ranged from 0.031 to 0.095 VS(1-n)×day-1. The resulting models were validated by comparing statistical parameters. Evaluation of the models showed that, in the aerated reactors, the n-order models (less than 1) successfully estimated the VS changes. In the non-aeration reactor, for the second-order model good agreement was achieved between the simulated and actual quantities of VS. Also, half-life time provided a useful criterion for the estimation of expected time for completion of different phases of composting.

Expression Analysis of Aurora-C and Survivin, Two Testis-Specific Genes, in Patients with Colorectal Cancer.

BACKGROUND: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death worldwide. The high frequency of positive families shows the importance of public awareness and screening strategies in those families. Cancer/testis (CT) antigens such as Aurora-C and Survivin are a group of antigens expressed in various tumor types of human cancers. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the expression of Aurora-C and Survivin genes in malignant and normal tissues and their correlation to clinicopathological characteristics. METHODS: Tumor samples were obtained from 33 patients and adjacent non-tumorous tissues from 7 patients were also used as control. Patients were diagnosed with various stages of colorectal cancer. The level of Aurora-C and Survivin genes were evaluated by using real-time quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction. RESULTS: The expression pattern of Survivin and Aurora-C revealed significant changes in tumor tissues when compared with normal tissues (p < 0.05). Also, these expressions were associated with the grade of disease and tumor size. There was no significant relationship between the expression of Survivin and Aurora-C genes (p > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, the overexpression of Aurora-C and Survivin genes may play an important role in the development of colorectal cancer and may play a potential role in cancer therapy.

Gene dosage analysis of proximal spinal muscular atrophy carriers using real-time PCR.

BACKGROUND: Autosomal recessive spinal muscular atrophy is a disease resulting from homozygous absence of SMN1 gene in approximately 94% of SMA patients. To identify patients who retained a single SMN1 copy, SMN1 dosage analysis was performed by quantitative Real-time PCR using SYBR green dye. SMN1 dosage analysis results were utilized to identify carriers before offering prenatal diagnosis. METHOD: Carrier testing was performed for 150 individuals. Copy number of the SMN1 gene was determined by the comparative threshold cycle (Ct) method and human serum albumin gene was used as a reference. RESULT: Analysis of 150 DNA samples with quantitative PCR determined the number of SMN1 gene copies. Of these, 50 (33.33%) cases had one SMN1 gene copy, 87 (58%) had two copies and 13 (8.66%) did not have any copies of SMN1. The homozygous SMN1 deletion ratio was 0.00 and deletion of one copy of SMN1 gene ratio ranged from 0.3 to 0.58. CONCLUSION: This report demonstrates modification of risk estimation for the diagnosis and detection of SMA carriers by accurate determination of SMN1 copy number. SMN1 copy number analysis is an important parameter for identification of couples at risk of having children affected with SMA. It also reduces unwarranted prenatal diagnosis for SMA. Furthermore, the dosage analysis might be useful for the counseling of clinically suspected SMA patients with negative diagnostic SMA tests.