Association between maternal exposure to arsenic by drinking water during pregnancy and risk of preterm birth: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

The relation of exposure to arsenic in drinking water during pregnancy to the risk of preterm birth (PTB) was contradictory. This meta-analysis aimed to examine the association between drinking water arsenic and PTB. A systematic search in PubMed and Scopus was performed to achieve all relevant studies. Odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) were used to pool data using the random-effect models. Overall, 11 studies with a total sample size of 3,404,189 participants were included in the meta-analysis. Arsenic exposure through drinking water during pregnancy was related to an increased risk of PTB (OR = 1.06; 95%CI = 1.01-1.10 for highest versus lowest category of arsenic), with significant heterogeneity across the studies (I2 = 84.8%, P = 0.001). This finding was supported by cohort studies (OR = 1.05; 95%CI = 1.01-1.10). This meta-analysis proposes that higher arsenic exposure in drinking water may be a risk factor for PTB.

Parental health-seeking behavior on self-medication, antibiotic use, and antimicrobial resistance in children.

Aim and Objectives: The study sought to identify parental trends in children's self-medication, health-seeking behavior, knowledge of self-medication, antibiotic use, and antimicrobial resistance in Asir, Saudi Arabia. Methods: A web-based cross-sectional study was carried out by a survey questionnaire. Snow Ball sampling technique was used to select the Eight hundred and sixteen parents with children in the Asir region by WhatsApp and email, and 650 participants who met the inclusion criteria consented to participate in the study. Results: There were 1809 episodes of childhood illnesses reported during the study period. The mean scores are on knowledge at 8.11 ±â€¯2.43, favorable attitude at 17.60 ±â€¯1.17, and practice was 7.72 ±â€¯1.72, and a significant correlation was found between knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) at p = 0.01. Out of 624, the majority of parents showed strong knowledge and proficiency in antibiotics. However, the attitude scores of over 50% towards the usage of antibiotics were subpar. Around 54% of parents were self-medicating their children and 43% were unaware that skipping doses contributes to anti-microbial resistance (AMR). The facilitators for self-medication were male gender (aOR: 2.13; 95% CI: 1.26-3.98, p < 0.05), having more children (aOR: 2.78; 95% CI: 1.27-4.12 p < 0.01), professional qualification (aOR:3.07; 95% CI 1.57- 4.68; p < 0.01), residing in urban area (aOR: 3.17; 95% CI: 2.13-5.61, p < 0.05), working in health care (aOR: 5.99; 95% CI: 1.78-18.2, p < 0.01) and high income (aOR: 3.57; 95% CI: 2.08-6.34, p < 0.05). Conclusions: The findings indicated that the majority of parents had unfavorable views and improper practices of antibiotic usage. Strategic education programs to the targeted population, especially to the parents about side effects of antibiotics, dangerous consequences of self-medication, and crucial AMR concerns must be addressed immediately.

Current Trends in Nanomaterials-Based Electrochemiluminescence Aptasensors for the Determination of Antibiotic Residues in Foodstuffs: A Comprehensive Review.

Veterinary pharmaceuticals have been recently recognized as newly emerging environmental contaminants. Indeed, because of their uncontrolled or overused disposal, we are now facing undesirable amounts of these constituents in foodstuff and its related human health concerns. In this context, developing a well-organized environmental and foodstuff screening toward antibiotic levels is of paramount importance to ensure the safety of food products as well as human health. In this case, with the development and progress of electric/photo detecting, nanomaterials, and nucleic acid aptamer technology, their incorporation-driven evolving electrochemiluminescence aptasensing strategy has presented the hopeful potentials in identifying the residual amounts of different antibiotics toward sensitivity, economy, and practicality. In this context, we reviewed the up-to-date development of ECL aptasensors with aptamers as recognition elements and nanomaterials as the active elements for quantitative sensing the residual antibiotics in foodstuff and agriculture-related matrices, dissected the unavoidable challenges, and debated the upcoming prospects.

A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis on Death Anxiety During COVID-19 Pandemic.

This systematic review was conducted to estimate the pooled score of death anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. All eligible articles from January 2020 to May 2022 reporting the death anxiety score were included in the analysis b.y searching the Scopus, PubMed, Embase, and ISI databases. The standard score of death anxiety in the COVID-19 pandemic was 50%. The highest score of death anxiety was related to patients with COVID-19 (59.4%), other chronic patients (58.9%), and the elderly (56.4%). The lowest death anxiety score was related to the general population (42.9%) and health care workers (48.2%). The death anxiety score in the studies whose data was collected in 2020 and 2021 was 51% and 62%, respectively. During the COVID-19 pandemic, people experienced high death anxiety, which had terrible effects on their lives. Therefore, it seems necessary to provide training courses to deal with death anxiety for other possible pandemics.

The Prophylaxis Effect of Ephedrine on Hemodynamic Variation in Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy Surgery with Spinal Anesthesia.

Background: Performing spinal anesthesia with at least hemodynamic variation and complications is always challenging for anesthesiologists. In this study, we investigated the effect of ephedrine and placebo on hemodynamic changes in patients undergoing percutaneous nephrolithotomy with spinal anesthesia. Methods: This randomized, double-blind prospective clinical trial was conducted on 120 patients aged 20‒60 years with ASA (American Society of Anesthesiologists) classes I and II. Patients who were candidates for percutaneous nephrolithotomy with spinal anesthesia were divided into intervention (received 1 cc = 5 mg ephedrine) and control groups (received 1 cc normal saline). All vital parameters, including HR (heart rate) and NIBP (noninvasive blood pressure), were recorded perioperatively T0-T25) and finally at the end of surgery time (Tf). The results were analyzed by SPSS software version 23, and a P value ≤0.05 was considered significant. Results: The mean arterial pressure during surgery between T3 and T9 and the mean heart rate in times of T3-T8 in the intervention group were higher than in the control group, and this difference was statistically significant (P < 0.05). The incidence of hypotension, bradycardia, nausea, and vomiting and the amount of prescribed ephedrine, atropine, and ondansetron in the control group were higher than in the intervention group (P=0.001). Seven patients in the control group and four in the intervention group had shivering, but this difference was not statistically significant (P=0.43). Conclusion: This study showed the effectiveness of the prescription of 5 mg ephedrine two minutes before changing from the lithotomy position to the supine in maintaining hemodynamic stability, reducing hypotension, bradycardia, nausea, and vomiting, and the amount of prescribed ephedrine, atropine, and ondansetron. Trial Registrations. This trial is registered with IRCT20160430027677N22.

Nanovaccines in cancer immunotherapy: Focusing on dendritic cell targeting.

Cancer immunotherapy is proposed to eradicate tumors by stimulating host anti-tumor immunity through utilizing various therapeutic approaches. Cancer vaccines have become a promising approach for cancer immunotherapy among the proposed platforms, either alone or in combination with other therapeutic agents. Due to the suboptimal efficacy of cancer vaccines in clinical trials and the advent of nanotechnology in the biomedicine field, scientists developed nanoplatforms, such as various nanoparticles (NPs), cell-derived components, and nanocomplexes, to deliver vaccine components to target cells and tissues, thereby supporting their anti-tumor efficacy and minimizing adverse side effects. To increase the therapeutic effects of nanovaccines in cancer therapy, dendritic cell (DC) targeting through the modulation of the structure of the vaccines, such as using DC-specific ligands, has attracted extensive interest. Here, we reviewed the various forms of nanovaccines in cancer therapy and their therapeutic effects; we highlighted the properties and functions of DCs as the main antigen-presenting cells in immune responses and focused on targeting DCs in developing nanovaccines.