Developing the questionnaire of general population knowledge, attitudes and practices towards the COVID-19 outbreak.

AIM: To develop the general population knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAP) questionnaire towards the COVID-19 outbreak. DESIGN: A methodological study. METHODS: The general population KAP questionnaire items were designed using a literature review. A panel of experts was used to calculate content validity ratio (CVR) and content validity index (CVI). Construct validity was examined using exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and hypothesis testing. Internal consistency of the questionnaire was measured using Cronbach's α coefficient. Eight hundred forty-seven patients referred to health centres in Tabriz, Iran completed the questionnaire in 2021. RESULTS: The developed questionnaire consisted of three parts, including knowledge, attitudes and practices. EFA identified three dimensions for the knowledge (ways of transmission and prevention, high-risk groups, and symptoms and treatment), three dimensions for the attitudes (hope, fear and view of the vaccine) and three for the practices (adherence to personal and public hygiene, limiting their presence in society and protecting yourself in the community). The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin index for knowledge, attitudes and practices was 0.733, 0.725 and 0.886, respectively, with a significant Bartlett's test of sphericity (p < 0.01). The hypotheses of knowledge and attitudes that are the related factors of practices were confirmed. Cronbach's α was 0.63, 0.74, 0.77, 0.1 and 0.85 for knowledge; fear, hope and view of the vaccine subscales of attitudes; and practices, respectively. PATIENT OR PUBLIC CONTRIBUTION: The developed 47-item questionnaire had acceptable validity and reliability. Thus, nurses can use it to assess the clients' KAP during the COVID-19 outbreak. Also, nursing researchers can use this questionnaire in their descriptive and interventional studies.

Exploring the Variables of the Psychological Well-Being of Mothers of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Through Self-Compassion and Psychological Hardiness.

Present study aimed to evaluate the relationship between self-compassion and psychological hardiness, and psychological well-being among mothers of children with autism. The research design was correlational, and its statistical population sample consisted of 101 mothers of children with an autism spectrum disorder. The results of a correlational analysis showed a significant positive relationship between self-compassion and psychological hardiness, and psychological well-being. Multiple regression analysis showed that among the variables of self-compassion and psychological hardiness, the variable of self-compassion had the largest share in predicting the psychological well-being of mothers. Concerning self-compassion, conscious awareness of self-kindness along with psychological hardship could predict the psychological well-being in these groups of mothers, such as raising a child with ASD.

MiR-21 and Tocilizumab interactions improve COVID-19 myocarditis outcomes.

BACKGROUND: Myocarditis is now one of the most fatal and morbid complications of COVID-19. Many scientists have recently concentrated on this problem. OBJECTIVES: This study assessed the effects of Remdesivir (RMS) and Tocilizumab (TCZ) in COVID-19 myocarditis. DESIGN: Observational, cohort study. METHODS: Patients with COVID-19 myocarditis were enrolled in the study and divided into three groups, TCZ-treated, RMS-treated, and Dexamethasone-treated patients. After 7 days of treatment, patients were reassessed for improvement. RESULTS: TCZ significantly improved patients' ejection fraction in 7 days, but it had limited efficacy. RMS improved inflammatory characteristics of the disease, but RMS-treated patients showed exacerbated cardiac function over 7 days, and the mortality rate with RMS was higher than TCZ. TCZ protects the heart by decreasing the miR-21 expression rate. CONCLUSION: Using Tocilizumab in early diagnosed COVID-19 myocarditis patients can save their cardiac function after hospitalization and decrease the mortality rate. miR-21 level determines the outcome and responsiveness of COVID-19 myocarditis to treatment.

Changes in the Level of Antiphospholipid Antibodies (Anticardiolipin and Anti-ß2-Glycoprotein-I) and Thromboembolic Indices in COVID-19 Patients during 3 Weeks.

Introduction: COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Thrombotic complications appear to be of particular importance in patients with COVID-19. This study aimed to investigate Changes in the level of Antiphospholipid antibodies (Anticardiolipin and Anti-ß2-glycoprotein-I) and thromboembolic indices in COVID-19 patients during 3 weeks. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on adults with Covid-19 hospitalized at Al-Zahra Hospital in Isfahan. The case group includes the patients admitted to the internal ward or ICU who despite receiving prophylactic or anticoagulant doses suffer from thrombotic complications and the control group includes COVID-19 patients without thromboembolic events. The sample size of 120 people was considered. Anticardiolipin and anti-ß2-glycoprotein-I antibodies, coagulation profiles including Fibrinogen, PTT, PT Troponin, ESR, CRP, and D-dimer were examined. After collection, the data were entered into spss24 software and analyzed. Results: The results showed that there was no statistically significant difference in the changes of anticardiolipin and anti-beta-2 glycoprotein in IgM and IgG as well as in the changes of ESR, CRP, PTT, PT, and fibrinogen in the two groups (P > 0.05). Conclusions: Our study showed that there was no statistically significant relationship between anti-phospholipid antibodies (anticardiolipin and anti-beta-2 glycoprotein) and thromboembolic events. Therefore anticardiolipin and anti-beta-2 glycoprotein is probably the puzzles causing thrombosis in COVID-19 patients, and other inflammatory responses should be examined among the cases.

Surface modified SiO2 nanoparticles by thiamine and ultrasonication synthesis of PCL/SiO2-VB1 NCs: Morphology, thermal, mechanical and bioactivity investigations.

The influence of silica (SiO2) nanoparticles (NPs) on the properties of polycaprolactone (PCL) was investigated. Due to the intense tendency of SiO2 NPs to aggregation and their high surface energy, the surface of SiO2 NPs was treatment via Vitamin B1 (VB1) as a biosafe coupling agent. Novel PCL/SiO2-VB1 nanocomposites (NC) films by variety of percentage of SiO2-VB1 NPs were prepared under ultrasonic irradiation as an eco-friendly and fast procedure following by casting method. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis exposed the presence of SiO2 NPs into the polymer matrix. A good distribution of the silica into the polymer matrix was detected by microscopic observations and EDX testing. According to the UV-Vis spectra, the absorption of prepared NCs was improved via increasing the amount of SiO2 NPs. PCL/SiO2-VB1 NCs showed more thermal stability compared to the pure polymer. The tensile test was investigated and good arrangement among the experimental data and the predicted flexibility of NCs was obtained. Moreover, PCL/SiO2-VB1 6wt% had noticeable increase values for tensile strength. Finally, in vitro bioactivity investigation designated that by rising SiO2 contents in the NCs, the amount of the hydroxyapatite formed was increased and NC films are bioactive and have a potential to be utilized in bone tissue engineering.

The importance of gestational sac size of ectopic pregnancy in response to single-dose methotrexate.

This retrospective cohort study was designed in a selective group of 185 patients diagnosed with and treated for ectopic pregnancy. Intramuscular administration of a single dose of methotrexate (50 mg/m(2)) was performed to measure predictors of failure or resistance to treatment necessitating surgical intervention. During the time of treatment with a single dose of MTX, 20 patients (10.8%) failed to response, in which 6 of 20 (30%) indicated side effects to MTX and rupture of the ectopic pregnancy. Remaining cases (n = 14) showed resistance to the drug; the level of ß -hCG did not fall at least 15% during 7 days after treatment and necessitated laparotomy. In backward-step analysis by multiple logistic regressions of various types of predictor factors, size of gestational sac (coefficient = 1.91, OR = 6.78, 95% confidence interval = 3.18-8.22) and baseline level ß -hCG (coefficient = 1.60, OR = 5.0, 95% confidence interval = 4.26-6.72) had significant correlation with leading EP patients failing to response to MTX. This study suggests that further investigation for finding relative contraindications of MTX treatment in EP women should be considered on the gestational sac size because other variables are in the causal pathway of this variable.

Outcome of vaginal progesterone as a tocolytic agent: randomized clinical trial.

Vaginal progesterone has a potential beneficial effect in postponing of preterm labor by suppression of prostaglandins cascades. Although different studies evaluated the use of progesterone for preterm birth, the exact effect of which on prolongation of pregnancy remains unclear. Seventy two women who underwent preterm labor were managed by magnesium sulfate. Then they were randomly assigned to continue pregnancy either by applying vaginal progesterone (400 mg) until delivery or without using any drug. Gestational age mean at the time of delivery (P = 0.039) and postponing delivery mean time (P = 0.048) were significantly higher in progesterone group. Comparison of neonatal outcomes between two groups of patients showed meaningful benefits of progesterone in increasing of neonatal weight, reduction of low birth weight babies, and lowing neonate admitted in NICU.