Using Music for the Prevention of Delirium in Patients After Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to evaluate the effect of music on preventing delirium after coronary artery bypass grafting, to analyze vital signs and blood gas parameters, and to determine risk factors affecting delirium. DESIGN: A randomized clinical trial. SETTING: A single-center, tertiary hospital. PARTICIPANTS: In total, 200 patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting surgery from April 2020 to April 2021. INTERVENTIONS: A one-hour session of new-age music was administered twice a day postoperatively for 7 days using a headphone. Delirium was assessed using the Confusion Assessment Method for the Intensive Care Unit before and after each session. Vital signs and blood gas parameters were compared to evaluate the effect of music. All assessments were conducted blindly by a different researcher. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Twelve participants who were delirium-positive were in the control group, and there were 3 in the case group, which suggested a statistically significant effect of music in preventing delirium (p = 0.016). The mean age of patients was 64.7 ± 7.9 years old in the control group and 62.2 ± 7.5 years old in the case group. There was a significant difference among the control and case groups in terms of the surgery time; surgery time in the control group was significantly lower than in the case group (242.4 ± 42.3 v 261.6 ± 48.9, respectively; p = 0.03 < 0.05). Blood pressure and heart rate in the case group were lower, similar to the respiratory rate and venous blood gas parameters; Blood pressure differences were not statistically significant (p > 0.05); CONCLUSION: Relaxation music, including bird, water, and wind, significantly prevents delirium after coronary artery bypass grafting.

Clinical and laboratory findings in COVID-19 adult hospitalized patients from Alborz province / Iran: comparison of rRT-PCR positive and negative.

BACKGROUND: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) was emergency turned into global public health after the first patients were detected in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease rapidly expanded and led to an epidemic throughout China, followed by the rising number of cases worldwide. Given the high prevalence of COVID-19, rapid and accurate diagnostic methods are immediately needed to identify, isolate and treat the patients as soon as possible, decreasing mortality rates and the risk of public contamination by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2(SARS-CoV-2). METHODS: This case-control study was conducted in two hospitals in Alborz Province in Iran. All recruited cases in this study were symptomatic adults hospitalized as COVID-19 patients with compatible Computed tomographic (CT) scan findings and available rRT-PCR results. The patients were recruited in this study. The patients were categorized into positive and negative rRT-PCR groups and evaluated for symptoms, initial vital signs, comorbidity, clinical and laboratory findings. Finally, the results were assessed by SPSS software. RESULTS: Between March 5 to April 5, 2020, 164 symptomatic COVID-19 patients were studied. In total, there were 111 rRT-PCR positive (67.6%) and 53 rRT-PCR negative patients (32.4%). In terms of statistics, the frequency of symptoms revealed no difference, except for cough (P.V:0.008), dizziness (PV: 0.048), and weakness (P.V:0.022). Among initial vital signs, PR (P.V:0.041) and O2 Saturation (PV: 0.014) were statistically different between the two groups. Evaluation of comorbidities revealed no difference except for hyperlipidemia (P.V:0.024). In the comparison of laboratory findings, only WBC count (PV: 0.001), lymphocyte count (PV: 0.001), and Hb (P.V:0.008) were statistically different between the two groups. CONCLUSION: In case of the negative rRT-PCR result, it is necessary to take a logical approach, and we recommended that the physician decides according to clinical manifestations, laboratory findings, and positive CT results.

Mechanical and Chemical Predifferentiation of Mesenchymal Stem Cells Into Cardiomyocytes and Their Effectiveness on Acute Myocardial Infarction.

Myocardial infarction is one of the leading causes of death all over the world. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) transplantation has shown a promising potential to recovery of ischemic heart disease due to their capability in differentiating into cardiac cells. However, various investigations have been performed to optimize the efficacy of cardiac cell therapy in recent years. Here, we sought to interrogate the effect of autologous transplantation of undifferentiated and predifferentiated adipose and bone marrow-derived MSCs in a rabbit model of myocardial infarction and also to investigate whether cardiac function could be improved by mechanically induced MSCs via equiaxial cyclic strain. The two sources of MSCs were induced toward cardiomyocyte phenotype using mechanical loading and chemical factors and thereafter injected into the infarcted myocardium of 35 rabbits. Echocardiography and histopathology studies were used to evaluate cardiac function after 2 months. The results demonstrated significant scar size reduction and greater recovery of left ventricle ejection fraction after transplantation of predifferentiated cells, though the differences were not significant when comparing mechanically with chemically predifferentiated MSCs. Thus, although there was no significant improvement in infarcted myocardium between chemically and mechanically predifferentiated MSCs, mechanically induced cells are more preferred due to lack of any chemical intervention and cost reasonableness in their preparation method. Outcomes of this study may be useful for developing future therapeutic strategies, however long-term assessments are still required to further examine their effectiveness.

Clinico-histopathologic and outcome features of cutaneous infundibular keratinizing acanthoma: a case report and literature review.

The infundibular keratinizing acanthoma (IKA) is a rare epithelial benign keratin-containing neoplasm of hair follicles. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the defining histopathologic architecture of IKA. A typical IKA consisted of a keratin-filled crypt in the dermis and subcutis that opened to the skin surface. Most of this tumor occurred on the back, neck, head, and the shoulders. Microscopically, the dermal nodules were focally contiguous in both the dermis and subcutis. Furthermore, most histological lesions are consistent with a simple or multiloculated cyst filled with keratin and lined by a wall of stratified squamous epithelium; keratin appears as a concentric lamellar mass, with a keratotic pearly aspect. Histological examination of the cutaneous lesions revealed that the growths were comprised of IKA. IKA of man and dog were compared, and it was concluded that although they are similar in many respects, they are not identical entities. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on the prevalence of IKAs among the population of owned dogs in Iran.

Developmental and phytochemical changes in pot marigold (Calendula officinalis L.) using exogenous application of polyamines.

Polyamines (PAs) are natural active compounds having more than two amino groups that play important roles in many physiological and developmental processes in plants. The purpose of this research was to see how foliar polyamine spray affected growth and photosynthetic indices, as well as secondary metabolites and antioxidant activity of the aqueous and methanolic extracts of pot marigold (Calendula officinalis L.). The experiment lasted for three months and was arranged in a randomized complete design with four replications. Three separate concentrations (0.5, 1 and 2.5 mM) of spermine (SPM), spermidine (SPD), and putrescine (PUT) were sprayed at four/five fully expanded leaf stage and some physiochemical attributes were evaluated. The treatments caused a significant increase in morphological and photosynthetic parameters and total oil. There were also significant variations in total phenolic and flavonoid content. Compared to other polyamines, 1 mM SPD foliar spraying showed the greatest effect. Furthermore, the highest antioxidant capacity (DPPH* scavenging assay, ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity (TEAC) and ß-carotene bleaching activity) was observed in the 1 mM SPD treatment. The results showed that the calendula essential oils (EOs) were rich in sesquiterpenes hydrocarbons (55.92-95.94%), with c-Cadinene and d-Cadinene as the major sesquiterpenes in the EOs. Also, the flowers were rich sources of carotenoids (lutein, flavoxanthin and luteoxanthin) following polyamines application. Hence, it can be inferred that polyamines specially spermidine would find a wide range of application in pharmaceutical industries due to its impact on antioxidant properties of phenolic and flavonoid compounds.

Capability of core-sheath polyvinyl alcohol-polycaprolactone emulsion electrospun nanofibrous scaffolds in releasing strontium ranelate for bone regeneration.

Core-sheath nanofibrous scaffolds from polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-strontium ranelate (SrR)-Polycaprolactone (PCL) were prepared by water in oil electrospinning method. Thus, PCL (the oil phase) was used as the shell part and a mixture of PVA and SrR (the water phase) was inserted in the core. The amounts of SrR was varied from 0 to 15 wt.% Mussel-inspired dopamine-gelatin coating was done on the nanofibrous to improve their hydrophilicity and cellular attachment. The effect of the SrR content on morphology, mechanical, physicochemical, in vitro release behaviors, and biological properties as well as in vivo bone regeneration was investigated. Morphological observations revealed that continuous nanofibers with a core/shell structure were successfully obtained and the fibers diameter increased as the SrR content rose. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis revealed that SrR was molecularly distributed in the nanofibers and increasing the amount of the SrR decreased the crystallinity of the nanofibers. Moreover, the SrR release was regulated through the mechanism of Fickian diffusion and it was assumed as fast as possible in the samples with higher SrR content. The mesenchymal stem cell culturing showed improved cell proliferation by adding SrR and accelerating the expression of ALP, Runx2, Col I, and OCN genes. Besides, the SrR-loaded nanofibers improved bone formation of calvarial defects in a rat model as revealed by in vivo investigations.

An integrated microfluidic device for stem cell differentiation based on cell-imprinted substrate designed for cartilage regeneration in a rabbit model.

Separating cells from the body and cultivating them in vitro will alter the function of cells. Therefore, for optimal cell culture in the laboratory, conditions similar to those of their natural growth should be provided. In previous studies, it has been shown that the use of cellular shape at the culture surface can regulate cellular function. In this work, the efficiency of the imprinting method increased by using microfluidic chip design and fabrication. In this method, first, a cell-imprinted substrate of chondrocytes was made using a microfluidic chip. Afterwards, stem cells were cultured on a cell-imprinted substrate using a second microfluidic chip aligned with the substrate. Therefore, stem cells were precisely placed on the chondrocyte patterns on the substrate and their fibroblast-like morphology was changed to chondrocyte's spherical morphology after 14-days culture in the chip without using any chemical growth factor. After chondrogenic differentiation and in vitro assessments (real-time PCR and immunocytotoxicity), differentiated stem cells were transferred on a collagen-hyaluronic acid scaffold and transplanted in articular cartilage defect of the rabbit. After 6 months, the post-transplantation analysis showed that the articular cartilage defect had been successfully regenerated in differentiated stem cell groups in comparison with the controls. In conclusion, this study showed the potency of the imprinting method for inducing chondrogenicity in stem cells, which can be used in clinical trials due to the safety of the procedure.

The effects of bone implants' coating mechanical properties on osseointegration: In vivo, in vitro, and histological investigations.

The main goal of this work was to investigate the effects of implants coatings' mechanical properties and morphology on the osseointegration. In order to produce different mechanical properties of coatings, two thermal spray techniques, high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) and air plasma spray (APS) were employed. Titanium pins were coated and implanted into the distal femurs and proximal tibias of fifteen New Zealand white rabbits, equally distributed in three study groups, and a total of 20 pins implanted in each group. Eight weeks after insertion, the rabbits were euthanized and the femur samples were taken out for biomechanical tests and tibia samples for histological evaluations of osseointegration. Scanning electron microscopy results showed enhanced density and a better morphology of HVOF coatings, compared to APS samples, and X-ray diffraction characterized an enhanced crystallinity of HVOF coatings. Nanoindentation tests revealed greater hardness and elastic modulus of HVOF coatings, whereas greater tensile residual stress and more pronounced creep was observed for APS coatings. Neither in biomechanical tests, nor in the histological analyses, a significant difference was observed between HVOF and APS coated samples (p > 0.05, and p > 0.05, respectively). The lack of significant difference between the HVOF and APS coated implants' osseointegration rejected our hypothesis to have a more enhanced osseointegration due to a better morphology, as well as stronger mechanical properties of HA coatings. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 106A: 2679-2691, 2018.

Evaluation of Vaccines Injection Order on Pain Score of Intramuscular Injection of Diphtheria, Whole Cell Pertussis and Tetanus Vaccine.

OBJECTIVE: To determine, whether or not intramuscular injection of diphtheria, pertussis and tetanus (DwPT) vaccine should be given first and subcutaneous injection of measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) thereafter or vice versa and can this cause less pain of DwPT vaccine injection. METHODS: In a randomized parallel group clinical trial, seventy 18-mo-old healthy children who were referred for routine vaccination to Akbari Health Care Center, Yazd, Iran from September 2014 through March 2015 were randomly allocated to two groups to receive DwPT and then MMR vaccines or MMR first, and then DwPT. Primary outcomes included pain score during DwPT injection, pain score during MMR injection, overall pain score of vaccination and obtaining a pain score of less than three during DwPT injection. Pain scores were assessed based on Modified Behavioral Pain Scale. Secondary outcome was crying duration during DwPT injection. RESULTS: Thirty seven girls and 33 boys were evaluated in two groups. Pain scores of DwPT and MMR injections, the frequency of pain score obtained to be less than three during DwPT injection and the crying duration were not different in both groups. But, overall pain score of vaccination was lower when subcutaneous injection of MMR vaccine was given before intramuscular injection of DwPT vaccine. (14.23 ± 1.35 vs. 15.61 ± 2.65; P = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: Overall pain score of vaccination in multiple vaccine injection at the same visit might be reduced if subcutaneous vaccine is injected before intramuscular one.

A survey on hydatidosis in livestock in Northern Iran based on data collected from slaughterhouses from 2004 to 2008.

Data have been collected from slaughterhouses in three provinces across the Northern Iran (Gilan, Mazandaran and Golestan) from March 2004 to March 2008. These data were collected to evaluate the prevalence of hydatidosis in slaughtered cattle, sheep and goats. During the study, 3,347,797 animals were slaughtered. These included 621,686 cattle, 1,719,725 sheep and 1,006,386 goats. The prevalence of infection in cattle, sheep and goats was 12%, 14.6% and 10.1%, respectively. The association of condemnation rates with seasons was not proven statistically.

High prevalence of multidrug-resistant strains of Vibrio cholerae, in a cholera outbreak in Tehran-Iran, during June-September 2008.

Following the occurrence of suspected cases of Vibrio cholerae in Karaj in 2008, this study was conducted in order to determine whether or not the cases were infected with cholera and, if so, to describe the prevalence of serotypes, route of transmission and the antimicrobial resistance profile. In this cross-sectional study, 6505 rectal swabs were collected from patients with acute gastroenteritis. Serotypes and biotypes of the isolates were determined by standard procedures. The antimicrobial susceptibility of 45 Inaba and 30 non-agglutinating (NAG) strains was determined. From 6505 specimens, 110 (1.69%) were defined as V. cholerae, including 70 (63.3%) V. cholerae O1 serotype Inaba biotype El Tor and 40 (36.4%) NAG Vibrios. The case fatality rate was 0.9%. Inaba strains were 100% resistant to nalidixic acid and amoxicillin, 95.7% resistant to trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, 91.3% resistant to furazolidone while the highest frequency of resistance in NAG Vibrios was 77.4% to erythromycin. The lowest resistance rate belonged to ciprofloxacin to which just one NAG strain was resistant. Results suggests an increase in resistance of V. cholerae to several antibiotics. Ciprofloxacin can still be used as first-line treatment of cholera in this region.