Jordanian mothers' knowledge of infants' childrearing and developmental milestones.

AIM: This study explored Jordanian mothers' knowledge of infants' childrearing practices and developmental milestones, the socio-demographic variables of relevance to knowledge, and sources of information that guide childrearing practices. BACKGROUND: Parents' knowledge is considered the frame of reference for parents' interpretations of their children's behaviors and provides the basis for having the appropriate expectation of the child's developmental stage. Parents' knowledge of childrearing is essential for children's physical, cognitive and emotional development. METHODS: A cross-sectional design using a modified version of MacPhee's 'Knowledge of Infant Development Inventory' was used to assess 400 mothers' knowledge of infants' childrearing and developmental milestones, in Amman, Jordan. RESULTS: Mothers were found to be more knowledgeable in physical and safety skills and less in cognitive, emotional, and parent-infant interaction skills. Parental age, education, parity and planned pregnancy had limited influence on developmental milestones knowledge. Formal and informal sources of information were used conforming to traditional societies. DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Results were congruent with findings from other studies in the region and similar traditional societies. Results allude to conclusion that mothers resort to informal sources and traditional practices to replace formally structured programmes when absent. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING AND HEALTH POLICY: Healthcare professionals, nursing schools and healthcare policy makers are encouraged to develop and institute a holistic approach encompassing physical, cognitive, emotional and parent-infant interaction domains in childrearing educational programmes. Structured parenting programmes for mothers and culturally accepted sources of information for fathers are essential to enhance parenting skills among Jordanian couples.

Amelioration of hepatic fibrosis via Padma Hepaten is associated with altered natural killer T lymphocytes.

Hepatic fibrosis is the end-stage consequence of chronic liver disease, affecting many people worldwide. Unlike the anti-fibrotic effect of natural killer (NK) cells, CD8 and NK T subsets are considered as profibrogenic subsets. Padma Hepaten is a multi-compound herbal preparation derived from Tibetan medicine and has proven efficacy in some clinical trials and tests at the cellular level. In this study, we evaluate the immune efficacy of Padma Hepaten administered intraperitoneally (i.p.) and/or orally in a mice model of hepatic fibrosis. Hepatic fibrosis was induced by 6 weeks of biweekly i.p. carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) injections in male C57Bl6 mice. There were four groups, including naive mice, non-treated fibrotic mice and fibrotic mice treated by Padma Hepaten at weeks 5-6 of fibrosis induction either orally or by i.p. injections. Padma Hepaten was prepared at 10 mg/ml in saline and 250 microl (2.5 mg) were administered four times per week. After week 6, animals were killed. To isolate a Padma Hepaten-associated effect on lymphocytes, splenocytes were harvested from either naive or Padma Hepaten-treated non-fibrotic donors. Isolated splenocytes were therefore reconstituted into two groups of irradiated recipients. Recipients were then administered the same CCl4 regimen. Hepatic fibrosis was determined by sirius red staining of liver sections and by assessment of alpha smooth muscle actin expression compared with beta-actin (both by mRNA as well as the protein liver extract western blotting). Hepatic fibrosis and alanine aminotransferase serum levels were decreased significantly in both Padma Hepaten-treated groups compared with the non-treated fibrotic group. Padma Hepaten treatment was associated with attenuation of lymphocyte subsets in both treated groups. Using a chemiluminescence technique to assess total anti-oxidant capacities (TAC), it was found that both the plasmas and livers of mice treated by CCl4 had significantly higher TAC compared with controls. However, the levels of TAC in animals treated either by CCl4 alone or CCl4 with Padma Hepaten were similar. Adoptive transfer of Padma Hepaten-treated lymphocytes was associated with fibrosis amelioration compared with recipients with naive lymphocytes. CCl4 generates higher levels of anti-oxidant capacities, probably as a response to oxidative stress. Padma Hepaten administration attenuated hepatic fibrogenesis significantly, accompanied by attenuation of lymphocyte but not anti-oxidant capacities.