Direct red 89 dye degradation by advanced oxidation process using sulfite and zero valent under ultraviolet irradiation: Toxicity assessment and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference systems modeling.

Sulfate-based advanced oxidation process mediated by zero-valent iron (ZVI) and ultraviolet radiation for the decomposition of sulfite salts resulted in the formation of strong oxidizing species (sulfate and hydroxide radicals) in aqueous solution is reported. Degradation of direct red 89 (DR89) dye via UV/ZVI/sulfite process was systematically investigated to evaluate the effect of pH, ZVI dose, sulfite, initial DR89 concentration, and reaction time on DR89 degradation. The synergy factor of UV/ZVI/sulfite process was found to be 2.23-times higher than the individual processes including ZVI, sulfite and UV. By increasing the ZVI dose from 100 mg/L to 300 mg/L, dye degradation was linearly enhanced from 67.12 ± 3.36% to 82.40 ± 4.12% by the UV/ZVI/sulfite process due to enhanced ZVI corrosion and sulfite activation. The highest degradation efficiency of 99.61 ± 0.02% was observed at pH of 5.0, [ZVI]0 = 300 mg/L, and [sulfite]0 = 400 mg/L. Toxicity assessment by Lepidium sativum demonstrated that treated dye solution by UV/ZVI/sulfite was within the non-toxic range. The application of optimal adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) to predict DR89 degradation indicated high accuracy of ANFIS model (R2 = 0.97 and RMSE = 0.051) via the UV/ZVI/sulfite process. It is suggested that UV/ZVI/sulfite process is suitable for industrial wastewater treatment.

Burnout among Iranian nurses: a national survey.

BACKGROUND: Nurses, particularly critical care nurses, are exposed to high levels of stress and burnout. Burnout is associated with many deleterious consequences affecting health care outcomes. The present study is intended to determine the dimensions of burnout in nurses on surgical, medical and critical care units and its relationship with demographic characteristics. METHODS: In this descriptive research study, performed at critical and non- critical care units, 743 nurses were randomly selected by quota sampling from medical sciences universities in Iran. Data collection instruments included a "demographic questionnaire" and the "Persian version of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory. Data were analyzed using SPSS20. RESULTS: The findings showed that regarding all dimensions, the lowest level of burnout belonged to surgical wards whereas the highest level pertained to critical care wards indicating a significant difference among various aspects of burnout in different wards, i.e., surgery, medical, and critical care. There was no significant difference in gender, academic degree, and marital status in any of the aspects of burnout in critical care units; yet, the difference was significant between surgical and medical wards (P < 0.05). There were a negative significant correlation between some dimensions of burnout with age and nursing experience in critical care and medical wards (P < 0.05). Whereas in surgical wards, there were a positive significant correlation between some aspects of burnout with nursing experience and age (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION: This study found that the critical care nurses have significantly higher level of burnout compared to the medical-surgical nurses. These results should be considered when planning burnout prevention schedules for nurses.

Measuring engagement in nurses: the psychometric properties of the Persian version of Utrecht Work Engagement Scale.

Background: Considering the overall tendency in psychology, researchers in the field of work and organizational psychology have become progressively interested in employees' effective and optimistic experiments at work such as work engagement. This study was conducted to investigate 2 main purposes: assessing the psychometric properties of the Utrecht Work Engagement Scale, and finding any association between work engagement and burnout in nurses. Methods: The present methodological study was conducted in 2015 and included 248 females and 34 males with 6 months to 30 years of job experience. After the translation process, face and content validity were calculated by qualitative and quantitative methods. Moreover, content validation ratio, scale-level content validity index and item-level content validity index were measured for this scale. Construct validity was determined by factor analysis. Moreover, internal consistency and stability reliability were assessed. Factor analysis, test-retest, Cronbach's alpha, and association analysis were used as statistical methods. Results: Face and content validity were acceptable. Exploratory factor analysis suggested a new 3- factor model. In this new model, some items from the construct model of the original version were dislocated with the same 17 items. The new model was confirmed by divergent Copenhagen Burnout Inventory as the Persian version of UWES. Internal consistency reliability for the total scale and the subscales was 0.76 to 0.89. Results from Pearson correlation test indicated a high degree of test-retest reliability (r = 0. 89). ICC was also 0.91. Engagement was negatively related to burnout and overtime per month, whereas it was positively related with age and job experiment. Conclusion: The Persian 3- factor model of Utrecht Work Engagement Scale is a valid and reliable instrument to measure work engagement in Iranian nurses as well as in other medical professionals.

Prevalence of depression in patients with cancer in Iran: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

INTRODUCTION: It is generally accepted that depression, affecting the quality of life, is a serious and common complication in patients with cancer. Given that there is no integrated study on this topic in Iran, the present study sought to investigate the prevalence of depression in patients with cancer by a systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: To meet the study objectives, all English and Persian papers published from 2000 to January 2018 were systematically collected and the data were extracted for analysis. RESULTS: There were 14 studies which were selected on the basis of the inclusion and exclusion criteria. A total number of 2831 patients with cancer had participated in the studies. The prevalence of depression among Iranian patients with cancer was 35% (95% CI 16% to 70%) based on random effects model. Among various types of cancer, the highest prevalence of depression appeared to patients suffering from breast cancer. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of depression among patients with cancer in Iran was higher than the developed countries. As depression affects the quality of life of patients with cancer, the results can help policymakers and service providers in planning to reduce the prevalence of depression.

Evaluation of Nrf2, Keap1 and Apoptotic Pathway Genes Expression in Acute Myeloid Leukemia Patients.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the expression Nrf2 (Nuclear factor-erythroid 2-p45 derived factor 2) and Keap1 (Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1) genes and Bcl-2 (B-cell lymphoma 2), Bcl-XL (B-cell lymphoma-extra large), Bax (Bcl2-associated X protein) apoptotic pathway genes in acute myeloid leukemia patients. In this case-control study, the expression of genes encoding Nrf2, Keap1, Bcl2, Bcl- XL and Bax in 40 acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients were compared with 40 normal individuals in the Iranian population. We evaluated the mRNA expression of genes by using the real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The expression of Nrf2, Bcl2 and Bcl- XL genes in new AML patients were increased (p < 0.05). The patients treated with chemotherapy had a significantly more than four times higher expression level of Nrf2 than new case patients (P < 0.05), while there was a decrease in the expression level of Bcl2 and Bcl-XL, which was not statistically significant. In other hands in relapsed patients, the expressions of Nrf2, Bcl2 and Bcl- XL were higher level than new case patients (p < 0.05) but this was less than patients treated with chemotherapy (p > 0.05). The high levels of mentioned genes may be associated with poor treatment response, chemoresistance and disease recurrence. Because of hyperactivation and overexpression of Nrf2 in leukemia, suggest that Nrf2 inhibitors could be used as a pharmacological target in combination with classical chemotherapeutic agents to increase the efficacy of anticancer therapy.

Selection and characterization of specific nanobody against neuropilin-1 for inhibition of angiogenesis.

Neuropilin-1 (NRP-1), non-tyrosine kinase receptor, was initially identified as axonal protein and later recognized as co-receptor for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Neuropilins (NRPs) are involved in vascular development and tumor angiogenesis. Over the last years, many studies have been accomplished to inhibit angiogenesis. In this study, the nanobody library was panned against immobilized NRP-1 antigen. High affinity and specificity nanobodies were selected through monoclonal ELISA. The selected nanobodies inhibited proliferation and tube formation of HUVEC and MCF-7 cells in vitro and ex vivo. The results highlight potential of anti-NRP1 nanobodies in inhibition of angiogenesis both in vitro and ex vivo and promises development of novel therapeutics against pathologic angiogenesis.

Translation and Psychometric Properties of the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory in Iranian Nurses.

BACKGROUND: Burnout has its focus on exhaustion and it includes persistent response to long-lasting job-related stressful events. It has a special relevance in health care area in which staff is under constant psychological, emotional, and physical stress. The results of several studies on burnout prevalence among Iranian nurses indicate its high incidence. Therefore, more accurate researches are required for better preventive interventions, and to do so, a reliable validated scale is required. One of the suitable and new tools for the measurement of burnout is Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI). This study aimed to translate and investigate psychometric properties of CBI in Iranian nurses. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this methodological study, after the translation process, face and content validities via qualitative and quantitative methods was done. Content validation ratio, scale-level content validated index, item-level content validity index were measured. Then, construct validity was determined through factor analysis. Furthermore, internal consistency reliability and stability were assessed. The questionnaire was sent to 450 nurses who were randomly selected via quota sampling. RESULTS: Face and content validity were acceptable. After translation and cultural adaptation process, exploratory factor analysis suggested a new model based on four factors and fit indices validated this model via confirmatory factor analysis. Internal consistency and stability of CBI were affirmed for each subscale separately. CONCLUSIONS: The four-factor Persian version of the CBI proved to enjoy acceptable psychometric properties. It can be applied to evaluate burnout in Iranian nurses or other health care providers.