The effects of nursing interventions on the level of anxiety and care burden of the caregivers of bedridden patients.

Background: Taking care of bedridden patients at home is a very difficult task for caregivers. In this care process, caregivers can be supported with the interventions given by the nurses at home. Aim: This study mainly aimed to compare the anxiety and care burden levels of caregivers of bedridden patients at home after nursing interventions which a personal care handbook, regular home visits, and telephone counseling. Subject and Methods: To proceed with this study, 51 caregivers have included in this study between January 1 and July 21, 2018. The Barthel Index for Activities of Daily Living (BIADL) was used to measure levels of independence in patient's activities, State and Trait Anxiety Scale (SAI and TAI) was used to measure the anxiety levels, and Burden Interview (BI) care burden problems of caregivers who participated in the study. Also, Sociodemographic Characteristics Form was used for demographic data of patients and caregivers. Results: The analysis of the responses showed the proportions of the caregivers who had lower SAI- TAI and BI scores after taking nursing intervention at home. The state anxiety level of caregivers (pre-test: Mean; 54.06+-7.97; post-test: Mean; 38.43+-6.41) and the trait anxiety level of the caregivers (pre-test: Mean; 51.45+-5.94; post-test: Mean; 41.59+-7.05) and the burden level of caregivers (pre-test: Mean; 75.75+-11.41; post-test: Mean; 57.69+-13.39) was determined. The differences between the pre and post-test mean scores of SAI, TAI, and BI were statistically significant (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Our study highlights that the burden and anxiety levels of the caregivers had lower post-test levels than the pre-test levels.

Rapamycin Improves Vascular Remodelling in a Controlled Rat Model of Monocrotaline-Induced Pulmonary Hypertension

ABSTRACT Background: Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a serious disease characterized by the progressive elevation of the pulmonary arterial resistance, leading to the right ventricular failure and death. Objective: To evaluate the effect of rapamycin (RAPA), a potent cell-cycle inhibitor, on exercise capacity, right ventricular hypertrophy and pulmonary vascular remodelling on rats. Methods: A total of 39 nine-week-old male Wistar rats (160-240 g) were divided into three groups: the control (n = 10), PAH control (n = 15) and PAH-RAPA (n = 14) groups. On the 1st day, 60 mg/kg monocrotaline was injected intraperitoneally to induce PAH in the PAH control group and PAH-RAPA groups. On the 21st day, 3 mg/kg/day RAPA was started orally, and the animals were followed for 35 days. On the 35th day, the exercise capacity of the rats was analysed through a modified forced swimming test. After measuring their right ventricular systolic pressure using an open-chest method, their hearts and lungs were excised and analysed histopathologically for right ventricular hypertrophy and pulmonary vascular remodelling. Results: Rapamycin treatment provided limited and insignificant improvements in exercise capacity, right ventricular systolic pressure and right ventricular hypertrophy of the rats. However, there was significant recovery in the rats' pulmonary artery muscular layer thickness with the RAPA treatment (p < 0.049). On the 35th day, the mortality rate was 0% in the control group, 53.1% in the PAH control group and 42.9% in the PAH-RAPA group. No statistically significant decrease was observed in their mortality rates with the RAPA treatment (p > 0.16); however, a significant recovery was noted in terms of the rats' median life span (p < 0.006). Conclusion: Pulmonary artificial hypertension is a progressive disease that is not curable with current therapies. Rapamycin may have the potential to reverse vascular remodelling and prolong life expectancy in cases of pulmonary hypertension.

Identification of Schizosaccharomyces pombe ird Mutants Resistant to Glucose Suppression and Oxidative Stress.

Glucose is both the favourite carbon and energy source and acts as a hormone that plays a regulating role in many biological processes. Calorie restriction extends the lifespan in many organisms, including Schizosaccharomyces pombe, while uptake of high glucose leads to undesired results, such as diabetes and aging. In this study, sequence analysis of Schizosaccharomyces pombe ird5 and ird11 mutants was performed using next-generation sequencing techniques and a total of 20 different mutations were detected. ird11 is resistant to oxidative stress without calorie restriction, whereas ird5 displays an adaptive response against oxidative stress. We selected nine candidate mutations located in the non-coding (6) and coding (3) region among a total of 20 different mutations. The nine candidate mutations, which are thought to be responsible for ird5 and ird11 mutant phenotypes, were investigated via forward and backward mutations by using various cloning techniques. The results of this study provide report-like information that will contribute to understanding the relationship between glucose sensing/ signalling and oxidative stress response components.

Metformin protects against diabetes-induced heart injury and dunning prostate cancer model.

In this study, both diabetes and Dunning prostate cancer were induced for the first time in Copenhagen rats in vivo. Thus, the effects of metformin against heart tissue damage of these rats were investigated by biochemical methods. Dunning prostate cancer was induced in Copenhagen rats using high metastatic MAT-LyLu cells. The rats were divided as follows: Control group: only injected with 0.9% NaCl for 14 days; Diabetic group: only injected single dose of streptozotocin (STZ) (65 mg/kg); Cancer group: subcutaneously (s.c) inoculated with 2 x 104 MAT-LyLu cells only; Diabetic + cancer (DC) group: inoculated with 2 x 104 MAT-LyLu cells and STZ injection, Cancer + metformin (CM) group: injected with metformin for 14 days after Mat-LyLu cells application; Diabetic + cancer + metformin (DCM) group: metformin administered for 14 days together with STZ and Mat-LyLu cells. At the end of the experimental period, heart tissues were taken. Reduced glutathione and total antioxidant status levels in heart tissues were decreased, whereas lipid peroxidation, advanced oxidized protein products, nitric oxide, homocysteine, and reactive oxygen species levels, total oxidant status and catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, glutathione reductase, glutathione-S-transferase, alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, lactate dehydrogenase and xanthine oxidase activities increased in the diabetic, cancer and DC groups. Treatment with metformin reversed these effects. In conclusion, the present study shows that metformin has a protective effect against heart tissue damage in STZ-induced diabetic rats with Dunning prostate cancer.

The influence of bilateral sagittal split ramus osteotomy on submental-cervical aesthetics.

The effect of orthodontic-surgical treatment on submental-cervical region was evaluated in a very limited number of studies. The aim of this study was to evaluate submental-cervical soft tissue contour changes following mandibular advancement and set-back procedures via bilateral sagittal split ramus osteotomy. Sixty-seven patients were included in this study. Group 1 consisted of 27 skeletal Class II patients who underwent mandibular advancement surgery, whereas Group 2 consisted of 40 skeletal Class III patients who underwent mandibular set-back surgery. Various linear and angular measurements were performed on pre-operative and sixth month post-operative cephalometric radiographs. A new method was used to evaluate the amount of sagging at submental region. The submental length did not change in Group 1; however, it decreased significantly in Group 2 (P < 0·05). The angle between submental plane and facial plane decreased to 95·9° from 98·8° in Group 1(P < 0·05), whereas it increased to 93·1° from 88·2° in Group2 (P < 0·05). The change of submental soft tissue sag was almost stable in Group 1, while 0·34 mm increase of sag was observed in Group 2. This increase was not statistically significant (P > 0·05). Mandibular set-back and advancement procedures do not remarkably change the submental sag following approximately 6 mm jaw movement. Although mandibular advancement did not significantly effect submental length, soft tissue followed mandibular set-back with a ratio of 1:1 at C-point to projection of soft tissue pogonion and 1:0·7 at C-point to soft tissue menton distances.