Short-term effect of meteorological factors on COVID-19 mortality in Qom, Iran.

The present study was conducted to assess the short-term effects of the meteorological factors on the COVID-19 mortality in Qom, Iran. The GAM with a quasi-Poisson link function was used to evaluate the impact of temperature, DTR, relative humidity, and absolute humidity on the COVID-19 mortality, controlling potential confounders such as time trend, air pollutants, and day of the week. The results showed that the risk of COVID-19 mortality was reduced, in single-day lag/multiple-day average lag, per one-unit increase in absolute humidity (percentage change in lag 0=-33.64% (95% CI (-42.44, -23.49)), and relative humidity (percentage change in lag 0=-1.87% (95% CI (-2.52, -1.22)). Also, per one-unit increase in DTR value, COVID death risk increased in single-day and multiple-day average lag. This study demonstrated a significant relationship between the four meteorological variables and the COVID-19 mortality.

Individual memories and coping with the COVID-19 lockdown: Family members' experiences.

Introduction: Understanding the psychological and behavioral reactions to emerging infectious diseases is crucial in managing outbreaks. This study sought to explain family members' experiences of individual memories and coping with the COVID-19 lockdown. Methods: An exploratory, descriptive and qualitative research was conducted by content analysis in Lorestan province, Iran. The purposive sampling was continued by achieving data saturation, reaching 29 samples. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted to family members who stayed at home during the COVID-19-induced lockdown. The data was collected from October 2020 to February 2021. Content analysis presented by Graneheim and Lundman was used to analyze the data. Results: The findings of this study contained 100 codes and five categories with its respective subcategories. Categories included taking advantage of opportunities (increasing intimate communication in the family; compensation and progress), coping mechanisms (creating fun and creativity at home; trying to spend leisure time; sports, reading books, music; increasing patience and tolerance; and forced Internet communications), social aspects (positive and negative), outcomes (gratefulness, pleasure, and happiness; concerns; psychological aspects; and damage and challenge to the foundation of families), and economic aspects (cost savings; recession/job loss/financial downturn; and low-income families' unaffordability to prepare electronics for education). Conclusion: The COVID-19 pandemic and its induced-lockdown have affected various aspects of family life and its pros and cons have been presented by the participants. Policymakers must design and implement programs in line with this change in the public's lifestyles so that families are not damaged.

Individual memories and coping with the COVID-19 lockdown: Family members' experiences

Introduction Understanding the psychological and behavioral reactions to emerging infectious diseases is crucial in managing outbreaks. This study sought to explain family members' experiences of individual memories and coping with the COVID-19 lockdown. Methods An exploratory, descriptive and qualitative research was conducted by content analysis in Lorestan province, Iran. The purposive sampling was continued by achieving data saturation, reaching 29 samples. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted to family members who stayed at home during the COVID-19-induced lockdown. The data was collected from October 2020 to February 2021. Content analysis presented by Graneheim and Lundman was used to analyze the data. Results The findings of this study contained 100 codes and five categories with its respective subcategories. Categories included taking advantage of opportunities (increasing intimate communication in the family; compensation and progress), coping mechanisms (creating fun and creativity at home; trying to spend leisure time; sports, reading books, music; increasing patience and tolerance; and forced Internet communications), social aspects (positive and negative), outcomes (gratefulness, pleasure, and happiness; concerns; psychological aspects; and damage and challenge to the foundation of families), and economic aspects (cost savings; recession/job loss/financial downturn; and low-income families' unaffordability to prepare electronics for education). Conclusion The COVID-19 pandemic and its induced-lockdown have affected various aspects of family life and its pros and cons have been presented by the participants. Policymakers must design and implement programs in line with this change in the public's lifestyles so that families are not damaged.

Native Iranian Medicinal Plants with Anti-Vaginal Infection Properties: A Systematic Review.

BACKGROUND: The use of herbs has recently been considered an effective method in the treatment of infections. The purpose of this study was to introduce Iranian medicinal plants with an effect on vaginal infections. METHODS: In our systematic review study, keywords including 'medicinal plants', 'Iranian medicinal plants', 'vaginal infection', 'essential oils', and 'extracts' were searched in PubMed, Web of Science Direct, Scopus, Scientific Information Database, and Google Scholar. This study focused on the articles published from 2000 to 2019. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: According to our investigation, Stachys lavandulifolia, Thymus vulgaris L., Origanum vulgare L., Allium jesdianum, Cichorium intybus, Trigonella foenum-graecum, Azadirachta Indica, Stachys lavandulifolia, Coriandrum sativum L., Rosmarinus officinalis, Ferula gummosa L., Origanum syriacum, Eucalyptus globulus, Myrtus communis, Zingiber officinale, Punica granatum, Vitex agnus-castus, Mentha suaveolens, Quercus Brantii Lindl, Zataria multiflora, Berberis vulgaris, Thymus vulgaris L., Echinophora platyloba, Stachys lavandulifolia, Viola odorata, Menthe piperita, Eucalyptus camaldulensis, Ziziphus mauritiana, Quercus infectoria, Hypericum perforatum, Glycyrrhiza glabra L., Calendula officinalis, Origanum vulgare, Ziziphus nummularia, Satureja Bachtiarica, Foeniculum vulgare, Nigella sativa, Anethum graveolens, Salvia officinalis, and Calendula officinalis are used to treat vaginal infections. CONCLUSION: Therefore, native plants of Iran have been reported to have antimicrobial properties for the treatment of vaginal infections and can be used as a suitable and effective alternative to antibiotics in future research.

Psychometric Properties of the Persian Version of the 11-Item de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale in Iranian Older Adults.

Loneliness is usually a chronic condition which may lead to physical and psychological undesirable consequences, and requires measurement and intervention. This study was conducted with the aim of preparing a Persian version of the 11-item de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale and evaluating its psychometric properties among the Iranian older adults. After applying the translation-back translation method, the prepared script was subjected to the face and content validity evaluations and a Persian version of the scale was prepared. Factor analysis, concurrent validity, internal consistency, and test-retest methods were used to validate the scale. The Persian version of the 11-item de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale showed acceptable content validity. The negative and significant correlations between the loneliness scores and the Philadelphia Geriatric Center Morale Scale indicated that the questionnaire had acceptable concurrent validity. The results of confirmatory factor analysis confirmed two factors for the scale. Also, the results of the intra-class correlation coefficient and Cronbach's alpha coefficient demonstrated that the scale had acceptable reliability. The Persian version of the 11-item de Jong Gierveld Loneliness Scale is an appropriate tool for measuring loneliness in the Iranian older adults.

Inter-professional ethical values in Iranian aged care: a qualitative study.

Aim Ethical values are the basis of the behaviour and performance of professional care staff. This study aimed to identify inter-professional ethical values in aged care. Methods This qualitative thematic content analysis study was conducted in Khorramabad, Iran, from September 2018 to June 2109, and 36 core members of the aged care team (including 24 nurses, 5 physicians, 3 physiotherapists, and 4 social workers) were selected through the purposive sampling method and interviewed in depth. The data were analysed using the directed content analysis and the method of Zhang and Wildemuth. Results Four main themes of providing professional care, preserving the integrity of the aged, observing the dignity of the aged, establishing human relationship, along with 21 subthemes were extracted as ethical values in aged care. Conclusion The results of this study indicate that providing ethical aged care is influenced by the specific conditions of this age group. In addition to general ethical values such as providing professional care, providing ethical aged care is based on ethical values such as promoting social interaction, promoting peace and comfort, preserving and promoting independence, and autonomy in aged care. Promoting collaborative care and paying more attention to the human dimensions of communication and interaction were other emphasized values.

A Study on the Most Frequent Academic Words in High Impact Factor English Nursing Journals: A Corpus-based Study.

BACKGROUND: The ability to comprehend a text depends primarily on the knowledge about its words. This study investigated the most frequent words in high impact factor (IF) English nursing journals. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This corpus-based study was conducted on the articles of 13 English nursing journals with an IF of over 0.7 from November 2014 to September 2016. After the typographical errors were corrected and the tokens (running words) in each journal were equalized, the tokens were analyzed using the Range software. Finally, a word list was extracted from the final 2851 articles and 8196,953 tokens to reach the optimal 98% vocabulary coverage. RESULTS: A word list consisting of 1081 word families and 3175 word types with 5.24% coverage was extracted, which fulfilled the 98% vocabulary coverage. In other words, the coverage of the 1081 word-family list (5.24%), the coverage of the 1st 3000 English word families (87.55%), proper names, marginal words, compound words, and abbreviations related to the software (3.29%), and the coverage of the new proper names (1.13%), new compounds (0.02%), new abbreviations (0.72%), and letter-number combinations (0.05%) totaled 98%. CONCLUSIONS: By learning the 1st 3000 English word families and the 1081 word families introduced in this study, a nursing student can comprehend the texts of articles in high IF nursing journals without any considerable help from other resources.

The Level and Frequency of Faculty Incivility as Perceived by Nursing Students of Lorestan University of Medical Sciences.

Background: Little evidence exists concerning students' perception of faculty incivility. Given the growing trend of incivility and the stressful nature of these behaviors, the present study aimed to investigate the level and frequency of faculty incivility as perceived by nursing students. Methods: A stratified random sample of 178 students from four nursing faculties of Lorestan University of Medical Sciences participated in the present cross-sectional study. The Incivility in Nursing Education-Revised Survey, consisting of 24 items, was used to investigate the prevalence and frequency of faculty incivility, and the mean and frequency of each item was calculated separately. The data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics (chi-square, independent t-test and analysis of variance), and the significance level was set at 0.05. Results: Most of the participants were single, did not live in a dormitory, and ranged in age from 19 to 23. From their perspective, disrespect, physical threat, property damage, and physical violence were of paramount importance. 61.8% of them argued that they had "sometimes" and "always" experienced "unfair assessment" during the last year. Creating codes of behavior, enhancing awareness of civility, and developing and implementing policies for managing incivility were proposed as the most important strategies for improving civility. Conclusion: Faculty members should be prepared for establishing friendly and respectful relationships, effective teaching, and applying a reality-based assessment. Identifying different and prevalent kinds of faculty incivility and making faculty members aware of them paves the way for faculty members to rethink their performance.

The Effect of Acupressure on Pain and Anxiety Caused by Venipuncture.

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of massage of acupoints on pain and anxiety caused by venipuncture. In this double-blind clinical trial, 187 patients who were admitted to a hospital in Khorramabad, Iran, were selected and randomly divided into 3 groups: acupressure, placebo, and control. Blood samples were obtained twice from each patient in the 3 groups: once by the routine method from the left arm and once by performing interventions from the right arm. Results showed significant differences in pain scores (P = .004) between the 3 groups after the intervention only. No significant differences between the 3 groups were found after the intervention with regard to pulse rate, systolic blood pressure, or diastolic blood pressure (P > .05). The application of acupressure at the right acupoints may relieve pain caused by venipuncture. Although further studies are needed to confirm the findings of this study, it is recommended that nurses use this safe method to increase quality of nursing care and patient satisfaction.

Seroprevalence of toxoplasmosis in mentally retarded patients in Iranian rehabilitation centers.

Toxoplasma gondii is one of the most common causes of latent infections in humans and animals. Although T. gondii infection is widely prevalent in the world, most acquired cases of the disease are asymptomatic. The important aspect of this parasitic infection is the probable danger of congenital transmission and its severe effects on the fetus. There have been many reports about the prevalence of anti-T. gondii antibody among different groups of people in Iran; however the epidemiological data in mentally retarded patients are rare. The present study was conducted on 158 mentally retarded persons (94 males, 64 females) in the rehabilitation centers of Khoramabad from autumn 2012 to winter 2013. The overall prevalence of anti-T. gondii antibody was 30.4 % (48 cases). There were no significant difference between sex and toxoplasmosis (p > 0.05). However, there were no statistically significant difference between age and toxoplasmosis, nevertheless the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in the patients less than 10-years-old had significantly the lowest rate. The highest infection rates were found in the two age groups of 10-19 and ≥30 years old. Our results showed that the prevalence of toxoplasmosis in the mentally retarded persons in the rehabilitation centers of Khorramabad was similar to the prevalence in pregnant women in this city. Therefore, the disease does not cause additional danger to this group of women.

Psychometric testing of the Persian version of the Belongingness Scale-Clinical Placement Experience.

BACKGROUND: Belongingness has been identified both as a fundamental human need and as a prerequisite for nursing students' clinical learning. Belongingness has also been associated with students' academic achievement, retention, self-esteem, self-directed learning, and self-efficacy. The Belongingness Scale-Clinical Placement Experience is a valid and reliable measure of nursing students' belongingness scores; however, a Persian version of this scale is not currently available. AIM: This study aimed to translate the Belongingness Scale-Clinical Placement Experience into Persian, to evaluate its psychometric properties, and to measure the belongingness experiences of Iranian nursing students. METHODS: Following translation and initial validity and reliability testing of the scale, 300 nursing students from three universities in Iran completed the survey. Further psychometric testing was undertaken followed by analysis of descriptive statistics. RESULTS: Based on the results of confirmatory factor analysis two items were removed from the scale. The mean score of Persian version of the Belongingness Scale-Clinical Placement Experience was 3.21 (0.57). The whole scale had a high internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha=0.92). The alpha coefficients of the subscales of "self-esteem", "connectedness", and "efficacy" were 0.85, 0.86, and 0.80 respectively. CONCLUSION: Similar to previous versions of the Belongingness Scale-Clinical Placement Experience, the Persian version demonstrated strong psychometric properties with strong validity and reliability, indicating its utility and appropriateness when measuring Iranian nursing students' belongingness experiences. Further testing with other cohorts would strengthen these results.

Prevalence of nocturnal enuresis and its associated factors in primary school and preschool children of khorramabad in 2013.

Background. Nocturnal enuresis refers to an inability to control urination during sleep. This study aimed to determine the prevalence of nocturnal enuresis and its associated factors in children in the city of Khorramabad. Materials and Methods. In this descriptive-analytic, cross-sectional study, 710 male and female children were divided into two groups with equal numbers. The samples were selected from the schools of Khorramabad using the multistage cluster and stratified random sampling methods based on the diagnostic criteria of DSM-IV. The data was analyzed using the logistic regression. Results. The results showed that 8% of the children had nocturnal enuresis, including 5.2% of primary nocturnal enuresis and 2.8% of secondary nocturnal enuresis. The prevalence of nocturnal enuresis in the boys (10.7%) was higher compared with that in the girls (5.4%) (P = 0.009). There were statistically significant relationships between nocturnal enuresis and history of nocturnal enuresis in siblings (P = 0.023), respiratory infections (P = 0.036), deep sleep (P = 0.007), corporal punishment at school (P = 0.036), anal itching (P = 0.043), and history of seizures (P = 0.043). Conclusion. This study showed that the prevalence of nocturnal enuresis in the boys was higher compared with that in the girls.

Honey in the treatment of Fournier's gangrene as an adjuvant: a cross sectional study.

Fournier's gangrene is a progressive polymicrobial necrotising infection. The purpose of this study was to assess the outcome of Fournier's gangrene infection in patients who received topical honey with their therapeutic regimens. The cross-sectional study included 17 patients with Fournier's gangrene. Under spinal anaesthesia, the necrotic areas were debrided. In the first week, every day, the wounds were cleansed with Betadine, normal saline, and 2% oxygenated water, then 30-50cc of honey was used after the wounds were dried. The wounds were then dressed. This method of dressing was taught to the patients' attendants. The granulation tissues, generally bright pink, were observed on the 10th day. Four (23.5%) patients underwent colostomy and 1 (5.9%) died. All the patients were discharged two weeks after the initial debridement. Compared with other studies, honey reduced the healing and hospitalisation time as well as additional costs.

Seidlitzia rosmarinus for lower urinary tract symptoms associated with benign prostatic hyperplasia: a pilot randomized controlled clinical trial.

OBJECTIVE: This study was performed to investigate the effect of Seidlitzia rosmarinus on the clinical symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia. METHODS: This single-blind clinical trial included 98 patients with voiding and storage symptoms in Shohada Ashayer Hospital of Khorramabad. The patients were randomly divided into two groups of treatment with prazosin 1mg/day plus Seidlitzia rosmarinus 3g/day and treatment with prazosin 1mg/day. The clinical symptoms were measured using the International Prostate Symptoms Score (IPSS) questionnaire. Serum prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, prostate volume, and residual urine volume before and 2 months after the intervention were measured. RESULTS: The results of the study before the intervention did not show significant differences between the prazosin and Seidlitzia rosmarinus plus prazosin groups for the scores of clinical symptoms, PSA level, prostate volume, and residual urine volume (p>0.05). However, significant differences were found between the two groups after the intervention for the mean change scores of clinical symptoms (6.8 scores in the Seidlitzia rosmarinus group vs. 2 scores in the control group) (p<0.001), while no significant differences were found for the mean change scores of PSA level, prostate volume, and residual urine volume (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: The results of the study showed that the simultaneous consumption of Seidlitzia rosmarinus and prazosin, compared to the consumption of prazosin alone, results in significant improvements in the clinical symptoms of benign prostatic hyperplasia.

Complications of primary realignment of posterior urethral disruption after pelvic trauma.

BACKGROUND: There are two fundamental selections for the management of traumatic posterior urethral injury, delayed repair or early primary realignment. OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to assess the complications of primary realignment of posterior urethral disruption. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This retrospective descriptive cross-sectional study was done at the Shohada-ye Ashayer University Hospital in Khorramabad. All male patients admitted to the hospital with posterior urethral disruption and had undergone primary realignment of the urinary tract between 2003 and 2010 were included. Primary realignment of the urinary tract was done up to 24 hours after injury. The patients underwent open cystostomy and then a nelaton catheter was inserted from the bladder neck to the distal urethra anterogradely. Upon voiding from the catheter, another nelaton catheter was fixed to it and was pulled into the bladder. The catheter was removed if the urethra was intact in the retrograde urethrography after three weeks. The patients were followed for six months. The data were presented as mean and percentage. RESULTS: A total of 24 patients were evaluated while seven, eleven, four, and two patients were aged under 20, 20 to 39, 40 to 59, and over 60 years old, respectively. Thirteen patients (54.16%) had urinary tract stenosis after the primary realignment. Erectile dysfunction was reported in three of them. Urinary incontinence did not occur in patients without stenosis. CONCLUSIONS: Early primary realignment of posterior urethral disruption had significant complications. In this study we did not have a control group, thus we could not compare the complications of delayed repair and early primary realignment of the posterior urethra. We recommend further case-control studies with larger sample size.

Perception of medical university members from nutritional health in the quran.

BACKGROUND: Desirable health is impossible without good nutrition, and Allah has addressed us on eating foods in 118 verses. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to describe the medical university faculty members' perceptions of nutritional health in the Quran, revealing the important role of faculty members. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This qualitative study was conducted with a phenomenological approach. Homogeneous sampling was performed in a final sample size of 16 subjects. The Colaizzi's phenomenological method was applied for data analysis. RESULTS: Three main categories were extracted from the data analysis, including the importance of nutrition in the Quran (referring to certain fruits, vegetables and foods, illustrating and venerating the heavenly ones, nutritional recommendations, revealing the healing power of honey and the effects of fruits and vegetables on physical and social health); reasons of different foods being lawful (halal) and unlawful (haram) (religious slaughter, wine, meats, consequences of consuming haram materials, general expression of halal and haram terms); and fasting (fasting and physical health, fasting and mental health). CONCLUSIONS: What has been mentioned in the Quran is what scientists have achieved over the time, since the Quran is governed by logic. Although we do not know the reasons for many things in the Quran, we consider it as the foundation.

Characteristics of Colorectal Cancer in Khorramabad, Iran during 2013.

BACKGROUND Colorectal cancer is a common, deadly disease with different incidence rates in different parts of the world. The present study aims to investigate the clinical presentations, colonoscopic findings, and family history of colorectal cancer in the city of Khorramabad, Iran. METHODS This cross-sectional study, conducted in 2013, included 112 patients diagnosed with colorectal cancer by colonoscopy with pathological confirmation in addition to 112 individuals matched with patients for age and gender. Controls were chosen from the outpatients admitted to the Skin and Eye Clinics of ShohadaAshayer Hospital in Khorramabad who had no gastrointestinal diseases. A self-generated questionnaire was used to assess family history of smoking and gastrointestinal cancer history in immediate relatives of subjects from both groups. Fisher's exact test and odds ratios (OR) were used to analyze the data. RESULTS Based on the findings of this study, the most common clinical presentation in the patients was abdominal pain (67.9%). The sigmoid colon (40%) was the most common anatomical site of the tumor in men; the rectum (34.6%) and sigmoid colon (34.6%) were the most common sites in women, which was not statistically significant (p=0.21). There were 11 (19.6%) patients and 2 (3.6%) individuals in the control group who reported a history of colorectal cancer in their immediate relatives, which was statistically significant (p=0.008). CONCLUSION In this study, left-sided colon cancer was more common. Subjects with colon cancer had more positive FHx. This indicated that genetic factors, in addition to environmental factors, could increase the incidence of colorectal cancer in a community. A better identification of these factors would result in better control and management of this disease.

Comparison of loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP) and nested-PCR assay targeting the RE and B1 gene for detection of Toxoplasma gondii in blood samples of children with leukaemia.

Toxoplasmosis diagnosis constitutes an important measure for disease prevention and control. In this paper, a newly described DNA amplification technique, loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP), and nested-PCR targeting the repeated element (RE) and B1 gene, were compared to each other for the detection of Toxoplasma gondii DNA in blood samples of children with leukaemia. One hundred ten blood samples from these patients were analyzed by LAMP and nested-PCR. Out of 50 seropositive samples (IgM+, IgG+), positive results were obtained with 92% and 86% on RE, B1-LAMP and 82% and 68% on RE, B1-nested PCR analyses, respectively. Of the 50 seronegative samples, three, two and one samples were detected positive by RE-LAMP, B1-LAMP and RE-nested PCR assays, respectively, while none were detected positive by B1-nested PCR. None of the 10 IgM-, IgG+ samples was detected positive after testing LAMP and nested-PCR assays in duplicate. This is the first report of a study in which the LAMP method was applied with high sensitivity and efficacy for the diagnosis of T. gonii in blood samples of children with leukaemia.

WITHDRAWN: Seroepidemiology of hepatitis E virus in Western Iran.

The Publisher regrets that this article is an accidental duplication of an article that has already been published, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.bbr.2011.03.031. The duplicate article has therefore been withdrawn.

The Effects of Skin-to-Skin Contact on Temperature and Breastfeeding Successfulness in Full-Term Newborns after Cesarean Delivery.

Background. The skin-to-skin contact (SSC) of mother and newborn is uncommon full-term newborns after delivering via cesarean section due to the possibility of hypothermia in the infants. The aim of this study was to compare mothers' and infant's temperatures after delivering via cesarean section. Material and Methods. In this randomized clinical trial, 90 infant/mothers dyads delivered via cesarean section were randomized to SSC (n = 46) and routine care (n = 44). In experimental group, skin-to-skin contact was performed for one hour and in the routine group the infant was dressed and put in the cot according to hospital routine care. The newborns' mothers' temperatures in both groups were taken at half-hour intervals. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics, t-tests, and chi-square tests. Results. The means of the newborns' temperatures immediately after SSC (P = 0.86), half an hour (P = 0.31), and one hour (P = 0.52) after the intervention did not show statistically significant differences between the two groups. The mean scores of the infants' breastfeeding assessment in SSC (8.76±3.63) and routine care (7.25±3.5) groups did not show significant differences (P = 0.048). Conclusion. Mother and infant's skin-to-skin contact is possible after delivering via cesarean section and does not increase the risk of hypothermia.