Bedtime massage intervention for improving infant and mother sleep condition: A randomized controlled trial.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Infants' sleep disorders and parents' insufficient sleep are common problems in the infant care. The current study was conducted to assess the effectiveness of infant massage on infants' night-time sleep condition and mothers' sleep quality. PROCEDURES: 140 infants were randomly put into two different groups, experimental group with fifteen-minute bedtime messages for two weeks and the control group with normal infant routine care. The Brief Infant Sleep Questionnaire, a personal information submission form, and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index for the mothers were the tools used to gather data in this study. RESULTS: Infants in experimental group showed meaningful differences in variables such as, sleep latency (P < 0001, eta = 0.099), number of night waking (P = 0.03, eta = 0.027) and longest continuous sleep period (P = 0.03, eta = 0.026). As for other variables no meaningful differences were observed. There wasn't meaningful difference in the mother's overall night-time sleep quality between the two groups (P = 0.184, eta = 0.012) except for the duration of the mother's night-time sleep (P = 0.028, eta = 0.026) and the reduction of maternal sleep disorder (P = 0.020 eta = 0.029). CONCLUSION: The findings indicated that infants' bedtime massages would improve some of the sleep markers of mothers and infants, and therefore, can be suggested as a practical, harmless, and cost-free method to improve sleep.

Green synthesis of selenium nanoparticles and evaluate their effect on the expression of ERG3, ERG11 and FKS1 antifungal resistance genes in Candida albicans and Candida glabrata.

Drug resistance in Candida species has been considerably increased in the last decades. Given the opposition to antifungal agents, toxicity and interactions of the antimicrobial drugs, identifying new antifungal agents seems essential. This study assessed the antifungal effects of nanoparticles (NPs) on the standard strains of Candida albicans and Candida glabrata and determined the expression genes, including ERG3, ERG11 and FKS1. Selenium nanoparticles (Se-NPs) were biosynthesized with a standard strain of C. albicans and approved by several methods including, ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometer, X-ray diffraction technique, Fourier-transform infrared analysis, field-emission scanning electron microscopy and EDX diagram. The antifungal susceptibility testing performed the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) using the CLSI M27-A3 and M27-S4 broth microdilution method. The expression of the desired genes was examined by the real-time PCR assay between untreated and treated by antifungal drugs and Se-NPs. The MICs of itraconazole, amphotericin B and anidulafungin against C. albicans and C. glabrata were 64, 16 and 4 µg ml-1 . In comparison, reduced the MIC values for samples treated with Se-NPs to 1 and 0·5 µg ml-1 . The results obtained from real-time PCR and analysis of the ∆∆Cq values showed that the expression of ERG3, ERG11 and FKS1 genes was significantly down-regulated in Se-NPs concentrations (P < 0·05). This study's evidence implies biosafety Se-NPs have favourable effects on the reducing expression of ERG3, ERG11 and FKS1 antifungal resistance genes in C. albicans and C. glabrata.

Experiences of the mothers of infants hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU).

BACKGROUND: The mother-newborn relationship is more important in neonates hospitalized in the NICU than in healthy neonates. This study was conducted to explore the experiences of the mothers of infants hospitalized in the NICU. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This qualitative study was done in 2016 by adopting a conventional content analysis approach. Thirty-five mothers in the NICUs, Imam Hossein Hospital and Fatemieh Hospital were selected. Their experiences were assessed using in-depth individual semi-structured interviews. Sampling was purposive and was continued until reaching data saturation. RESULTS: Two hundred and nine primary codes were extracted. After removing duplicates and overlaps, 95 primary codes were categorized in 8 subcategories, 2 accessory categories and 1 main category based on their appropriateness, agreement, and similarity. The accessory categories of "mothers' worries" and "mothers' hopes" were merged into a more general, abstract category named "dual feelings about the baby". CONCLUSIONS: The nurses' awareness of the mothers' experiences can help design interventions to promote the quality of care for mothers and infants in the critical period of the NICU admission.

Motility and oxidative-antioxidant capacity of Huso huso semen, stored at -80°C.

In this study, motility and oxidative-antioxidant capacity (thiobarbituric acid-reactive substance level [TBARS], superoxide dismutase [SOD], catalase [CAT] and glutathione reductase [GR]) of beluga sturgeon (Huso huso) sperm, stored for 6 days at -80°C, were evaluated. After 2 days of storage, sperm motility was significantly decreased (no motile sperm were observed after 6 days of storage; p < .05), while TBARS and SOD values were significantly increased (p < .05). CAT and GR activities did not show significant changes among storage times (p > .05). Furthermore, all investigated parameters showed a significant difference between semen stored at 4°C (control) and -80°C during in vitro storage (p < .05). Data from this work can potentially be useful in sturgeon sperm cryobanking.

Influence of Glutamine Supplementation on Motility and Fertilization Success of Frozen-Thawed Persian Sturgeon (Acipenser persicus) Sperm.

Amino acids have an important biological role for the prevention of cell damage during cryopreservation. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of glutamine on post-thaw sperm motility and fertilization success in the Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus). Sperm collected from six fish was cryopreserved in extenders containing different glutamine concentrations (2.5, 5 and 10 mm). Sperm samples diluted at the ratio of 1 : 1 using the extenders were subjected to cryopreservation. After dilution, the sperm suspensions were sucked into 250-µl straws; the straws were placed on the tray, frozen in nitrogen vapour and plunged into liquid nitrogen. Then, sperm were thawed in a water bath at 40°C for 5 s and used for analysis. Our results revealed that an increase in the concentration of glutamine caused a significant increase in the motility percentage, curvilinear velocity (VCL) and also fertilization success in the Persian sturgeon (p < 0.05). Comparing all concentrations of glutamine, the best concentration for sperm motility and fertilization rate was 10 mm. In addition, higher post-thaw motility percentage, VCL, and fertilization and hatching rates were obtained with the extender at the concentration of 10 mm (p < 0.05). The findings of this study showed that glutamine was of greater benefit to Persian sturgeon sperm motility during frozen-thawed process.

Performance Assessment of the Polymerase Chain Reaction-Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism Method for Rapid Detection of Susceptibility to Ethambutol and Molecular Prediction of Extensively Drug-resistant Tuberculosis in Clinical Isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

INTRODUCTION: The polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method was employed for rapid detection of ethambutol (EMB) resistant clinical isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From 182 clinical isolates of M tuberculosis collected from different regions, 103 strains were entered in the investigation. DNA was extracted by Chelex 100 method and PCR was performed using specific primers for embB gene. Polymerase chain reaction products were digested with HaeIII and NlaII restriction endonucleases and the patterns of restriction fragments were analysed. Some randomly selected samples were sequenced. RESULTS: Out of 103 studied strains, 52 were resistant to EMB. The cases of secondary tuberculosis were 53 (51.50 ± 1.77%), and primary cases 50 (48.50 ± 1.77%; p > 0.05). From 63 extensively drug-resistant (XDR), pre-XDR and multidrug-resistant (MDR) isolates, 27 (87%), 18 (81.8%) and 7 (70%) strains were resistant to EMB, respectively. Results of PCR-RFLP method showed that from 27R EMB XDR isolates, 13 (sensitivity 48% with CI: 0.307, 0.66 and specificity 100%), from 18R EMB pre-XDR strains, 4 (sensitivity 22% with CI: 0.09, 0.45 and specificity 100%) and of 7R EMB MDR, 2 (sensitivity 28% with CI: 0.082, 0.64 and specificity 100%) had mutation in ATG-Met codon 306. Results of sequencing were concordant with RFLP method. Overall, sensitivity of the molecular method was 36.5% (CI: 0.09, 0.45) and specificity 100%. None of the 40 pansusceptible strains was embB306 mutants. Extensively drug-resistant strains had a higher proportion of embB306 mutants (43%) than pre-XDR and MDR isolates (odds ratio 6.78; p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Fast detection of susceptibility to EMB drug is possible by PCR-RFLP. The embB306 locus is a candidate marker for rapid prediction of high resistance consisting of MDR and XDR forms to anti-tuberculosis drugs using this method.

Effect of post-thaw storage time on motility and fertility of cryopreserved beluga sturgeon (Huso huso) sperm.

The aim of this study was to test the influence of post-thaw storage time on the duration of sperm motility, percentage of motile sperm, and fertilization and hatching rates of fresh sperm and sperm stored for 0, 30 and 60 min at 4°C post-thawing. After being frozen in liquid nitrogen and then thawed, the percentage of motile sperm and duration of motility were not affected by 30 min of storage at 4°C, whereas a significant decline in these parameters was observed after 60 min of storage. Similarly, fertilization and hatching rates were significantly affected within 60 min of storage at 4°C, and the fertility of frozen-thawed sperm was significantly lower than that of fresh sperm. We conclude that cryopreserved sperm of beluga sturgeon could be stored for 30 min without the loss of sperm quality. This described procedure for beluga sturgeon cryopreservation is reliable and efficient and therefore can be recommended for hatchery practice after scaling up this technique.

Enterotoxin gene profiles among Staphylococcus aureus isolated from raw milk.

Milk is considered a nutritious food because it contains several important nutrients including proteins and vitamins. Conversely, it can be a vehicle for several pathogenic bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus. This study aimed to analyze the frequency of genes encoding the nine Staphylococcal enterotoxins (SEs) and enterotoxin gene profiles in S. aureus isolates derived from raw bovine milk. A total of 52 S. aureus isolates were obtained from 246 milk samples of 246 dairy cows from eight different farms in Qom, Iran. On the basis of cultural and biochemical properties as well as by amplification of the 23S rRNA specific to S. aureus, all isolates could be identified as S. aureus. Of the 52 isolates studied, 80.7% were positive for one or more genes encoding the enterotoxins, and 12 different genotypes were identified. The gene encoding for enterotoxin A (Sea) was the most frequent (16 isolates, 30.7%), followed by Seb (14 isolates, 26.9%) and Sed (8 isolates, 15.37%). Among the genes encoding the other enterotoxins, Seg and Seh were the most frequently observed (8 isolates each, 15.38%), followed by Sej (6 isolates, 11.5%) and Sei (1 isolates, 3.84%). With the recent identification of new SEs, the frequency of enterotoxigenic strains has increased, suggesting that the pathogenic potential of Staphylococci may be higher than previously thought. These results of enterotoxin genes positivity of milk-derived Staphylococci constitute a potential risk for consumers' health.

Effects of intraoperative steroid injection on the outcome of pterygium surgery.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of intraoperative triamcinolone injection on the outcome of pterygium surgery. METHODS: This prospective study included 54 eyes with primary nasal pterygia that underwent pterygium surgery with a bare-sclera technique and intraoperative mitomycin C application. Patients were randomized into two groups; the steroid group that received subconjunctival injection of 12 mg triamcinolone acetonide at the end of surgery, and the control group that did not receive such steroid injection. Main outcome measures included presence of conjunctival inflammation at 1 month postoperatively as well as recurrence of pterygium. RESULTS: Twelve-month follow-up was completed in 48 eyes (23 in the steroid group and 25 in the control group). At 1 month postoperatively, different grades of conjunctival inflammation were present in 11 (47.8%) of the steroid group and in 14 (56%) of the control group (P=0.39). For eyes with moderate or severe postoperative inflammation, subconjunctival triamcinolone was injected; these included 6 (26.1%) and 9 (36%) in the steroid and control groups, respectively (P=0.54). During follow-up, surgical area showed fine episcleral vessels without fibrous tissue in 1 (4.3%) of the steroid group and 3 (12.0%) of the control group (P=0.33), which all regressed after triamcinolone injection. Conjunctival recurrence of pterygium was seen in 2 (8.7%) of the steroid group and in 1 (4.0%) of the control group (P=0.47). No eye developed corneal recurrence in either group. CONCLUSIONS: In pterygium surgery with a bare-sclera technique and mitomycin C application, intraoperative triamcinolone injection did not significantly reduce postoperative conjunctival inflammation or pterygium recurrence.

Study of sperm concentration, seminal plasma composition and their physiological correlation in the Persian sturgeon, Acipenser persicus.

The objectives of the present study were to determine ionic and organic composition of seminal plasma, sperm concentration and their relationships in the Persian sturgeon (Acipenser persicus). In this regard, ionic content (Na(+) , K(+) , Cl(-) , Ca(2+) and Mg(2+) ) and organic content (total protein, glucose, cholesterol and triglyceride) along with sperm concentration were measured in 17 specimens of the Persian sturgeon. The seminal plasma contained 59.53 ± 2.56 mm/l sodium, 9.1 ± 1.42 mm chloride, 4.72 ± 0.3 mm potassium, 1.45 ± 0.075 mm calcium and 0.7 ± 0.072 mm magnesium. The following organic contents were found: total protein 0.11 ± 0.02 g/dl, glucose 22.18 ± 4.16 mg/dl, cholesterol 6.67 ± 1.04 mg/dl and triglyceride 15.2 ± 0.65 mg/dl. The mean sperm concentration was estimated to be 1.6 ± 0.12 (×10(9)  sperm/ml). A significant relationship was found between sperm concentration and K(+) of seminal plasma (r = 0.533, p < 0.05). Significant correlations were observed between ionic contents: Na(+) vs Cl(-) (r = -0.854, p < 0.01) and Mg(2+) vs K(+) (-0.583, p < 0.05). Also, level of triglyceride was negatively correlated with Mg(2+) (r = -0.503, p < 0.05). Presented data could be considered as a complementary study for developing special extenders and protectant solutions for improving artificial fertilization in this valuable species.

Measuring Radionuclides Concentration in Rice Field Soils using Gamma Spectroscopy in Northern Iran.

BACKGROUND: A few elements of soil are radioactive. Soil can transfer radionuclide into plants feeding human. Sometimes their levels are as high as to be concern of human healthy. Rice has an important share for Iranian foods especially in north of Iran. Therefore we decided to obtain radionuclides concentration emitting γ rays in Lahijan City (Northern Iran) rice fields using γ spectroscopy. METHODS: Twenty eight samples from rice field's soils and 12 samples from superficial soils were collected at a square of 10*10 m2 to get 2kg weight. To make dry samples were put into oven at 105°C for 24h. Then they were milled and 950 gr of each sample was transferred to Marinelli container with 1000(cc) volume, sealed and left for 40 days to get secular equilibrium. After measuring Ph, Electric conductivity and organic carbon, γ spectroscopy was done to get sample gamma spectrum at 2000-6000 sec using HpGe detector. RESULTS: It was found (226)Ra activity in rice fields of 29.273±0.72 Bqkg-1 and city soil of 31.02±1.1 Bqkg-1 and also 232Th activity of 37.47±1.12 Bqkg-1 for rice fields' soils and 40.47±1.68 Bqkg-1 for city soil were in standard mode. CONCLUSION: (40)K activities mean value according to UNSCEAR; 2000 was found a little greater than standard. A little value of (137)Cs was found in Lahijan rice fields and city soils that could be as a result of Chernobyl accident. In except of 137Cs, for three other under studied city soil elements, activities were greater than that of rice fields.

In vitro inhibition of Helicobacter pylori urease with non and semi fermented Camellia sinensis.

PURPOSE: Helicobacter pylori is the etiological agent in duodenal and peptic ulcers. The growing problem of antibiotic resistance by the organism demands the search for novel compounds, especially from natural sources. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of Camellia sinensis extracts on the urease enzyme that is a major colonization factor for H. pylori. METHODS: Minimum inhibitory concentrations of nonfermented and semifermented C. sinensis methanol: water extracts were assessed by broth dilution method. Examination of the urease function was performed by Mc Laren method, and urease production was detected on 12% SDS polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis from whole cell and membrane bound proteins. RESULTS: Both extracts had inhibitory effects against H. pylori and urease production. At a concentration of 2.5 mg/ml of nonfermented extract and 3.5 mg/ml of semifermented extract the production of Ure A and Ure B subunits of the urease enzyme were inhibited completely. A concentration of 4 mg/ml of nonfermented and 5.5 mg/ml of semifermented extract were bactericidal for H. pylori. CONCLUSIONS: C. sinensis extracts, especially the nonfermented, could reduce H. pylori population and inhibit urease production at lower concentrations. The superior effect of nonfermented extract is due to its rich polyphenolic compounds and catechin contents.