A study of rural populations' knowledge, attitude, and practice about brucellosis: a descriptive, cross-sectional, multicenter study

OBJECTIVE

Brucellosis is a highly contagious disease which is transmitted from animals to humans. One of the populations at high risk of infection is those living in rural areas. The present study was conducted to investigate rural populations' knowledge, attitude, and practice about brucellosis in Iran. The study used a descriptive, cross-sectional design to assess 300 individuals who were living in rural areas. The subjects were selected using convenience sampling from six villages located in the south of Iran. The data gathered were analyzed using Analysis of variance (ANOVA), and Pearson correlation coefficient in SPSS version 23.

RESULTS

From the 300 individuals who were enrolled in this study, 189 were male and 111 were female. The mean age of the participants was 48.27 ± 4.28 years. The mean scores of the study population's knowledge, attitude, and practice about brucellosis were found to be low. A significant direct correlation was found between the subjects' knowledge, attitude, and practice regarding brucellosis.

Investigating safe nursing care and medication safety competence in nursing students: a multicenter cross-sectional study in Iran

BACKGROUND

Medication safety competence is very important as one of the clinical skills among nursing students to provide safe nursing care. The lack of medication safety competence in nursing students leads to occurrence of medication errors subsequently jeopardizing patient safety. Thus, the present study was conducted to investigate safe nursing care and medication safety competence among nursing students in the south of Iran.

METHODS

A descriptive cross-sectional multicenter study was conducted from September to December 2022. The research population included nursing students of three universities of medical sciences in Fars Province, Southern Iran. A total of 310 nursing students who were selected through convenience sampling participated in the study. The data collection instruments consisted of a demographics survey, Medication Safety Competence Scale (MSCS), and a Safe Nursing Care Scale (SNCS). The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (absolute and relative frequency, mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (Independent t-test, Analysis of variance and Pearson correlation coefficient). The data were analyzed in SPSS 23 and the level of significance was considered 0.05.

RESULTS

The mean age of the participants was 22.53 ± 1.69 years. The total mean scores for medication safety competence and safe nursing care were found to be 111.97 ± 11.85 and 105.12 ± 11.64, respectively. There was a statistically significant positive correlation between safe nursing care and medication safety competence (r = 0.084, P < 0.001).

CONCLUSION

The mean scores of nursing students' medication safety competence and safe nursing care were at an average level. To maintain patient safety, nursing instructors and managers are recommended to employ appropriate strategies to improve medication safety competence and safe nursing care in nursing students.

Metal nanoparticles and carbohydrate polymers team up to improve biomedical outcomes

The convergence of carbohydrate polymers and metal nanoparticles (MNPs) holds great promise for biomedical applications. Researchers aim to exploit the capability of carbohydrate matrices to modulate the physicochemical properties of MNPs, promote their therapeutic efficiency, improve targeted drug delivery, and enhance their biocompatibility. Therefore, understanding various attributes of both carbohydrates and MNPs is the key to harnessing them for biomedical applications. The many distinct types of carbohydrate-MNP systems confer unique capabilities for drug delivery, wound healing, tissue engineering, cancer treatment, and even food packaging. Here, we introduce distinct physicochemical/biological properties of carbohydrates and MNPs, and discuss their potentials and shortcomings (alone and in combination) for biomedical applications. We then offer an overview on carbohydrate-MNP systems and how they can be utilized to improve biomedical outcomes. Last but not least, future perspectives toward the application of such systems are highlighted.

Female high school students' knowledge and attitude toward breast cancer

BACKGROUND

Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women. Even though early detection and diagnosis of this disease can reduce mortality considerably, several studies have shown that more than 92% of women are unaware of the risk factors for breast cancer and of breast cancer screening tests. The simultaneous promotion of screening and provision of education can increase community health and reduce medical costs, and students can play a leading role in informing and educating people in society.

AIM

The present study aims to examine the level of knowledge and attitude of female students in senior high schools in Fasa regarding breast cancer screening.

METHODS

In this cross-sectional study, the random sampling method was applied to survey 350 female high school students, only 311 of whom completed the study. Questionnaires were completed in girls' high schools, and the data was analyzed by SPSS Software, Version 25.

RESULTS

The results revealed that more than 87% of students were unaware or had incorrect information regarding breast cancer screening. The link between the type of breast cancer information sources and students' general knowledge was significant. Most students were aware of the risk of breast cancer, but they were uninformed of its symptoms, risk factors, and prevention strategies, and students with a family history of breast cancer had a higher score in terms of mammography knowledge than students with no family history of breast cancer, although this difference was not significant (mean ± standard deviation = 0.94 ± 0.90 vs. 0.67 ± 0.81, p = 0.19).

CONCLUSION

The level of awareness and attitude of Fasa high school girls regarding breast cancer and screening methods is not acceptable. Therefore, it is recommended that educational programs be implemented to increase the awareness of students in schools, so that the number of screenings increases with the institutionalization of this information. Likewise, by transferring information through students to their families, the level of awareness in the whole society will hopefully increase as well.

Water deficit stress responses of monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes in different Iranian cultivars of basil

Ocimum basilicum, a popular aromatic plant, contains aromatic terpenes of terpenoids with in vivo and in vitro verified cytotoxicity. Considering the characteristics and potential of its utilization, it would be attractive to reveal its regulation and biosynthesis, originally at the molecular level under water deficit stress. For this aim, for the first time, the gene encoding the enzyme involved in the end step of the MEP biosynthetic pathways (HDR) was cloned, and the accumulation ratio of linalool, germacrene D and γ-cadinene compounds as well as the expression trait of four critical genes (i.e., HDR, LinS, GerS, and GadS) was assessed under water deficit stress in three Iranian cultivars of basil. The highest value of linalool and γ-cadinene were detected for Cultivar 1 (Cult. 1) under mild stress (W1; 52.6 and 21.1%), while insignificant amounts were obtained for Cultivar 3 (Cult. 3). The germacrene D level of Cultivar 2 (Cult. 2) increased under severe and moderate water stresses as compared with mild water deficit stress. Apart from some expectation, all the studied genes demonstrated divergent transcription ratios under water deficit stress. Principal component analyses (PCA) showed that the relative water content (RWC) and HDR gene expression correlated significantly with essential oil components and gene expression in Cult. 1 and 2, which could represent an elevated demand for corresponding metabolites in the plant tissues. The present work elaborates on the regulation of the mentioned genes, and the results indicate that the production of terpenoids might be a drought stress-dependent and cultivar-dependent procedure.

Prevalence of food contamination with Listeria spp. in Kermanshah, Islamic Republic of Iran

Listeria monocytogenes is a human pathogen causing serious diseases. We aimed to determine food contamination with Listeria spp. in Kermanshah, Islamic Republic of Iran. Samples (185 dairy, 187 meat products and 158 ready-to-eat foods such as salads) were randomly collected from markets. After processing, samples were cultured in half-Fraser and Fraser broth followed by cultivation on PALCAM and Oxford media. Confirmatory tests including carbohydrate utilization were performed on isolates to determine species. Bacteria were isolated from 66/530 samples (12.5%). Meat products showed the highest (27.2%) and dairy products the lowest (3.8%) contamination rates. L. innocua was found in 56 (10.6%) samples, but L. monocytogenes was only found in 3 samples (0.6%). The results indicate that the rate of contamination with L. monocytogenes, even for ready-to-eat foods, was low but for other Listeria spp., in particular strains of L. innocua, the rate of contamination was higher, suggesting that more control on food sanitation is required.