The design and psychometric evaluation of a COVID-19 social stigma questionnaire in nurses

BACKGROUND

The patient's fear of social reactions, the disease stigma, and being a transmission agent is a psychological and social consequence of contracting some diseases, especially infectious ones, in any society. The present study aimed to design and psychometrically evaluate a COVID-19 social stigma questionnaire in nurses.

METHODS

This mixed-method study was conducted using a sequential exploratory approach according to the Creswell method in Mazandaran Province (Iran) during 2021-22. The study was performed in three phases: (1) a qualitative phase to explain the key concept, (2) designing the scale items, and (3) an experimental phase with the scale psychometric evaluation. In the first phase, nurses' experiences regarding the concept of COVID-19 social stigma were evaluated using a qualitative method with an inductive qualitative content analysis approach. In this phase, the lived experiences of 12 nurses working at hospitals of Babol University of Medical Sciences were extracted through in-depth interviews with semi-structured questions and analyzed by conventional content analysis. The main classes are contradictory feelings, rejection, and adaptation strategies. In the second phase, the designed items were validated by determining face validity, content validity, and construct validity using exploratory factor analysis (EFA). In addition, the scale's reliability was determined through internal consistency and stability.

RESULTS

Following the study's first phase, a pool of questions with 64 initial items was formed. After evaluating face and content validity, the number of items was reduced to 24 cases. An excellent total content validity (S-CVI/Ave) of 0.93 was calculated for the scale. According to EFA outputs, three factors accounted for the most variance (52.82%), and four items were excluded in this phase. The Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin (KMO) statistic and Bartlett's test of sphericity were calculated at 0.776 and P < 0.001, respectively. The results of Cronbach's alpha (0.796) and intraclass correlation (0.793) indicated the correlation and internal consistency of the scale.

CONCLUSION

This scale can help healthcare managers and policymakers apply necessary protective measures by evaluating the social stigma of COVID-19 in nurses and emerging infectious diseases that may occur in the future.

Nanoliposomal Trachyspermum ammi (L) sprague essential oil for effective control of malaria mosquito larvae, Anopheles stephensi Liston

Controlling mosquito vectors at immature stages using larvicides is a practical strategy to stave off mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria. Developing nanoliposomes bearing essential oil is a promising approach to improving the efficacy and stability of EOs-derived larvicides. The main aim of this investigation was to assess the efficacy of nanoliposome containing Trachyspermum ammi L. EO (TAEO-NL) as a new potential formulation to control Anopheles stephensi Liston (Diptera, Culicidae) mosquito larvae. The chemical constituents of T. ammi L. essential oil (TAEO) were first investigated using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis; its dominant component (48.22%) was thymol. TAEO-NL with a particle size of 54.6 ± 5 nm and zeta potential of -18 ± 0.5 mV were then prepared using the ethanol injection method. Besides, the successful loading of TAEO was confirmed using Attenuated Total Reflection-Fourier Transform Infra-Red (ATR-FTIR) spectroscopy analysis. A significant difference (P < 0.05) was observed in the efficacy of TAEO-NL and TAEO with lethal concentration 50% (LC50) values of 14.09 and 59.47 μg/mL against An. stephensi larvae. However, free nanoliposomes show negligible larvicidal effects (<5%). This nano-formulation could thus be suggested as a green product against insects to impede transmission of deadly infectious diseases with possible field applicability scope.

Experiences of Nursing Students in the Care for Patients Diagnosed With COVID-19: A Qualitative Study

The present study examined the experiences of nursing students in the care of patients diagnosed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). This qualitative study was performed based on inductive qualitative content analysis in 2020. The samples were 10 nursing students who were selected purposively from the emergency and intensive care unit wards of hospitals affiliated with Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences in Iran. Data were collected through semistructured and individual interviews and analyzed simultaneously and continuously by Granheim and Landman inductive qualitative content analysis. Experiences of nursing students in the care for patients with COVID-19 include 3 main categories and 7 subcategories: (a) psychological stress (fear of ward and patients and mental conflict), (b) social isolation (rejection by the family and friends, isolation, and concealment of the workplace), and (c) coping strategies as an adaption strategy (a positive impact of spirituality and an effective role of increasing information). According to the findings of this study, the education system and university administrators can help reduce psychological stress and improve the quality of care in nursing students.

Seminal plasma metabolomics profiles following long (4-7 days) and short (2 h) sexual abstinence periods

OBJECTIVE

Metabolomic profiling of seminal plasma has been suggested as a possible approach for a fast and non-invasive male infertility evaluation diagnosis. However, metabolomics profiles in normozoospermic men have not been thoroughly investigated, and the influence of ejaculation-abstinence has not been described. To provide interim reference values and find associations between the metabolomics profiles of human seminal plasma and length of ejaculation-abstinence period in normozoospermic men.

STUDY DESIGN

Semen samples collected after long (4-7 days) and short abstinence (2 h) from 31 normozoospermic males were assessed for routine quality parameters before the seminal plasma was separated by centrifugation. Metabolomics profiles of the seminal plasma were then determined using untargeted Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy.

RESULTS

In total, 30 metabolites were identified. Pyruvate showed a higher concentration, while fructose, acetate, choline, methanol, N-acetylglucosamine, O-acetylcarnitine, uridine, and sn-glycero-3-phosphocoline showed lower concentrations in samples collected after short abstinence (vs. long). All metabolites showed lower absolute amounts (volume × concentration) following shorter abstinence. However, the lower sperm concentration in samples collected after short abstinence resulted in higher absolute amounts of pyruvate and taurine per spermatozoa: pyruvate 1.92 (1.12-3.87) vs. 1.29 (0.83-2.62) (P < 0.001) and taurine 0.58 (0.36-0.92) vs. 0.43 (0.28-0.95) (P < 0.05) ng/10⁶ spermatozoa. Simultaneously, there was a higher percentage of progressively motile spermatozoa in samples collected after the short abstinence.

CONCLUSION

The generally lower concentrations of seminal metabolites after short abstinence periods may be related to the shorter time available for secretion and collection of these metabolites by the accessory glands and the epididymides. The concomitant lower number of spermatozoa in the second ejaculate resulted in increased absolute amounts of pyruvate and taurine per spermatozoa, accompanied by increased spermatozoa motility in these samples. The simultaneous increase in percentages of motile spermatozoa and absolute amounts of pyruvate and taurine per spermatozoa after shorter abstinence might indicate that these two metabolites play a more critical role in sperm motility, which should be further investigated in future studies.

Sustainable drug release from highly porous and architecturally engineered composite scaffolds prepared by 3D printing

Additive manufacturing techniques have evolved novel opportunities for the fabrication of highly porous composite scaffolds with well-controlled and interconnected pore structures which is notably important for tissue engineering. In this work, poly (ε-caprolactone) (PCL)-based composite scaffolds (average pore diameter of 450 μm and strut thickness of 400 μm) reinforced with 10 vol% bioactive glass particles (BG; ∼6 μm) or TiO₂ nanoparticles (∼21 nm), containing different concentrations of tetracycline hydrochloride (TCH) as an antimicrobial agent, were prepared by 3D printing. In order to investigate the effect of fabrication process and scaffold geometry on the biocompatibility, drug release kinetics, and antibacterial activity, polymer and composite films (2D structures) were also prepared by solvent casting method. We demonstrate that even without any additional coating layer, sustainable release can be attained on highly porous scaffolds prepared by 3D printing due to chemical interactions between functional groups of TCH and the bioactive particles. Herein, the effect of TiO₂ nanoparticles on the release rate is substantially more pronounced than BG particles. Nevertheless, agar well-diffusion and MTT assays determine better cellular viability and higher antibacterial effect for PCL/BG composite. Although all the drug-eluting composite scaffolds exhibit acceptable hemocompatibility, in vitro cellular and bacterial studies also determine that the maximum amount of TCH that can inhibit gram positive (Staphylococcus aureus) and gram negative (Escherichia coli) bacteria without cytotoxicity effect (≥95% viability) is 0.57 mg/ml. These findings may pave the way for designing structurally engineered composite scaffolds with sustainable drug release profile by additive manufacturing techniques for tissue engineering applications.

Association between chronic pain and the sperm motion characteristics

Aims

Sex hormones play an important role in pain in many chronic pain conditions. Relationship between chronic pain and sperm quality has not been investigated thoroughly and may provide an insight to better understanding, management and treatment of cases where chronic pain and male sub-fertility co-exist.

Methods

Neat (fresh semen) and processed sperm from 15 males with orthopedic chronic pain (CP) were assessed and compared with 15 healthy age matched controls. Sperm analysis was performed using the SCA computer-aided sperm analyzer.

Results

There was no significant difference in any parameters of the neat semen between the pain and control group. However the percentage of non-progressive motile spermatozoa (type B) was significantly higher in the pain group (27.96) compared to the control group (15.96). Straight line trajectories including linearity, straightness, wobble and beat cross frequency were also significantly higher in the processed sample of the CP group.

Conclusions

This study demonstrated that chronic pain does not affect the sperm morphology, total concentration and motility based on conventional analysis but has significant influence at the level of sperm motion kinetics which could prove to be clinically valuable, prognostic indicators of successful fertilization. Maturation of sperm motility occurs during their transit through the epididymis and vas deferens regulated by androgens. As male gonadal hormones haveaninhibitory, adaptive effectonthe behavioral and neuronal responses to repeated nociceptive stimulation, it can be speculated that the observed difference in sperm kinematic parameters could be related to the alterations in serum sex hormone levels emanating from the chronic pain. Further studies are required to explain the possible mechanism of actionof chronic pain on male fertility.

Assessing of heavy metal concentrations in the tissues of Rutilus rutilus caspicus and Neogobius gorlap from Miankaleh international wetland

The concentrations of four heavy metals (Pb, Cd, Ni and Cr) were measured in tissues of pelagic (Rutilus caspicus) and benthic (Neogobius gorlap) fishes from the Miankaleh international wetland. The maximum concentrations of Pb, Cd, Ni, and Cr (2.06, 1.20, 1.14 and 0.70 μg g(-1), respectively) were measured in the liver of N. gorlap, while the lowest concentrations were measured in muscle tissue collected from R. caspicus (Pb 0.67; Cd 0.25; Ni 0.21 and Cr 0.08 μg g(-1)). The mean concentrations of metals in liver of R. caspicus and N. gorlap followed a trend where Pb > Cd > Ni > Cr, whereas in R. caspicus and N. gorlap gills and N. gorlap muscle the following trend was observed Pb > Ni > Cd > Cr. The data of presented study show that the liver and gill tissues have higher metal concentrations than muscle and also the metal concentrations in tissues of N. gorlap (benthic) were higher in comparison with R. caspicus (pelagic).

Rap1p-binding sites in the saccharomyces cerevisiae GPD1 promoter are involved in its response to NaCl

Mechanisms involved in transcriptional regulation of the osmotically controlled GPD1 gene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae were investigated by promoter analysis. The GPD1 gene encodes NAD(+)-dependent glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, a key enzyme in the production of the compatible solute glycerol. By analysis of promoter deletions, we identified a region at nucleotides -478 to -324, in relation to start of translation, to be of great importance for both basal activity and osmotic induction of GPD1. Electrophoretic mobility shift and DNase I footprint analyses demonstrated protein binding to parts of this region that contain three consensus sequences for Rap1p (repressor activator protein 1)-binding sites. Actual binding of Rap1p to this region was confirmed by demonstrating enhanced electrophoretic mobility of the protein-DNA complex with extracts containing an N-terminally truncated version of Rap1p. The detected Rap1p-DNA interactions were not affected by changes in the osmolarity of the growth medium. Specific inactivation of the Rap1p-binding sites by a C-to-A point mutation in the core of the consensus showed that this factor is a major determinant of GPD1 expression since mutations in all three putative binding sites for Rap1p strongly hampered osmotic induction and drastically lowered basal activity. We also show that the Rap1p-binding sites appear functionally distinct; the most distal site (core of the consensus at position -386) exhibited the highest affinity for Rap1p and was strictly required for low salt induction (< or =0.6 m NaCl), but not for the response at higher salinities (> or =0.8 m NaCl). This indicates tha different molecular mechanisms might be operational for low and high salt responses of the GPD1 promoter.

Quantitative aspects of the use of bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase as a reporter system in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae

The quantitative aspects of the use of the reporter system chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) has been evaluated in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. It was found that the CAT activity measured with a radiosotopic fluor diffusion assay was strongly dependent on the amount of yeast extract applied, both when CAT was expressed endogenously and when a purified Escherichia coli enzyme was investigated. Desalting the yeast extract by gel filtration partly eliminated the problem, indicating that some low-molecular-weight compound was involved in the phenomenon. However, the extract still exhibited stability problems on ice. An immunological CAT assay was tested and found to yield satisfactory quantitative result.