Tag: nevin manimala

Heliyon. 2023 May 23;9(6):e16213. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16213. eCollection 2023 Jun.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of Zishen Yutai Pill combined with western medicine for the treatment of women with threatened miscarriage during the first trimester of pregnancy.

METHODS: Randomized controlled trials published before the end of Apr 1, 2023 on Zishen Yutai Pill and threatened miscarriage were systematically retrieved from China National Knowledge Infrastructure, Wanfang, Sinomed, VIP, PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library. The international clinical trial registration platform and the Chinese clinical trial registration platform of clinical trials was searched from their inception until Apr 1, 2023. Meta analysis of random effect model was used to combine the research data. Chi-squared test and I² statistics were used for heterogeneity test.

RESULTS: Twenty-three trials (enrolling 2411 participants) were included in the review. Zishen Yutai pill combined with western medicine therapy showed significant improvement on human chorionic gonadotropin [MD 19.33 IU/ml, 95% CI (15.84, 22.81)], the total effective rate [RR 1.19, 95% CI (1.15-1.23)], progesterone [MD 7.14 ng/ml, 95% CI (6.14, 8.13)], estradiol [MD 33.69 pg/ml, 95% CI (27.42, 39.96)], duration of abdominal pain [MD -2.36 d, 95% CI (- 3.54, – 1.18)], duration of vaginal bleeding [MD -1.94 d, 95% CI (- 2.93, – 0.94)], and fibrinogen [MD -0.34 g/L, 95% CI (- 0.57, – 0.11)]. There was no significant difference in hematocrit [MD 0.68%, 95% CI (- 0.08, 1.44)] between the experimental and the control group. Zishen Yutai Pill may improve the clinical symptoms in women with threatened miscarriage, such as human chorionic gonadotropin the total effective rate, progesterone, estradiol, duration of abdominal pain, duration of vaginal bleeding, and fibrinogen. Especially for progesterone, the effect of treatment ≦2 weeks is significantly better than treatment of >2 weeks. For estradiol, the effect of treatment >2 weeks is significantly better than treatment of ≦ 2 weeks.

CONCLUSION: Zishen Yutai Pill, as a complementary therapy, significantly improved human chorionic gonadotropin, the total effective rate, progesterone, estradiol, abdominal pain, vaginal bleeding, and fibrinogen in patients with threatened miscarriage in first-trimester pregnancy. However, the systematic review has some limitations, such as degraded information quality, no blinding of patients or doctors, etc. Due to the small sample size and low quality of research, it needs to be further confirmed by large sample and high-quality randomized controlled trials, such as blinding of patients, doctors and outcome assessment should be complemented, clinical follow-up, live birth rate, fetal growth should be supplemented.

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW REGISTRATION: INPLASY202320039.

PMID:37274687 | PMC:PMC10238576 | DOI:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16213

Heliyon. 2023 May 25;9(6):e16530. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16530. eCollection 2023 Jun.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: To explore the roles of Enoxaparin Sodium-Polymethyl methacrylate bone cement on inflammatory factors Interleukin-6 and Tumour Necrosis Factor-α in a rabbit knee replacement model. As well as the mechanisms underlying its potential effects on lipopolysaccharide-induced endothelial cell injury.

METHODS: A knee replacement model was established using New Zealand rabbits. Forty rabbits were randomly divided into four groups: PMMA, ES-PMMA, sham-operated, and blank control groups (n = 10 in each group). Local tissues around the incision were taken at the 30th, 60th, and 90th minute after the surgical implantation of the corresponding bone cement. Immunohistochemistry in the surgical field was used to measure the expression of local inflammatory factors IL-6 and TNF-α. In the in vitro experiments, 1 cm³ of bone cement was immersed in 3 mL of the medium for 24 h. The bone cement was discarded and diluted to 25% with normal medium. Pre-experiments were screened for the best LPS-inducing concentration of 100 mg/mL, and the most compatible LPS concentration was used for subsequent experiments simulating the primary cultures of rats’ Inferior Vena Cava Endothelial Cells. The experiments were divided into four groups: blank control group, LPS induction group, PMMA + LPS group, and ES-PMMA + LPS group. The apoptosis rate was detected by flow cytometry, and the expression levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in the cells and supernatant were measured by ELISA, western blotting, and immunofluorescence.

RESULTS: According to immunohistochemical results, IL-6-positive cells were concentrated in the tissue interstitial space. In the PMMA and sham-operated groups, the number of IL-6-positive cells gradually increased over time. At all time points, IL-6 expression in the ES-PMMA group was much lower than in the PMMA and sham-operated groups. At 30 min, TNF-α positive cells in the ES-PMMA group expressed less than those in the PMMA and sham-operated groups, with no discernible difference between the PMMA and ES-PMMA groups at 60 or 90 min. Using ELISA and flow cytometry, the expression levels of IL-6 and TNF-α were improved and the apoptosis rate was magnified in the LPS-induced group (***P < 0.001) in contrast with the blank control group. Additionally, the expression levels of IL-6 and TNF-α were reduced in the ES-PMMA + LPS group compared with the LPS-induced group (*P < 0.05) and the apoptosis rate was reduced (***P < 0.001), with statistically significant variations. Western blotting and immunofluorescence analysis confirmed that IL-6 and TNF-α protein expression in cells was upregulated in the LPS-induced group compared to the blank control group (***P < 0.001), and the mean fluorescence intensity was enlarged (***P < 0.001). Meanwhile, IL-6 and TNF-α expression in the ES-PMMA + LPS group were down-regulated (**P < 0.01 or *P < 0.05) compared with the LPS-induced group and PMMA + LPS crew protein expression, and the average fluorescence intensity of IL-6 and TNF-α was lowered in the ES-PMMA + LPS group compared to the LPS-induced group (***P < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS: ES-PMMA bone cement reduced the expression levels of local inflammatory factors IL-6 and TNF-α in a rabbit knee model. ES-PMMA bone cement reduced the rate of LPS-induced endothelial cell apoptosis and diminished local inflammatory damage by regulating the secretion of inflammatory factors TNF-α and IL-6.

PMID:37274684 | PMC:PMC10238720 | DOI:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16530

Heliyon. 2023 May 24;9(6):e16294. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16294. eCollection 2023 Jun.

ABSTRACT

Antenatal Care utilizations have become an essential phenomenon to all pregnant women as a means of disease preclusion during pregnancy and safe live birth. To lessen maternal death and disease, proper (minimum eight) antenatal care (ANC) contacts are necessary according to World Health Organization (WHO) new guideline. The aim of this study is to assess the factors affecting proper antenatal care utilization of pregnant Bangladeshi women. The study used data from the most recent Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey 2017-18 for conducting a two-level binary logistic regression model. A weighted sample of 4866 women and 675 clusters were considered as individual and community level respectively. The results exhibited only 11.6% women took proper antenatal care during pregnancy. The study found 23.9% variability in utilizations of Antenatal care belongs to community-level factors. At individual-level, mother’s occupation, body mass index, birth-order, pregnancy intention, education, delivery place, and media access and at community-level, rural communities (AOR = 0.70, 95% C.I = 0.542-0.920), and communities having media access (AOR = 1.38, 95% C.I = 0.979-1.96) had significant relationship with proper antenatal care utilizations of pregnant women. After testing random slopes of individual-level variables, only education of women covariate was found to be varied from community to community. This study suggests that uptake of proper antenatal care depend on both individual and community level covariates and there lies extensive variation among them. Future studies on wider aspect are therefore suggested to determine obstacles in making proper Antenatal care utilizations.

PMID:37274676 | PMC:PMC10238893 | DOI:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16294

Heliyon. 2023 May 23;9(6):e16424. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16424. eCollection 2023 Jun.

ABSTRACT

A seasonal study was conducted to assess the levels, sources, and potential ecological risks of heavy metals (HM) in coastal sediments along the Giresun Coast, located on the southeast coast of the Black Sea. The mean concentrations of HMs as mg/kg were ranked as Fe (27646.37) > Al (27348.55) > Mn (571.87) > Zn (94.16) > Cr (60.64) > Cu (45.66) > Pb (41.37) > Ni (27.29) > Co (14.47) > As (7.36) > Cd (0.20), respectively. At all stations through the year, Al, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, and Ni were in “the minimum enrichment” class as evaluated by the enrichment factor (EF). As assessed by the contamination factor (CF), all HM levels except Pb, Fe and Cu were “low” or “moderately polluted” at all stations and seasons. With the exception of Cd levels, all HMs in all seasons and stations pointed out “low ecological risk” according to the ecological risk index (E_rⁱ). According to the sediment quality guidelines, Ni, Cu and Pb were observed to pose a high ecological risk to habitat. The combined risk assessment indices pointed out low to moderate ecological risk. The study concluded that the region is subject to minimum anthropogenic disturbances in the aquatic environment.

PMID:37274673 | PMC:PMC10238681 | DOI:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16424

Heliyon. 2023 May 19;9(6):e16364. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16364. eCollection 2023 Jun.

ABSTRACT

This study examined student-teachers’ diversity and attitudes toward classroom participation in a Tanzanian university. A mixed research approach was used to answer three research questions: student-teachers’ attitudes toward classroom participation, attitude differences based on their diversity, and the reasons for their attitudes toward classroom participation. The study involved 701 student-teachers in their second and third years of study. Data were collected through questionnaires and focus group discussions and were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Science and MAXQDA software. Results indicated that student-teachers cooperated with colleagues in groups rather than the whole classroom. The results also indicated diversity in classroom participation by gender, programme, and year of study. Further, it was revealed that student-teachers’ attitudes toward classroom participation were based on prior experiences, cultural aspects, linguistic barriers, lecturer pedagogical practices, and teaching context. It is concluded that the student-teachers’ attitudes toward classroom participation were variably associated with their diversity, and the reasons for the attitudes were mediated internally and externally. Therefore, it is recommended that lectures be conducted by employing apt techniques for fostering active participation to enrich the classroom with student-teachers and lecturers’ voices in knowledge construction and sharing. The techniques should be gender, programme, and year of study sensitive while integrating students-teachers’ internal and external mediating factors to create interactive classroom moments that encourage knowledge creation and sharing among the classroom members.

PMID:37274672 | PMC:PMC10238682 | DOI:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16364

Heliyon. 2023 May 25;9(6):e16224. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16224. eCollection 2023 Jun.

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION: Menstrual hygiene management practice is the requirements and necessities; such as the use of a sanitary pad or clean and mushy absorbents, sufficient washing of the genital area, proper disposal of the used absorbents, and other special needs for the women during menstruation.

OBJECTIVE: To assess menstrual hygiene management practice and associated factors among prisoners in south Nation Nationalities and Peoples Region, Ethiopia, 2022.

METHODS: An institution-based cross-sectional study was conducted from May 1 to July 30/2022. The total sample size was 605 and a simple random sampling technique was used to select prison institutions and women. The data were collected through face-to-face interviews. Data were entered using Epi data 4.6 version and analyzed by using SPSS version 26 software. Multicollinearity was checked and the goodness of fit test was done by using the Hosmer Lemeshow model of goodness fit test. Univariate analysis was done and variables with p value less than 0.25 were taken to bivariate logistic regression analysis. Adjusted odds ratio with the 95% confidence interval was considered and statistical significance was at a p-value less than 0.05 in bivariate logistic regression analysis.

RESULT: The prevalence of menstrual hygiene management practice was 50.6% (95% CI 47.3-54.4). Age 19-29 years old [AOR: 5.03, 95% CI 1.73-14.62], educational status; not formally educated [AOR: 0.05, 95% CI 0.02-0.13], educational status; primary level [AOR: 0.17, 95% CI 0.07-0.39], previous occupation; student [AOR: 2.56, 95% CI 1.06-6.21], previous occupation; a private employee [AOR: 4.11, 95% CI 1.48-11.42], previous occupation; government employee [AOR: 3.46, 95% CI 1.18-10.14], absence of support from family [AOR: 0.14, 95% CI 0.08-0.24] and absence of work engagement in prison [AOR: 0.44, 95% CI 0.25-0.78] were associated with MHMP.

CONCLUSION: In this study, about five from ten women in prison practice menstrual hygiene management. Age, educational status, previous occupation, support from family, and work engagement in prison were important risk factors for MHMP. Therefore, support from family and engaging the women to work in prison institutions may increase the MHMP in prison institutions.

PMID:37274653 | PMC:PMC10238586 | DOI:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16224

Heliyon. 2023 May 24;9(6):e16636. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16636. eCollection 2023 Jun.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: The mental health issues due to COVID-19, such as intolerance of uncertainty (IOU), anxiety, stress, and depression, have attracted extensive attention from researchers. The challenges for Pakistani university students could be worse than developed countries due to the lack of online courses/programs and online mental health support provided by academic institutions. Therefore, the current study aims to assess the intolerance of uncertainty, depression, anxiety, and stress of Pakistani university students after the second wave of COVID-19 and the relationship among these constructs.

METHODS: A convenience cross-sectional sampling method was used to collect data from university students in Pakistan between January 2021 and April 2022 via a structured online questionnaire. The Descriptive analysis focused on frequencies, percentages, mean, and standard deviation (SD) were calculated on IOU-12 and DASS-21. Covariance for the research model and confirmatory factor analyses fit indices for the IOU-12 and DASS-21 were analyzed by AMOS statistical packages.

RESULTS: As expected, anxiety, depression, and stress persist among Pakistani university students. On average, they report mild to moderate mental health problems regarding anxiety, depression, stress, and intolerance of uncertainty. Our results indicate a strong positive relationship among the three emotional distress components – anxiety, depression, and stress. However, our results suggest no significant relationship between IOU and the three subcomponents of emotional distress (anxiety, depression, and stress).

LIMITATIONS: First, the cross-sectional survey design means we cannot conclude on the causal relations. Second, the self-report questionnaire embeds subjectivity issues. Last, the generalizability of the sample to the whole student population in Pakistan is limited, considering the sampling method.

CONCLUSION: This study expanded the current knowledge in the psychological health domain (intolerance of uncertainty, anxiety, depression, and stress) due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In practice, higher education institutions should further mitigate university students’ mental health issues. For researchers, our findings inspire future studies to delve into the relationship between IOU and mental health issues due to COVID-19 since our findings display contrary evidence for various reasons.

PMID:37274650 | PMC:PMC10238721 | DOI:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16636

Heliyon. 2023 May 25;9(6):e16667. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16667. eCollection 2023 Jun.

ABSTRACT

Business Ecosystems are made up of a group of companies that cooperate with each other to innovate in a product. This research had the purpose of assessing the scientific activity and thus be able to extract the topics explored by the authors involved, geographical gaps of scientific production and research topics for future studies. In the methodological design, the statistical software VOSviewer and RStudio were used, with which the documentation obtained from Scopus was analyzed and reflected in tables and figures. The results yielded: a) the 7 topics most worked on by researchers on the variable in question, b) a notable geographical scientific gap in Africa, and c) 5 topics of research that can be explored for future scientific papers. In short, this research was performed with high citation documents, therefore, authors are recommended to carry out research in collaboration with authors located in the geographical scientific gap or vice versa but based on the 5 topics of future research, in the niche topics and a declining topic.

PMID:37274643 | PMC:PMC10238731 | DOI:10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e16667

Toxicol Rep. 2023 May 23;10:659-668. doi: 10.1016/j.toxrep.2023.05.006. eCollection 2023.

ABSTRACT

Silica nanoparticles (SiNPs) are used extensively in consumer products and biomedical research basically due to ease of production and low cost. However, insufficient literature is reported regarding the toxicity and biocompatibility of SiNPs. The present study aimed to investigate the potential role of amorphous SiNPs on survival, growth, behavioral alterations, hematology and serum biochemistry of mice at four concentrations (control, 50, 100 and 150 mg/kg/day) of an oral supplementation for a period of 3 months. Signs of toxicity (lethargy, nausea, coma, tremors, vomiting and diarrhea, etc.) were noted at 9:00 am and 9:00 pm (twice a day) and the body weight of each of these mice was measured every week. The data were subjected to mean, standard deviation (S.D). Moreover, One-Way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) and Dunnett’s test were applied for analysis of statistical significance between groups by using SPSS software, version 20. All the mice survived with minor alterations in behavior and no significant weight changes were observed during the stipulated time period. Complete blood count (CBC) analysis indicated non-significant (P ≥ 0.05) systemic dysfunctions of organ systems. However, there was elevation in the level of AST and ALT in the analysis of serum biochemistry, while the values of all other examined parameters were not-significant (P ≥ 0.05). The study concluded that orally administered large silica nanoparticles up to the dose level of 150 mg/kg/day are nontoxic for the in vivo use in mice.

PMID:37274627 | PMC:PMC10238806 | DOI:10.1016/j.toxrep.2023.05.006

ZFA (Stuttgart). 2022;98(12):416-421. doi: 10.53180/zfa.2022.0416-0421. Epub 2022 Dec 1.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Since 2019, the competence center for specialist training in family medicine Bavaria (KWAB) offers an individual mentoring program to accompany specialist training in family medicine. The mentors are confidants for matters of specialist training, private practice, career development and compatibility of work and family life. The training takes place after registration via an online portal.

METHODS: The evaluation was conducted 24 months after the start of KWAB mentoring (06/30/2021-08/01/2021). All active participants were interviewed via online survey. In each case, separate questionnaires were developed, which inquire on the one hand about the content-related aspects of the mentoring, such as topics discussed, and on the other hand about the individual mentoring relationship, such as the interpersonal relationship. The mentees received 39 questions (34 closed, 5 open) and the mentors received 26 questions (21 closed, 5 open), which were subsequently analyzed using descriptive statistics.

RESULTS: N = 30 mentors and N = 72 mentees were invited to participate in the evaluation (25 (83 %) mentors and 32 (44 %) mentees participated). More than half of the participants met each other at least twice. The main methods of communication were telephone, face-to-face meetings, and email contacts. The individual time commitment in each case was judged to be appropriate. According to the mentors, the mentees showed interest in the content of the program and demonstrated availability and commitment. All respondents indicated a high level of satisfaction with one-on-one mentoring and would recommend it to others.

CONCLUSIONS: Mentors and mentees in family medicine residency reported a great benefit from the one-on-one mentoring offered and a will to continue their mentoring relationships even after the project period.

PMID:37274626 | PMC:PMC10225250 | DOI:10.53180/zfa.2022.0416-0421