Ulcerative colitis is a chronically recurrent inflammatory bowel disease of unknown origin. In the present study, the effect of ginger (rhizome of Zingiber officinale Roscoe) volatile oil on a rat model of colitis was evaluated.

OBJECTIVE: In the present study, we aimed to evaluate the effects of high doses of dexamethasone (DEX) in early pregnancy on pregnancy outcomes. METHODS: Pregnant BALB/c mice were treated with high-dose DEX in the experimental group or saline in the control group on gestational days (GDs) 0.5 to 4.5. Pregnant mice were sacrificed on GDs 7.5, 13.5, or 18.5 and their peripheral blood, placentas, fetuses, and uterine tissue were collected. Decidual and placenta cell supernatants were examined to evaluate the effect of DEX on the proliferation of mononuclear cells, the quantity of uterine macrophages and uterine natural killer (uNK) cells, and levels of progesterone and 17β-estradiol, as determined by an 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazole-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay, immunohistochemistry, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. We also were measured fetal and placental growth parameters on GD 18.5. RESULTS: We found that high doses of DEX were associated with an increased abortion rate, enhancement of the immunosuppressive effect of the decidua, alterations in placental growth parameters, decreased progesterone and 17β-estradiol levels, and a reduced frequency of macrophages and uNK cells. CONCLUSION: Our data suggest that the high-dose administration of DEX during early pregnancy negatively affected pregnancy outcomes.
Abortion, Induced ; Animals ; Decidua ; Dexamethasone* ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Estradiol ; Female ; Fetus ; Immunohistochemistry ; Killer Cells, Natural ; Macrophages ; Mice ; Placenta ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Outcome* ; Pregnancy* ; Progesterone

Objectives: With the sudden global shift to online learning modalities, this study aimed to understand the unique challenges and experiences of emergency remote teaching (ERT) in nursing education. Methods: We conducted a comprehensive online international cross-sectional survey to capture the current state and firsthand experiences of ERT in the nursing discipline. Our analytical methods included a combination of traditional statistical analysis, advanced natural language processing techniques, latent Dirichlet allocation using Python, and a thorough qualitative assessment of feedback from open-ended questions. Results: We received responses from 328 nursing educators from 18 different countries. The data revealed generally positive satisfaction levels, strong technological self-efficacy, and significant support from their institutions. Notably, the characteristics of professors, such as age (p = 0.02) and position (p = 0.03), influenced satisfaction levels. The ERT experience varied significantly by country, as evidenced by satisfaction (p = 0.05), delivery (p = 0.001), teacher-student interaction (p = 0.04), and willingness to use ERT in the future (p = 0.04). However, concerns were raised about the depth of content, the transition to online delivery, teacher-student interaction, and the technology gap. Conclusions Our findings can help advance nursing education. Nevertheless, collaborative efforts from all stakeholders are essential to address current challenges, achieve digital equity, and develop a standardized curriculum for nursing education.

PURPOSE: Motorcycle accident is a major cause of road traffic injuries and the motorcyclists are considered as vulnerable road users. The present study aimed to determine the epidemiological characteristics of fatal motorcycle crashes in Iran. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 28,356 motorcycle traffic fatalities registered in the Legal Medicine Organization of Iran were analyzed during the period between March 2011 and March 2017. The examined variables included demographic characteristics, helmet use, crash mechanisms, crash location, position state, type of counterpart vehicle, cause of death and place of death. In the study, road traffic mortalities involving drivers and/or passenger of motorcycles were included. Cases or events registered without these conditions were excluded from the study. To analyse the data, SPSS statistics 25 and GraphPad Prism 8 softwares were used. RESULTS: Of the 122,682 fatal traffic injury cases, 28,356 (23.1%) were motorcycle users, of whom 95.3% were male and 4.7% were female. Most of the motorcycle fatalities belonged to the age group of 18-24 years (29.1%). Head trauma was the major cause of death (59.0%). Also, the overall proportion of safety helmet use among motorcycle crash victims was estimated at 37.4%. Most of the road traffic crash cases (46.8%) happened out of city and half of people (49.9%) died in hospital. About 77.4% of the victims were motorcycle riders and 21.1% were pillion passengers. The highest rate of mortality belonged to the self-employed (38.4%) and then workers (21.8%) and students (10.2%). In addition, most fatalities occurred in people with low education (77.5%) and the least occurred in university graduates (5.5%). Among 31 provinces of Iran, Fars had the highest (9.3%) occurrence rate and Kohgiluyeh and Buyer-Ahmad had the lowest (0.5%). Most of the crash mechanisms were due to motorcycle-vehicle crashes (80.2%), followed by rollover (9.8%). CONCLUSION Comprehensive public education and special rules are needed to reduce the rate of deaths in motorcycle crashes.
Accidental Injuries ; epidemiology ; mortality ; prevention & control ; Accidents, Traffic ; mortality ; prevention & control ; statistics & numerical data ; Adolescent ; Adult ; Child ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Educational Status ; Female ; Head Protective Devices ; statistics & numerical data ; Health Education ; Humans ; Iran ; epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Motorcycles ; Registries ; Young Adult

Human echinococcosis is an infectious disease caused by tapeworms belonging to the species Echinococcus. This parasite has a worldwide distribution and is considered a neglected tropical disease by the World Health Organization. Due to the diversity of Echinococcus spp. hosts, as well as variation in geographical, climatic, and socio-ethnic conditions, the question of the strains or genotypes of Echinococcus spp. that are involved in human infections is important. The aim of this study was to provide a summary of the available data on genotypes of Echinococcus obtained from the Iranian population. Four international databases (PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and Web of Science) and 4 Persian databases (Magiran, Scientific Information Database, Iran Medex, and IranDoc) were searched for cross-sectional studies that reported the genotypes of Echinococcus spp. in human echinococcosis cases using molecular methods in Iran through July 2018. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess the quality of the selected studies. A total of 559 cases of human cystic echinococcosis were reported in the 21 included articles. The majority of cases belonged to genotype G1 (89.2%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 80.1 to 95.8), genotype G6 (8.2%; 95% CI, 2.8 to 15.9), and genotype G3 (2.3%; 95% CI, 1.1 to 3.9). Since genotype G1 of Echinococcus appears to be the most prevalent genotype affecting humans in Iran, disease control initiatives aimed at sheep intermediate hosts may be the most beneficial. In addition, educational programs and serological screening in individuals may help reduce the national impact of the disease.
Cestoda ; Communicable Diseases ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Echinococcosis ; Echinococcus ; Genotype ; Humans ; Iran ; Mass Screening ; Parasites ; Sheep ; World Health Organization

Human echinococcosis is an infectious disease caused by tapeworms belonging to the species Echinococcus. This parasite has a worldwide distribution and is considered a neglected tropical disease by the World Health Organization. Due to the diversity of Echinococcus spp. hosts, as well as variation in geographical, climatic, and socio-ethnic conditions, the question of the strains or genotypes of Echinococcus spp. that are involved in human infections is important. The aim of this study was to provide a summary of the available data on genotypes of Echinococcus obtained from the Iranian population. Four international databases (PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and Web of Science) and 4 Persian databases (Magiran, Scientific Information Database, Iran Medex, and IranDoc) were searched for cross-sectional studies that reported the genotypes of Echinococcus spp. in human echinococcosis cases using molecular methods in Iran through July 2018. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess the quality of the selected studies. A total of 559 cases of human cystic echinococcosis were reported in the 21 included articles. The majority of cases belonged to genotype G1 (89.2%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 80.1 to 95.8), genotype G6 (8.2%; 95% CI, 2.8 to 15.9), and genotype G3 (2.3%; 95% CI, 1.1 to 3.9). Since genotype G1 of Echinococcus appears to be the most prevalent genotype affecting humans in Iran, disease control initiatives aimed at sheep intermediate hosts may be the most beneficial. In addition, educational programs and serological screening in individuals may help reduce the national impact of the disease.

Human echinococcosis is an infectious disease caused by tapeworms belonging to the species Echinococcus. This parasite has a worldwide distribution and is considered a neglected tropical disease by the World Health Organization. Due to the diversity of Echinococcus spp. hosts, as well as variation in geographical, climatic, and socio-ethnic conditions, the question of the strains or genotypes of Echinococcus spp. that are involved in human infections is important. The aim of this study was to provide a summary of the available data on genotypes of Echinococcus obtained from the Iranian population. Four international databases (PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, and Web of Science) and 4 Persian databases (Magiran, Scientific Information Database, Iran Medex, and IranDoc) were searched for cross-sectional studies that reported the genotypes of Echinococcus spp. in human echinococcosis cases using molecular methods in Iran through July 2018. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess the quality of the selected studies. A total of 559 cases of human cystic echinococcosis were reported in the 21 included articles. The majority of cases belonged to genotype G1 (89.2%; 95% confidence interval [CI], 80.1 to 95.8), genotype G6 (8.2%; 95% CI, 2.8 to 15.9), and genotype G3 (2.3%; 95% CI, 1.1 to 3.9). Since genotype G1 of Echinococcus appears to be the most prevalent genotype affecting humans in Iran, disease control initiatives aimed at sheep intermediate hosts may be the most beneficial. In addition, educational programs and serological screening in individuals may help reduce the national impact of the disease.
Cestoda ; Communicable Diseases ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Echinococcosis ; Echinococcus ; Genotype ; Humans ; Iran ; Mass Screening ; Parasites ; Sheep ; World Health Organization

OBJECTIVEUlcerative colitis is a chronically recurrent inflammatory bowel disease of unknown origin. In the present study, the effect of ginger (rhizome of Zingiber officinale Roscoe) volatile oil on a rat model of colitis was evaluated.

METHODSVolatile oil of ginger with doses of 100, 200, and 400 mg/kg, prednisolone (4 mg/kg), or vehicle were administered orally to groups of male Wistar rats (n = 6) for 5 d. Animals were randomly divided into 6 groups, each group consisting of 6 rats. Colitis was induced by intracolonic instillation of 2 mL of 4% (v/v) acetic acid solution. All rats were sacrificed 24 h later and the tissue injuries were assessed macroscopically and histopathologically.

RESULTSGinger volatile oil with all doses reduced colon weight/length ratio (P < 0.01) and the effects were similar to the reference drugs. Higher oral doses of volatile oil (200 and 400 mg/kg) reduced ulcer severity (P < 0.05 and P < 0.01), ulcer area (P < 0.01) and ulcer index (P < 0.01). On the other hand, evaluation of microscopic scores showed that the dose of 400 mg/kg of volatile oil was effective to reduce inflammation severity (P < 0.01) and inflammation extent (P < 0.05) compared to the control group.

CONCLUSIONIt is concluded that ginger volatile oil could effectively reduce symptoms of experimental colitis in a dose-dependent manner.

Acetic Acid ; pharmacology ; Animals ; Colitis ; chemically induced ; pathology ; prevention & control ; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug ; Ginger ; chemistry ; Male ; Microscopy ; Oils, Volatile ; isolation & purification ; therapeutic use ; Plant Extracts ; isolation & purification ; therapeutic use ; Plant Oils ; isolation & purification ; therapeutic use ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar ; Rhizome ; chemistry