Barriers and facilitators of implementing child injury surveillance system

Purpose: Child injuries are a global public health problem and injury surveillance systems (ISS) can be beneficial by providing timely data. However, ISS implementation has challenges. Opinions of stakeholders of ISS implementation barriers and facilitators are a good source to understand this phenomenon. The aim of this study is to investigate barriers and facilitators of implementing ISS in Iran. Methods: This is a qualitative study. Data were gathered through interviews with 14 experts in the field of child injury and prevention from Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education (MOHME), medical universities, pediatrics hospitals, general hospitals and health houses during January 2017 to September 2017. Data collection and analysis continued until data saturation. Data were analyzed using content analysis through identifying meaning units. Results: Barriers were classified in three main categories and nine subcategories including management barriers (including performance, coordination and cooperation, supervision and attitude), weakness in data capture and usage (including data collection, data recording and data dissemination) and resource limitation (including human and financial resources). Facilitators identified in three areas of policy making (including empowerment and attitude), management (including organization, function and cooperation and coordination) and data recording and usage (including data collection/distribution and data recording). Conclusion: The most important barrier is lack of national policy in child injury prevention. The most important facilitator is improving MOHME function through passing supportive regulations. Effective data usage and dissemination of information to those requiring data for policy making can help reduce child injuries. Coalition of stakeholders helps overcome existing barriers.     

Protective effect of raisin (currant) against spatial memory impairment and oxidative stress in Alzheimer disease model

Objectives: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by progressive pathological changes of the brain. A number of studies demonstrated compelling evidence of the importance of oxidative processes in AD pathogenesis. Raisin contains polyphenol, phenolic acid, and tannin compounds, which have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The present study was aimed to evaluate the protective effect of raisin on neurobehavioral and histological changes in rats with Alzheimer.

Methods: Animal model of AD was induced by intraperitoneal injection of aluminium chloride for 60 days (100?mg/kg body weight). During these 60 days both Alzheimer’s and control rats were given 6?g of raisin per rat. At the end of the treatment, blood was collected for biochemical assessment. We used a Morris water task and passive avoidance test to assess spatial memory.

Results: Our results showed that aluminium exposure significantly decreased the memory in the MWT and passive avoidance test, but in the raisin?+?AlCl₃ group, it significantly increased spatial memory in both tests. Also, Aluminium exposure significantly increased malondialdehyde (MDA) and decreased ferric reducing ability of plasma (ferric reducing/antioxidant power (FRAP)), while treatment with raisin significantly decreased MDA and increased FRAP in plasma of blood.

Discussion: Our findings showed that raisin has a neuroprotective effect and improves the spatial memory in AD animal models.     

Practise what you preach: the Interactive Whiteboard in preschool mathematics education

The Interactive Whiteboard (IWB) is now a common technological artefact in Swedish preschools and schools. This study examines preschool teachers’ thinking behind the embedding of IWB in the early years’ mathematics classroom and how preschool teachers structure their mathematical activities when using IWB. Two complementary empirical studies, that is, interviews and video observations, were conducted with four preschool teachers. The findings demonstrate that (just) having a positive attitude to technological artefacts like IWB is less likely to enrich the learning environment and lead to pedagogical change. This suggests that teachers’ IWB use is mostly informed by their pedagogical knowledge.     

Synthesis and Evaluation of [67Ga]-AMD3100: A Novel Imaging Agent for Targeting the Chemokine Receptor CXCR4

In order to develop a possible C-X-C chemokine receptor type 4 (CXCR4) imaging agent for oncological scintigraphy, [⁶⁷Ga]-labeled 1,1′-[1,4-Phenylene-bis(methylene)]bis(1,4,8,11-tetraazacyclotetradecane) ([⁶⁷Ga]-AMD3100) was prepared by using [⁶⁷Ga]GaCl₃ and AMD-3100 for 2 h at 50 °C (radiochemical purity: >95% ITLC, >99% HPLC, specific activity: 1800–2000 TBq/mmol) in acetate buffer. The stability of the complex was checked in the presence of human serum (37 °C) and in the final formulation for four days. The biodistribution of the labeled compound in the vital organs of wild type Sprague-Dawley rats was determined and compared with that of the free Ga³⁺ cation up to 48 h. Considering the spleen as the target organ, the best target:non target ratios were obtained 48 h post-injection (spleen:blood ratio; 14.5 and spleen:muscle ratio; 88.4). Initial SPECT images and biodistribution results in the wild type rats matched each other and demonstrated rapid washout of the tracer from the urinary tract. SPECT images in human breast carcinoma-bearing mice demonstrated a detectable tumor uptake in 48 h post-injection.     

Hyaluronidase in sub-Tenon's anesthesia for phacoemulsification, a double-blind randomized clinical trial

AIM: To investigate the effect of hyaluronidase use on the quality of sub-Tenon's anaesthesia for phacoemulsification. METHODS: This was a randomized, double-blind clinical trial which was conducted at Nikookari Eye Hospital for 5 months. Forty-two eyes of candidates for phacoemulsification under sub-Tenon's anaesthesia were randomly allocated to two equal groups and received either 2 mL of lidocaine 2% solution with (LH), or without (L) addition of hyaluronidase (150IU/mL). Akinesia was assessed 15 minutes after sub-Tenon’s injection. Patients and surgeon’s satisfaction, as well as the postoperative pain (the visual analogue scale, VAS) were investigated after operation. The contingency tables (including the Chi-square or Fisher's exact tests, when appropriate) and parametric analysis (the independent samples t test) were used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Complete akinesia (33.3% vs 4.8%, P=0.04), as well as the patients (85.7% vs 57.1%, P=0.04) and surgeon’s satisfaction (87.5% vs 52.4%, P=0.02) were significantly more frequent in LH than in L group. The mean VAS was significantly lower in the same group (1.90±1.45 vs 3.00±1.55, P=0.04). CONCLUSION: Addition of hyaluronidase to lidocaine solution for sub-Tenon's anesthesia significantly improves the ocular akinesia, enhances the intra-operative patients and surgeons' satisfaction, and attenuates the postoperative pain.     

The clinical and laboratory survey of Iranian patients with hyper-IgE syndrome

In order to determine the clinical and laboratory findings of Iranian patients with presumed hyper-immunoglobulin E syndrome (HIES), the medical records of 22 patients from 21 unrelated families, who had been registered in the Iranian Primary Immunodeficiency Registry, were observed. The median age of patients at the time of first symptom and at the time of diagnosis was 1 month and 52.5 months, respectively, with a median diagnosis delay of 70 months. 13 families had consanguineous marriages. IgE level was higher than 2000 IU/ml in all patients, ranging from >2000 to 80,000 IU/ml. The most commonly occurring manifestations were: eczema and dermatitis, pneumonia, upper respiratory tract infections, cutaneous abscesses, diarrhoea, deep abscesses, and otitis media. Other less frequent manifestations were: mucocutaneous candidiasis, sinusitis, cutaneous ulcers, Molluscum contagiosum, herpetic keratitis, onychomycosis, conjunctivitis, septic arthritis, and meningitis. Five patients were complicated by bronchiectasis due to recurrent pneumonia and 5 patients died because of severe infections and malignancy. The HIES is a multisystem disorder that affects especially cutaneous, respiratory, skeletal and the immune system. Although HIES is a rare condition, the recurrent infections should always raise a suspicion, which deserves further evaluation for detecting the syndrome.