فهرست مطالب sharifabad

Nurses' caring behavior is one of the factors of patient satisfaction. Empathy, on the other hand, is an essential component of the quality of health care. Caring behavior and empathy can be influenced by spiritual intelligence. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between spiritual intelligence with caring behavior and empathy for nurses.

This is a descriptive correlational study conducted in 2019. The target population was nurses working in educational hospitals of Kashan that 185 were selected by stratified random sampling. Data were collected using Questionnaires of King's Spiritual Intelligence, Wolf's Caring Behavior and Jefferson's Empathy. The validity and reliability of the instruments have been determined in previous studies. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation, frequency distribution) and inferential (Pearson correlation test) by SPSS 16 software.

The mean spiritual intelligence of nurses was in the moderate range (97.35 26 26.12). The mean of nurses 'empathy (98.37±18 18.30) and nurses' caring behavior (198.5±41 41.60) were above average and acceptable. There was no statistically significant relationship between spiritual intelligence and caring behavior (P = 0.5), and also spiritual intelligence and empathy level (P = 0.621). However, the correlation matrix indicated a significant relationship between some of the components.

There was no relationship between spiritual intelligence with empathy and caring behavior of nurses, but by reinforcing some components of spiritual intelligence such as expanding consciousness and transcendent awareness, it can enhance nursing caring behavior and ultimately improve patient care.

Lead is known as an environmental contaminant with neurotoxic properties. In addition, people experience different types of chronic stress, especially in developing countries. It has been established that lead   or stress causes structural and physiological damages to the neural pathway like dopaminergic connections. Nevertheless, the effect of lead and restraint stress on movement behaviors when are experienced together has not been studied yet. In this study, male albino mice were randomly divided into different groups (n = 6). Lead acetate was daily injected at 15 mg/kg intraperitoneally for 2, 4, or 6 weeks. Restraint stress  (6 h in a day) was applied alone or in combination with lead acetate for 2, 4, or 6 weeks. The catalepsy, akinesia, and the balance of animals were measured by bar test, elevated beam device, and rotarod to evaluate the movement disorders. 1-Methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine, a known neurotoxin causes movement disorders, was used as positive control group. The results showed that exposure to the lead or stress or their combination for 6 weeks caused catalepsy, akinesia, and imbalance in the animals,while exposure for 2 or 4 weeks didn’t affect the movement items indices. The combination of leadand stress did not show any significant difference compared to the exposure to each of them individually.  From the findings, Lead, stress, and their combination caused movement disorders in a time dependent manner. Short time exposure did not change movement behavior. The co-exposure to the lead and stressdid not show additive or synergistic effects.

Hypothyroidism is an important endocrine disorder determined by some depressed symptoms. Urtica dioica (Urticaceae) is a medicinal plant which has been traditionally used for treatment of a wide range of decreased functions of different organs. In the current study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of hydroalcoholic extract of aerial parts of U. dioica on thyroid hormones in propylthiouracil (PTU)-induced hypothyroidism in rats. Forty-two male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 7 groups including control, PTU, different doses of Urtica dioica hydroalcoholic extract (UDHAE) treated and levothyroxine treated groups. The animals in various groups received water (control group) or water containing 0.1% W/V PTU and then injected saline (control group) or 25, 50, 100, 150 mg/kg UDHAE, respectively for 4 weeks. Positive control group was fed levothyroxine 0.5 mg/kg during the PTU treatment. Then, the blood samples were collected and the levels of thyroxine (T4), triiodothyronine (T3), free triiodothyronine (FT3) and thyroid-stimulating hormone (TSH) measured via the Elisa method. The data showed that PTU decreased the blood level of thyroid hormones but increased TSH, significantly. The 50 or 100 mg/kg doses of UDHAE remarkably increased the blood level of T3 and FT3. The 50 mg/kg doses of UDHAE increased the blood level of T4. None of the UDHAE doses showed significant change in the TSH levels. 25 and 150 mg/kg doses of UDHAE did not change the PTU- diminished level of thyroid related hormones. The findings suggest that 50 mg/kg dose of UDHAE has stimulatory effect on thyroid gland function and raises plasma T3 & T4 & FT3 levels. UDHAE at the dose of 50 or 100 mg/kg could enhance blood level of T3 and FT3 perhaps by increase in T4 to T3 transformation. Higher doses of UDHAE could not increase the level of these hormones probably due to the presence of inhibitory materials.

In the nursing profession, leadership plays a significant role in creating motivation and thus enabling nurses to provide high quality care. Ethics is an essential component of leadership qualifications and the ethical leader can help create an ethical atmosphere, offer ethical guidance, and ensure the occupational satisfaction of personnel through prioritizing moralities. However, some issues prevent the implementation of this type of leadership by nursing leaders. The aim of this study was to identify and describe some problems and obstacles in ethical leadership faced by nursing leaders, and to help them achieve more accurate information and broader perspective in this field.
The present study was conducted using a qualitative approach and content analysis. A total of 14 nursing managers and educators were selected purposefully, and deep and semi-structured interviews were conducted with them. Content analysis was performed using an inductive approach.
Three main categories were obtained after data analysis: ethical, cultural and managerial problems. “Ethical problems” pertain to doubt in ethical actions, ethical conflicts and ethical distress; “cultural problems” include organizational and social culture; and “managerial problems” are connected to organizational and staff-related issues.
Nursing leaders put forth various aspects of the problems associated with ethical leadership in the clinical setting. This style of leadership could be promoted by developing suitable programs and providing clear-cut strategies for removing the current obstacles and correcting the organizational structure. This can lead to ethical improvement in nursing leaders and subsequently the nurses.

This study examined sub-chronic effects of Methamphetamine (METH) on the stereological parameters in the Cornu Ammonis (CA) of the hippocampus in adult mice.
Fifteen adult male mice, eight weeks old, were randomly divided into three groups: receive saline (controls), or low-dose (LD) 2.5 mg/kg METH, or high-dose (HD) 25 mg/kg METH, via daily intraperitoneal administrations for one month. The Cavalieri principle was used to estimate the volume of CA hippocampal field. The physical disector was used to determine the numerical density of CA1 and CA3 pyramidal cells. The qualitative Golgi staining was also done for analyzing the dendritic morphology of CA1 and CA3 pyramidal cells.
Our results showed that in METH-treated mice, the volumes of the Oreins, Pyramidal and Radiatum-Lacunosum-Moleculare layers in the CA1 and CA3, the entire volumes of the CA1 and CA3 subfields and the entire hippocampal volume were significantly increased compared to the control animals (p˂0.001). The estimated total number and numerical density of pyramidal cells in the CA1 and CA3 in both treated groups showed a significant decrease in comparison with the controls (p˂0.001). The pyramidal neurons of CA1 and CA3 in treated mice had more dendritic arborization and greater dendritic length than control mice.
Our findings indicate that sub-chronic METH injection induces stereological changes in the structure of the hippocampus in adult mice. A neuroanatomical basis may be related to the primarily reported impairment of learning and memory abilities in the METH user.

Alpha Methyldopa (AMD) is a well-known treatment for the pregnancy induced hypertension and commonly used in several countries. Indeed the possible effect of AMD on the behavioral activities of offspring, whom are exposed during fetus period, has not been studied. The present study evaluated the possible effect of maternal administration of AMD on the rat offspring memory in the growing age.
This study was carried out in Isfahan Faculty Of Pharmacy in 2015. Pregnant wistar rats were injected 400 mg/kg AMD or saline every day from 14th to 21st pregnancy period, respective to their group (n=8). The spatial memory of male offspring (n=9) was evaluated one, two and three month after the birth in the object recognition task. Also two groups of adult animals (n=7) were daily administered 400 mg/kg AMD or saline one week prior to the memory evaluation. The discrimination (d2), recognition (R) and frequencies of exploration of new object (FB) in the T2 trials are used as the memory indicating factors.
Daily single dose of 400 mg/kg AMD to the mothers one week prior to the delivery significantly decreased the d2 index, R index and FB in two and three months offspring rats compare to the their respective control groups.
The newborn rats exposed maternally to the AMD during the fetus period show cognitive impairments in the growing age. Indeed the rate of memory enhancement follows a slow pattern compare to the control offspring rats.

Lead belongs to the heavy metal group and is considered as an environmental contaminant. Acute or chronic contact to lead can change the physiological function of human organs. One of the most important disorders following the lead exposure is neurotoxicity. Lead neurotoxicity consists of the neurobehavioral disturbances like cognitive impairment. The aim of the current study is to evaluate the possible protective effect of vitamin C (Vit C), vitamin B12 (Vit B12), omega 3 (ω-3), or their combination on the lead-induced memory disorder. Adult wistar rats were orally administered Vit C (120 mg/kg/day) or Vit B12 (1 mg/kg/day) or ω-3 (1000 mg/kg/day) or their combination for 3 weeks in groups of 7 animals each. Then lead acetate (15 mg/kg/day) was injected intraperitoneally for one week to all pretreated animals. The control group received normal saline as a vehicle while the positive control for cognitive impairment received just lead acetate. At the end of treatments animal memories were evaluated in Object Recognition Task. The results showed, although 15 mg/kg lead acetate significantly declines the memory-evaluating parameters, pretreatment with Vit C, Vit B12, ω-3, or their combination considerably inverted the lead induced reduction in discrimination (d2) index (P

Tramadol hydrochloride, a synthetic opioid, acts via a multiple mechanism of action. Tramadol can potentially change the behavioral phenomena. The present study evaluates the effect of tramadol after single or multiple dose/s on the spatial memory of rat using object recognition task (ORT). Tramadol, 20 mg/kg, was injected intraperitoneally (i.p) as a single dose or once a day for 21 successive days considered as acute or chronic treatment respectively. After treatment, animals underwent two trials in the ORT. In the first trial (T1), animals encountered with two identical objects for exploration in a five-minute period. After 1 h, in the T2 trial, the animals were exposed to a familiar and a nonfamiliar object. The exploration times and frequency of the exploration for any objects were recorded. The results showed that tramadol decreased the exploration times for the nonfamiliar object in the T2 trial when administered either as a single dose (P

The hippocampal formation, particularly the dentate gyrus (DG), shows age-related morphological changes that could cause memory decline. It is indicated that Boswellia resins attenuates memory deficits and the major component of Boswellia serrata (Bs) gum resin, beta boswellic acid increased neurite outgrowth and branching in hippocampal neurons. This study was designed to investigate the effect of Boswellia treatment on spatial learning performance and the morphology of dentate granule cells in aged rats. Sixteen male Wistar rats (24 months old) were divided into experimental and control groups. Experimental group was intragastrically administered with the aqueous extract of Bs (100 mg/kg/d for 8 weeks) and control group received a similar volume of water. Spatial learning performance of rats was tested using Morris water maze task. At the end of experiment, the brain was removed and the right hippocampus was serially sectioned for morphometric analysis. The Cavalieri principle was employed to estimate the volume of the DG. A quantitative Golgi study was used to analyze the dendritic trees of dentate granule cells. Chronic treatment with Bs improved spatial learning capability during the three acquisition days. Comparisons also revealed that Bs-treated aged rat had greater DG with increased dendritic complexity in the dentate granule cells than control rats. Hippocampal granule cells of Bs-treated aged rats had more dendritic segments, larger arbors, more numerical branching density and more dendritic spines in comparison to control animals. This study provided a neuro-anatomical basis for memory improvement due to chronic treatment with Bs.

In continuing our work on effects of noise stress, this study aimed to determine the effect of noise stress on the anxiety and the volume of the amygdale nuclei as a key brain component plays role in the anxiety. In this experimental study, two-months old Wistar male rats were randomly divided into noise stress and control groups (n=10 in each group). Control rats were maintained under standard laboratory conditions and noise-stressed rats were exposed to 75 dB noise (1100Hz), 20 min/3 times/day for 90 days. The anxiety behaviors were assessed applying elevated plus maze and Territory discrimination test. Coronal serial sections of 25 µm thickness through rat amygdale were made. Every 2th section was selected and the volume of amygdale nuclei was determined by using Cavalieri's principle. Results indicated that the noise-exposed rats had fewer entrances to open arm of elevated plus maze and spend less time in this arm. In territory discrimination test, noise stressed group had more latency to enter in unknown compartment. The volume of lateral nucleus of amygdale was significantly higher in noise stressed group compared to control animal. Result of this study indicated that the chronic exposure to noise induces anxiety behavior and caused increase in central nucleus of amygdale volume. In this view, our experimental research may present a useful approach in understanding some aspects of the pathophysioloy of anxiety disorders due to noise stress.

Studies show that prenatal stress causes an increase in the volumes of the adrenal gland in young prenatally stressed rats. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of environmental condition during adolescence on reversibility of prenatal stress-induced alterations at adrenal function and structure. 2-month-old Wistar male prenatally restraint stressed rats were maintained in either an enriched-environment or standard living cages throughout the third month of life. At the end of housing period, blood corticosterone levels were measured before, after the acute stress. Also, the volume of adrenal gland was estimated using sterological techniques. Statistical analysis of data showed that corticosterone levels after the acute stress were not significantly different among control and prenatally stressed rats exposed to enrichment environment. However, these levels were significantly higher in prenatally stressed rats exposed to standard environment in comparison to other groups. The total volume and the volume of zona fasciculate of the adrenal cortex in prenatally stressed adult rats significantly decreased following enrichment of environment while it had no effect on these parameters among other animal groups. Discussion & This experimental study showed that the enrichment of living environment could normalize the response of Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal axis to acute stress together with decreasing the volume of cortex of adrenal gland in adult male rats whose mothers exposed to restraint stress during the last week of gestation.

Acrylamide is a monomer which is formed in foodstuffs containing carbohydrates altered to asparagine during thermal processing. Vitamin E is a component in human diet considered as the most effective lipid-soluble antioxidant found in the biological system. It prevents initiation of oxidative tissue damage. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential role of vitamin E on hepatic biochemical and histological integrity in male mice fed with acrylamide. Twenty-eight adult male mice were randomly divided into four groups comprised of seven mice each. The first group served as control fed on ad-libitum diet; second group received 10 mg/kg/day acrylamide in drinking water; in third group, 100 mg/kg/day vitamin E was injected intraperitoneal, and fourth received a combination of acrylamide/vitamin E for 35 days. After cutting liver, liver injury was assessed by hematoxylin and eosin, and reticulin staining. Following acrylamide consumption, the serum levels of liver enzymes significantly increased and light microscopy showed lymphocytes infiltration, inflammation of portal space and central vein, apoptosis, chromatolysis and fibrous expansion in some portal areas in acrylamide-treated mice. There was a statistically considerable difference between biochemical parameters, index apoptosis and histological features when the acrylamide plus vitamin E-treated group was compared with acrylamide-treated group. Acrylamide induced disturbance in hepatocytes activity and increased the serum levels of liver and structural changes in the liver. Administration of vitamin E significantly reduced the increased level of serum aminotransferase and the pathological changes, also effectively suppressed the acrylamide–induced liver injury.

In order to analyze variation and find an efficient selection approach، we used crossing results between two wheat cultivars، Azar2 and 87-Zhong291. F3 plants (374 lines) and four check cultivars planted in the form of augmented experiment. For germination، seeds were irrigated once. After using multiple statistics methods such as cluster analysis، 79 different lines were selected and used for RAPD analysis with UBC3 primer that hadproduced six polymorphic bands (447 fragments in total). Jaccard''s coefficient for parents was low (0. 17). Therefore، Azar-2 and 87-Zhong291 had extreme differences with each other. For the analysis of relationship between polymorphic bands and morphological characters، logistic regression was used. The majority of characters were not related to the bands but some of morphological characters، such as biological yield، plant height، main spike weight، 1000 grain weight and peduncle length showed a negative relation with some of polymorphic bands. Among them، seed number/spike trait had a positive relationship with a 600bp band. This band could be used as a selection marker for seed number/spike trait.

It is well known that prenatal stresses (PS) induce a variety of neurobiological and behavioral alterations, some of them involving the hippocampal formation. This study aimed to determine whether restraint stress influences the neuronal volume and number of granule cells in the hippocampus of adult rat offspring.Ten Wistar pregnant rats were randomly divided: stressed and control groups. Pregnant dams in the stressed group were placed in a Plexiglas restraint tube for 1 hr daily from days 15-21 of gestation. Neuroendocrinological consequences of prenatal stress exposure were evaluated in the male offspring on postnatal day 60. The total numbers and the individual volume of granule cells in the hippocampus were also estimated with the optical fractionator and the rotator methods, respectively. Prenatally stressed rats exhibited prolonged elevation in plasma glucocorticoid levels following acute exposure to restraint stress. Data also indicated that there is a decrease in neuronal volume of hippocampal granule cells in prenatally stressed compared with their controls (625±64.1 µm3 vs. 741±80.6 µm3). There was no significant difference in the total number of granule cells between prenatally stressed and control animals.The present study indicated that exposure of pregnant female during last week of pregnancy leads to a decline in neuronal size in hippocampus of adult male rats without neuronal loss. The present results may provide a basis for the understanding of the reported disturbances in behavior and learning of PS offspring.

In order to evaluate the yield and grain yield components of corn hybrids in two successive planting dates under Karaj conditions, two experiments were conducted at Seed and Plant Certification and Registration Institute (SPCRI). The experiments were carried out in a split plot design based on randomized complete blocks with four replications. In this research, five levels of biofertilizers (control, three different levels of Humiforte, Aminol-forte, fosnutren and kadostim and also a combined level of Aminol-forte-Humiforte and kadostim-fosnutren) were arranged in main plots and three maize hybrids (including SC704, SC500 and SC260) were regarded as the sub-plots. Some traits such as grain yield, grain row number, grain number/row, 1000-grain weight and total grain number/ear were studied. The results of variance analysis in the first planting date disclosed that the effects of different fertilizers, different hybrids and also their interactions on grain yield were not significant, while the results of second planting date showed that different corn hybrids had significant effects on grain yield. Mean comparisons of two successive planting dates revealed that the cultivar 704 produced the highest yield (14.31 and 14.17 t/ha, respectively).

In many crop species, seed germination and early seedling growth are the most sensitive stages to stress. Salinity and drought may delay the onset, reduce the rate and increase the dispersion of germination events, leading to reductions in plant growth and final crop yield. The adverse effects of salt stress can be alleviated by various measures, including seed priming (pre-sowing seed treatment). The general purpose of seed priming is to partially hydrate the seed to a point where germination processes are begun but not completed. Most priming treatments involve imbibing seed with restricted amounts of water to allow sufficient hydration and advancement of metabolic processes but preventing germination or loss of desiccation tolerance. The objective of this study was to determine factors responsible for delayed germination and early seedling growth due to salt toxicity or osmotic effect and to optimize the best priming treatment for these stress conditions. In this experiment, treated seeds (control, KNO3 and hydropriming) of canola (Brassica napus L. cv. Okapi) were evaluated at germination and seedling growth stages for tolerance to salt (NaCl) and drought conditions (PEG-6000) at the same water potentials of 0.0, −3, −6, −9 and −12 bar. Electrical conductivity (EC) values of the NaCl solutions were 0, 3, 6, 9 and 12 dS.m−1, respectively. Results showed that germination delayed in both solutions, being variable with different priming treatments. Germination, and root and shoot length were higher, but mean germination time and unusual germination percentage were lower in NaCl than in PEG at the same water potential. Seeds were germinated at all concentrations of NaCl, but no seed germination was observed at −12 MPa of PEG treatments. NaCl had less inhibiting effect on the seedling growth than the germination. It was concluded that inhibition of germination at the same water potential of NaCl and PEG resulted from osmotic effect rather than salt toxicity. Hydro priming increased germination and seedling growth under salt and drought stresses.

In order to study the relation between sink and source in corn plants, a field experiment was conducted as a factorial experiment in a Randomized Complete Block Design with three replications. A total of 3 cultivars (301, 604 and 700) and four leaf clippings (without leaf clipping, ear leaf clipping, above ear leaf clipping, and below ear leaf clipping) were used during 2007 crop season. Results showed that oil, grain yield, globulin, glutamine, and carbohydrates were different among cultivars and treatment compositions. Leaf clipping did not affect oil, globulin and carbohydrates but yield and other quality traits were influenced by leaf clipping. Grain yield reduction was observed in 700, 406 and 301 in ascending order. The highest grain yield was observed in all cultivars under control treatment. Ear leaf clipping and below ear leaf defoliation ranked second for yield production. The lowest yield was observed in above ear leaf clipping treatment. Overall, all leaf clipping treatments produced similar amounts of oil, globulin and carbohydrates. The highest glutamine was obtained in above ear leaf clipping that was similar with ear leaf clipping treatment. Control treatment had the lowest glutamine similar to ear leaf clipping and below ear leaf clipping treatments. Above ear leaf clipping strongly increased grain prolamine and albumin. The lowest prolamine was obtained from below ear leaf clipping and without leaf clipping treatments. but the minimum grain albumin was belonged to ear leaf clipping. Leaf clipping treatments were ranked in four different groups with aspect to grain albumin concentration whereas control and below leaf clipping treatments had no difference in grain prolamine. The highest oil, globulin, glutamine, prolamine and carbohydrate belonged to the cultivar 604. Globulin concentration in grain of 604 and 700 cultivars and prolamine in grain of 604 and 301 cultivars were similar. Cultivar 301 produced the lowest globulin and prolamine but its oil, glutamine and carbohydrates were similar to 700 and 301 cultivars. Cultivar 700 produced the highest albumins under above ear leaf clipping treatment.

The effects of chronic lithium exposure on spatial memory in rats remain controversial. In this study a time course of the effects of lithium, administered systemically, on spatial memory acquisition in Morris water maze was investigated. Lithium (600 mg/L) was administered to four groups of rats in their drinking water; the first group of animals received lithium for one week, the second group for two weeks, the third group for three weeks, and the fourth group for four weeks. As controls, four groups of animals received only normal drinking water for the same period of time. Toward the end of their lithium or water treatment, all animals were trained for four days; each day included one block and each block contained four trials. Test trials were conducted 48 hrs after completion of the lithium treatment. Escape latency, traveled distance and swimming speed were evaluated during testing trials. Brain tissues from animals were processed according to the standard protocols for immunohistochemical analysis. Lithium treatment decreased escape latency and traveled distance, but not swimming speed, compared with controls, suggesting significant spatial memory acquisition enhancement by lithium. Quantitative analysis showed that lithium, particularly after four weeks of exposure, significantly increased the number and density of immunostained ChAT-containing (choline acetyltransferase) neurons in the medial septal area in comparison with control groups. There was also a significant correlation between the number of immunostained ChAT neurons and behavioral measures. These results suggest that chronic oral administration of lithium causes spatial memory acquisition improvement in rats and an increase in ChAT immunostaining levels in medial septal nuclei.

ObjectiveThe hippocampal circuit integrity is crucial for learning and memory. Despite the existing reports on hippocampal–dependent memory impairment due to noise stress, there are only a few studies on the effect of noise stress on anatomical structure of hippocampus. The present study is aimed to investigate the likely effects of chronic noise exposure on the volume of rat hippocampus.Materials and MethodsTwo-month male Wistar rats were randomly divided into three groups (n=10 in each group). In the control group rats were maintained under standard laboratory conditions (150 days). In the noise-exposed group: Rats were exposed to 40 dB unmodulated sinosoidal noise with a frequency of 1100 Hz for 20 mins, three times per day for 90 days. The recovery group rats were exposed to noise for 90 days and allowed to survive without further treatment until the day of sacrifice (180th day). The right hemispheres were selected for stereological study. Twenty five μm thick sections were cut along the entire extent of the hippocampus. Using systematic uniformly random sampling, one section from every twenty sections was analyzed. Volume estimation was performed using Cavalieri principle.ResultsStatistical analysis revealed that noise stress induces a significant reduction in volume of all layers of hippocampal subdivisions, except CA1 hippocampal field. In addition, we found that rats which were allowed to recover from noise displayed larger volume of dentate gyrus and CA3 hippocampal field in comparison to noise-exposed rats.ConclusionReduced volume of hippocampal layers most probably reflects structural alterations in the neurites of related neurons. These results provide a neuroanatomical basis that may be relevant to the reported memory disturbances in human and animals following noise stress