Journal of Guilan University of Medical Sciences
Year:2021 | Volume:30 | Issue:118|Papers Count:7

Background Considering the high prevalence of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the medical resource constraints, a better understanding of the characteristics of the disease and identifying the factors indicating the severity of the disease can help decide on the allocation of important and limited resources. The current study aimed to investigate the demographic, clinical, laboratory characteristics, and imaging features of critically-ill patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit )ICU) of 3 hospitals in Rash City, Iran. Objective This retrospective study was performed on 138 patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to the ICU. The study patients’,data, including demographic characteristics, underlying disease, laboratory, imaging findings, and disease outcome were extracted from their records. Methods This retrospective study was performed on 138 patients with COVID-19 who were admitted to ICU. Patient data, including demographic characteristics, underlying disease, laboratory and imaging findings, and disease outcomes, were extracted from patient records. Results In this study, the majority of patients were male and in the age range of 55-69 years. Diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and chronic heart disease were the most common underlying diseases,shortness of breath, fever, and cough were the most common symptoms. Ground glass opacities were the most common sign in lung Computer Tomography (CT) scan and an increase in the level of LDH, ESR, CRP, neutrophil percentage, and lymphopenia were the most common laboratory findings in the study subjects. The mortality rate was equal to 90. 58%. Conclusion This study revealed that most patients with severe manifestations of the disease were older, had a history of underlying disease, symptoms of shortness of breath, cough, and fever, and extensive lung involvement in imaging and changes in laboratory results. Mortality remained high despite medical therapy and mechanical ventilation.

Background Attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is one of the most common psychiatric disorders in children and adolescents. Parents of these youth experience more parenting stress. Emotional Intelligence (EI) has a very close relationship with mental health. Objective This study aimed to investigate the relationship between EI and parenting stress in mothers of ADHD youth. Methods This cross-sectional study was conducted on 136 mothers of ADHD children and adolescents under treatment in the Gil specialized consulting center of Rasht City. Demographic questionnaire, PSI-SF parenting stress questionnaire, and Shearing emotional intelligence questionnaire were used to evaluate the participants. Comorbidities extracted from the patient files, based on the diagnosis of child and adolescent psychiatrists. Data were analyzed using SPSS v. 22 by mean, percentage, standard deviation, and Pearson correlation coefficient. Results The relationship between the mothers' mean EI and parenting stress scores were not significant with the age, grade of education, duration of the treatment, and the comorbidities in children (P>0. 05). There was a meaningful relationship between the components of EI (P<0. 05) and the total score of EI with parenting stress scores (P= 0. 001, r=-0. 42). Higher emotional intelligence is associated with a lower parenting stress score. Conclusion Mothers of ADHD youth who had higher EI had less parenting stress.

Background Esophageal Squamous Cell Carcinoma (ESCC) is the seventh most common and lethal malignancy worldwide with a high incidence in Iran. Esophageal cancer has a poor prognosis and low 5-years survival rate. Despite several studies on esophageal cancer, its underlying mechanism remains unclear. Therefore, it is significant to analyze the molecular factors involved in disease for introducing effective diagnosis and therapeutic approaches. Accordingly, the aberrant expression of miRNA was demonstrated in the etiology of esophageal cancer, and applying them as detecting biomarkers was further considered by researchers. This study aimed to evaluate the expression level of miRNA-138 in the tumor tissues of ESCC and normal adjacent tissues. Objective In total, 35 samples of tumor and normal tissues of the esophagus were collected from ESCC patients. Methods Then, RNA extraction was conducted and the expression level of miRNA-138 was assessed in the collected tissue samples, applying real-time RT-PCR. Moreover, the relationship between the miRNA-138 expression level and the patient’, s clinical characteristics was assessed. Results According to the obtained results, the expression of miR-138 was significantly downregulated in the tumor tissues of ESCC, compared to normal adjacent tissues (P<0. 05). Additionally, the level of miRNA-138 downregulation was significantly correlated with tumor differentiation degree and metastasis status (P<0. 05). Conclusion The significant downregulation of miRNA-138 in the tumor samples of ESCC indicated the role of this epigenetic alteration in esophageal carcinogenesis. Therefore, applying the miRNA-138 could be considered as a potential molecular biomarker for ESCC diagnosis and screening.

Background One of the essential factors affecting the conditions of primigravid women is fear of childbirth that may be influenced by factors such as experiential avoidance, cognitive fusion, and difficulty in emotional regulation. Objective The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between experiential avoidance, cognitive fusion, and emotional regulation difficulties with fear of childbirth among Iranian primigravid women. Methods This cross-sectional analytical study was conducted on 300 primigravid women. The data was collected from a government hospital in Rash, Alzahra hospital. The research tools included demographic information form, the questionnaire of experiential avoidance (AAQ-II), Difficulty in Emotional Regulation (DES), Cognitive Fusion (CFQ), and fear of childbirth (CAQ). SPSS v. 16 was used to analyze the data. Descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation coefficient, and multivariate regression were performed. The significance level was considered 0. 05 Results The present study's findings showed a significant reverse relationship between income and fear of childbirth (R=-0. 22, p<0. 05). Experiential avoidance, cognitive fusion, and difficulty in emotional regulation generally had a positive and significant relationship with fear of childbirth and could also predict it. Conclusion The score of fear of childbirth in primigravid women was high, and women with lower income had a higher score in fear of childbirth. Further problems can be prevented by supporting women who are more likely to be affected by fear of birth, holding psychology courses, and controlling emotions.

Background Marital infidelity is a crisis for couples and families and one of the main reasons for divorce and family breakdown, which causes significant turmoil for the committers and their spouses. Objective The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of emotion-based couple therapy and self-compassion-based therapy on emotion regulation in women affected by infidelity. Methods This quasi-experimental study was designed as pre-test-post-test with follow-up. The study population included all couples involved in marital infidelity who referred to Iranmehr Counseling and Psychological Services Center in Rasht, Iran in 2020, from which 20 couples were selected as the sample by available sampling method. Granfsky emotion regulation questionnaire was used to collect data and emotion-focused couple therapy sessions and self-compassion-based therapy were performed for 16 sessions of 4 hours (one treatment every two hours) on a weekly basis. After three months of treatment sessions, couples also participated in a follow-up session in order to measure the duration of treatment. Data were analyzed using combined analysis of variance. Results The results showed that both therapies are effective in increasing the emotional regulation of couples, but there is no significant difference between emotion-oriented couples therapy and compassion-based therapy on emotion regulation (F = 1. 57 and P = 0. 218). Conclusion Both treatment approaches in counseling centers were very effective in helping incompatible couples to improve and reduce marital problems, increasing satisfaction, especially in couples affected by infidelity.

Background Students, as the first adopters of new technologies are more exposed to smartphone addiction than other groups in society, and consequently problems, such as biopsychological and academic conditions. Objective This study aimed to explore the relationship between smartphone addiction and stress and life satisfaction in the medical students of Guilan University of Medical Sciences. Methods The present cross-sectional study was performed on 331 medical students in the intern and trainee of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Guilan province, Iran, in 2020. Web-Based questionnaires were used to collect the necessary data. The personal and social information (age, gender, academic performance,grade point average, the place of residence, marital status, & educational level) and Smartphone addiction scale (SAS), Perceived Stress Scale (PSS,Cohen et al, 1983), and the Satisfaction With Life Scale (SWLS) were completed by the study volunteers. The information was entered into SPSS. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics (Pearson correlation coefficient, Independent Samples t-test, and multiple linear regression analysis) were used in statistical analysis. Results The present research results suggested that smartphone addiction was positively correlated with stress (P=0. 01, r=0. 65) and life satisfaction (P=0. 01, r=-0. 58). Smartphone addiction scores, stress, and life satisfaction were influenced by demographic variables. The results of multiple analyses indicated that stress (β, =0. 52) and life satisfaction (β, =-0. 34), respectively, significantly explained 57% of the variance of smartphone addiction (P<0. 001). Conclusion The increase in smartphone addiction was associated with more perceived stress and lower life satisfaction among medical students. This finding can provide useful insights for policymakers about the psychological effects of smartphone addiction on students.

Background Regarding the chronic nature of epilepsy, and drug resistance in many cases, herbal medicine has received remarkable interest. Objective The present study aimed to determine the anticonvulsant effects of hydro-alcoholic extract of Ocimum basilicum green leaf on Pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced seizure in male mice. Methods In this experimental study, 48 albino male mice, weighing 20-25 g were randomly divided into 6 groups. All study groups were injected intraperitoneally (IP). The negative and positive control groups received saline (10 mL/kg) and phenobarbital (40 mg/kg) respectively. The treatment groups received 100, 300, 500, and 1000 mg/kg doses of hydro-alcoholic extract Ocimum basilicum green leaf. To provoke convulsion, after 45 minutes, PTZ was injected (80 mg/kg) to all research groups,accordingly, the d initiation time of myoclonic and tonic-clonic seizures and the frequency of 24h death were measured. Results The obtained results indicated that the extract delayed the initiation time of myoclonic and tonicclonic seizures, compared with the controls. The delay was significant at doses of 1000 (P<0. 001), 500, and 300 mg/kg (P<0. 01) for myoclonic seizure as well as 1000, 500, and 300 mg/kg (P<0. 001) and 100 mg/kg (P<0. 05) for tonic-clonic seizure. Furthermore, the extract decreased the 24h death. This was significant at doses of 1000, 500, and 300 mg/kg (P<0. 001). Conclusion It seems that the hydro-alcoholic extract of Ocimum basilicum green leaf presented decremental effects on PTZ-induced seizure and death in male mice.