Antibacterial adhesive based on oxidized tannic acid-chitosan for rapid hemostasis

Currently, bacterial infections and bleeding interfere with wound healing, and multifunctional hydrogels with appropriate blood homeostasis, skin adhesion, and antibacterial activity are desirable. In this study, chitosan-based hydrogels were synthesized using oxidized tannic acid (OTA) and Fe3+ as cross-linkers (CS-OTA-Fe) by forming covalent, non-covalent, and metal coordination bonds between Fe3+ and OTA. Our results demonstrated that CS-OTA-Fe hydrogels showed antibacterial properties against Gram-positive bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus)and Gram-negative bacteria (Escherichia coli), low hemolysis rate (< 2 %), rapid blood clotting ability, in vitro (< 2 min), and in vivo (90 s) in mouse liver bleeding. Additionally, increasing the chitosan concentration from 3 wt% to 4.5 wt% enhanced cross-linking in the network, leading to a significant improvement in the strength (from 106 ± 8 kPa to 168 ± 12 kPa) and compressive modulus (from 50 ± 9 kPa to 102 ± 14 kPa) of hydrogels. Moreover, CS-OTA-Fe hydrogels revealed significant adhesive strength (87 ± 8 kPa) to the cow's skin tissue and cytocompatibility against L929 fibroblasts. Overall, multifunctional CS-OTA-Fe hydrogels with tunable mechanical properties, excellent tissue adhesive, self-healing ability, good cytocompatibility, and fast hemostasis and antibacterial properties could be promising candidates for biomedical applications.

Prevalence and severity of carpal tunnel syndrome in women

BACKGROUND

Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is entrapment of median nerve in carpal tunnel of the wrist. The prevalence of CTS related to pregnancy and non-pregnancy is unknown in some countries such as Iran. The main aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of CTS in women of Boyerahmad Township located in South-West part of Iran.

METHODS

This cross-sectional descriptive analytic study was done since February 2010 to January 2011 in Obstetrics and Gynecology clinics in 2656 non-pregnant and 1508 pregnant women. The women that had clinical symptoms of CTS performed standard electro diagnostic techniques for rule in or rule out of CTS.

RESULTS

The prevalence of CTS in pregnant and non- pregnant women was 3.4 and 2 .3 percent respectively. The prevalence of CTS in all women was 2.7%. Overall, 51 pregnant women had CTS that 59.4% had mild, 18.8 % had moderate and 21.9% had severe CTS. Sixty-one non-pregnant women had CTS that 73.6 %had mild, 20.8 %t had moderate and 5.6 % had severe CTS.

CONCLUSION

Although the prevalence of CTS in Iranian pregnancy is higher than non-pregnancy women conservative treatment is safe and more effective.

FC03-01 - The relationship of internet addiction with family functioning and mental health among Iranian students

Introduction

One salient impact of information technology on students’ lives is the ever-increasing use of the Internet. Although there exist many reports in the media regarding the unhealthy Internet use among students, research is still limited.

Objectives

Thus, the purpose of the present study was to examine the relation of internet addiction with family functioning and mental health among students. Two-hundred and eighty students from high school and guidance school were selected by multiple cluster sampling method. They participated in the present study by completing internet addiction questionnaire, family functioning scale and mental health questionnair.The method of this study was descriptive and correlational in order to analyze the results, descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage) and inferential statistics (correlations and regression) were used.

Results

The results showed negative significant correlation between internet addiction and some subscale of family function such as assertiveness, entertainment orientation and religious emphasis. Results also indicated positive significant correlation between 3 subscales of family functioning including dissociation, conflicts and authoritarian family style with internet addiction. No significant correlations were found between other subscales and internet addiction.Regarding the relationship between mental health and addiction to Internet, research results indicate a significant positive correlation between overall mental health score and two subscale of depression and somatization with internet addiction.

Conclusions

The results of this study confirmed the negative effects of Internet addiction on mental health and emphasized the importance of family on intensifying internet addiction. Hence in designing treatment programs, family environment must be considered.