RECENT RESEARCH
masking requirements longer tended to have school buildings that were older and in worse condition and to have more students per classroom than districts that chose to lift masking requirements earlier . In addition , these districts had higher percentages of low-income students , students with disabilities , and students who were English-language learners , as well as higher percentages of Black and Latinx students and staff . Our results support universal masking as an important strategy for reducing Covid-19 incidence in schools and loss of in-person school days . As such , we believe that universal masking may be especially useful for mitigating effects of structural racism in schools , including potential deepening of educational inequities .
Conclusions : Among school districts in the greater Boston area , the lifting of masking requirements was associated with an additional 44.9 Covid-19 cases per 1000 students and staff during the 15 weeks after the statewide masking policy was rescinded .
Herbal medicine
Essawy MM , Mohamed MM , Raslan HS , Rafik ST , Awaad AK , Ramadan OR . The theranostic potentialities of bioavailable nanocurcumin in oral cancer management . BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies . 2022 ; 22 , Article number : 309 .
Background : Oral cancer , one of the most common cancers , has unimproved 5-years survival rate in the last 30 years and the chemo / radiotherapy-associated morbidity . Therefore , intervention strategies that evade harmful side effects of the conventional treatment modalities are of need . Herbal therapy as a complementary preventive / therapeutic modality has gained attention . Curcumin is one of the herbal compounds possessing unique anticancer activity and luminescent optical properties . However , its low water solubility limits its efficacy . In contrast , curcumin at the nanoscale shows altered physical properties with enhancing bioavailability .
Methods : The current study evaluated the impact of nanocurcumin as an anti-oral cancer herbal remedy , comparing its efficacy against the native curcumin complement and conventional chemotherapeutic . An optimized polymeric-stabilized nanocurcumin was synthesized using the solventantisolvent precipitation technique . After assuring the solubility and biocompatibility of nanocurcumin , we determined its cytotoxic dose in treating the squamous cell carcinoma cell line . We then evaluated the anti-tumorigenic activity of the nano-herb in inhibiting wound closure and the cytological alterations of the treated cancer cells . Furthermore , the cellular uptake of the nanocurcumin was assessed depending on its autofluorescence .
Results : The hydrophilic optimized nanocurcumin has a potent cancerous cytotoxicity at a lower dose ( 60.8 µ g / mL ) than the native curcumin particles ( 212.4 µ g / mL ) that precipitated on high doses hindering their cellular uptake . Moreover , the nanocurcumin showed differential targeting of the cancer cells over the normal fibroblasts with a selectivity index of 4.5 . With the confocal microscopy , the luminescent nanoparticles showed gradual nuclear and cytoplasmic uptake with apparent apoptotic cell death , over the fluorescent doxorubicin with its necrotic effect . Furthermore , the nanocurcumin superiorly inhibited the migration of cancer cells by -25 %.
Conclusions : The bioavailable nanocurcumin has better apoptotic cytotoxicity . Moreover , its superior luminescence promotes the theranostic potentialities of the nano-herb combating oral cancer .
Goodarzi H , Valizadeh F , Ghasemi F , Ebrahimzade F , Seifosadat SH , Delfan B , Taee N . Comparing the effect of body wash with marshmallow plant and lukewarm water . BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies . 2022 ; 22 , Article number : 293 .
Background : Fever is the most common reason for children ’ s visits to medical centers . Its management is an essential duty of a pediatric nurse . The aim of this study was to determine the effect of body wash with Marshmallow plant on children ’ s fever .
Methods : This parallel clinical trial was performed on 92 children aged 6 months to 10 years with a tympanic temperature above 38.3 ° C . Participants were randomly assigned to groups . Simultaneously with receiving acetaminophen , body wash was performed in the control group with lukewarm water and in the intervention group with white Marshmallow extract . The children ’ s temperature ; from the beginning of the study was checked and recorded every 15 min in the first hour and in the 4th and 6th hours . The time duration to resolve fever , the frequency of afebrile children at different times of the study , and the value of temperature reduction were primary outcomes . Heart rate , the need to administer the next dose of acetaminophen , and the time of fever recurrence were recorded as secondary outcomes .
Results : The mean time duration to resolve fever in the intervention group was shorter than in the control group ( B = 8.181 , 95 % CI 3.778 – 12.584 , p < 0.001 ). The frequency of the children without fever was higher in the intervention group during different times of the study ( p < 0.001 ). The mean value of temperature reduction in the intervention group was higher than the control group ( B = -0.27 ° C , 95 % CI : -0.347 to -0.193 , P < 0.001 ), although , after adjusting the effect of confounding variables it was not significant ( P = 0.127 ). The mean of adjusted heart rate change ( p = 0.771 ), the time of fever recurrence ( P = 0.397 ), and the frequency of children requiring the next dose of acetaminophen ( p = 0.397 ) did not show a significant difference between the groups .
Conclusion : Body wash with Marshmallow extract reduced children ’ s fever in a shorter period of time and to some extent a greater extent than the control group without side effects . Therefore , it can be used as an effective and safe complementary method to help
228 | vol28 | no4 | JATMS