Effect of bright light on shift work nurses in hospitals.

The aim of this study are to assess, in a hospital setting, the effects of Bright Light (BL) on the rhythms in body temperature, plasma melatonin, plasma cortisol and subjective alertness during shift work. In our experimental design, 34 healthy shift work nurses from a university hospital were exposed to bright light (4500 lux) during two break times (21:15 to 22; 00 and 3:15 to 4:00) for four consecutive weeks. In this survey, the subjects were studied under 24 h of realistic conditions during which their plasma cortisol and plasma melatonin was measured at 3 h intervals.

Prevalence of mental disorders among shift work hospital nurses in Shiraz, Iran.

The present study was conducted to determine the prevalence of mental disorders among shift work hospital nurses in Shiraz. One thousand one hundred and ninety five nurses from 12 general hospitals were investigated by Persian version of General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28) as screen tool. Using a checklist, structured observations were made to assess working environment.

Isolation and structure elucidation of three glycosides and a long chain alcohol from Polianthes tuberosa Linn.

Three glycosides and a long chain alcohol were isolated from the bulbs of Polianthes tuberosa, these were identified as 3,29-dihydroxystigmast-5-ene-3-O-beta-D-galactopyranoside (1), ethyl beta-D-galactopyranoside (2), ethyl-alpha-D-galactopyranoside (3), and 1-tricosanol (4). The structures were determined by extensive spectroscopic and chemical methods. All four isolated compounds were screened for their cytotoxicity, antibacterial and antifungal activities, none of the compounds showed any significant activity.