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Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN): Twinkling Stars Unite to Make the World Glow
... Life sciences, including clinical medicine, are an outstanding showcase for internationally collaborative scientific efforts. A quintessential example of collaborative activities is the investigation of emerging viruses, especially SARS-CoV-2 (COVID- 19). Without collaborative measures, such as the development of international registries and sharing expertise as well as technologies, we could not obtain our current rapidly growing understanding of COVID-19 [8][9][10]. ...
... Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization and network, which was established on January 1, 2016, to promote professional, scientific research and education worldwide [17][18][19][20]. In 2020, the USERN established the U100 platform, including a network of at least one-hundred academic institutes worldwide with the vision of providing an ideal environment for reciprocal scientific exchange all around the world by removing the borders between countries and disciplines [21]. ...
Scientific collaboration has been a critical aspect of the development of all fields of science, particularly clinical medicine. It is well understood that myriads of benefits can be yielded by interdisciplinary and international collaboration. For instance, our rapidly growing knowledge on COVID-19 and vaccine development could not be attained without expanded collaborative activities. However, achieving fruitful results requires mastering specific tactics in collaborative efforts. These activities can enhance our knowledge, which ultimately benefits society. In addition to tackling the issue of the invisible border between different countries, institutes, and disciplines, the border between the scientific community and society needs to be addressed as well. International and transdisciplinary approaches can potentially be the best solution for bridging science and society. The Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization and network to promote professional, scientific research and education worldwide. The fifth annual congress of USERN was held in Tehran, Iran, in a hybrid manner on November 7-10, 2020, with key aims of bridging science to society and facilitating borderless science. Among speakers of the congress, a group of top scientists unanimously agreed on The USERN 2020 consensus, which is drafted with the goal of connecting society with scientific scholars and facilitating international and interdisciplinary scientific activities in all fields, including clinical medicine.
... Life sciences, including clinical medicine, are an outstanding showcase for internationally collaborative scientific efforts. A quintessential example of collaborative activities is the investigation of emerging viruses, especially SARS-CoV-2 (COVID- 19). Without collaborative measures, such as the development of international registries and sharing expertise as well as technologies, we could not obtain our current rapidly growing understanding of COVID-19 [8][9][10]. ...
... Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization and network, which was established on January 1, 2016, to promote professional, scientific research and education worldwide [17][18][19][20]. In 2020, the USERN established the U100 platform, including a network of at least one-hundred academic institutes worldwide with the vision of providing an ideal environment for reciprocal scientific exchange all around the world by removing the borders between countries and disciplines [21]. ...
Scientific collaboration has been a critical aspect of the development of all fields of science, particularly clinical medicine. It is well understood that myriads of benefits can be yielded by interdisciplinary and international collaboration. For instance, our rapidly growing knowledge on COVID-19 and vaccine development could not be attained without expanded collaborative activities. However, achieving fruitful results requires mastering specific tactics in collaborative efforts. These activities can enhance our knowledge, which ultimately benefits society. In addition to tackling the issue of the invisible border between different countries, institutes, and disciplines, the border between the scientific community and society needs to be addressed as well. International and transdisciplinary approaches can potentially be the best solution for bridging science and society. The Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN) is a non-governmental, non-profit organization and network to promote professional, scientific research and education worldwide. The fifth annual congress of USERN was held in Tehran, Iran, in a hybrid manner on November 7–10, 2020, with key aims of bridging science to society and facilitating borderless science. Among speakers of the congress, a group of top scientists unanimously agreed on The USERN 2020 consensus, which is drafted with the goal of connecting society with scientific scholars and facilitating international and interdisciplinary scientific activities in all fields, including clinical medicine.
... Reuters), and a number of Nobel/Abel Laureates (Rezaei, 2018). One of the long-term goals of USERN is to take a leading role in the scientific world by making universal science policies. ...
... USERN has organized more than 900 educational and inspirational events and helped many students to gain different skills, find their future path, and learn how to fly in the borderless sky of science. USERN has targeted borderless scientific collaborations by facilitating scientific exchange since its establishment (3); students and faculty members exchange program with Kharkiv National Medical University in Ukraine during 2017-2021, the Advanced Course of Primary Immunodeficiencies (PIDs) in collaboration with Università Mediterranea of Reggio Calabria in Italy in 2018, minor global health exchange program with Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, the Netherlands in 2019, and the Global Health School in collaboration with Akkon University in Berlin, Germany, in 2022 are some examples of exchange programs initiated and organized by USERN (3)(4)(5). USERN developed the U100 platform, by which it linked 100 universities and scientific institutes to facilitate borderless scientific networking (6). During the COVID-19 pandemic, the universities' and educational institutes' activities were forced to be limited as per health protocols to prevent the spread of the disease. ...
... Education, as defined by USERN, is "the process of receiving or giving systematic instructions to prepare individuals to be functional in learning and generating knowledge and spreading wisdom" (2). As one of the central organizations which have been established to promote science without borders, USERN has organized over 800 educational and inspirational scientific events, including different scientific workshops, Focused Group Discussions (FGD), Meet the Expert sessions (USERN Expert Express Event, UEEE), Scientific Debates, USERN Research Week Events, talks, and schools, during the first six years of activity (3,4). At the dawn of the 7 th year of activity, USERN is also proud to have its invaluable scientific community including over 18,000 members, more than 600 top 1% scientists, and 19 Nobel/Abel laureates as its Advisory Board members, 63 USERN junior ambassadors (UJAs), 70 USERN Interest Groups (UIGs), 78 Memorandum of Understandings (MoUs), and 46 USERN offices ( Figure 2). ...
The article's abstract is not available.
... USERN was established on January 1 st , 2016, to promote professional, scientific research, and education worldwide (6)(7)(8)(9). USERN is honored to have over 10,000 members from all five continents with thirteen Nobel and two Abel laureates and more than 350 world top 1% scientists as Advisory Board members (10). USERN members are involved in more than 80 active research interest groups, and the numbers are still counting. ...
The article's abstract is no available.
... January 1 st 2019 marked the 3 rd Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN) anniversary, a non-profit scientific network to mean "science without borders" (1)(2)(3)(4). Three years ago on January 1 st 2016, USERN held the 1 st meeting of USERN Advisory Board members, looking up to the group of about 30 of world's top 1% scientists to build the scientific network envisioned as the main goal in its statute (5,6). ...
This article is an Editorial and does not include an Abstract.
Diet is one of the crucial factors affecting the diversity of the human microbiome. Bacterial vaginosis, the most common vaginal infection in women of childbearing age, is characterized by an imbalance in the vaginal microbiome. However, the association between dietary intake and bacterial vaginosis remains largely unexplained. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the association between junk food consumption and the odds of bacterial vaginosis. In the setting of a hospital-based case-control study using a simple sampling method in 2020, 144 incident bacterial vaginosis cases diagnosed by Amsel criteria, and 151 controls entered the study through the gynecology clinic in Tehran, Iran. Using a food frequency questionnaire, dietary intakes in the last year were collected. Food items with low nutritional quality and high in sugar, salt, saturated and trans-fatty acids were
categorized in the “Junk food” group. This group included sweets and desserts (biscuits, doughnuts, cookies, chocolates, cakes, and candies), sweet beverages and fast foods (pizza, hamburgers, and sausages), chips, and cheesepuffs. There was no significant difference in the mean±SD age of the cases and controls (30 ± 6 and 31 ± 7 years, respectively). The mean±SD body mass index was significantly higher in the cases (26.3 ± 4.4) compared to the controls (25.4 ± 4.9). Family history of bacterial vaginosis was significantly higher in the cases than in the controls (p<0.001). After adjustment of confounding variables, the odds of bacterial vaginosis in the highest tertile of junk food consumption were more than two times greater compared to the lower tertile (aOR: 2.27, 95%CI: 1.11-4.63, ptrend = 0.025). The results show that there is a positive association between junk food consumption and bacterial vaginosis, and therefore junk food consumption may disturb the balance of the vaginal microbiome.
Background: Psychological first aid (PFA) is suggested as a preferred method of initial psychosocial support for people who have experienced a traumatic event. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of PFA training on the level of knowledge, attitude, and ability of medical sciences students—the future providers of forefront services during a crisis.
Methods: Eighty Iranian students of medical sciences were divided into two groups of 40 experimental and 40 control participants. The control group did not receive any training, while the experimental group received eight hours of online PFA training. In four sessions, topics such as “approach to people affected by crises,” “protecting yourself and others during crises,” and “recruiting the main pillars of PFA—prepare, look, listen, and link” were discussed. Based on their field of study, we grouped the participants into eight heterogeneous groups to boost performance. A trained psychologist was assigned to each group to facilitate group discussions. After each lecture, each group discussed their given scenario in a breakout room. The participants would then role-play the scenario in the main room and improve their performance with feedback. The effectiveness of the course was evaluated using pretests and posttests. Both experimental and control groups filled a questionnaire with 15 questions on knowledge and 14 on the attitude and ability to perform PFA.
Results: Contrary to the control group, the experimental group earned significantly higher posttest scores of knowledge and attitude than its pretest scores (P<0.05). ANCOVA demonstrated a significant difference between the experimental and control groups (P<0.05) regarding knowledge and attitude variables, with the experimental showing higher scores than the control.
Conclusion: Training PFA to students of medical sciences can prepare them for performing PFA during disasters, as this training improves the knowledge, attitude, and ability of the trainees regarding PFA.
In the COVID-19 era, while we are encouraged to be physically far away from each other, social and scientific networking is needed more than ever. The dire consequences of social distancing can be diminished by social networking. Social media, a quintessential component of social networking, facilitates the dissemination of reliable information and fighting against misinformation by health authorities. Distance learning, telemedicine, and telehealth are among the most prominent applications of networking during this pandemic. Additionally, the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the importance of collaborative scientific efforts. In this chapter, we summarize the advantages of harnessing both social and scientific networking in minimizing the harms of this pandemic. We also discuss the extra collaborative measures we can take in our fight against COVID-19, particularly in the scientific field.
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