A study on the ethical components of nursing practice (moral distress, ethical sensitivity, ethical decision)

This paper is an applied research in terms of objective and a descriptive research in terms of method. Having prepared the research plan, a questionnaire was designed based on goals and hypotheses of the research and was sent to the statistical universe. Also this paper is a field research in terms of data collection. As regards theoretical bases of the research, library data collection method has been applied. So, the required data has been gathered by referring to the related references, books, libraries and so on. To design a questionnaire and gather the opinions of the statistical universe members, field study method and researcher-made questionnaire have been used. The statistical universe comprises nurses and head of ICU and head nurses of Najmieh Hospital in Tehran. The respondents were selected by random sampling method. Also to estimate sample size, Morgan table was applied. The statistical universe consists of 65 members and according to the table, 56 questionnaires were determined for the research. So 60 questionnaires were sent and 58 ones were returned. Face and content validity of the research tool were approved by experts. The test reliability was estimated 0.777 by calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficient. In this paper, factor analysis based on partial least squares structural equations method has been applied to analyze more important factors and coefficients, estimate independent variables coefficients and even determine effectiveness of each independent variable on each other and determine appropriateness of the questions and their coefficients in explaining the related index. The main result of this paper presents a proper model for the relation of effective variables on nurse performance by using regression model. © IDOSI Publications, 2014

MEMBRANE ACTION IN PROFILED STEEL SHEETING DRY BOARD (PSSDB) FLOOR SLAB SYSTEM

Profiled steel sheeting dry board (PSSDB) system is a lightweight composite structural system that made of the profiled steel sheeting (PSS) connected to the dry board (DB) by self-drilling and self-tapping screws. The objective of this paper is to study the effect of membrane action in improving the flexural capacities of the PSSDB system. According to the literatures, common failure of the PSSDB floor is due to local buckling in the top flanges of steel sheeting at the centre of a simply supported slab. Restraining the horizontal movement at supports may develop the membrane action (MA) in the slab that can remarkably enhance the flexural rigidities of the floor. Experimental tests were conducted along with developing nonlinear finite element model to explore the effect of MA in the PSSDB floor. Experimental results of the PSSDB panel with simply end support were exploited to verify the nonlinear finite element results. The developed finite element model was then modified by restraining the horizontal movement of the slab at the supports. The obtained results disclosed that the developed compressive membrane action enhanced the stiffness of the slab at serviceability load by about 240%

Reproduction and feeding of Buccaneer anchovy (Encrasicholina punctifer) from coastal waters of Qeshm Island, the Persian Gulf

Encrasicholina punctifer is one of the dominant small pelagic and economically most important fishes of the Persian Gulf, especially in Qeshm Island's coastal waters. Specimens of the fish were collected monthly from the fishing area in the coastal waters of Qeshm Island by random sampling method. Investigation on biological parameters of E. punctifer continued from April 2005 to March 2006. E. punctifer is mainly caught by double-boat purse seine in this area. Reproductive studies showed that maturity season of the fish occur in August. The sex ratio fulfill the theoretical 1:1 (P>0.05). L sub(M50) was attained at a total length of 84 mm. The absolute fecundity was estimated at 1217 plus or minus 331. We showed that the species is planktonivore, its diet consisted of a board spectrum of food types, but crustaceans dominated the food with copepods and their eggs, naplius and semi digested copepods constituting 54% of the diet. The next major food groups found in the diet of the fish were Cyanophyceae 21%, Bacillariophyceae 11%, fish egg and scale 6%, Dinophyceae 4%, with Euglenahyceae, Chiorophyta, Dinoflagellates and others items consisting only 4% of the diet. Analysis of monthly variation in the stomach fullness indicated that feeding intensity fluctuated throughout the year, with the highest value in winter. Vacuity Index indicated this species was of semi-voracious appetite fishes

Experimental Study on the Compressive Membrane Action in Profiled Steel Sheet Dry Board (PSSDB) Floor System

This paper describes the experimental work conducted at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia to examine the capability of the profiled steel sheet dry board (PSSDB) system to develop the compressive membrane action (CMA) in the floor. The development of the CMA inside the floor is strictly associated with the horizontal movement of the slab end under the vertical loading. Therefore, the simply supported PSSDB floor was tested under vertical uniformly distributed load. Study of results revealed that the recorded horizontal movement at the roller support of the slab is 0.81 mm in the pin- roller supported case. This proves that the PSSDB floor has the potential to develop the CMA under the pin-pin support condition

Mental health in high-tech system

Stress and mental health at the place of work have received great attention by researchers. In spite of technology improvement in high-tech systems, the operators face new problems, which can affect mental health. There is hardly any published research about stress or mental health in such workplaces in developing countries. This paper presents the application of the self-rating scale General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28) to study mental health of 160 controllers working in a part of Air Traffic Control (ATC) as a high tech system in Iran. Logistic regression analysis showed that demographic variables did not exhibit a statistically significant effect on scores of the test. In order to compare mental health of these operators with general population, an exposure / non-exposure study was designed. Three age groups (less than 29 years, 30 through 39 y, and more than 40 y) were compared in exposed and non-exposed groups. The results of Fisher’s exact test showed that mental distress symptoms were significantly higher in the exposed group. There were significant job effects on somatization, anxiety and depression as well as on the total score of GHQ-28 for the two first age groups (P<.05). No significant effects of the job were found on social dysfunction symptoms in any age groups. The risk ratio of expressing depression and anxiety symptoms were more than three times greater in these operators than general population

Classification of Arcs in Finite Projective Plane of Order Sixteen

The aim of the paper is to classify certain geometric structures, called arcs. The main computing tool is the mathematical programming language GAP. In the plane PG(2,16),the important arcs are called complete and are those that cannot be increased to a larger arc. So far, all arcs up to size eighteen have been classified. Each of these arcs gives rise to an error-correcting code that corrects the maximum possible number of errors for its length

A Comparison between Clinical and Pathologic Staging in Patients with Bladder Cancer

Purpose: To determine the accuracy of clinical staging methods of bladder cancer and TURBT results in estimating the pathologic stage of tumor.Materials and Methods: Thirty two patients who had undergone radical cystectomy were studied in this retrospective survey. The results of bimanual examination, cystoscopy, TURBT pathology report and the tumor contour in CT scan, (size, infiltrative deepness, pelvic lymph nodes involvement and hydronephrosis) were recorded. The type of surgery and pathologic report of cystectomy sample were analyzed as well. Then the results of bimanual examination, tumor size, hydronephrosis and CT scan findings including tumor infiltrative deepness, pelvic lymph adenopathy and TURBT findings were compared to pathologic results of cystectomy sample.Results: Seven patients were females and 25 were males. Their mean age was 62 (range 36 to 80) years. Gross hematuria and irritative urinary symptoms were the most common complaints. The duration between symptom manifestation and patient’s referral was 5 days to 72 months (mean 12 months). Bimanual examination in estimating the extravesical involvement of tumor had a specificity of 82%, sensitivity of 46%, positive predictive value of 70% and negative predictive value of 63%. The size of tumor in determining extravesical involvement had a specificity of 41%, sensitivity of 93%, and positive predictive value of 58% and negative predictive value of 87%. Hydronephrosis was present in 15 patients of whom, 14 (93%) had bladder muscle involvement. CT scan specificity was 70%, and sensitivity was 46% regarding pelvic lymph adenopathy and perivesical fat involvement. In TURBT report no muscle sample was observed in 11 cases, so that the interpretations of results were impossible. The reported grade of tumor was lower than pathologic sample of cystectomy in 4 patients.Conclusion: Clinical staging in invasive bladder cancers has not high accuracy regarding the involvement of bladder surrounding fats and pelvic adenopathies. A tumor sized more than 5 cm could be sensitive in estimating extravesical involvement. Positive predictive value of hydronephrosis is considerable regarding bladder muscle involvement. Tumor understaging by TURBT is happened in high percentage of patients with invasive bladder cancer.</p

A survey on plankto an investigation on ecology of mudskippers in Hormuzgan coastal areas communities in Bandar Abbas coastal area

The most important habitats of mudskippers are muddy areas in tidal zone of tropical mangrove forests. Mudskippers are related to Oxudercinae subfamily of Gobiid fishes. Three most distributed species of Hormozgan mudskippers were Periophthalmus waltoni, Boleophthalmus dussumieri and Scartelaos tenuis. These fishes can be considered as euryhaline and eurythermal aquatic species, because they can tolerate a wide range of salinity and temperature. A research was done since september 2008 to september 2009 in two important mangrove regions of Hormuzgan (Tyab and Khamir) to determine some ecological characteristics of inhabited mudskipper species. Results showed that nitrate levels are significantly different between tidal lines and seasons (P<0.05). Maximum nitrite concentrations were recorded 53.2 and 92.5 µg/l in Khamir and Tyab respectively. The annual correlation matrix showed that a positive correlation between phosphate concentration and nitrite and silicate (P<0.05). Silicate concentration was very high, because of too low density of diatoms and radiolarians. Some species of diatoms, dinoflagellates, cyanobacteria and larvae of crustacea and echinoderms were observed with different density and diversity. Sediment composition of the studied areas were categorized in three classes (clay, sand and clay - sand). Polychaetes formed dominant group of benthic fauna in Tyab and Khamir areas. High density of capitellid worms was possibly related to some environmntal stress caused by activity of fishing and cargo vessels. It was not observed significant difference between fishes length in two areas (P<0.05); Mean lengths of P. waltoni, B. dussumieri and S. tenuis were calculated 9.85, 14.7 and 11.5 cm respectively. Spawning period of each three species in both areas were obtained from late winter to late spring based on gonadosomatic index values. Male to female sex ratio of P. waltoni, B. dussumieri and S. tenuis were calculated 1:0.45, 1:0.41and 1:0.74 respectively. Absolute fecundity of P. waltoni, B. dussumieri and S. tenuis were estimated 3558 ± 2202, 3952 ± 1030 and 6742 ± 1939 respectively. P. waltoni feeds mainly on fiddler crab, S. tenuis uses crustaceans and gastropods and B. dussumieri has a vegetarian diet

Evaluation of a Cluster-Randomized Controlled Trial of a Package of Community-Based Maternal and Newborn Interventions in Mirzapur, Bangladesh

To evaluate a delivery strategy for newborn interventions in rural Bangladesh.A cluster-randomized controlled trial was conducted in Mirzapur, Bangladesh. Twelve unions were randomized to intervention or comparison arm. All women of reproductive age were eligible to participate. In the intervention arm, community health workers identified pregnant women; made two antenatal home visits to promote birth and newborn care preparedness; made four postnatal home visits to negotiate preventive care practices and to assess newborns for illness; and referred sick neonates to a hospital and facilitated compliance. Primary outcome measures were antenatal and immediate newborn care behaviours, knowledge of danger signs, care seeking for neonatal complications, and neonatal mortality.A total of 4616 and 5241 live births were recorded from 9987 and 11153 participants in the intervention and comparison arm, respectively. High coverage of antenatal (91% visited twice) and postnatal (69% visited on days 0 or 1) home visitations was achieved. Indicators of care practices and knowledge of maternal and neonatal danger signs improved. Adjusted mortality hazard ratio in the intervention arm, compared to the comparison arm, was 1.02 (95% CI: 0.80-1.30) at baseline and 0.87 (95% CI: 0.68-1.12) at endline. Primary causes of death were birth asphyxia (49%) and prematurity (26%). No adverse events associated with interventions were reported.Lack of evidence for mortality impact despite high program coverage and quality assurance of implementation, and improvements in targeted newborn care practices suggests the intervention did not adequately address risk factors for mortality. The level and cause-structure of neonatal mortality in the local population must be considered in developing interventions. Programs must ensure skilled care during childbirth, including management of birth asphyxia and prematurity, and curative postnatal care during the first two days of life, in addition to essential newborn care and infection prevention and management.Clinicaltrials.gov NCT00198627