Qualitative and Quantitative Assessment of the Scientific Production of Kerman University of Medical Sciences Academic Members in Scopus Database

Background: The rapid growth of scientific production and the number of researchers has made decision makers think about scientific approaches for evaluation of the researchers’ performance. Scientometric indicators have been introduced to analyze science by quantitative methods. The aim of this study was to evaluate the scientific production of academic members at Kerman University of Medical Sciences (KMU) based on Scientometric indicators. Methods: This was a analytical survey research. The study population was scientific productions of all academic members of KMU until 22nd of August, 2014. Direct search of Scopus Database and checklist were used for data collection. Results: The highest mean (median) of published articles belonged to the Pharmacy School, while the lowest belonged to the Nursing and Midwifery School [17.66(20.50) and 3.08 (0) respectively, (P<0.0001)]. The highest H-Index was 17 and approximately half of the academic members had zero H-indices. A strong positive and significant correlation was found between academic members’ work experience and H-index (r=0.8, P<0.0001).There was also a positive and significant relationship between H-index and academic rank (P<0.0001). Conclusion: The results shows that scientific production of KMU academic members is not significantly different from that of other medical universities of Iran, but it is still far away from global standards. Therefore, policy makers should provide the scientific development requirements through wise planning

Acoustic Study of Second-Formant Transition in Flaccid Dysarthria

Introduction: Flaccid dysarthria is a group of motor speech disorders. Muscle weakness and reduced muscle tone, speed, range, and accuracy of speech movements are the primary speech features in these patients. Speech acoustic patterning in these patients shows deficits in motor control including problems in timing, articulatory coordination and laryngeal control. The aim of the present study was to investigate the speech timing through second-formant transition (F2T) acoustic analysis. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical, cross-sectional and case-control study, ten speakers with flaccid dysarthria and ten speakers without dysarthria were participated. After exposure to the test environment, acoustic signals related to target words including voiced and voiceless stops were collected and recorded. After recording data through the software of Praat, spectrogram of each word was carefully examined to determine the second-formant transition. Results: The people with mild to moderate flaccid dysarthria possessed longer second-formant transition comparing with normal individuals and also differences between the two groups in bilabial and dental consonants were significant (P ≤ 0.05). Conclusion: Increased duration of the second-formant transition in individuals with mild to moderate flaccid dysarthria indicates that in these patients, there are defects in the coordination, timing of movements and articulatory implementation to produce the target segment. In addition, the clinical implication of these results is that different consonants show varying sensitivity to the problem of speech motor control. Speech-language pathologists should pay special attention to duration of second-formant transition (bilabial, dental) and rate of variation in the program for flaccid dysarthria

Influencing factors in choosing delivery method: Iranian primiparous women’s perspective

Background: Studies on the primiparous mothers’ decision on delivery method are limited. Aim: The aim of his study was to determine the factors that influence the choice of delivery method by Iranian primiparous women. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in April through September 2014. Participants were 460 primiparous women in 8 hospitals of 4 cities in Iran. Finally, 230 cesarean section and 230 vaginal delivery women were selected. Inclusion criteria were being primiparous, and having no contraindication for vaginal delivery. Study tool was a researcher-developed questionnaire that its validity and reliability were proved. Data were gathered by direct interview and analyzed by SPSS version 16. Results: Average age of the participants was 23 years. Factors that correlated with the choice of Cesarean section were upper education, high socioeconomic level, tendency of husband, living with the husband’s family, insistence of the physician, receiving maternal care in personal offices, fear of delivery pain, low knowledge of the mother, high age of marriage and pregnancy, history of abortion, and lack of family support. More than 60% of the participants had little knowledge about the delivery methods. Satisfaction with cesarean section was 70% and with the vaginal delivery was 77%. Half of the cesareans were performed on the insistence of the physician. Conclusion: Considering the factors identified in this study, can enforce the intention of mothers to have vaginal delivery by improving their knowledge and perception about this delivery method

The experience of puberty in Iranian adolescent girls: a qualitative content analysis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Adolescence is an important stage in human life span. Physiologic changes associated with puberty manifest themselves in often complex and bizarre ways to which girls show different reactions. This study aims to explore to puberty experiences in adolescent girls who live in the city of Sari in Iran.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>The present study is a qualitative study of content analysis. Sampling took place in the city of Sari, Iran and was objective focused in accordance with qualitative studies. Participants were 38 girls of 12–20 years old who had at least experienced 3 menstrual cycles. Data was collected by means of focus group and in-depth interviews.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>As follows, Seven main themes were extracted from the interviews are follows: Menarche as the most unpleasant event in puberty, getting nervous about and ashamed of bodily changes, psychological changes, discordance with parents, sexual orientation and the need for education on this issue, scholastic dysfunction and religious considerations.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results showed that for the majority of the participants puberty was an unpleasant experience. Most of them were in need of education on how to go about the issues surrounding puberty. The society, families and of course the adolescents themselves are responsible to work together in order to create an atmosphere in which correct information on puberty and the associated issues are readily accessible.</p