Investigating the relationship between physical and mental health among operating room personnel

BACKGROUND: Communities have been involved in adverse health factors at any point in time and have sought to improve community health and quality of life (QOL). The purpose of this study is to investigate the condition of physical and mental health and the relation between the two variables with each other in the operating room of hospitals in Shiraz, Iran.METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study performed on 192 staff of operating rooms of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The data for the study were collected through the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the General Lifestyle Questionnaire (GLQ).RESULTS: Analyzing the results, the mean total scores of lifestyle and mental health were 333.93 ± 42.91 and 39.24 ± 12.59, respectively. In addition, the correlation coefficient between the total lifestyle and mental health scores was -0.411.CONCLUSION: Since the operating room is the most sensitive part of any hospital and the so-called heart of the hospital, special attention should be paid to staff working in this department, as any disruption to the operating room staff is not only harmful to them. Rather, it has many detrimental effects on patients and the health system. Therefore, given the stressful environment of the operating room, managers should promote operating room programs focused on reducing stress and by conducting classes and training sessions, improve the mental and physical health of the operating room personnel

Evaluation of correspondence between clinical and pathological margins in oral squamous cell carcinoma

Background: Microscopically, oral Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) spreads more than the gross tumor. Thus it is recommended to resect the tumor with a proper safe margin. The aim of this study was to evaluate the correspondence between clinical and histopathological margins in oral SCC. Materials and Methods: Samples were collected from patients diagnosed with oral SCC and referred to Iran Cancer Institute in 2015. All margins of tumors were determined by a marker and then the tumors were resected with 1cm safe margin. The superior, inferior, left and right borders were marked and examined microscopically. The lowest distance between tumor cells and border of resected tissue was considered as pathological margin. The cases with pathological margin less or more than 5 millimeters were classified as close and free margin groups, respectively. Results: Forty-four specimens (20 females and 24 males), definitely diagnosed as SCC, were examined. The mean age was 61 years old. 19 cases (43.2%) were in the mandible; 23 cases (52.3%) in the tongue and 2 cases (4.5%) in the maxilla. 16 cases (38.4%) were free margin and 28 cases (63.6%) were close margin and the mean pathological margin was 3.52mm. Conclusion: For some cases, especially SCCs of the mandible, 1-centimeter margin is not adequate to achieve free margins, thus evaluating tumor location, size and stage for more resection seems worthwhile and advisable and can decrease the risk of relapse after resection. Keywords: Squamous cell carcinoma; Clinical margin; Histopathological margin

Monitoring of Orthotomicus erosus (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) using pheromone trap in pine forests of western Tehran

The Mediterranean pine engraver, Orthotomicus erosus (Wollaston) (Col.: Curculionidae: Scolytinae), is a destructive bark beetle in pine forests worldwide. Regarding the recent outbreak of O. erosus in Iran, its flight activity and population density were monitored in four contaminated sites in western Tehran. These four sampling sites included Tabiat Park, Khargush Darreh Forest Park, Chitgar Park behind Bam Riding Club as well as Chitgar Park 9th Aghaghiya Street (western Tehran). Two pheromone traps (ECONEX ORTHOTOMICUS EROSUS 60 DAYS pheromone, Spain) were installed in each sampling site at the height of 2.5 m in the south direction of the pine trees. The number of trapped adults was recorded at 10-day intervals from April 2019 to March 2020. In total, 8514 adults of O. erosus were collected using pheromone traps during the sampling period. The results showed that the adult flight started from April in four sampling sites. The flight periods of adults continued until November in Tabiat Park, Khargush Darreh Forest Park, and Chitgar Park, behind Bam Riding Club. Differently, the last adults were collected in October in Chitgar Park, 9th Aghaghiya Street. In addition, the flight peaks of O. erosus occurred in August in Tabiat Park, Khargush Darreh Forest Park, and Chitgar Park, behind Bam Riding Club. However, the highest number of adults were trapped in July in Chitgar Park, 9th Aghaghiya Street. Based on our results, the number of trapped adults was significantly different in sampling sites. The mean number of trapped adults was the highest (183.25 ± 0.11) in Chitgar Park, 9th Aghaghiya Street and lowest (106.32 ± 0.07) in Tabiat Park during the whole monitoring experiment. These findings on flight activity and population fluctuation of O. erosus in local conditions could be helpful to establish an efficient and successful management program for this destructive pest

Bioactive components and the effect of hydroalcoholic extract of Vaccinium myrtillus on postprandial atherosclerosis risk factors in rabbits

Background and Objective: The important contribution of postprandial state to cardiovascular disease is increasingly being recognized. Diet rich in antioxidant may have beneficial effects on preventing coronary heart disease. This study was therefore aimed to evaluate bioactive components, antioxidant activity and postprandial atheroprotective effects of Vaccinium myrtillus (VM). Methodology: Male rabbits weighing 2.15 +/- 13 gr were randomly designed into 3 groups of 8, using the following regimens: basic diet, hypercholesterolemic diet and hypercholesterolemic diet+VM. The concentration of total cholesterol (TC), LDL cholesterol, HDL cholesterol, Alanin aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), fibrinogen, factor VII, nitrite and nitrate were determined in rabbits. Results: Vaccinium myrtillus decreased LDL-c, TC and ApoB, liver enzymes (ALT, AST) and inflammatory factors, while endothelial markers (nitrate and nitrate) had subtle decrease in VM treated rabbits. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that consumption of VM, rich in antioxidant may have beneficial effects on preventing coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis by decreasing remnant lipoprotein values in postprandial state

Epidemiology of Hereditary Coagulation Bleeding Disorders: A 15-Year Experience From Southern Iran

Background: Data on the frequency of hereditary bleeding disorders (HBDs) and associated mortality and morbidities during a long-term follow-up from Iran are scarce. Objective: This study evaluated the epidemiologic features among patients with HBD in one of the largest referral centers in southern Iran. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 619 patients with HBD were evaluated during the period 1996 to 2011. Aside from baseline characteristics and type of factor deficiency, associated morbidities including viral infections, neurological disorders, asthma, thalassemia, glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency, diabetes, hypertension, cardiac and renal diseases were evaluated. Furthermore, among patients who died, the underlying disease and etiology of death were also evaluated. Results: Patients’ mean age was 24.4 ± 13.5 years. Factor VIII deficiency was the most prevalent type (50.4%) of HBD, and combined Von–Willebrand and factor XIII deficiency (2.3%) was the most prevalent type of combined factor deficiency. A total of 0.5% had hepatitis B and 11.5% had hepatitis C. Cardiac disease was seen in 1.5%, hypertension in 0.2%, renal disease in 0.2%, and diabetes in 1.3% of patients. Overall, 5.2% had intracranial hemorrhage, 2.1% had epilepsy, and 0.8% had mental retardation. During the 15-year follow-up, 22 patients died; car accident was the leading cause of death in this population. Conclusion: Associated morbidities were seen in 24.3% of patients with HBD. Most prevalent morbidities were HCV infections (11.5%) and neurological disease (7.3%). The mortality rate among patients with HBD was 3.4%, and the most common cause of death was accident, which is similar to that of normal Iranian populations

Evaluating the Effect of Sumac Extract on Dentine Micro-Hardness during pH Cycling

Statement of the Problem: Although sumac extract (SE) is reported as a collagen cross linker, the available data regarding its effect on the dentine micro-hardness is quite sparse.Purpose: Therefore, the aim of this study includes evaluating the effect of different concentrations of SE on dentine micro-hardness comparing to grape seed extract (GSE).Materials and Method: In this experimental study, the GSE was purchased from available market and convert to 5% solution. Meanwhile the 5, 10, and 20% of SE solutions were prepared experimentally. The base line micro-hardness of 60 samples (30 premolars divided to buccal and lingual segments) was recorded triplicate for each specimen and they were randomly divided into 5 groups (four abovementioned experimental solutions and de-ionized water as negative control). For 35 consecutive days, each sample was twice pH cycled and treated by solutions. Ultimately, the final micro-hardness was recorded triplicate again for each sample and the numerical data was compared with each other using one-way ANOVA and Tukey HSD Post Hoc tests (α=0.05).     Results: The mean±SD values of micro-hardness for the groups was recorded as 54.45± 13.4, 65.65±18.5, 39.57±2.26, 41.13±1.66 and 43.79±4.96 at base line and 10.4±0.99, 11.85± 0.75, 10.16±1.84, 8.48±1.16 and 6.31±1.01 at final stage for control, GSE 5%, SE 5%, SE 10% and SE 20% respectively. There was no significant difference among the micro-hardness of the groups before treatment (p= 0.369). However, after experimental treatment, there was significant difference between the groups (p= 0.024) while in pairwise comparison just two groups (GSE 5% and SE 20%) had significant difference with each other (p= 0.017).Conclusion: The efficacy of SE was reversely related to its concentration. Moreover, neither GSE nor SE had significant effect on dentine micro-hardness after 35 day pH cycling

Learning and Memory Impairment Induced by Amyloid Beta Peptide and Effects of Thymol on Hippocampal Synaptic Plasticity in Rats Fed a High-Fat Diet That Received Amyloid Beta

Thymol is a natural phenolic compound that is present in various plants; the significant antioxidant activities of Thymol may be helpful in preventing the progress of various oxidative stress-related diseases. Recent studies have confirmed that antioxidant-rich foods play a vital role in the disease prevention of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD). We examined the protective and therapeutic effects of Thymol on the Aβ-induced long-term potentiation (LTP) impairments in rats fed a high-fat diet. LTP is a type of synaptic activity that has been thoroughly studied in the hippocampus and is thought to be the neural correlate of learning and memory. If Thymol is protective against AD-related impairments, then natural therapeutic agents based on the structure of Thymol could be used to protect against oxidative stress-related illnesses, such as AD