The Impact of instructional multimedia on learning and retention of mathematics of fourth grade educable Mentally Retarded girl Students of elementary schools in Arak City

Objective: The aim of this research was to examine the impact of instructional multimedia on learning and retention of mathematics of fourth grade educable mentally retarded girl students of elementary schools in the Arak city.Method: The quasi-experimental research method has been used. The statistical population include all fourth grade educable mentally retarded students of elementary schools in the Arak city and the sample included all the statistical population , that were randomly assigned into an experimental and a control group. While the experimental group received three training sessions with a researcher made instructional multimedia software, the control group was trained with the conventional method without using the multimedia. In order to study the probable resulting changes, first, a pre-test was applied on both groups. After running the test, the experimental group was exposed to the independent variable. Both groups underwent the post test, and a second post test was performed to measure the retention after a two weeks time.Results: The statistical analysis was descriptive and inferential statistics. Findings showed that learning and retention rates of students in the experimental group as compared with the control group were significantly increased.Conclusion and recommendations: Overall, the results of the research show the excellence of learning and retention rates of students who had received training through multimedia software. Based on the results, it can be recommended that instructional multimedia can be useful in teaching and learning of mathematics for this group of students

Quality of Morning Reports and its Related Factors at Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences in the Academic Year 2014-2015

Background and Objective: Morning report is a common and valuable method (Gold Standard) in clinical education. It has some characteristics and standards that, when properly applied, will play an effective role in students’ clinical learning. Materials and Methods: A total of 196 apprentices, interns and residents participated in this descriptive-analytical study. The data were gathered by a researcher-made questionnaire which its validity and reliability were confirmed by experts’ views and Cronbach’s alpha, respectively. Data analysis was performed by SPSS (version 20) using descriptive and inferential statistics.P≤0.05 was considered significant. Results: The majority of participants believed the order of meetings, duration of meetings, and venues were at an average level. They also rated the seating of the teachers in the meeting and the type of diseases introduced to be at a good level. Presence of experts from other disciplines was found to be at the poorest level. 88% of students reported the overall usefulness of the morning reports to be average, and only 2% believed the morning reports’ usefulness to be appropriate, while 10 % evaluated the usefulness range as inappropriate for them. The maximum level of satisfaction was reported for infectious diseases morning report sessions. Conclusion: In general, the quality of morning reports from the perspective of the students was average. Considering the importance of morning reports in medical education, more attention is recommended to be paid to promotion of its quality

A case of wound infection caused by Shewanella algae in the south of Iran

Shewanella algae was isolated from the purulent discharge in the navel area of a young male with a history of swimming in the Persian Gulf. A routine laboratory diagnosis procedure, followed by 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses, was used to avoid misidentification with other species of Shewanella. The bacterium was suscetible to ceftazidime, ciprofloxacin, nalidixic acid, nitrophorantion, amikacin, ceftriaxone, cefotaxime, gentamicin and co-trimoxazole but was resistant to amoxicillin, vancomycin, doxycycline, cephalexin, ampicillin, tetracycline, cephalothin and ceftizoxime. The patient successfully recovered after treatment with antibiotics

The Follow-Up Role of the Vestibular Evoked Myogenic Potential Test in Meniere’s Disease

Despite some proposed roles for the diagnostic impact of the cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potential test in the patients with Meniere’s disease, the role of this test as an objective instrument in following up the patients with Meniere’s disease who underwent. Intratympanic steroid injection is not cleared. In a prospective study, thirty-one adult patients with definite one-sided Meniere's disease with vertigo as main complaint refractory to medical treatments for three months, were selected. Patients underwent three times of intratympanic dexamethasone injection with one-week intervals. We performed cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potential test at first and four weeks after the last injection for all participants. We followed the patients for one year. The study results were analyzed with the chi-square test. Cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potential test could not be recorded in 26 patients (83.9%), and the test results were abnormal in the remaining 5 patients. The results were abnormal in the healthy ear of 32.3% of the patients. Despite the clinical improvement of the symptoms after intratympanic injection, the test results were not changed. Cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potential test could not be recorded in the majority of the patients with Meniere's disease; while it is usually recorded in normal ears. On the other hand, results of the cervical vestibular evoked myogenic potential test do not change during the early phase after treatment and could not be a good option for follow up and evaluating the response in this situation

Effectiveness of Morning Report Sessions of Cardiology Wards at Teaching Hospitals of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (2012-2013)

Introduction: Morning report is an important teaching method for interns and externs. Achieving the objectives of morning report affects future performance. This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to analyze the effectiveness of morning reports. Methods:Viewpoints of 85 interns and externs at the cardiology wards of teaching hospitals of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in the academic year of 2012-2013 were investigated. The instrument for data collection was a researcher-made questionnaire. Data were analyzed by chisquare and independent t-test. Effectiveness was defined as the rate of the achievement of the goals of morning reports based on dividing the total score of the questionnaire (54 scores) into three parts of 0-17 (poor effectiveness), 18-36 (moderate effectiveness) and 37-54 (good effectiveness). Results: The effectiveness of morning report sessions without the presence of residents was reported as moderate in hospital A, and the effectiveness of morning report sessions with the presence of residents in hospital B was reported as moderate in the opinion of interns and poor in the view of externs. There was no significant difference between the viewpoints of interns in hospitals A and B with regard to the effectiveness of morning report sessions (p=0.169). Conclusion: Results indicate that the higher academic level of subjects discussed in morning reports with presence of residents caused a reduction in the participation rate of interns and externs, thereby decreasing their learning and satisfaction. However, without the presence of residents, the students’ feelings of fear and anxiety were reduced and their satisfaction was heightened