Prevalence of Metabolic Syndrome in Iranian Professional Drivers: Results from a Population Based Study of 12,138 Men

It is evident that professional driving is associated with substantial changes in lifestyle habits. Professional drivers are prone to metabolic syndrome (MetS) and its complications because their working environment is characterized by numerous stress factors such as lack of physical activity due to working in a fixed position, disruption in diet, and irregular sleep habits. The aim of the present study was to estimate the prevalence of MetS among long distance drivers residing in West Azerbaijan province in Iran.To assess the prevalence of metabolic syndrome among professional long distance drivers, 12138 participants were enrolled in this cross sectional study. The MetS was defined using International Diabetes Federation criteria.Among12138 participants, 3697 subjects found to be MetS. The crude and age-adjusted rates of MetS were 30.5% and 32.4% respectively. Based on Body mass index (BMI), 5027 subjects (41.4%) were overweight (BMI ≥25.01–30 kg/m2), and 2592 (21.3%) were obese (BMI ≥30.01 kg/m2). The presence of central obesity was more common than other components. The associations of MetS with BMI, pack-year smoking, age, weekly driving duration and driving experiences were significant in the logistic regression. By increasing BMI, pack-year smoking, age, weekly driving duration and driving experiences, odds ratio of MetS was increased.The study suggests that MetS has become a noteworthy health problem among Iranian long distance drivers. This might be due to the following facts: sitting in a fixed position for long hours while working, cigarette smoking, job stress, unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity. Educational programs should be established for promoting healthy lifestyle and also for early detection and appropriate intervention

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)1.

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field

Evaluation of occupational burnout and related factors in industry managers

Background and aims   Occupational burnout is considered as side effects of occupational  stress. It includes some mental, functional, and personal characteristics in which a person has some symptoms of them. Occupational burnout can be caused in all jobs..it diminishes performance and utilization,   depression and disease. Due to the important role of managers, this study was carried to asses the  occupational burnout in industry managers in Kashan.   Methods   The industrial managers of Kashan at high managerial levels were enrolled in the  survey. Burnout data collected by standard questionnaire of Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) was then analyzed using SPSS-13 software and statistical methods of chi-square, t-test, ANOVA,   and regression analysis.   Results   Between 100 different industrial managers that were involved in this study, 90 persons responded to questionnaire, Include: 16 persons (17.8%) were employer,26 persons top manager(28.9%),36 persons (40%) middle-manager,12 persons (13.3%)high managers.97% were men and mean of age, work hours in week, work years duration respectly were 40.3(±8.26)years, 53.4(±20.6) hours, 15.7(±8.7) years. It seems that most people under study had  mild occupational burnout. sever occupational burnout was observed in emotional exhaustion(   3%in severity and10.9% in frequency)and depersonalization( 6.8%in severity and7.8% in  frequency).according to this study age, region, kind of management, month earn didn't relation with burnout . work years duration and number of workers had reveres relation with burnout . direct relation with burnout and work hours was founded.   Conclusion   Despite the low rate of moderate or severe burnout among the managers, further effort is advised to reduce stress in this group and probe them in psycho mental disorders

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder: A Neglected Health Concern among Commercial Motor Vehicle Drivers

Background: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is an anxiety disorder that may develop following a trauma. Iranian commercial motor vehicle drivers experience many road traffic accidents during their working life; this may increase the probability for developing PTSD, which in turn may lead to increased human errors as well as decreased work efficiency. Objective: To examine the prevalence of PTSD and its associated factors among a group of Iranian commercial motor vehicle drivers. Methods: In a cross-sectional study, 424 drivers who referred to participate in an annually training program were selected using a simple random sampling technique. They were requested to complete the Persian version of PCL-C and a data collection sheet about their occupational and demographic features. Results: 385 (90.8%) of 424 studied drivers completed the study. 265 (68.8%) of the drivers had first-grade driving license. The mean±SD on-the-job daily driving was 10.2±2.8 h. 74 of 385 (19.2%; 95% CI: 15.3%–23.2%) met the PTSD criteria. Higher age and job experience as a professional driver, and having past history or past familial history of psychiatric disorders, were independent predictors of developing PTSD. The disease was more prevalent among drivers with first-grade driving license. Conclusion: The prevalence of PTSD among Iranian commercial motor vehicle drivers is higher than the figures reported elsewhere. Measures to diagnose of such drivers and to ensure optimum follow-up of victims before return to professional driving should be considered

The study of accuracy of color Doppler ultrasonography in detecting the grade of stenosis of cervical carotid arteries in comparison to angiography

This is retrospective double-blind research, which was carried out in Imam Khomeini hospital in order to study the accuracy of color Doppler ultrasonography for detecting the site and grade of stenosis in cervical carotid artery. 40 patients with mean age of 62 years studied with color Doppler before DSA angiography. The most common sites of stenosis were left internal carotid (39.5%) and right internal carotid arteries (38.4%). We measured peak systolic and end-diastolic velocities (PSA and EDV) and ratios of PSA and EDV at stenosis sites to CCA (PSV ratio and EDV ratio). Results showed that PSA has the highest sensitivity and accuracy in all grades of stenosis: Mild to moderate stenosis: Sensitivity (90.5%), accuracy (89.5%); Severe stenosis: Sensitivity (82.1%), accuracy (92.8%); Total occlusion: Sensitivity (93.8%), accuracy (96.5%). There is no difference between accuracy of Doppler parameters for detection of total occlusion (96.5%) but in other grades after PSV, EDV (Mild-moderate 86%, severe 87.2%). EDV ratio and PSV ratio (Mild-moderate both 84.8%, severe both 86%) have the highest accuracies. We concluded that color Doppler sonography can reliability detect stenosis in carotid arteries & PSV has the highest accuracy

Hearing loss in multiple sclerosis patients

Background and Objective: Multiple sclerosis is one of demyelinating disorder of CNS that is an uncommon cause of the sensorineural hearing loss. This study was done to determine the hearing loss in multiple sclerosis patients. Materials and Methods: This case-control study was performed on 60 (44 women, 16 men) multiple sclerosis patients and 38 (27 women, 11 men) normal subjects by pure tone audiometery, otoacustic emissions and auditory brainstem responses in Gilan provine, Iran during 2010-11. Data was analyzed by using SPSS-17, Chi-Square and Fischer tests. Results: 12.5% of case and 3.9% of the control ears had abnormal pure tone audiometery (P<0.05). The frequencies of abnormal HF-pure tone audiometery and two modalities of otoacustic emission did not show any significant differences in two groups. Abnormal autidory brainstem response of ears were observed in 20% and 9.2% of cases and controls, respectively (P<0.05). 20% of case and 9.2% of the control ears had abnormal auditory brainstem response (P<0.05). The absolute latencies of waves I, II and V had not significant differences between two groups. Inter peak latencies of I-III and III-V waves were observed in 10% and 11.7% in cases ears and 1.3% and zero percent in controls, respecticely. 6.7% of cases and 2.6% of control ears had retrocochlear abnormality. Conclusion: Hearing loss detected by pure tone audiometery and auditory brainstem response is more common in multiple sclerosis compared to normal population