Efficacy of simple hand-washing in reduction of microbial hand contamination of Iranian food handlers

Foods are likely to be faecally contaminated during preparation or dissemination by the Iranian Muslim food handler that their religion enjoins the mechanical cleaning of themselves after defecation. The current study was designed to determine the actual rate of hand contamination of Iranian food handlers with pathogenic flora of faeces or nose and to evaluate the efficacy of simple hand-washing instruction in reduction of hand contamination. A before-after study was conducted on 150 randomly selected food handlers in an Iranian city, Shahrekord. At the first stage, the hands of 72.7% of food handlers were found to be contaminated. A comparison of the before-and-after data, revealed a significant decline in hand contamination of the food handler from 72.7% to 32% (P < 0.0001). Our study showed that the poor hygienic practice by the food handler is such a serious problem facing the health sector that it merits a further consideration by Iranian authorities. (c) 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Antibacterial effect of calcium hydroxide combined with chlorhexidine on Enterococcus faecalis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) is the most frequently isolated strain in failed endodontic therapy cases since it is resistant to calcium hydroxide (CH). Whether a combination of CH and chlorhexidine (CHX) is more effective than CH alone against E. faecalis is a matter of controversy. Thus, the aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature. Material and Methods: A comprehensive search in PubMed, EMbase, EBSCOhost, The Cochrane Library, SciELO, and BBO databases, Clinical trials registers, Open Grey, and conference proceedings from the earliest available date to February 1, 2013 was carried out and the relevant articles were identified by two independent reviewers. Backward and forward search was performed and then inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. The included studies were divided into "comparisons" according to the depth of sampling and dressing period of each medicament. Meta-analysis was performed using Stata software 10.0. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Results: Eighty-five studies were retrieved from databases and backward/forward searches. Fortyfive studies were considered as relevant (5 in vivo, 18 in vitro, 18 ex vivo, and 4 review articles). Nine studies were included for meta-analysis. Inter-observer agreement (Cohen kappa) was 0.93. The included studies were divided into 21 comparisons for meta-analysis. Chi-square test showed the comparisons were heterogeneous (

Improving the capabilities of the physicians working in health care centers of Chaharmahal va Bakhtiari province for doing applied researches

زمینه و هدف: خارج کردن پژوهش از مرز دانشکده ها و انحصار دانشگاهیان و گسترش آن در میان پزشکان، کارشناسان و کاردان ها همواره مورد دغدغه خاطر مدیران سلامت بوده است. این مطالعه با هدف توانمند سازی پزشکان در انجام تحقیقات کاربردی انجام گرفت. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه نیمه تجربی 60 پزشک عمومی استخدام رسمی شاغل در مراکز بهداشتی درمانی استان چهارمحال و بختیاری انتخاب شدند (30 پزشک گروه شاهد 30 پزشک گروه مورد). با شرکت دادن گروه مورد در کارگاه های آموزشی، پزشکان با نحوه شناسایی و تعیین اولویت‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌های بهداشتی و درمانی و تدوین یک پروژه تحقیقاتی مداخله‌‌‌‌‌ای آشنا شدند. پس از بدست‌‌‌‌ ‌‌‌‌آوردن آمادگی لازم برای اجرای پروژه تدوین شده در بازگشت به محل کار خود با اجرای پروژه ها مجدداً در کارگاه مرحله دوم شرکت نموده و ضمن ارایه نتایج‌‌ ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌پژوهش های انجام شده با نحوه‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌ نگارش مقاله علمی و سخنرانی و تهیه پوستر و انتشار نتایج آشنا شدند. قبل و پس از هر مرحله کارگاه از طریق پرسشنامه سنجش آگاهی هر دو گروه مورد و شاهد در مورد تدوین و اجرای پروژه تحقیقاتی (مرحله اول) و نحوه نگارش مقاله علمی تهیه پوستر و سخنرانی (در مرحله دوم) صورت گرفت. پس از اجرای طرح های فوق عملکرد دو گروه به کمک آزمون های مستقل و زوجی با همدیگر مقایسه گردید. یافته ها: میانگین نمره آگاهی گروه مورد قبل و بعد از مداخله در مورد تدوین و اجرای پروژه تحقیقاتی به ترتیب 24/0±23/6 و 35/2±97/12 بود (05/0

Presenting a fuzzy multi-objective hybrid evolutionary approach for dynamic reconfiguration of distribution feeders in the presence of distributed generation units and electric vehicles

The presence of electric vehicle technology in distribution networks as controllable resources provides advantages such as voltage regulation, power peaking, and loss reduction. This technology has a positive effect on the performance of the distribution network, but the simultaneous presence of electric vehicles and distributed generation sources requires optimal planning because the lack of access to an application reduces the life of these technologies and can cause blackouts in the power network. Therefore, in this study, the dynamic reconfiguration of the distribution network in the simultaneous presence of distributed generation sources and electric vehicles is proposed. Also, the time-of-use mechanism has been proposed as one of the demand response applications to improve the power consumption of subscribers. The objective functions in this study include the reduction of energy loss, operational cost and energy not supplied as the objective function of reliability. In general, the optimization problem of distribution network reconfiguration is complex and non-convex. Also, considering the effect of distributed generation units and electric vehicles makes the problem more complicated than before. Therefore, finding a practical method to solve the optimization problem is one of the main challenges of this paper. For this purpose, a novel hybrid algorithm based on a combination of an improved particle swarm optimization-artificial bee colony is presented to overcome the complexities of the optimization problem. The proposed method ha

Integration of a Combined Cycle Power Plant with MED-RO Desalination Based on Conventional and Advanced Exergy, Exergoeconomic, and Exergoenvironmental Analyses

The ever-increasing world population, change in lifestyle, and limited natural water and energy resources have made industrial seawater desalination plants the leading contenders for cost-efficient freshwater production. In this study, the integration of a combined cycle power plant (CCPP) with multi-effect distillation (MED) and reverse osmosis (RO) desalination units is investigated through comprehensive conventional and advanced exergy, exergoeconomic, and exergoenvironmental analyses. Firstly, the thermodynamic modelling of the CCPP is performed by using a mathematical programming procedure. Then, a mathematical model is developed for the integration of the existing CCPP plant with MED and RO desalination units. Finally, conventional and advanced exergy, exergoeconomic, and exergoenvironmental analyses are carried out to assess the main performance parameters of the integrated CCPP and MED-RO desalination system, as well as to identify potential technical, economic, and environmental improvements. A case study is presented based on the Shahid Salimi Neka power plant located at the north of Iran along the Caspian Sea. The mathematical modelling approach for the integrated CCPP and MED-RO desalination system is solved in MATLAB, and the results are validated via Thermoflex software. The results reveal an increase of 3.79% in fuel consumption after the integration of the CCPP with the desalination units. The exergy efficiency of the integrated system is 42.7%, and the highest cost of exergy destruction of the combustion chamber is 1.09 US$per second. Economic and environmental analyses of the integrated system also show that gas turbines present the highest investment cost of 0.047 US$ per second. At the same time, MED exhibits the highest environmental impact rate of 0.025 points per second

Mycobacterium iranicum sp. nov., a rapidly growing scotochromogenic species isolated from clinical specimens on three different continents

The isolation and characterization of a novel, rapidly growing, scotochromogenic mycobacterial species is reported. Eight independent strains were isolated from clinical specimens from six different countries of the world, two in Iran, two in Italy and one in each of following countries: Greece, the Netherlands, Sweden and the USA. Interestingly, two of the strains were isolated from cerebrospinal fluid. The strains were characterized by rapid growth and presented orange-pigmented scotochromogenic colonies. DNA-based analysis revealed unique sequences in the four regions investigated: the 16S rRNA gene, the rRNA gene internal transcribed spacer 1 and the genes encoding the 65 kDa heat-shock protein and the beta-subunit of RNA polymerase. The phylogenetic analysis placed the strains among the rapidly growing mycobacteria, being most closely related to Mycobacterium gilvum . The genotypic and phenotypic data both strongly supported the inclusion of the strains investigated here as members of a novel species within the genus Mycobacterium; the name Mycobacterium iranicum sp. nov. is proposed to indicate the isolation in Iran of the first recognized strains. The type strain is M05T ( = DSM 45541T = CCUG 62053T = JCM 17461T)

Biomarkers of angiogenesis and their role in the development of VEGF inhibitors

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been confirmed as an important therapeutic target in randomised clinical trials in multiple disease settings. However, the extent to which individual patients benefit from VEGF inhibitors is unclear. If we are to optimise the use of these drugs or develop combination regimens that build on this efficacy, it is critical to identify those patients who are likely to benefit, particularly as these agents can be toxic and are expensive. To this end, biomarkers have been evaluated in tissue, in circulation and by imaging. Consistent drug-induced increases in plasma VEGF-A and blood pressure, as well as reductions in soluble VEGF-R2 and dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI parameters have been reported. In some clinical trials, biomarker changes were statistically significant and associated with clinical end points, but there is considerable heterogeneity between studies that are to some extent attributable to methodological issues. On the basis of observations with these biomarkers, it is now appropriate to conduct detailed prospective studies to define a suite of predictive, pharmacodynamic and surrogate response biomarkers that identify those patients most likely to benefit from and monitor their response to this novel class of drugs

Antibacterial effect of calcium hydroxide combined with chlorhexidine on Enterococcus faecalis: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Objective: Enterococcus faecalis (E. faecalis) is the most frequently isolated strain in failed endodontic therapy cases since it is resistant to calcium hydroxide (CH). Whether a combination of CH and chlorhexidine (CHX) is more effective than CH alone against E. faecalis is a matter of controversy. Thus, the aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review and meta-analysis of the literature. Material and Methods: A comprehensive search in PubMed, EMbase, EBSCOhost, The Cochrane Library, SciELO, and BBO databases, Clinical trials registers, Open Grey, and conference proceedings from the earliest available date to February 1, 2013 was carried out and the relevant articles were identified by two independent reviewers. Backward and forward search was performed and then inclusion and exclusion criteria were applied. The included studies were divided into "comparisons" according to the depth of sampling and dressing period of each medicament. Meta-analysis was performed using Stata software 10.0. The level of significance was set at 0.05. Results: Eighty-five studies were retrieved from databases and backward/forward searches. Fortyfive studies were considered as relevant (5 in vivo, 18 in vitro, 18 ex vivo, and 4 review articles). Nine studies were included for meta-analysis. Inter-observer agreement (Cohen kappa) was 0.93. The included studies were divided into 21 comparisons for meta-analysis. Chi-square test showed the comparisons were heterogeneous (p<0.001). Random effect model demonstrated no significant difference between CH/CHX mixture and CH alone in their effect on E. faecalis (p=0.115). Conclusions: According to the evidence available now, mixing CH with CHX does not significantly increase the antimicrobial activity of CH against E. faecalis. It appears that mixing CH with CHX does not improve its ex vivo antibacterial property as an intracanal medicament against E. faecalis. Further in vivo studies are necessary to confirm and correlate the findings of this study with the clinical outcomes

The role of the laboratory in the diagnosis of tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is one of the most important infectious diseases during the history of humans’ life, various societies always have been trying to control and struggle against this disease. Tuberculosis could be controlled by Koch's discovery of the tubercle bacillus as etiologic agent and the discovery of Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccine all around the world. In fact, it had been assumed Tuberculosis could ultimately be eradicated, however any possible global control of tuberculosis will be destroyed in the near future because of the existence of tolerant strains, the worldwide distribution of the disease, as well as the emergence of the AIDS epidemic. The fact that one-third of the world's population is infected with Tuberculosis which can consider as a reservoir of infection. This issue has become even more complicated now since non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is indistinguishable than tuberculous mycobacteria because they are environmental organisms which present in all places and cause lung diseases and tuberculosis. Therefore, the laboratories diagnosis of tuberculosis (TB Laboratories)  play a key role in diagnosing, monitoring and control of tuberculosis by providing prompt and reliable laboratory results, which can be the guidance clinical for control of tuberculosis. The aim of this research is a review of some scientific works (achievements) in relation to the quality and performance of TB Laboratories. As the researchers in the field of tuberculosis laboratories believe that increasing the capacity of laboratories using trained staff, implementation of quality control of equipment and procedures, can enhance the quality and accuracy of laboratory results. Generally, by creating a System National Administration for diagnostic laboratories, TB can be more effectively controlled