Investigating Philosophical Foundations of the West in the Intellectual Geography of Reza Davari Ardakani

Parallel to the emergence of Postmodernism and the collapse of modernist and Enlightenment ideals, Persian thinkers also theorized about this matter. One of these thinkers is Reza Davari Ardakani who challenges Modernism by using Heidegger’s ideas and Islamic-Shiites sources. Following phenomenological tradition, he introduces the West as a whole and in this way he criticizes those who distinguish between western science, technology, literature and western imperialism and politics. His line of criticism toward Modernism is Humanism and after such criticism he subverts other pillars of Modernism, that is, rationalism and science. He emphasizes the point that Postmodernism is not a period after Modernism but its final and crucial phase. On the basis of this, he believes that the only way out of Western and Humanist thinking is renouncing western ideologies and subjectivism. This article aims to investigate ideas of Reza Davari about the West with a philosophical view

Isolation and antibiotic susceptibility of Shigella species from stool samples among hospitalized children in Abadan, Iran

AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the incidence of Shigella species and their antimicrobial susceptibility patterns in hospitalized children with Shigellosis in Abadan, Iran. BACKGROUND: Shigellosis is caused by different species of Shigella and one of the most common causes of diarrhea in children. This disease is endemic in many developing countries including Iran. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This prospective cross sectional study was conducted in a teaching hospital in Abadan, Iran during June 2011 to May 2013. Stool specimens were collected from pediatric age group. All isolates were confirmed as Shigella species by biochemical and serologic tests. Antibiotic sensitivity pattern of these isolates was studied by disk diffusion Method. RESULTS: Among all 705 stool samples, 36 (5.1) yielded Shigella. Of cases, 392 (55.6) were girl and 313 (44.4) were boy. The most common Shigella isolates were S. flexneri (n=19, 52.7) followed by S. sonnei (n=11, 30.5), S. boydii (n=4, 11.1) and S. dysenteriae 2(5.5). Of the Shigella isolates, 47.2 showed resistance to two or more antimicrobial agents. Resistance pattern against various antimicrobials were as follows: trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole (80.5), ampicillin (63.8), tetracycline (58.3), chloramphenicol (33.3), nalidixic acid (27.7), and cefixime (16.6). There was no resistance against ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone. CONCLUSION: The most common isolates were S. flexneri followed by S. Sonnei. There was no antibiotic resistance against ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone. TMP-SMZ showed highest resistance pattern

Improving HIV stigma in the marginalized population in Khorramabad, Iran: A single-blinded randomized, controlled educational trial using role-playing and lecturing.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of role-playing and lecture on improving the attitudes of the Khorramabad suburban population toward the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). In 2019, 270 people aged 18 and above participated in a randomized controlled trial in Khorramabad, Iran. Individuals were randomly assigned to one of three groups: role-playing, lecture, or control. To collect data before and after the intervention, we used a standard HIV knowledge and attitude questionnaire. Before the educational intervention, three marginalized groups' attitudes toward HIV were stigmatized. After the intervention, the attitudes of both the role-playing and lecture groups improved significantly relative to the control group (P0.05). The correlation between attitude and knowledge scores was positive (P<0.0001). This study demonstrates that education is a fundamental pillar of improving attitudes toward people living with HIV (PLHIV) and can reduce stigma against them, thereby increasing their desire to disclose their condition and seek medical care. Trial registration: The trial registration code is IRCTID: IRCT20190807044467N1 (https://en.irct.ir/trial/41464)

PBL: A New Experience in MUMS

‫ﻣﺸﻬﺪ‬ ‫ﭘﺰﺷﻜﻲ‬ ‫ﻋﻠﻮم‬ ‫داﻧﺸﮕﺎه‬ ‫در‬ ‫ﺟﺪﻳﺪ‬ ‫اي‬ ‫ﺗﺠﺮﺑﻪ‬ Background: Problem-based learning (PBL) has been defined as the learning that results from the process of working toward the understanding or resolution of a problem. We decided to solve the enigma of PBL in our university via this strategy. Methods: In this case, 8 PBL tutorials were held for 30 observers in Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (MUMS). The &quot;PROBLEM&quot; should be solved was &quot;PBL&quot;. A handout was prepared for observers by a tutor as a big picture of each session and all faculty members received it two times. The tutorial group, especially the tutor had to involve in observers&apos; questions and comments during and also after the sessions. After 8 sessions, faculty members were asked to complete the valid and reliable questionnaire (r=0.74) electronically, including criteria by which the impact of this course on faculty members and students could be observed. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze data. Results: Thirty observers participated in this study. Around 71% have learnt the essentials of this method. More than 76% reported the feasibility of this course. 86% of the participants trusted in their ability to their own development. For more than 90% course material was attractive. Around 90% of participants reported their interest in passing the complementary courses. 57.14 % strongly expected themselves to do PBL well. Just 14.28% participated in this course because of certification. Conclusions: It seems that both participants and observers were encouraged to participate in tutorials. Therefore, planning for working based on PBL approach will be necessary

Prevalence and antimicrobial resistance of Shigella species isolated from diarrheal patients in Ahvaz, southwest Iran

Ahmad Farajzadeh Sheikh,1,2 Mojtaba Moosavian,1,2 Mahtab Abdi,2 Mohsen Heidary,3,4 Fatemeh Shahi,2 Nabi Jomehzadeh,5 Sakineh Seyed-Mohammadi,1,2,6 Morteza Saki,1,2,6 Saeed Khoshnood1,2,6 1Infectious and Tropical Diseases Research Center, Health Research Institute, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; 2Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran; 3Department of Microbiology, Faculty of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences,Tehran, Iran; 4Student Research Committee, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 5Abadan School of Medical Sciences, Abadan, Iran; 6Student Research Committee, Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Ahvaz, Iran Introduction: Shigellosis is a significant global human health problem, and Shigella is in charge of almost 165 million cases of this disease annually, of whom 163 million cases are in developing countries and 1.5 million cases are in developed countries. The main aims of the current survey were to identify Shigella spp. isolated from diarrheal patients by conventional biochemical tests, determine the antimicrobial susceptibility profiles by disk diffusion method, and detect the ipaH gene using the PCR assay.Methods: The bacterial isolates were identified as Shigella spp. by microbiological tests and were serogrouped by the slide agglutination test. Antimicrobial susceptibility testing was performed using the disk diffusion method. PCR was performed to detect the ipaH gene.Results: The Shigella strains were isolated from 522 patients with various diarrhea, including bloody diarrhea (3%), mucoid plus bloody diarrhea (1.9%), mucoid diarrhea (3.2%), and watery diarrhea (3.2%). Overall, 69 (13.2%) isolates were positive for Shigella spp., of which 34 (49.3%) serotypes were identified as Shigella flexneri, 22 (31.9%) serotypes were identified as Shigella sonnei, 9 (13%) serotypes were identified as Shigella boydii, and 4 (5.8%) serotypes were identified as Shigella dysenteriae. Antibiotic susceptibility tests revealed that the highest resistance percentage was related to ampicillin (82%) and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (77%), and ciprofloxacin and ceftriaxone were the best antibiotics against Shigella isolates.Conclusion: We concluded that Shigella spp. can be considered as an etiological agent of diarrhea in southwest Iran. Since the drug resistance pattern of Shigella differs geographically and over time within a country, continuous and regular surveillance program is necessary. Keywords: Shigella, diarrhea, resistance, Ira