The Effectiveness of Mindfulness-Based Eating Awareness Training (MB-EAT) on Perceived Stress and Body Mass Index in Overweight Women

Introduction: Being overweight is a serious threat to women's health, imposing enormous costs on the individual, national and global levels. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of mindfulness-based eating awareness training on perceived stress and body mass index in overweight women in Tehran. Methods: The research design is experimental with pre-posttest and control group. The statistical population consisted of all women referring to health center in Niavaran, Tehran in the first trimester of 2019 due to being overweight. They were replaced randomly. Mindfulness group training was conducted in 8 sessions once a week. Before and after the intervention, participants completed a perceived stress scale and their BMI was calculated. Results: Results of covariance analysis showed that mindfulness training significantly decreased perceived stress (p<0.05) and also significantly decreased body mass index in the experimental group compared to the control group (p<0.05). Conclusion: Given these findings, it can be said that in addition to the usual therapeutic treatments for overweight, psychological training for women can play an effective role in their health beliefs and behaviors.Declaration of Interest: NoneKey words: Perceived stress, Mindfulness approach, Overweight women

Self-Reported Dental Public Health Competencies of Senior Dental Students: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: To reach the World Health Organization's goal of improving community oral health, Iranian oral health policy-makers expanded the scope of oral health by including dental public health (DPH) courses in the latest dental curriculum to improve students' competencies. The aim of the current study was to evaluate DPH competencies in senior dental students at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, according to specified educational objectives. Methods: In the present cross-sectional study, 195 senior dental students (enrolled in 2014-2015) filled up an online standardized questionnaire. The instrument included demographic information as well as 31 statements about ten domains of DPH. Participants used self-assessment method to report the level of their competencies on a Likert scale of 0-10; Zero indicating "not competent at all", and 10 indicating "fully competent" for each statement. Then the mean score was calculated for each domain. Data analysis was conducted using Independent samples, T-test, One-way ANOVA, Mann-Whitney U-test, and Kruskal-Wallis via SPSS version 21. ResultsThe sum of scores for each participant was within the range of 63 to 310, and the mean (SD) was 216.68 (±43.69). Students were most competent in "Providing preventive dental care" (8.22±1.59), "Adherence to professional ethics" (7.56±1.68), and" Understanding determinants of oral health" (7.50±1.52). They were least competent in "Understanding components and functions of healthcare system" (5.96±2.06), "Planning" (6.06±2.45), and "Oral health research" (6.24±2.44). The mean score for females' (223.30±38.21) was significantly higher than males' score (207.15±49.25), (P=0.011). Conclusion: Although higher competencies were achieved in "Providing preventive dental care", "Adherence to professional ethics", and" Understanding determinants of oral health"; there are more areas to be accomplished, such as "Understanding components and functions of healthcare system", "Planning", and "Oral health research". These findings could be helpful either in revising the content materials, teaching methods, or both

Designing a Structural Model of Psychological Factors Affecting the Development of Motivation towards Participation in Sports among Children

Background: Identifying the factors motivating children to participate in sport activities, such as football, is of great importance. That mentioned, the present study aimed to investigate the internal and external psychological factors affecting the development of children’s motivation to participate in football activities.Method: In this study, we used descriptive-correlation method via structural equation modelling. We recruited 129 male children aged 11 to 14 years old who attended football schools of Tehran, Iran, in 2022. Moreover, the research variables were measured with a self-made questionnaire, including 32 items for assessing eight factors (four internal and four external factors). We also utilized structural equation method via Lisrel for examining the structural relationships among the research variables.Results: The participants’ body mass index (BMI) was in a normal range {median of 16.50(1.45)]. The results showed that both internal factors (attractiveness of sports, T=4.828; sense of responsibility, T=5.618; challenge spirit, T=3.117; sense of advancement, T=4.909) and external ones (team climate, T=2.847; social encouragement and support, T=5.108; content of practice, T=4.010; coach support, T=5.552) had significant and direct effects on children’s motivation to participate in football. Furthermore, the results of model fit revealed the good fit (RMSEA=0.05) of our model.Conclusion: It was found to be necessary that coaches make efforts to meet children’s basic psychological needs (including autonomy, competence, and relatedness) in order to increase intrinsic motivation in children

Digital Radiography with Computerized Conventional Monitors Compared to Medical Monitors in Vertical Root Fracture Diagnosis

Introduction: Vertical root fracture (VRF) is a complication which is chiefly diagnosed radiographically. Recently, film-based radiography has been substituted with digital radiography. At the moment, there is a wide range of monitors available in the market for viewing digital images. The present study aims to compare the diagnostic accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of medical and conventional monitors in detection of vertical root fractures. Material and Methods: In this in vitro study 228 extracted single-rooted human teeth were endodontically treated. Vertical root fractures were induced in 114 samples. The teeth were imaged by a digital charge-coupled device radiography using parallel technique. The images were evaluated by a radiologist and an endodontist on two medical and conventional liquid-crystal display (LCD) monitors twice. Z-test was used to analyze the sensitivity, accuracy and specificity of each monitor. Significance level was set at 0.05. Inter and intra observer agreements were calculated by Cohen’s kappa. Results: Accuracy, specificity and sensitivity for conventional monitor were calculated as 67.5%, 72%, 62.5% respectively; and data for medical grade monitor were 67.5%, 66.5% and 68% respectively. Statistical analysis showed no significant differences in detecting VRF between the two techniques. Inter-observer agreement for conventional and medical monitor was 0.47 and 0.55 respectively (moderate). Intra-observer agreement was 0.78 for medical monitor and 0.87 for conventional one (substantial). Conclusion The type of monitor does not influence diagnosis of vertical root fractures

The Association between Occupational Burnout and Spiritual Wellbeing in Emergency Nurses: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective: This study evaluated the occupational burnout (OB) and spiritual well-being (SWB) of emergencynurses as well as the associations between these variables.Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted in six hospitals and emergency medical centers affiliated withArdebil University of Medical Sciences (Ardebil, Iran), in 2020. Data were collected via socio-demographic,Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS), and Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) questionnaires.Results: This study included 239 emergency department nurses. The mean age of the participants was 34.4±6.4years. The mean of existential well-being and religious well-being was 40.3±8.7 and 41.0±9.2, respectively. Theresults indicated that moderate (P=0.007) and severe (P<0.001) personal accomplishment was a positive andsignificant predictor of the SWB in emergency department nurses.Conclusion: Proper planning and provision of suitable educational programs in the dimension of the SWBof nurses prevent the creation and continuation of OB and increase the self-efficacy and job satisfaction ofemergency medical staff, resulting in better patient care

Continuous monitoring of suspended sediment concentrations using image analytics and deriving inherent correlations by machine learning

The barriers for the development of continuous monitoring of Suspended Sediment Concentration (SSC) in channels/rivers include costs and technological gaps but this paper shows that a solution is feasible by: (i) using readily available high-resolution images; (ii) transforming the images into image analytics to form a modelling dataset; and (iii) constructing predictive models by learning inherent correlation between observed SSC values and their image analytics. High-resolution images were taken of water containing a series of SSC values using an exploratory flume. Machine learning is processed by dividing the dataset into training and testing sets and the paper uses the following models: Generalized Linear Machine (GLM) and Distributed Random Forest (DRF). Results show that each model is capable of reliable predictions but the errors at higher SSC are not fully explained by modelling alone. Here we offer sufficient evidence for the feasibility of a continuous SSC monitoring capability in channels before the next phase of the study with the goal of producing practice guidelines