Effective Factors on Faculty Members' Job Satisfaction in Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, School of Medicine, 2006

Background & Objective : Faculty members are one of the most important parts of "Input" in the "Educational system", so fine determination of effective factors on their "Job satisfaction" is critically important. This study was designed to evaluate effective factors on faculty members' job satisfaction in Mazandaran University of Medical sciences, 2006. Methods : In this descriptive cross sectional study, all faculty members (135 ones) of medical college who participated as the study samples completed a questionnaire (based on "Herzberg" theory) consisted demographic variables, 40 items in 11 domains for assessment of effective factors on job satisfaction according to 4 point Likert seal degree. Results : Among our sample, 106 faculty members participated in the study (87.5% response rate), majority of them were clinical specialists and sub specialists, and mostly were assistant professors (73.5%). The highest mean score (±SD) for effective domains on job satisfaction were as follow: salary 3.81(±0.61), condition of work environment 3.72(±0.75), job position 3.3(±0.81). The least important domains include: method of monitoring and supervising 1.91(±0.63), gratitude 2(±0.74), and communications 2.02(±0.85). Basic sciences faculties cared significantly more about salary steady job, environment, career promotion and quality while for assistant professors environment and responsibility were more significant. Conclusion : This study showed that external factors including salary and job environment were the most effective factors on job satisfaction of faculty members but factors related to organizational position of faculty members (communications and supervision) were less important. In Overall, this study indicated less importance of organizational and team spirit in faculty members and predominance of individual benefits, which should be modified by appropriate programs. Keywords: Job satisfaction, Faculty members, Effective factors, Medical sciences

Application of Neural Networks and multiple regression models in greenhouse climate estimation

Artificial Neural Networks (ANNs) are biologically inspired computer programs designed to simulate the way in which the human brain processes information. After a comprehensive literature survey on the application of ANNs in greenhouses, this work describes the results of using ANNs to predict the roof temperature, inside air humidity, soil temperature and inside soil humidity (Tri, RHia, Tis, RHis), in a semi-solar greenhouse according to use some inside and outside parameters in the institute of renewable energy in East Azerbaijan province, Iran. For this purpose, a semi-solar greenhouse was designed and constructed for the first time in Iran. The model database selected beside on the main and important factors influence the four above variables inside the greenhouse. Neural estimation models were constructed with (Vo, Tia, Toa, Ir, Tis, RHia, Tri) as the inputs and (Tri, RHis, Tis, RHia) as the outputs. Optimal parameters for the network were selected via a trial and error procedure on the available data. Results showed that MLP (Multilayer Perceptron) algorithm with 4-6-1(4 inputs in first layer, 6 neurons in hidden layer and an output) and 4-9-1(4 inputs in first layer, 9 neurons in hidden layer and an output) topologies can predict inside soil and air humidity and inside roof and soil temperature with a low error (RMSE=0.25°C, 0.30%, 1.06°C and 0.25% for Tri, RHis, Tis and RHia), respectively. Also the results showed that regression model has a low error to predict Tri (RMSE=0.71°C) and high error to estimate Tis (2.71°C), respectively. In overall, the error for regression model to predict all 4 parameters (Tri, RHis, Tis, RHia) was about 2 times higher than MLP method. It is concluded that ANN represents a promising tool for predicting inside climate in a greenhouse and will be useful in automatic greenhouses. For practical application, however, the farmers should use metrological and experimental data for 12 months of the year to decrease the prediction error

The prevalence of potential drug interactions in Intensive Care Units

Aims: Drug interaction occurs when a drug affects the action of another. In this line, the present study has been conducted to determine the prevalence of potential drug interactions in critical care units. Methods: In the present retrospective study, the first twenty-four hour prescriptions of 371 patients admitted to intensive care unit of Shahid Bahonar hospital of Kerman were investigated in terms of the number and type of drug interaction in addition to other factors such as number of drugs, age, gender, length of ICU stay and number of prescribing doctors. In order to determine the number and type of drug interactions, a reference textbook of "Drug Interaction Facts" was used, and data analysis was performed by SPSS18 statistical software with respect to the study objectives using descriptive statistics, Pierson correlation test, independent t-test, and variance analysis. Results: In terms of the drugs received, 77 different drugs and, in total, 2091 cases of drug prescription were found with the average of 5.6 (±1.5) for each patient. Overall, 726 cases of drug interactions were observed among critical care unit patients in the first 24 hour of prescription. Delayed, moderate, and possible interactions were accounted for the most interactions found. The results are indicative of a significant correlation between the number of drug interactions and prescribed medications, age, gender, duration of hospitalizations and number of prescribing doctors. Conclusion: Due to possessing more risk factors of drug interactions, critical care unit patients are at higher risk of developing drug interaction which behooves the medical team to pay more attention to this issue

Exploring the Human Factors Affecting Health Service Managers: A Qualitative Study

BACKGROUND: In recent decades, managing health-service systems has faced multiple challenges. Identifying and resolving these challenges promote the efficiency and effectiveness of hospital activities. AIM: The present study aimed to explore the human factors affecting health service managers.MATERIAL AND METHODS: In this qualitative study, in-depth unstructured interviews were conducted with 29 employees who were in close contact with the health service managers. All the interviews were transcribed verbatim. Data were collected using purposeful sampling and were analysed using conventional content analysis via MAXQDA software.RESULTS: A group of 29 participants were interviewed (male 65.5%, female 34.4%). "Managing managers" has been identified as the primary theme with four supporting secondary themes including the inappropriate appointment of managers, the impact of human and social needs of managers, influential employees, and disrupting organisational communications. These are the challenges faced by managers in managing human resources in health-service organisations.CONCLUSION: Results showed that employees manage their managers within the organisation so that they can prevent managers from concentrating on their management affairs and tasks resulting in the distortion of management practices. The results of this study can help the key policy makers and planners in health-service organisations to guide the organisation to pursue its goals through appointing appropriate managers and identifying influential employees

The relationship between knowledge about ventilator associated pneumonia and priority of oral care

Introduction: The lack of enough oral care can expose patients to the risk of infection. Ventilator associated pneumonia is a nosocomial infection that is associated with aspiration of oropharyngeal content through passage around endotracheal tube. However، there are several oral care protocols and the association between poor oral hygiene and nosocomial infection has been showed، there is a little information about oral care procedures in intensive care units. Objective: To describe the relationship between knowledge about ventilator associated pneumonia and prioritization of oral care In Kerman University of Medical Sciences hospitals ICUs. Method: In this descriptive analytical study، intensive care nurse’s knowledge about Ventilator Associated Pneumonia، prioritizes of oral care and using evidence based methods for oral care of 131 nurses were surveyed by questionnaire. Chi-square، fisher exact test، T-test، ANOVA، Man-Whitney U and Spearman’s correlation coefficient were used to analysis the data. Results: 45.6 percent of participants have used evidence based methods for oral care. The mean score of knowledge about ventilator associated pneumonia transmission was 9. 92±3. 76. There was significant relationship between using evidence based oral care methods and type of hospital with knowledge about ventilator associated pneumonia. There was also significant relationship between oral care methods with past learning about oral care and type of learning. The relationship between priority of oral care and knowledge about oral care methods was significant. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that having knowledge about ventilator associated pneumonia is related with more prioritization to oral care and using evidence based oral care methods Keywords: Knowledge, Ventilator Associated Pneumonia, Oral Care, Priorit

Burnout in Primary Health Care Providers in Mazandaran Province

Background: Burnout describes negative changes in attitude, mood and behavior in people under work-related stress. This study determines the degree of job burnout inprimary health care providers in Sari, Mazandaran Province, Iran.Methods: This cross-sectional research was conducted on 208 primary health care providers working in Sari in 2015using the Maslach Burnout Inventory. The self-administered questionnaire was completed by the participants and data were analyzed using the Chi-square test. The mean scores of the four dimensions of burnout were calculated using the frequency and intensity scores.Results: A total of 62.9% of the participants were female  and a majority was married (91%). Approximately 21% of the participants were completely satisfied with their essential workplace facilities. The mean scores of the intensity and frequency of emotional exhaustion were 17.19±14.65 and 15.84±12.27. The mean scores of the intensity and frequency of the lack of personal accomplishment were 36.8±12.17 and 30.34±9.72. As for depersonalization, the mean scores of intensity and frequency were 4.22±5.36 and3.95±4.53. The mean scores of  the intensity and frequency of conflict were 6.67±5.12 and 6.18±4.26. The mean scores of the intensity and frequency of overall burnou twere also 64.89±22.95 and 56.31±19.87. There were significant relationships between the intensity and frequency of overall burnout and dissatisfaction with work experience, income, interest in the job and workplace facilities (P<0.05).Conclusions: Given the relationship between job burnout and variables including income and essential workplace facilities, it is imperative to improve health care providers’payment and salary and provide them with any essential facilities at their workplace and enable career advancement so as to help reduce burnout in different dimensions

Burnout in Primary Health Care Providers in Mazandaran Province

Background: Burnout describes negative changes in attitude, mood and behavior in people under work-related stress. This study determines the degree of job burnout inprimary health care providers in Sari, Mazandaran Province, Iran.Methods: This cross-sectional research was conducted on 208 primary health care providers working in Sari in 2015using the Maslach Burnout Inventory. The self-administered questionnaire was completed by the participants and data were analyzed using the Chi-square test. The mean scores of the four dimensions of burnout were calculated using the frequency and intensity scores.Results: A total of 62.9% of the participants were female  and a majority was married (91%). Approximately 21% of the participants were completely satisfied with their essential workplace facilities. The mean scores of the intensity and frequency of emotional exhaustion were 17.19±14.65 and 15.84±12.27. The mean scores of the intensity and frequency of the lack of personal accomplishment were 36.8±12.17 and 30.34±9.72. As for depersonalization, the mean scores of intensity and frequency were 4.22±5.36 and3.95±4.53. The mean scores of  the intensity and frequency of conflict were 6.67±5.12 and 6.18±4.26. The mean scores of the intensity and frequency of overall burnou twere also 64.89±22.95 and 56.31±19.87. There were significant relationships between the intensity and frequency of overall burnout and dissatisfaction with work experience, income, interest in the job and workplace facilities (P<0.05).Conclusions: Given the relationship between job burnout and variables including income and essential workplace facilities, it is imperative to improve health care providers’payment and salary and provide them with any essential facilities at their workplace and enable career advancement so as to help reduce burnout in different dimensions

First report of bioaccumulation and bioconcentration of aliphatic hydrocarbons (AHs) and persistent organic pollutants (PAHs, PCBs and PCNs) and their effects on alcyonacea and scleractinian corals and their endosymbiotic algae from the Persian Gulf, Iran

The coral reefs of the Persian Gulf are the most diverse systems of life in the marine environment of the Middle East. Unfortunately, they are highly threatened by local and global stressors, particularly oil pollutants. This is the first quantitative and qualitative study aimed at assessing the concentration and sources of n-alkanes and POPs (PAHs, PCBs and PCNs) in coral tissues, symbiotic algae (zooxanthellae), reef sediments and seawaters in coral reefs of Lark and Kharg in the Persian Gulf, Iran. This work was conducted on eight species of six genera and three families of hard corals and one family of soft coral. A significant variation in the concentration of Σ30n-alkanes and POPs (Σ40PAHs, Σ22PCBs and 20PCNs) was found in the decreasing order: zooxanthellae > coral tissue > skeleton > reef sediment > seawater. The bioaccumulation of these compounds was 2-times higher in ahermatypic than in hermatypic corals, among which significant variations were observed in both sites. In Kharg, Porites lutea had the highest mean concentration of Σ30n-alkanes and Σ40PAHs in soft tissue, whereas the lowest values were in Platygyra daedalea. A contrasting trend was documented for Σ22PCBs and 20PCNs, with the highest level reported in soft tissue of P. daedalea and the lowest in P. lutea at Kharg. Compositional pattern of AHs and PAHs demonstrated the predominance of LMW-PAHs and n-alkanes. In skeleton and reef sediments, tetra, penta and tri-CBs were the most abundant PCBs congeners followed by di-CB > hexa-CB > hepta-CB > octa-CB,whiletri-CB > di-CB > tetra-CB > penta-CB > hexa-CB > hepta-CB > octa-CB was observed for soft tissue, zooxanthellae and seawater. The results of RAD test indicated significantly negative correlation between total concentration of these compounds with zooxanthellae density, the chlorophyll-a and C2 in corals at both reefs. This is the first report on levels, health assessment and source apportionments of POPs in zooxanthellae and a first step in the implementation of specific coral reef management measures

Prevalence of Gastrointestinal Symptoms among Individuals with and without Diabetes: A Cross-Sectional Study from the PERSIAN Guilan Cohort Study

Objective: Gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms are the most common complaint among individuals with diabetes. This study investigated the prevalence of upper, lower, and general GI symptoms in individuals with and without diabetes among the Prospective Epidemiological Research Studies in Iran (PERSIAN) Guilan Cohort study (PGCS) population. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study of PGCS was conducted on 2669 participants, 1364 with diabetes and 1305 without diabetes. The first part of the questionnaire collected demographical and clinical data, and the second part collected GI symptoms. A 4-point Likert Scale was used for each question. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 16, and the significance level was considered < 0.05. Results: The mean age of the participants was 52.24 ± 8.75 years, and 55.5% were female. Patients with diabetes have an increased incidence of upper GI symptoms (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] = 1.19, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.00–1.42, p = 0.045) compared to individuals without diabetes. The most common upper GI symptom in patients with diabetes compared to those without diabetes was eructation (18.6% vs. 14.9%, p = 0.009). Conclusions: The prevalence of GI symptoms was high in patients both with and without diabetes, and the chance of developing GI upper symptoms was higher in patients with diabetes