The Relationship between Social Capital and Nurses’ Performance in Hospitals of Mashhad City, Iran

Introduction: One of the most important issues that managers are facing is the improvement of their staffs’ performance that could improve and increase the productivity of the organization. This study was performed with the purpose of determining the relation between social capital and the nurses’ performance in the Hospitals of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This is an applied and Cross-sectional study performed in 2012. The statistical population included 320 employed nurses of the hospitals of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences. Data were collected using social capital measuring questionnaires designed by the author. The questionnaires were scientifically confirmed and had the Reliability of 84% using Cronbach’s Alpha Test. Data were analyzed using the Spearman test. Results: A significant and direct relationship was found between social capital and 5 of its components (social participation, mutual trust and reciprocity, social networks and perception of the environment) and nurses performance in the mentioned hospitals (p<0.001). Conclusion: managers can improve their staff’s performance and their motivations by recognizing and developing the social capital. Therefore it is suggested that efforts should be made in improving the components of social capital in hospitals, which are one of the most important organizations in providing services

Deprotonation of salicylic acid and 5-nitrosalicylic acid in aqueous solutions of ethanol

The protonation constant values of two hydroxybenzoic acids (salicylic and 5-nitrosalicylic acid) were studied in some water-ethanol solutions using spectrophotometric and potentiometric methods at 25°C and in an ionic strength of 0.1 M sodium perchlorate. The results indicated that the pKa values increase with increasing proportion of ethanol in mixed solvent. The dependence of the protonation constants on the variation of the solvent were correlated by the dielectric constants of the media. Furthermore, for a better understanding of the solvent influence, the obtained results were explained in terms of the Kamlet-Taft parameters α (hydrogen-bond donor acidity),

An efficient one-pot synthesis of highly substituted furans catalyzed by N-bromosuccinimide

N-Bromosuccinimide was found to efficiently catalyze the synthesis of highly functionalized, tetra-substituted furan derivatives in the one-pot reactions of but-2-ene-1,4-diones and acetoacetate esters in the presence of i-PrOH as solvent under mild and neutral conditions at 80–90 °C for 3–7 h in high yields (87–94 %)