Smoking and Substance Abuse among Medical Students in Iran

Objectives Drug abuse is a critical health problem in human societies. This study aimed to evaluate the prevalence and determinants of drug abuse among students in a medical university in Iran. Methods This cross-sectional study was performed in 2016 on a convenient sample of 800 undergraduate students in a medical university in Tehran, Iran. Data were gathered by means of a self-administered questionnaire inquiring the students’ age, gender, marital status, home city, living status, smoking, and drug abuse including history, frequency and type. Statistical analyses were performed by the Chi-square test and logistic regression models.  Results The mean age of the respondents was 23.5 years; 67% were males, and 70% were single. Totally, 15% of the students reported cigarette smoking and ≤ 6% used other drugs. The frequency of substance abuse by male students was significantly higher than that by female students (P<0.01). Alcohol consumption was reported by 7% of the students, and had a significantly higher frequency among females (P=0.02). Older students, those spending their free time alone, and those without a job had higher frequency of drug abuse (P≤0.001). Conclusion Prevalence of drug abuse was low among medical students evaluated in this study, and most of them reported no smoking. Some demographic and lifestyle factors may predispose students to smoking and drug abuse. Provision of preventive programs including surveillance, consultation and treatment will help university students avoid such risky behaviors

School-Based Oral Health Promotion: A Thorough Review

Objectives Schools are considered as important platforms for oral health promotion worldwide. Oral diseases are preventable and any focus on schoolchildren can minimize suffering, reduce inequity, and create productive years of healthy adulthood later on. Hence, we need to explore oral health promotion methods conducted within the school systems in different countries. This is especially required for developing countries with limited resources.Methods The PubMed database was searched for English peer-reviewed articles published from January 2000 to June 2017 with available abstracts, specifically focusing on primary school children aged between 7 and 12 years. “Oral health”, “health promotion” and “school” were used as keywords in our search strategy. Relevant papers  were selected and reviewed by two independent readers using predefined exclusion criteria, firstly on the basis of abstracts, secondly by assessing full-text papers.Results From a total of 257 articles, 22 were eligible for analysis. Of all oral health related activities implemented in schools, oral health education was mentioned in most studies (n=15) followed by supervised tooth brushing program in schools with fluoride toothpaste (n=5), administration of fluoride (varnish/gel) (n=3), provision of nutritious food (n=3), multimedia game or campaign (n=3), and tooth examination with screening (n=3).Conclusion Improvement of children’s oral health related to school-based oral health programs is the result of a combination of several interventions. The governments and other policy makers should consider implementing some appropriate health promotion schemes in schools, which take local needs and resources into accoun

Mitigation of Seismic Deformation of Anchored Quay Wall by Compacting

The anchored quay walls or bulkheads are commonly used in coastal areas. Previous studies on the seismic behavior of these quay walls have shown a significant effect of the liquefaction on the performance of the walls. Considerable length of an anchored sheet pile wall in Rajaii port, Iran, has been embedded in liquefiable sand. This study tries to clarify failure mechanism of the wall during earthquake and to identify more effective zone for improvement of the wall stability. Numerical modeling by DIANA software and physical modeling by shake table were presented. Results show that the main reason for extensive deformation of the system is the liquefaction of the soil adjacent to the root of the wall. The compaction of this zone improves the performance of the system and prevents large displacements. The mitigation plan was proven by comparison among the measured results, including the final shape, displacements and excess pore water pressure ratio

Operative Treatment of Acute Distal Femur Fractures: Review of literature

Fractures of the distal femur may be extra articular or have an intra articular component. Mismanagement of any of these fractures can result in abnormalities of alignment of the load-bearing axis of lower limb and/or rotational deformities. Essentially all supracondylar femur fractures require operative intervention because of the severe potential risks of prolonged bed rest. Yet, despite their proven track record and benefits over older implants, technical errors are common and must be overcome with proper preoperative planning and intra-operative attention to details. The goal of this study was   to present an update on the management of these fracture