The Relationship between Shift Work and Burnout among ICU Nursing Staff in Hospitals of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences

 Background: Recent studies have indicated the high prevalence of burnout among nursing staff. Shift work is one of the characteristics of the nursing job; therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between shift work and burnout among intensive care unit (ICU) nursing staff in hospitals of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytic study of cross-sectional type was carried out the period of 2017-2018. The research population was of all nursing staff in the intensive care unit (ICU) in 7 public hospitals and 5 private hospitals. The sample size was 320 nursing staff that was surveyed by census method. To collect data, Maslach burnout inventory (with 78% and reliability and internal validity ranges from 71% to 92 %) and demographic profile questionnaire were used. All statistical analyses analyzed by SPSS software. Results: There was a significant relationship between emotional exhaustion and rotational shift work. There was no significant relationship between emotional exhaustion and night shift. There was a significant relationship between depersonalization and morning shifts in public hospitals. The shift component was only significant in the work shift of the evening and night of public hospitals with personal accomplishment as well. Conclusion: The shift work was considered as an effective factor in the burnout of nursing staff in ICU. By utilizing the results of the study, we can reduce the effects of shift work and make an appropriate intervention plan for promoting staff health

Signs and Stage Props in Tennessee Williams' Camino Real

Humans from the early times have used signs to facilitate the communication in the early societies. Semiotics is an approach wherein howness is dominant; it is the investigation of how meaning is created and communicated through systems of signs. In the dramatic texts meanings are conveyed by two different forms of language, stage direction and dialogue. Stage direction and dialogue are complementary and interdependent signifying systems. Stage directions are integral to the structure of dramatic texts and have important functions in their semantic construction. Tennessee Williams is one of the dramatists who use notes or stage directions in his plays. Through such stage devices as lighting, music and sound effects, colors, objects as symbols, transparent walls, the fluctuation of time, etc., he is after the representation of an abstract or spiritual meaning through concrete or material form. This study aims at analysis and examination of Williams’ Camino Real’s stage props and devices as signs and their relationships in the play with regard to semiotics as the theoretical framework and approac

The relationship between the noise pollution caused by road transport and demographic factors of residents living near the Basij highway, north to south Tehran district 15

Background: Road traffic is considered as one of the main sources of noise pollution causing annoyance.In this study the relationship between noise pollution and demographic factors of residents living near Basij highway, north to south of Tehran’s district 15 was studied.Materials and Methods: The noise measurement was conducted along 2 kilometers that was divided into 10 stations, each with a length of 200 meters. The measurement of equivalent level of noise took 5 minutes in each station. A questionnaire was developed to investigate the relationship between noise andannoyance. The Cochran formula yielded a sample size of 170 people, and their demographic factors were examined. All stages of study was conducted ethically.Results: The noise annoyed women more than men, and 48.91% of women reported high annoyance.The minimum (75.9 dBA) and maximum (87.60 dBA) levels of noise were measured at the first and fifth stations, respectively. The relationships between noise annoyance and LeqA, sex, sleep disturbances,headache, disturbance of the leisure time, and impaired concentration were statistically significant (P<0.05). Average equivalent level of sound in all stations were higher than the standard level.Conclusion: In this study it was found that traffic noise leads to dysfunction of the studied area residents.Indeed, women found the constant noise of the traffic an annoyance. Taking corrective measures to ensurephysical and psychological health were thence recommended.Keywords: Noise annoyance, Highway, Traffic, Pollutio

Spatial traffic noise pollution assessment – A case study

Objectives: Spatial assessment of traffic noise pollution intensity will provide urban planners with approximate estimation of citizens exposure to impermissible sound levels. They could identify critical noise pollution areas wherein noise barriers should be embedded. The present study aims at using the Geographic Information System (GIS) to assess spatial changes in traffic noise pollution in Tehran, the capital of Iran, and the largest city in the Middle East. Material and Methods: For this purpose, while measuring equivalent sound levels at different time periods of a day and different days of a week in District 14 of Tehran, wherein there are highways and busy streets, the geographic coordination of the measurement points was recorded at the stations. The obtained results indicated that the equivalent sound level did not show a statistically significant difference between weekdays, and morning, afternoon and evening hours as well as time intervals of 10 min, 15 min and 30 min. Then, 91 stations were selected in the target area and equivalent sound level was measured for each station on 3 occasions of the morning (7:00–9:00 a.m.), afternoon (12.00–3:00 p.m.) and evening (5:00–8:00 p.m.) on Saturdays to Wednesdays. Results: As the results suggest, the maximum equivalent sound level (Leq) was reported from Basij Highway, which is a very important connecting thoroughfare in the district, and was equal to 84.2 dB(A), while the minimum equivalent sound level (Leq), measured in the Fajr Hospital, was equal to 59.9 dB(A). Conclusions: The average equivalent sound level was higher than the national standard limit at all stations. The use of sound walls in Highways Basij and Mahallati as well as widening the Streets 17th Shahrivar, Pirouzi and Khavaran, benchmarked on a map, were recommended as the most effective mitigation measures. Additionally, the research findings confirm the outstanding applicability of the Geographic Information System in handling noise pollution data towards depicting noise pollution intensity caused by traffic

A Model to Determine the Level of Serum Aldosterone in the Workers Attributed to the Combined Effects of Sound Pressure Level, Exposure Time and Serum Potassium Level: A Field-Based Study

Background: Occupational exposure to excessive noise is one of the biggest work-related challenges in the world. This phenomenon causes the release of stress-related hormones, which in turn, negatively affects cardiovascular risk factors. Objectives: The current study study aimed to determine the level of workers’ serum aldosterone in light of the combined effect of sound pressure level, exposure time and serum potassium level. Methods: This cross-sectional, descriptive, analytical study was conducted on 45 workers of Gol-Gohar Mining and Industrial Company in the fall of 2014. The subjects were divided into three groups (one control and two case groups), each including 15 workers. Participants in the control group were selected from workers with administrative jobs (exposure to the background noise). On the other hand, participants in the case groups were selected from the concentrator and pelletizing factories exposed to excessive noise. Serum aldosterone and potassium levels of participants were assessed at three different time intervals: at the beginning of the shift and before exposure to noise (7:30 - 8:00 AM), during exposure to noise (10:00 - 10:30 AM), and during continuous exposure (1:30 - 2:00 PM). The obtained data were transferred into SPSS ver. 18. Repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to develop the statistical model of workers’ aldosterone level in light of the combined effect of sound pressure level, exposure time, and serum potassium level. Results: The results of the final statistical model to determine the level of serum aldosterone based on the combined effect of sound pressure level, exposure time and serum potassium level indicated that the sound pressure level had a significant influence on the human’s serum aldosterone level (P = 0.04). In addition, the effects of exposure time and serum potassium on aldosterone level were statistically significant with P-values of 0.008 and 0.001, respectively. Conclusions: The obtained model in the study revealed that the results of predictive models to determine aldosterone level were very similar to real values; therefore, the obtained values of this model were largely in line with the ones obtained from the field

Presenting of safety performance assessment pattern of road trucks

Background and aim: hazardous materials transport is one of the most important problems in developing countries. The accidents involving the fleet of hazardous materials transport can have irreparable consequences. The study was aimed to present safety performance assessment pattern of road trucks with risk assessment approach. Methods: This is a descriptive study. In this study, the Accidents of road trucks with fix tank were studied during a 10-year period (1384-1394).The safety criteria and sub-criteria with respect to technical characteristics of road trucks divided in two categories: “Inductive factors of human error” and “Non-inductive factors of human error” In order to determine the final criteria and sub criteria and weighting them, the team of experts and FAHP method was used. Result: The results showed that the most important effective criterion on safety performance of road truck is “Inductive factors of human error”. Also, the most important effective sub-criteria are “Brake system and their connections”, “Ventilation system” and “Technical inspections”. With respect to the pattern “Hino, Mack, Howo 6×4(10 wheels), Dangfeng” trucks have received the lowest safety level. Conclusion: The causes of low safety level in fleet of hazardous materials transport in Iran, are the lack of timely inspections and inefficiencies in the technical equipment of the trucks such as “malfunction of ventilation and Brake system and their connections” which it’s most important reason is non-commitment of Iran to ADR agreement. &#160

A Comparative Evaluation of TiO 2

The most important parameters affecting the efficiency of catalysts for the oxidation of the surrounding materials are considered to be the thickness and uniformity of the catalyst layer. The present method for the determination of thickness used in most studies is the analysis of cross-sectional pictures from SEM imaging. This method, however, has several restrictions. This study proposes a feasible and simple method for evaluating the optimal thickness and uniformity using UVA light transmitted through the samples. Three techniques for catalyst deposition have been investigated in this study using UVA light transmitted through the samples and by measuring the photocatalytic activity. These methods include lowering, dip coating, and spraying, which showed coefficients of variation for the coated catalyst weight of 28.4%, 13.6%, and 3.24%, respectively. The samples from the lowering, dip coating, and spraying techniques showed UVA transmissions of 95.02%, 68.8%, and 15.6%, respectively. The spraying technique displayed the lowest values for both. The estimated removal efficiencies (%RE/mgcm−2) for lowering, dip coating, and spraying were 18.42, 16.84, and 24.15, respectively. Using these analyses it was determined that the spraying technique yielded the best photocatalytic oxidation performance of the three techniques studied

Assessment of the Effects of Different Sound Pressure Levels on Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emissions (DPOAEs) in Rats

Excessive exposure to noise can lead to Noise-Induced Hearing Loss. Otoacoustic emissions affect the microscopic biomechanical activities of healthy outer hair cells. The present study aimed at assessing the influence of various sound pressure levels on Distortion Product Otoacoustic Emissions (DPOAEs) in rats. To this end, 27 adult male rats with an age range of 3 to 4 months and a weight of 200 ± 50 g were randomly divided into nine groups of three. Three groups were considered as the control groups and the rest (i.e. Six groups) as the case groups. Rats of the case groups were exposed to sound pressure levels of 85, 95, and 105 dBA. White noise was used as the noise to which the rats were exposed. The signal to noise ratio (SNR) of otoacoustic emissions of rats’ ears was measured at different frequencies in an acoustic room using a DPOAE machine (4000 I/O manufactured by Homoth of Germany). The collected data were analyzed by the use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18. The results of SNR measurement indicated that over 90% of the data had SNR values of 6dB or more. Furthermore, sound pressure level had a significant negative correlation with SNR, i.e. as the sound pressure level increased, the SNR declined (p<0.001). There was also a significant negative correlation between exposure time and SNR, meaning that increase in the exposure time led to decline in the SNR (p=0.008). It is thus concluded that higher sound pressure levels result in decrease in DPOAE levels

The Interaction of Noise Pollution and Blood Pressure in a Textile Factory in Ilam, Iran

The aim of the present study was to assess the industrial noise pollution and its effects on the blood pressure of workers during activities in textile factory in Ilam,which is situated in west of Iran. A cross-sectional study was performed on a group included 81 workers and 30 people as sample and control group, respectively. A questionnaire was filled out and then the other measurements including the total sound pressure level, weight, height, pulse, blood pressure and all the rest of medical examinations have been respectively done. The average sound pressure level measured for sample and control group was respectively (94.86 ±6.63) and (61.93 ± 4.56) dBA. The result also showed that by taking mean values for each quantitative variable, statistically only the age has significant difference between opposing groups. Sound frequency analysis in A and C networks over a frequency range between 125 to 16000 Hz revealed a significant differences in such away that sound pressure level for the sample group was higher than the limited threshold (85 dBA).  Moreover, the results from the survey of the total sound pressure level in A –and C – weighted according to blood pressure status, BMI and age indicate a significant statistical correlation between the mentioned variables. A highly significant correlation was found by    test between the level of sound pressure, blood pressure status, BMI and the age group in different octave band center frequencies. It is concluded that planning for working hours of workers to decrease the noise exposure and employment of young workers with appropriate BMI may reduce the adverse effects of noise

Representation a Framwork for Contractors Selection Via of Health, Safety and Environment

Introduction: Quality and efficiency of health, safety, and environment (HSE) management systems play a vital role in achieving their goals. Considering outputs and objective achievement make continuous improvement of services and products, internal and external customer satisfaction, adopting a systematic way for performing various tasks, system performance and analysis very important. The present study was conducted to construct a proper framework for assessing MAPNA group contractors in terms of their health, safety, and environment performance.&nbsp; . Method: In the first step of the study, all documents and literature associated with performance assessment were reviewed. In the second step, using a focus group approach, a basic model for assessing HSE management system was designed. Lastly, the framework was tested and credited on three major contractors of MAPNA group. Results: The proposed framework was composed of five criteria. The main criteria was the pattern of HSE process implementation which had seven sub-criteria and 120 guiding hints. Moreover, the five criteria were able to assess the organizational capabilities in terms of health, safety, and environment management.. Conclusion: The proposed framework make contractors able to promote their HSE performances by identifying organizational strong and weak points, prioritizing improvement projects, and also monitoring the pace of improvement in achieving organizational excellence.