Energy Savings by Form Design in Schools

This study is a part of a comprehensive study that aims to investigate the impact of school building form on energy consumption. The methodology included two parts: in part one the study conducted a survey that covered all schools under Abu Dhabi Department of Education and Knowledge (ADEK) authority; in addition to performing a design model analysis that helped identify the possible form design variables that can impact the building performance with their value ranges. Part two the study performed an hour-by-hour computer simulation to test the impact of different building form variables on energy consumption. The simulation was carried out in two phases, Phase I covered the investigation of the existing design models obtained from ADEK without any manipulation of the form variables. While Phase II covered a broader range of cases under more controlled conditions. The investigation was based on Abu Dhabi climatic conditions with respect to ADEK school requirements and Estidama green building guidelines. The simulation results revealed the effect of each design variable of the school building form on energy consumption and CO2 emissions. The most important outcome of the study is the establishment of two concepts to evaluate the behavior of building form in influencing energy performance; i.e., form verticality and horizontality

Prevalence of depression and its relation to risky behaviors in students of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, 2014

BACKGROUND: Students, particularly medical students, due to the special circumstances, are susceptible to loss their mental health. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of depression and its relation to risky behaviors among students of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran, in 2014. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study conducted among 323 medical/paramedical students in Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences. Data were collected through Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) and a checklist including demographic information. Chi-square or Fisher's exact tests and logistic regression method were used to determine the relationship between depression and investigated variables. RESULTS: A total of 323 students, including 161 men (49.8%) and 162 women (50.2%) with mean age of 22.09 ± 1.67 years were investigated. From our series, 147 students (45.5%) had the symptoms of depression. Although several variables including degree satisfaction, experiencing educational failure, alcohol consumption, smoking, and having family problems increased the chance of depression in univariate analysis, degree dissatisfaction was the only significant factor for depression occurrence in multivariate analysis by logistic regression. CONCLUSION: Given the results, degree dissatisfaction was the most important factor related to the occurrence of depression. This variable should be considered before entering to the university by students and their parents

Female Sex Workers' Experiences of Risky Behaviors, and the Causes of These Behaviors from their Viewpoints: A Qualitative Study

Introduction: The phenomenon of prostitution among women as one of the backgrounds for the spread of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and other sexual transmitted infections in recent years attracted the attention of the authorities, especially the Iranian health officials. From 2009, and accordance to the HIV surveillance, centers as centers for vulnerable women has been established by the national health system for harm reduction programs in women. In this study, experiences, risky behaviors, and causes of these behaviors in female sex workers (FSWs) came to the vulnerable women counseling center in 2015, in Sanandaj City, Iran, were studied. Method: In this qualitative study, semi-structured interviews and focus group discussion techniques were used to collect the data. Individual interviews with service provider personnel vulnerable women, including the director of the women counseling center, the midwife, and social worker consultant, and three focus group discussions with women referred to the center were done. Results: Sexual partners' unwilling to use harm reduction facilities, non-commitment of men to pay for prostitution, violence, physical and sexual harm, applying for unconventional sexual abuse, and forced use of drugs and alcohol were the main experiences and risk behaviors that prostitutes facing. Lack of adherence to religious, poverty, addiction, divorce, ethical and social distortions, and lack of healthy family relationships were the most important factors affecting the occurrence of prostitution among women. Conclusion: Even the health and social consequences of the prostitution among women and their risky behaviors are associated with multiple factors (multifactorial), but to deal with this problem, attention to the social determinants of health is very important; and each of the variables identified in this study can become a target for interventional programs in the country, particularly in vulnerable women counseling centers. Keywords: Female, Sex workers, Risk behavior, Qualitative researc

Analysis of the factors related to mortality in patients with primary brain and central nervous system tumors

BACKGROUND: The present study aimed to assess the factors associated with the mortality of patints with brain tumor surgery at Be’sat Hospital in Sanandaj, Kurdistan, Iran.METHODS: In this prospectively cross-sectional study, 108 patients diagnosed with brain tumor and followed by a surgery during April to December of 2014 were recruited. Eighteen cases were excluded from the study due to lack of information about their treatment outcomes. Patients’ information including age, gender, tumor type, tumor location, type of treatment, and extent of resection was collected by a checklist. Clinical outcome of the patients in six months after surgery was determined through phone calling to patients. All analyses conducted in SPSS software using logistic regression.RESULTS: Forty-seven (52.2%) of the studied subjects were women. The age of cases ranged from 3 to 83 years with total mean of 43.4 ± 21.9 years. In six months after treatment, 41 (45.6%) of the treated patients died. After excluding 9 children from final analysis and modeling the data by logistic regression, statistically significant associations were observed between death from central nervous system (CNS) tumor and male gender [odds ratio (OR): 5.25, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.38–21.99], higher age (OR: 1.07, 95% CI: 1.02–1.13), partial vs. total resection (OR: 20.24, 95% CI: 1.21–337.51), and high malignant potential tumors (OR: 14.77, 95% CI: 4.85–45.02).CONCLUSION: The results showed that both demographic (advanced age and male gender) and clinical factors (high malignant potential tumors and partial removal of tumor) related to the worse outcome in patients with primary CNS tumors during six months after surgery

Environmental factors influencing the distribution of pedestrian traffic accidents in Iran

Background: This study aimed to determine the environmental factors affecting the frequency of accidents leading to injury and death related to pedestrians in 31 provinces of Iran. Methods: Data necessary for the study were extracted from databases of traffic police, statistics center, ministry of roads and urban development, and Iran meteorological organization. Hot spots analysis was used based on Getis-Ord G statistics in geographically weighted regression models. Goodness of fit of models was evaluated using the Bayesian information criterion, Akaike's information criterion and Deviance statistics. Results: In this study, 49,409 incidents were investigated. Of these, 48,382 (98) cases were injuries and 1027 (2) cases were fatal accidents. The incidence of fatal accidents does not follow a specific pattern; however, the incidence of accidents leading to injuries is higher in the central and the northeastern provinces of the country and lower in the southern and southeast provinces of the country. The final models showed that the relationship between different variables, including demographic characteristics, road network, and distance from the capital, traffic volume, and rainfall with dependent variables (number of accidents in geographic units), was statistically significant. Conclusion: In order to better design preventive plans for traffic accidents and promote the safety of passageways for pedestrians inside and outside the cities, these factors need to be considered more carefully, and practical solutions should be developed and implemented for their correction

Myo-inositol effect on pregnancy outcomes in infertile women undergoing in vitro fertilization/intracytoplasmic sperm injection: A double-blind RCT

Background: Myo-inositol is an intracellular mediator which is involved in various aspects of reproduction in women. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the impact of Myo-inositol on the outcomes of in vitro fertilization (IVF)/intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) cycles in infertile women. Materials and Methods: This double-blind randomized controlled trial was conducted on 70 infertile women referred to the Infertility Treatment Center, Besat hospital, Sanandaj, Iran from May 2019 to September 2019 for IVF/ICSI cycles. The participants were randomly divided into 2 intervention (n = 36) and control (n = 34) groups. The intervention group received 2000 mg of Myo-inositol and 200 mcg folic acid twice a day for 2 months and the control group received 200 mcg of folic acid twice a day for 2 months in the IVF/ICSI cycles (from the third day of cycle until the end of the second month). Finally, the number of oocytes, the quality of embryos, and the IVF/ICSI outcomes were compared between the 2 groups. Results: The mean numbers of oocytes, MII oocytes, and 2 pronuclear embryos were significantly higher in the intervention group than the control group. Also, the clinical pregnancy and live birth rates in the intervention group were significantly higher than in the controls (p = 0.04). Conclusion: The administration of Myo-inositol may increase clinical pregnancy and live birth rates by increasing the number of total and meiosis II oocytes in infertile women undergoing IVF/ICSI. Key words: Infertility, In vitro fertilization, Intracytoplasmic sperm injection, Myoinositol

Factors associated with breakfast consumption based on Social Cognitive Theory in primary school students in Marivan City, 2017

Background and Aims: Social cognitive theory is one of the most effective theories used to predict the behavior of breakfast consumption and the teaching of nutritional behaviors. Considering the importance of breakfast consumption in the physical, psychological and social health of students, this study was conducted to determine the factors associated with breakfast consumption based on social cognitive theory in students. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive analytical study, 299 male and female elementary students in Marivan city were selected by multi-stage cluster sampling. Data gathering tools included demographic and background questionnaire, as well as a valid and reliable questionnaire based on social cognitive theory about breakfast consumption. Data were analysed by SPSS software version 16 exploiting Chi-square and t-test.  All stages of the study were conducted according to moral standards.Results: Overall, 81.6% (n=244) of students showed a good pattern of breakfast consumption. The results of t-test revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between expected outcome, outcome evaluation, self-efficacy and self-regulation constructs among students with appropriate and inappropriate breakfast consumption pattern (P<0.001).Conclusion: Considering the existence of a significant relationship between the constructs of social cognitive theory and breakfast consumption in studied students, the constructs of this theory can be used to predict the factors influencing breakfast consumption in students and will be effective in promoting supportive breakfast consumption programs.Keywords: Breakfast consumption, Social Cognitive Theory, Students, Mariva

Assessment of Risk Factors Related to Traffic Crashes among Drivers in Kashan

  سابقه و هدف: ايران يكي از كشورهاي داراي بيشترين موارد جراحات و مرگ‌ و مير ناشي از حوادث ترافيکي است. هدف از انجام مطالعه حاضر بررسي عوامل خطر مرتبط با حوادث ترافيکي در رانندگان شهر کاشان، ايران بود. روش بررسي: در اين مطالعه مورد شاهدي 155 راننده صدمه‌ديده يا فوت‌شده در اثر سوانح رانندگي مرتبط با اتومبيل به عنوان گروه مورد انتخاب شدند و به ازاي هر مورد، يک راننده که در همان ساعت و روز هفته از مکان رخداد تصادف عبور مي‌کرد، به‌عنوان شاهد انتخاب شد. تحليل داده ها با استفاده از آزمون کاي دو و مدل رگرسيون لجستيک در نرم افزار SPSS نسخه 21 انجام شد. يافته ها: در اين مطالعه درمجموع 310 راننده اتومبيل (در هريک از گروه‌هاي مورد و شاهد 155 راننده) موردبررسي قرار گرفت که 304(1/98 %) نفر آن‌ها مرد و 6(9/1 %) نفر زن بودند. پس از حذف اثر متغيرهاي مخدوش‌کننده با استفاده از مدل رگرسيون لجستيک ارتباط معني‌دار بين شغل (25/6=OR)، تحصيلات (33/8=OR)، عادت رانندگي در شب (91/4=OR)، عدم استفاده از کمربند ايمني (26/5=OR)، سابقه تصادف (63/2=OR)، سابقه مصرف دارو (70/3=OR)، وضعيت بينائي (31/5=OR) و وقوع سانحه رانندگي مشاهده شد. نتيجه‌گيري: براساس نتايج اين مطالعه، وقوع حوادث ترافيکي با متغيرهاي مختلفي همچون تحصيلات پائين تر، رانندگي در شب، نبستن کمربند ايمني، سابقه تصادف قبلي و سابقه مصرف دارو ارتباط معني دار دارد. از نتايج مطالعه حاضر مي‌توان در طراحي بهتر برنامه‌هاي پيشگيري از سوانح ترافيکي و ارتقاء ايمني معابر عمومي استفاده نمود.    How to cite this article: Moradi A, Rahmani Kh, Hasani J, Gilasi HR, Darabi F. Assessment of Risk Factors Related to Traffic Crashes among Drivers in Kashan. J Saf Promot Inj Prev. 2018; 6(2):55-64.  Background & Aim:Iran is one of the countries with most injury and death resulted from road traffic crashes. The aim of this study was to assess the risk factors related to road traffic crashes among drivers of Kashan, Iran. Materials and Methods : In this case control study, 155 victims drivers were selected as case and one driver who transported from case place in same time was determined as control. Data were analyzed using Chi-square test and logistic regression model using SPSS 21 software. Results: In this study, 310 car drivers as the cases and 155 drivers as the control group, were examined, of which 304 (98.1%) of them were male and 6 (1.9%) were female. After eliminating the effect of confounding variables, using a logistic regression model, there was a significant relationship between occupation (OR = 6.25), education (OR = 8.33), driving habits at night (OR = 4.91), no using seat belts (OR =5.26), previous history of road traffic crashes (OR = 2.63), history of drug use (OR = 3.70), visual acuity (OR = 5.31) and occurrence of traffic crashes were found. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, road traffic crashes had significant relationship with different variables including lower education, driving at night, not using seat belt, history of previous crash and history of drug use. The results can be used to design efficient prevention programs and in order to promote the safety of public streets.   How to cite this article: Moradi A, Rahmani Kh, Hasani J, Gilasi HR, Darabi F. Assessment of Risk Factors Related to Traffic Crashes among Drivers in Kashan. J Saf Promot Inj Prev. 2018; 6(2):55-64. &nbsp

Catalytic behavior and antibacterial/antifungal activities of new MNPs/zeolite@alginate composite beads

In this paper, a new family of composite materials was prepared based on calcium alginate and metal nanoparticle-loaded zeolite omega. Different types of metal nanoparticles (NPs), namely Cu, Co and Fe, were loaded onto zeolite omega to test the performance of the resulting metal/zeolite@alginate composites towards the catalytic reduction of methylene blue dye. To examine their application field as broadly as possible, these composite beads were also tested as antibacterial and antifungal agents against several types of bacteria. Several techniques such as XRD, XRF, FTIR, XPS, SEM and TGA were used to characterize the samples. The obtained results showed that all the composite bead samples were effective in the reduction of MB dye. The composite Co/Zeolite@ALG with relatively low Co nanoparticle (NP) content was selected as the best performing catalyst due to its reduction of MB dye being completely achieved in 3 min with a rate constant of 0.02 min-1, which was attributed to its highly porous structure. The reuse tests conducted on the best-performing catalyst showed good results which persisted through five successive cycles. For antibacterial and antifungal activities, the Cu/Zeolite@ALG and Fe/Zeolite@ALG composites showed good activity with significant inhibition zones

Effectiveness of a Community and School-Based Intervention to Control and Prevent of Tobacco Use in Adolescents: A Field Randomized Controlled Trial.

This article contains the authors' experience of a school and community-based intervention in Iran to prevent and reduce smoking in high school students. This has lessons for health school and community-based interventions. Adolescence is associated with several risky behaviors, such as increased use of tobacco (1). If the current trend continues, 250 million living children and adolescents who continue tobacco use into adulthood will die of health problems related to tobacco use (2). Given the global epidemiologic transition from poverty diseases to non-communicable diseases, the burden of disease and health risks among adolescents and young adults has changed significantly due to the undeniable role of substance use (3), including Iran (4). Therefore, a need for prevention and control programs of tobacco among adolescents and different implementation methods cannot be understated. Tobacco use prevention programs administered in schools are effective in reducing future smokers (5), although the interpretation of evidence for school-based prevention programs are affected by methodological issues. We conducted a field randomized controlled trial in East Azerbaijan, Iran, during the 2014–15 school year. Study subjects (n=4422) included high school students (intervention group=1965, control group=2457). Data were collected through self-reporting questionnaires and analyzed using SPSS ver. 23 (Chicago, IL, USA). The six-month intervention program consisted of training and environmental adaptations in cooperation with appropriate authorities. Training included teaching school staff about the health risks associated with tobacco use in adolescents and the health benefits of quitting. Physical education teachers were selected to train students about the health risks of tobacco use and how to resolve to say no to it and in 10 training sessions. In addition, students were asked to introduce their reliable peers as leader (15% of each school population) to contribute to the intervention program. The students participated in a one-hour orientation program, with question and answer time and two training videos shown in two sessions. These trained students (“peer leaders”) were requested to share their information and knowledge about tobacco use and challenge its use during the recess times. A campaign was also formed in the mosques and health centers to disseminate the message for communal effort to prevent and control tobacco access to the adolescents using leaflets and posters. Furthermore, measures were taken to ban tobacco use in public places, tobacco sale in proximity of schools, and sale to high school students. These measures were coordinated and implemented with assistance from school, trade, and police authorities. In the next step, the tobacco rehabilitation center phone number was publicized using placards in the town. The town committee on tobacco use met every two months and was updated on the progress of the program by different organizations and problems were addressed. There was no intervention in the control town (group). Once the intervention was completed, 1885 students in the intervention city and 2305 students in the control city responded to our questionnaire. The participants were high school student, 54.7% male and 45.3% female with a mean age of 15.81 (SD=1.15). The mean of cigarette start age was 12.4 (SD=3.42) and the mean for hookah smoking start age was 13.52 (SD=2.74). The proportions of students experimented with cigarette and hookah for at least one time were 10.7% and 19.7%, respectively. Age, gender, mother’s education, and locality were used as confounding variables and were controlled. The intervention led to an increased awareness of the side effects of tobacco (mean difference=0.36, CI.95= (0.12, 0.54)), prevention of negative changes in attitude towards tobacco (mean difference=1.59, CI.95= (−2.26, − 0.92)), and prevention of behavioral intention to tobacco use (mean difference = 0.43, CI = (0.06, 0.81), P<0.001). Post-intervention follow-up showed that initiating cigarette use after six months increased non-significantly in both groups but the changes within group were significant and higher in the control group. Hookah use increased significantly after six months in the control group and differed significantly from the baseline (P<0.02) and from the intervention group (P<0.001). Cigarette use increased in both groups in the past six months and 30 d but the increase in the past 30 d was higher in the intervention group (P<0.001). Quitting cigarette increased in the intervention group but decreased in the control group with a significant difference (P<0.001). In the past six months, the start of tobacco use, especially the hookah was significant in the control group, implying the need for urgent attention to smoking trend among the youth. Our results showed that intervention programs are effective in preventing tobacco use in nonsmokers than those who already smoke. Involving teachers in policies, and encouraging participation and cooperation among different authorities of community contribute to the control and prevention of tobacco use