The Attitudes of Kerman University of Medical Sciences Interns toward the Adequacy of Received Trainings in Achieving the Approved Educational Goals in Obstetrics & Gynecology Ward

Introduction: Students as the major part of education are one of the best sources of information in each educational system. One of the uses of this source of information is studying the achievement of educational goals. Objective: To determine the adequacy rate of presented trainings in achieving educational goals of Obstetrics & Gynecology ward from the point of view of interns. Methods: All interns of Kerman University of Medical Sciences in 2005- 2006 including 93 ones were enrolled into the study. Data gathering was done by using a questionnaire including the subjects of training materials in Obstetrics & Gynecology ward. Participants were asked to determine the adequacy of presented trainings for each subject. Results: From 93 interns, 63.7% were female, 71.1% were single and 52.2% have started their medical education program before 2000. Mean age of participants was 25.7 ± 2 years. From all, 46.6% have seen the approved program of Obstetrics & Gynecology ward and 52.9% asserted that they had been informed of the educational goals at the beginning of the course. The highest adequacy rates were obtained for determining gestational age and estimated delivery date based on LMP (90.7%), fetal heart rate controlling (87.3%) and prenatal cares (81.6%), while the lowest adequacy rates were related to inserting and removing Norplant (respectively 16.8% and 16.2%) and inserting IUD (19.8%). Mean total percentage of training adequacy in two domains of diagnosis & therapeutic activities and emergency activities showed no significant difference based on age, year of enrolling, marital statue and sex. Mean total score of training adequacy in diagnostic &therapeutic domain including 31 cases was 55.8 ± 14.3 and in emergency activities including 8 cases, it was 52.23 ± 2.1 that shows a significant difference (P= 0.002). Conclusion: From the point of view of studied interns, based on the approved educational goals, presented trainings in Obstetrics & Gynecology ward had not been adequate. Therefore improving the quality of clinical training and its continuous evaluation in order to make it compatible with educational goals and changing needs of community is necessary. Keywords: Educational goals, Obstetrics &, Gynecology ward, Intern, Attitude

Activities of Medical Educational Development Center from the Views of the Faculty Members of Kerman Medical Sciences University

Background: The necessity of improving academic and higher education quality, particularly in Medical Sciences Universities and increasing the efficiency of Health care and Remedy programs are obvious. Medical Educational Development Centers try to achieve their goals in the areas of curriculum planning, teacher training, continuing education, evaluation and research in education. Objective: The aim of this study was to investigate the views of the faculty members of Kerman Medical Sciences University about the activities of Medical Educational development center. Methods: This cross-sectional study carried out in 2003. The sample consisted of the faculty members of Kerman Medical Sciences University (N=307) of which about half (n=145) were selected by simple random sampling. Data were gathered through a researcher – made questionnaire that rated by experts for validity and computed internal consistency reliability with cronbach’ alpha coefficient of (r=0.79). Results: According to the results, the most accepted activities of the center were “Designing and carrying out clinical skills educational programs for medical students” (96.6%), “active participation in the revision of medical educational programs” (93.1%), “cooperation with educational departments in designing lesson plans based on new materials and resources” and “Holding educational workshops for the familiarization of the faculty members with new medical softwares and their applications” (each 92.4%). While the least accepted activities were providing “facility for lectures”, “access to resources, gathering and symposiums on medical education” and “taking advantage of the experienced instructors in designing programs for the center” (each 61.4%), “participation in the evaluation of research projects and dissertations” and “helping the medical society to have a better understanding of the changing medical needs of the community” (each 67%). In whole by obtaining 78.7% of the total score, the faculty members showed a relatively positive view towards current activities of the center. From all subjects, 87.5% showed tendency for participating in the activities of the center. Conclusion: The positive view of the faculty members towards current activities of the center is a turning point in further expansion of the center and establishing the same units in all colleges to improve medical education goals

Eukaryotic expression of the core gene of hepatitis C virus genotype 1a

Background: Worldwide, hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a serious public health disease unlike hepatitis A and B, there is currently no vaccine against HCV available. Thus, extensive studies are under way to design new and effective treatments against HCV. Core protein is a component of HCV particle which is the first antigen recognized by the immune system.beside protective properties of core protein, anti –core antibodies can be used to monitor the disease progress. The purpose of the present study was to isolate and clone the core (C) gene from HCV genotype 1a in an attempt to construct a recombinant vector and subsequently evaluate its expression in a cell culture system.Methods:RNA genome of HCV genotype 1a was extracted from the blood of an infected patient. Complementary DNA (cDNA) was synthesized. HCV 1a core gene was amplified by PCR using specific primers and it was cloned into a eukaryotic expression vector. Huh7.5 cells were transfected by the designed recombinant vector and the cellular expression of the core gene was confirmed by RT-PCR.Results: Recombinant pcDNA3.1 (+) vector containing the HCV core gene with approximate size of 576bp was successfully designed. RT-PCR was used to confirm the expression of core antigen in an Huh7.5 cell line.Conclusion: The results showed that the core gene was successfully isolated from HCV genotype 1a and was cloned into the eukaryotic expression vector. This recombinant vector effectively replicated in Huh7.5 cell line. and its protective and therapeutic effects can be examined in further investigations

An Evaluation of Educational Environment from the View of Students of Islamic Azad University Based on Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) Model

Background & Objective: Universities use different tools to evaluate their own teaching practices and many factors are involved in the education process that may affect learning. This study aimed to evaluate educational environment from the view of clinical psychology student of the Science and Research Branch of the Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran, based on the ‏Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure‏ (DREEM) model. Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on 30 female students of clinical psychology in Islamic Azad University. The subjects were selected through convenience sampling method. Data were collected using DREEM and analyzed using SPSS software. Results: The majority of samples were 18-23 years old and 76.7% of them were single. The mean and standard deviation of students' perception score in the 5 domains of learning (total score = 60), teachers (total score = 55), academic ability (total score = 40), educational environment (total score = 50), and social conditions (total score = 35), respectively, were 40.99 ± 13.52, 37.07 ± 10.76, 23.64 ± 8.89, 39.17 ± 14.74, and 22.20 ± 8.78. No statistically significant difference was observed between demographic information and mean educational environment score (P < 0.001). Conclusion: An important characteristic of the social status of the university is that it directly impacts education. Thus, the improvement of this status must be prioritized by officials. In this respect, holding training and retraining classes in order to gain learning skills and improve educational environments, consulting students, and designing problem management methods may be effective in the educational empowerment of students. Keywords Students Educational environment Dundee ready educational environment measure (DREEM

ISPIRANJE ŽELJEZA IZ SIROMAŠNE RUDE BOKSITA U CILJU NJEZINE UPORABE U VATROSTALNOJ INDUSTRIJI

Iron-bearing minerals are the most important interfering compounds that are found with bauxite reserves. The element iron has adverse effects on bauxite applications, including the use of bauxite in refractory soils. The purpose of this research is to investigate the possibility of iron removal from low-grade bauxite ores to utilize them in refractory industries. For achieving this purpose, iron removal tests were performed on bauxite samples with an alumina to silica modulus of 0.73. After determining the appropriate iron removal method among the magnetic separation, calcination, and leaching (with H2SO4 and HCl) processes, optimal separation conditions were determined by tests that were designed using the Taguchi method. According to leaching results, using HCl for raw feed (un-calcined) provided the best result for iron removal. During this test, Fe2O3 grade decreased from 5.14% to 0.08%, and the alumina to silica modulus increased to 0.75. Calcination of the concentrate obtained from this test has led to favorable results in reducing the Fe2O3 grade (0.04%) and increasing the Al2O3 grade. Afterwards, in tests designed by the Taguchi method, the effect of parameters such as time, process temperature, HCl concentration, and feed grain size on iron removal from bauxite by HCl leaching processes are discussed. According to the results, the best efficiency of iron removal for a feed grain size of 250 µm is achieved in the following conditions: 30% HCl, process temperature of 25°C, and process time of 120 minutes. In this case, iron removal efficiency and Fe2O3 grade in process concentrate are 92.78% and 0.56%, respectively.Minerali nosioci željeza najvažnije su nečistoće koje se nalaze u rezervama boksita. Željezo ima štetne učinke na primjenu boksita, uključujući korištenje boksita u vatrostalnim tlima. Svrha je ovoga rada istražiti mogućnost uklanjanja željeza iz ruda boksita niske kvalitete radi iskorištavanja u vatrostalnoj industriji. U tu svrhu provedena su ispitivanja izdvajanja željeza na uzorcima boksita s modulom aluminijeva oksida i silicija od 0,73. Nakon utvrđivanja odgovarajuće metode za izdvajanje željeza, uključujući magnetsku separaciju, kalcinaciju i luženje (s H2SO4 i HCl), određeni su optimalni uvjeti izdvajanja uz upotrebu Taguchijeve metode. Rezultati luženja HCl-om rovne sirovine (nekalcinirane) dali su najbolji rezultat izdvajanja željeza. Tijekom ovoga ispitivanja udio Fe2O3 smanjio se s 5,14 % na 0,08 %, a modul aluminijeva oksida i silicija povećao se na 0,75. Kalciniranje koncentrata dobivenoga ovim ispitivanjem dovelo je do povoljnih rezultata u smanjenju nekorisne komponente Fe2O3 (0,04 %) i povećanju korisne komponente Al2O3 . Nakon toga u ispitivanjima dizajniranim Taguchijevom metodom određen je utjecaj parametara kao što su vrijeme, temperatura procesa, koncentracija HCl i veličina zrna sirovine, na uklanjanje željeza iz boksita procesima luženja HCl. Prema dobivenim rezultatima najbolja učinkovitost uklanjanja željeza za veličinu ulaznoga zrna od 250 µm postiže se u sljedećim uvjetima: 30 % HCl, temperatura procesa od 25°C i vrijeme procesa 120 minuta. U ovome slučaju učinkovitost uklanjanja željeza i sadržaj Fe2O3 u procesnome koncentratu iznosi 92,78 % odnosno 0,56 %

Effects of Major Ingredients in Cattle Milk on Enzyme Kinetics of Recombinant β-galactosidase (BGalP) Expressed in Pichia pastoris

Background and objective: β-galactosidase enzymes hydrolyze lactose into glucose and galactose for production of lactose free dairy products. However, different ions and fat content in milk may act as the inhibitor or activator for β-galactosidase enzymes. A cold-active β-galactosidase enzyme (BGalP), originally from Planococcus sp. L4, was previously expressed in Pichia pastoris to perform lactose hydrolysis in the refrigerated milk. In this study, the effects of milks major ingredients were evaluated on the enzymatic kinetics to confirm its capacity for hydrolyzing milk lactose.Material and methods: The activity was determined in different concentrations of NaCl, KCl, MgCl2, and CaCl2 as well as in the milk with low, medium or high-fat content. In these experiments ortho-Nitrophenyl β-galactoside was used as the substrate. Additionally, glucose was measured as the product after incubation of milk with BGalP enzyme for 24 h at room temperature.Results and conclusion: This study demonstrated that ions and fat content did not adversely affect the enzyme activity in the concentration corresponding to the milk contents. Ca (27.5-32.5 mM), Cl (25.3-30.9 mM), Na (15.2-39.1 mM) and Mg (3.75-5.83 mM) had no inhibitory effects, but KCl decreased the enzyme activity. Since Cl existed in MgCl2, and CaCl2 exerted no inhibitory effects, it can be concluded that inhibitory effects of KCl resulted from potassium rather than chloride. The results indicate that BGalP enzyme was not inhibited by milks major ingredients and has the potential to be used for the production of lactose-free dairy products.Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest

Relationship between Health Literacy and Addiction among Women of Reproductive Age Referring to Addiction Treatment Centers in Tehran, Iran

Background and Objective: Health literacy can affect individuals’ physical and psychological status and quality of life. Regarding this, the present study was conducted to determine the relationship between health literacy and addiction in women of reproductive age referring to addiction treatment centers in Tehran, Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 141 women of reproductive age referring to the addiction treatment centers of Tehran in 2017. The study population was selected through a census sampling method. The data were collected using the Health Literacy for Iranian Adults Questionnaire developed by Montazeri et al. The addiction level in women was determined based on the frequency of drug abuse. Data analysis was performed in SPSS software (version 20) using Pearson correlation test and one-way ANOVA. Results: The mean score of health literacy was 65.11±16.49. Among the dimensions of health literacy, evaluation (31.5%) and conceptualization (17.82%) had the highest and lowest scores, respectively. The results also revealed an indirect relationship between health literacy and addiction rate in women of reproductive age (P<0.05). Conclusion: As the findings indicated, women with a higher level of health literacy had a lower tendency toward addiction. Health literacy seems to be an essential element of health among women and can have a positive impact on their lives

Pulmonary Manifestations of SARS Co V 2 Infection in Mild/Severe Patients

The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused viral pneumonia in Wuhan City in China in December of 2019. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) primarily targets the lungs with severe hypoxia, which usually results in death. COVID-19 is highly heterogeneous regarding severity, clinical phenotype, and more importantly, global dispersal. The respiratory system in all aspects such as respiratory airways, endothelium of pulmonary vessels, conducting airways, the alveoli, neuromuscular breathing structure, and pulmonary circulation are affected by this virus. A comprehensive concept of the source and dynamic action of the SARS-CoV-2 and the possible causes of heterogeneity in COVID-19 is required for predicting and managing the illness in acute and chronic stages of the pulmonary sign

The first attempt on fabrication of a nano-biosensing platform and exploiting first-order advantage from impedimetric data: application to simultaneous biosensing of doxorubicin, daunorubicin and idarubicin

In this work, for the first time, we have developed a novel and very interesting electroanalytical methodology assisted by first-order multivariate calibration (MVC) for simultaneous determination of doxorubicin (DX), daunorubicin (DN) and idarubicin (ID) as three chemotherapeutic drugs at simulated physiological conditions. A sever overlapping was observed among signals of the three drugs which hindered us for simultaneous determination of them by conventional electroanalytical techniques. Therefore, we had to assist our method by chemometric approaches to develop a novel method for simultaneous determination of DX, DN and ID. Among the existing electroanalytical methods, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) due to its high sensitivity was chosen. After individual calibration of the three drugs with the EIS data, a set of calibration samples was designed which was used to develop several first-order MVC models by partial least squares (PLS), continuum power regression (CPR), radial basis function-partial least squares (RBF-PLS), RBF-artificial neural network (RBF-ANN) and least squares-support vector machines (LS-SVM) as linear and non-linear chemometric algorithms. Then, performance of the developed MVC models in predicting concentrations of DX, DN and ID in synthetic samples was compared to choose the best model for the analysis of real samples. Our records confirmed more superiority of RBF-PLS algorithm than the other developed models which motivated us to choose it for the analysis of real samples. Fortunately, the results of the RBF-PLS in the analysis of real samples towards simultaneous determination DX, DN and ID was acceptable.Fil: Soleimani, Shokoufeh. Kermanshah University Of Medical Sciences; IránFil: Arkan, Elham. Kermanshah University Of Medical Sciences; IránFil: Farshadnia, Tooraj. Kermanshah University Of Medical Sciences; IránFil: Mahnam, Zahra. Kermanshah University Of Medical Sciences; IránFil: Jalili, Faramarz. Kermanshah University Of Medical Sciences; IránFil: Goicoechea, Hector Casimiro. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Santa Fe; Argentina. Universidad Nacional del Litoral. Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas. Laboratorio de Desarrollo Analítico y Quimiometría; ArgentinaFil: Jalalvand, Ali R.. Kermanshah University Of Medical Sciences; Irá

What is the best laboratory method for diagnosis of Herpes Simplex Virus in genital infections?

  Genital infection caused by Herpes simplex virus (HSV) is one of the most common health problems, worldwide. Several methods such as cell culture, serological and molecular methods have been used to detect this virus. Currently, Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction (Real time-PCR) technique is widely used due to its high sensitivity and specificity. Besides, Real time-PCR can be employed in the follow-up of therapeutic effects in HSV-infected person who is being treated with antiretroviral drugs. We conducted a review on traditional and current diagnostic methods with a focus on their limitations in the diagnosis of HSV infection