Smartphone Practice and Lifestyle: The Case of Urban Iran

This paper explores the relationship between smartphone practicesand lifestyle in urban Iran. Recently, the use of smartphones hasdramatically increased in Iran and this trend is affecting users'lifestyle in the everyday context. The researcher has followed theconcept of "lifestyle" advanced by Pierre Bourdieu. Purposivesampling is applied to collect data through online survey. Theresults underscore the research hypothesis as well as suggest thatthe use of smartphone is not a powerful indicator to explain thelifestyle variance. Other variables like gender, education and age donot have predicting effect on lifestyle, however income plays a role

A study of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) and Trace Elements in Ambient air PM2.5 in an Urban Site of Tehran, Iran

The concentrations of thirteen polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and six trace elements adsorbed to a fine fraction of particulate matter (PM ≤ 2.5 µm) were determined at an urban site in Tehran (Iran) during the spring period in 2013. The average concentration of PM2.5 was 41.19 µg/m3, which was 1.64 and 1.2 times higher than the annual average of WHO guidelines and EPA ambient air quality standards, respectively. The trace elements measured in the PM2.5 samples were Pb, Cd, Cr, Ni, As and Zn with the mean concentrations of 38.05, 18.2, 4.24, 4.19, 1.34, and 69:92 ng/m3 respectively. Hg wasnot found in any sample in this study. Results from correlation tests between PM2.5 concentrations and different toxic metals; which were studied in various days of the week, including holidays, 1 day after the holidays, and the other days showed that the variability between groups were significant at the 0.05 level. Exception is Hg and Zn. The mean concentrations of PM2.5 and trace elements in 1 day after the holidays were higher compared other 2 groups. Total PAHs concentrations in PM2.5 were found to be 7.92 ng/m3.The most abundant PAHs found were high molecular weight homologues (4-6 ring PAHs) such as Inp, Bgp, Dba, Bkf and Bbf, which are contributing to constituents of vehicular emissions. In general, high molecular weight PAHs are more correlated than low molecular weight PAHs. Moreover a moderate correlation was observed between total PAH concentration and PM2.5 mass

Comparative Investigation of Health Quality of Air in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz Metropolises in 2011-2012

Background and Aims: Air pollution causes wide spectrum acute and chronic effects of health from slight physiological disorders to death from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. In order to set the control programs, air pollution monitoring and determination of air quality are necessary. The objective of this study was to compare health quality of air in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz cities in 2011- 2012.Materials and Methods: This Study was a descriptive–analytic study. The moment concentrations of Tehran,Isfahan and Shiraz air pollutants were gathered through referring to the environmental protection agency.Then, Air Quality Index (AQI) was calculated based on the criteria pollutants’ levels (CO, NO2, SO2, PM10,PM2.5 and O3) for three cities through linear interpolation and was classified into describing classes accordingto tables of National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Data analysis was performed with Excel and SPSS software using One-Way ANOVA test.Results: The results showed that the AQI in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz was higher than Iran’s environmental protection agency standards (AQI>100) in 341, 323 and 85 days, respectively. Furthermore, particulate matter (PM10) has been the critical pollutant in three cities for most days of the year. One-Way ANOVA test between AQI mean of the three cities showed a significant difference.Conclusion: The air quality of the three cities was unhealthy in 2011-2012 and the situation of Tehran andIsfahan air, however, was in the “bad situation”.Key words: Air pollutants, Air quality index, Pollution standard index, Responsible pollutan

An Approach to the Anthropological Theory of the Qur’an and Hadith and Their Roles in Reducing Environmental Degradation

Background: According to the Qur’an, man is the servant and the successor of Allah, the representative of prosperity on earth, and has the responsibility for the universe. This approach will create a constructive human interaction with the environment. Environmental degradation is against the will of Allah. It originates from ignorance, human selfishness, passions, and evil temptations, manifest in greed, arrogance, and extravagance. If humans control these abnormal factors and follow Qur’an teachings, they will enjoy a healthy environment that is a universal right. This paper seeks to study the anthropological theory of the Qur’an and its role in reducing environmental degradation.Methods: Based on the descriptive-analytical design, we explored 70 verses of the Holy Qur’an in which the words samā’, ‘ard, mas’ūl, khalīfah, shaytān, and those are cognate with the Arabic verbs sa-khkha-ra, ha-ra-sa, sa-ra-fa, ki-ba-ra, ha-wā, ‘a-ba-da, and ‘a-ma-ra, as well as the related articles, books, and philological and exegetical sources. We investigated the Qur’an to find the effect of awareness and more attention of human beings to the dimensions of man’s creation to reduce environmental degradation. These issues will be discussed in two parts: 1) the anthropology and the dimensions of human creation in the Qur’an, and 2) the causes of environmental degradation.Results: This study showed that the survival of life and human enjoyment of a healthy environment depends on enough knowledge of oneself, seeking help from Allah, and following the Qur’anic guidelines. These facts effectively control internal and external causes of environmental degradation, including ignorance, egoism, selfishness, and evil temptations. These actions destroy the roots of greed, arrogance, and extravagance in human beings. For this reason, Allah demands humans to develop earth, care for and rescue it from any destruction, avoid extravagance, and observe justice.Conclusion: Meditating in the Qur’an, the man knows his creative dimensions and environmental degradation factors that are incompatible with nature and are rooted in some of the inner and outer dimensions of human personality. Hence, he will consciously enjoy sustainable development and maintaining a healthy environment. This behavior will then reduce anomalies in the environment on his part

Computational vs. qualitative: analyzing different approaches in identifying networked frames during the Covid-19 crisis

Despite the increasing adaption of automated text analysis in communication studies, its strengths and weaknesses in framing analysis are so far unknown. Fewer efforts have been made to automatic detection of networked frames. Drawing on the recent developments in this field, we harness a comparative exploration, using Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) and a human-driven qualitative coding process on three different samples. Samples were comprised of a dataset of 4,165,177 million tweets collected from Iranian Twittersphere during the Coronavirus crisis, from 21 January, 2020 to 29 April, 2020. Findings showed that while LDA is reliable in identifying the most prominent networked frames, it misses to detects less dominant frames. Our investigation also confirmed that LDA works better on larger datasets and lexical semantics. Finally, we argued that LDA could give us some primary intuitions, but qualitative interpretations are indispensable for understanding the deeper layers of meaning

Constructing and standardizing a positivism questionnaire through an Islamic- Iranian approach

For downloading the full-text of this article please click here.Background and Objective: Due to the importance of an Islamic-Iranian scale in the domain of positivism, the present paper aimed to develop an instrument for measuring the positivism based on the Islamic sources and Iranian culture.Method: First, the theoretical underpinnings were collected and studied. Then, positivism was defined as a theoretical and practical approach to the positive values related to God, self, others and nature considering the present, past and future. This leads to the better quality of life or improves the welfare. Next, the views of the scholars and experts were used to determine the subjects of the considered scales. The scale was studied in the first steps of experiments and then the required modifications were applied. In this research, all the Ethical issues were observed and authors declared no conflicts of interest.Results: At the end, the final questionnaire was distributed among 330 undergraduate students and its reliability as well as its validity were measured through Alpha Cronbach tests (.96) and stochastic factorial analysis (four general factors related to God, self, others and nature).Conclusion: The results of these studies and analyses indicate the desirable reliability and validity of the considered scales as we can use them in the fields of measurement, research and consultation.For downloading the full-text of this article please click here.Please cite this article as: Sabagh kermani L, Mousavi Nasab SMH. Constructing and standardizing a positivism questionnaire through an Islamic- Iranian approach. J Res Relig Health. 2019; 5(2): 60- 74. doi: https://doi.org/10.22037/jrrh.v5i2.1766

Depression among hemodialysis patients: a cross-sectional study in southeast of Iran

Background and aims: Mental disorders may negatively affect on the quality of life in hemodialysis patients and their response to treatment. The aim of present study was to examine the prevalence of depression and related risk factors in hemodialysis patients. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, during June 2013 to September 2013, 217 patients with hemodialysis whom were admitted to Kerman hemodialysis center were examined. The depression level of patients was assessed using Iranian version of Beck Depression Inventory. Results: The mean score of depression was 24.2±12.6 (range: from 2-59). Totally, 29, 30 and 27.4 were reported as suffering from mild, moderate and severe level of depression, respectively. The results of the present study also showed that diabetic patients and patients with hypertension were significantly at a higher risk of depression. Conclusion: Results of the present study indicates that depression is highly prevalent in hemodialysis patients. It is important that all patients with maintenance hemodialysis be frequently screened for signs and symptoms of psychiatric disorders such as depression

بررسي مقايسه اي كيفيت بهداشتي هواي كلانشهرهاي تهران، اصفهان و شيراز در سال 1390

Background and Aims: Air pollution causes wide spectrum acute and chronic effects of health from slight physiological disorders to death from cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. In order to set the control programs, air pollution monitoring and determination of air quality are necessary. The objective of this study was to compare health quality of air in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz cities in 2011- 2012.Materials and Methods: This Study was a descriptive–analytic study. The moment concentrations of Tehran,Isfahan and Shiraz air pollutants were gathered through referring to the environmental protection agency.Then, Air Quality Index (AQI) was calculated based on the criteria pollutants’ levels (CO, NO2, SO2, PM10,PM2.5 and O3) for three cities through linear interpolation and was classified into describing classes accordingto tables of National Ambient Air Quality Standards. Data analysis was performed with Excel and SPSS software using One-Way ANOVA test.Results: The results showed that the AQI in Tehran, Isfahan and Shiraz was higher than Iran’s environmental protection agency standards (AQI>100) in 341, 323 and 85 days, respectively. Furthermore, particulate matter (PM10) has been the critical pollutant in three cities for most days of the year. One-Way ANOVA test between AQI mean of the three cities showed a significant difference.Conclusion: The air quality of the three cities was unhealthy in 2011-2012 and the situation of Tehran andIsfahan air, however, was in the “bad situation”.زمينه و هدف: امروزه وضعيت نامطلوب كيفيت هوا در كلانشهرها موجب ايجاد طيف وسيعي از اثرات بهداشتي حاد و مزمن ازاختلالات جزئي فيزيولوژيكي گرفته تا مرگ ناشي از بيماري هاي تنفسي و قلبي عروقي مي شود. بنابراين پايش آلاينده ها و تعيين مستمركيفيت هواي كلانشهرها به منظور تدوين برنامه هاي كنترل آن، ضروري است. لذا هدف اين مطالعه، مقايسه كيفيت بهداشتى هوايشهرهاي تهران، اصفهان و شيراز در سال 1390 مى باشد.مواد و رو شها: اين مطالعه از نوع توصيفي- تحليلى م ىباشد. غلظ تهاي لحظه اي آلايند ههاي هواي شهرهاي تهران، اصفهان و شيراز بامراجعه به سازمان حفاظت محيط زيست بدست آمد. سپس شاخص كيفيت هوا از طريق درون يابى بين غلظت آلاينده ها براي آلاينده های معیار هوای سه شهر و برمبنای جدول استاندارد کیفیت بهداشتی هوا به طبقات توصیف کننده طبقه بندی گردید. نتيجه گيري: كيفيت هواي سه شهر درسال 1390 بهداشتى نبوده و هواي شهرهاي تهران و اصفهان وضعيت نامطلوبترى نسبت به هوايشيراز داشته است

Colorectal Cancer in Iran: Molecular Epidemiology and Screening Strategies

Purpose. The increasing incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) in the past three decades in Iran has made it a major public health burden. This study aimed to report its epidemiologic features, molecular genetic aspects, survival, heredity, and screening pattern in Iran. Methods. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to identify the relevant published articles. We used medical subject headings, including colorectal cancer, molecular genetics, KRAS and BRAF mutations, screening, survival, epidemiologic study, and Iran. Results. Age standardized incidence rate of Iranian CRCs was 11.6 and 10.5 for men and women, respectively. Overall five-year survival rate was 41%, and the proportion of CRC among the younger age group was higher than that of western countries. Depending on ethnicity, geographical region, dietary, and genetic predisposition, mutation genes were considerably diverse and distinct among CRCs across Iran. The high occurrence of CRC in records of relatives of CRC patients showed that family history of CRC was more common among young CRCs. Conclusion. Appropriate screening strategies for CRC which is amenable to early detection through screening, especially in relatives of CRCs, should be considered as the first step in CRC screening programs