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

Evaluation of cardiovascular and respiratory mortality attributed to atmospheric SO2 and CO using AirQ model

Background: Air pollutants have multiple adverse effects on human health. In this study, the health effects of exposure to carbon monoxide (CO) and SO2 in the air of 6 Iranian metropolises in 2011-2012 were examined. Methods: Raw data was collected from the Iranian Department of Environment and the Iran Meteorological Organization. After validation, the required statistical indices were calculated through programming and modifying temperature and pressure in Excel software. The output of Excel was given to the AirQ model, and the results were presented as the cases of death. Results: The annual mean concentrations of SO2 were 2.45, 1.55, 0.6, 0.55, 1.05, and 3.8 times higher than the guidelines of the World Health Organization (WHO) (20 μg/m3) in Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Shiraz, Tabriz, and Urmia, respectively. The concentrations of CO did not exceed the standard limit in any of the studied cities. The cumulative numbers of total deaths attributed to SO2 were 744, 122, 132, 44, 37, and 107 in Tehran, Mashhad, Isfahan, Shiraz, Tabriz, and Urmia, respectively. The highest mortality rate was found in Urmia at 2.9% followed by Tehran at 1.52%; the lowest rate of 0.46% was found in Tabriz. Conclusion: The results show that of the 6 metropolises, the highest CO mortality rate of about 2.15% belonged to Isfahan followed by Arak with about 1.38%, and the lowest rate of 0.68% belonged to Mashhad. Because of the growing trend of air pollution and its mortality rate and adverse effects, practical solutions for the control and reduction of air pollution in Iranian metropolises are necessary

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

Serum levels of IL-37 and correlation with inflammatory cytokines and clinical outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease

Coronary artery disease (CAD) due to atherosclerosis is one of the important reasons for death worldwide. Recent evidence has suggested the essential role of inflammation in the progression of atherosclerosis. Interleukin (IL)-37 is a critical anti-inflammatory member of the IL-1 family which regulates the inflammatory processes. The aim of this study was to compare the serum levels of IL-37 in patients with CAD compared with the control group and its correlation with oxidative stress, cholesterol homeostasis, and inflammation in patients with CAD. A total of 42 patients with CAD and 42 sex-matched and age- matched controls who underwent coronary angiography were included in this study. The serum levels of IL-37 were evaluated via ELISA. Serum levels of biochemical risk factors were determined by enzymatic methods. Serum levels of IL-37 in the CAD group subjects were significantly lower than in the control group and IL-37 was significantly increased in men with CAD than in women with CAD. IL-37 significantly had an inverse correlation with IL-6, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, IL-32, high-sensitivity C reactive protein, oxidized low-density lipoprotein, and malondialdehyde. Also, IL-37 had a significantly positive correlation with ferric-reducing antioxidant power (FRAP) assay. In addition, IL-37 has positively correlated with ATP-binding cassette transporter A1 and G1 gene expression in peripheral blood mononuclear cells and serum levels of the FRAP. A receiver operating characteristic test displayed that IL-37 level ratios were a relatively significant CAD predictor. Our results indicated that decreased serum levels of IL-37 in patients with CAD and its relationship with inflammatory cytokines and reverse cholesterol transport genes are more likely to be associated in the inflammatory process with disease pathology

Estimation of Short-term Mortality and Morbidity Attributed to Fine Particulate Matter in the Ambient Air of Eight Iranian Cities

Amongst the various pollutants in the air, particulate matters (PM) have significant adverse effects on human health. The current research is based on existing epidemiological literature for quantitative estimation of the current health impacts related to particulate matters in some selected principal Iranian megacities. In order to find the influence of air pollution on human health, we used the AirQ software tool presented by the World Health Organization (WHO) European Centre for Environment and Health (ECEH), Bilthoven Division. The adverse health outcomes used in the study consist of mortality (all causes excluding accidental causes), due to cardiovascular (CVD) and respiratory (RES) diseases, and morbidity (hospital admissions for CVD and RES causes). For this purpose, hourly PM10 data were taken from the monitoring stations in eight study cities during 2011 and 2012. Results showed annual average concentrations of PM10 and PM2.5 in all megacities exceeded national and international air quality standards and even reached levels nearly ten times higher than WHO guidelines in some cities. Considering the short-term effects, PM2.5 had the maximum effects on the health of the 19,048,000 residents of the eight Iranian cities, causing total mortality of 5,670 out of 87,907 during a one-year time-period. Hence, reducing concentrations and controlling air pollution, particularly the presence of particles, is urgent in these metropolises

The comparison two kinds of consensual divorce and nonconsensual divorce, in a variety of marriage (forced, intellectual, emotional, and rational-emotional) among couples of applicant divorce who referred to the Justice Department of Isfahan Province

Aim: The aim of this study is to compare the types of consensual divorce and nonconsensual divorce, in a variety of marriage (forced, intellectual, emotional, and rational-emotional) among couples of applicant divorce who referred to the Justice Department of Isfahan Province. Method: The study was conducted during winter 2013 to summer 2014. The sample of research was couples of applicant divorce who referred to the Justice Department of Isfahan province. Since the divorce by agreement (0.80) as compared to nonadaptive divorce is (0.20), 80 couples of consensual divorce and 35 couples of nonconsensual divorce were selected by available sampling. Method of research was descriptive research tool was questionnaire of marriage (Aghaei, Khanbany and Golparvar, 2013). Result: The results showed that the group of consensual divorce compared to nonconsensual divorce in terms of marriage just only were significant difference (P < 0.05) in rational-emotional marriage. Conclusion: According to this study, results showed that less divorces were in rational and rational-emotional marriages compared with those of compulsory and emotional marriages

Effect of Integrated Marketing Communication Infrastructures on Brand Personality to Improve the Performance of the Brand in Iran&apos;s Chain Stores

Abstract affect all five properties of brand personality and improvement of brand performance. Certainly, the foremost effect of these three components has been on brand excitement and competency. Also, four characteristics of sincerity, excitement, sophistication and ruggedness affect performance improvement and only brand competency has no effect on improvement of brand performance

Investigating the Relationship between the Dimensions of Organizational Culture and the Size of Audit Firms with Auditors’ Judgment and Decision Making

Professional judgment and decision-making are a vital part of all audit processes and the cornerstone of the audit profession; Therefore, it is essential to identify the factors affecting auditors’ judgment and learn new skills to improve the level of professional judgment and decision-making. Previous researches at the level of culture in societies show that the development and evolution of accounting in each society depends on the environmental, cultural, and social factors of that society. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to investigate the relationship between cultural dimensions from the aspects of masculinity, collectivism, uncertainty avoidance, and the power distance and the size of audit firms with auditors' judgment and decision-making. This research is applied research in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of nature. The data collection tool is a questionnaire and the statistical population of the research is the members of the Iranian Association of Certified Public Accountants in 1400 and 1401. Research samples were chosen by random sampling method of 132 questionnaires. Confirmation of relationships between variables and factors has been done through confirmatory factor analysis and path analysis. Smart PLS statistical software was used to test the hypotheses. The results show that power distance and masculinity have a negative relationship, collectivism has a positive relationship with auditors' judgment and decision-making, and the uncertainty avoidance aspect has no significant relationship with auditors' judgment and decision-making. Also, the moderating role of the audit firm's size in the investigated relationships was not confirme

Lifestyle-Based Intervention and Experiences of Patients with Ulcerative Colitis: A Concurrent Embedded Mixed Methods Design

Introduction: In the past two decades, there has been a growing line of research on the possible effects of psychological interventions on patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). This study aimed to evaluate the qualitative validity of a lifestyle-based intervention in patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) by examining their experiences. Methods: This study employed a concurrent embedded mixed methods design. To this end, a qualitative study was conducted in the form of a clinical trial that applied a lifestyle-based intervention to patients with ulcerative colitis. The patients’ experiences were assessed twice through the focus group interviews. The data from both interviews (posttest and follow-up phases) were analyzed using thematic network analysis. Results: Based on the results of this study, 3 global themes, 10 organizing themes, and 21 basic themes were identified and summarized in three thematic networks of benefits, barriers, and disadvantages. Benefits included satisfaction with attending the meetings, knowledge acquisition, cognitive, emotional, and behavioral changes, and partial physical improvement; barriers included physical symptoms, need for retraining, giving importance to the topic, and restrictions in physical activities; and the disadvantages included the negative impact of the group and the negative impact of the training program. Conclusion: The results of this study confirmed the qualitative validity of a lifestyle-based intervention in a group of patients with ulcerative colitis by demonstrating the educational and therapeutic effects of the intervention and its acceptability

The Upsides of Turbulence: Baselining Gossip Learning in Dynamic Settings

In dynamic settings, fully distributed gossip-based learning schemes have recently gained interest due to their better scalability, robustness, and enhanced privacy protection compared to server-based architectures. However, existing approaches to their performance characterization either assume stable connectivity among nodes or are ad-hoc for specific trace-based mobility patterns. Thus, in dynamic settings, there is currently a poor understanding of the conditions under which gossip-based learning schemes are feasible, and of their main performance tradeoffs. In this work, we start addressing this issue by performing a first baselining of Gossip Learning (GL) on random Time-Varying Graphs (TVG), to get a first-order characterization of their main performance patterns in dynamic settings. The use of random TVG enables a fine-grained and accurate characterization of GL effectiveness as a function of the main system parameters while abstracting from scenariospecific features of patterns of communication and mobility (e.g., induced by road grids or measured mobility traces). Our results suggest that GL schemes are robust to node mobility and comparable in accuracy and convergence speed to Federated Learning architectures, over a wide range of operational conditions. We show that the final model accuracy is robust against data dispersion across nodes as well as against very low rates of exchanges across nodes