City sustainability: the influence of walkability on built environments

A vital issue in community is providing an easy access to the transport network for different range of community members such as; very young, old, children and disable people. The functions that walking and walkable area can be support includes community involvement, health, meeting and gathering and recreation which has positive effects on sustainability and vice versa. Walkability is the basis of sustainable city. The same as bicycling, walking can be known as ‘green’ type of transportation which except crowding reduction and also has low level of environmental influence, energy conserving without any air and noise pollution. It can be more than a purely useful type of travel to shopping, school and work. Also have both social and recreational importance. This research aims at supporting urban design knowledge and practice and contributing to the broader field of “walkability” by refining the methods and measures used to analyse the relationship between walking behaviour and physical environment and its impacts on city sustainability. In order to integrate knowledge from theories and research on walkability from different fields and of different perspectives, it is crucial to first build a broader view and a more comprehensive understanding of how the built environment influences walking. What has been done during the earlier part of this project, and will be shown in this research, is to provide a better understanding of the complexity of the relationship between the built environment and walking and also the complexity that lies in both of these entities, the urban form and walking activity

Occupational Stress and Coping Behaviours Among Dentists in Kerman, Iran

Objectives: Recognising causes of stress can help prevent associated adverse effects. This study aimed to investigate causes of occupational stress and coping behaviours among general dentists in Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study was carried out from April to December 2014. A modified version of the Occupational Stress Indicator questionnaire was used to assess causes of stress and coping behaviours among 142 general dentists in Kerman, Iran. Results: A total of 93 dentists participated in the study (response rate: 65.5%). Of these, 58.9% reported often being stressed. The mean general stress score was 63.33 ± 19.99. The most common causes of stress were maintaining high levels of concentration while working (65.6%), time pressures (64.5%), concern over their ability to deliver dental services in future (60.2%) and rising costs (59.1%). No significant relationships between stress and gender, age, workplace or working hours per week were noted (P >0.05). However, there was a significant correlation between general stress scores and years of job experience (P = 0.05) and number of patients treated daily (P = 0.03). The most common methods for coping with stress were resting (71.0%), sports (45.2%) and entertainment (43.0%). Most dentists felt that stress management courses could help to reduce stress (89.7%). Conclusion: General dentists in Kerman were subject to many sources of stress in their workplaces, with significant relationships between stress scores and years of work experience and number of patients treated daily. Dentists should be encouraged to participate in stress management courses to help alleviate stress

Prevalence of Upper Extremity Musculoskeletal Disorders in Dentists: Symptoms and Risk Factors

Aim. The purpose of the present research was to examine the factors that lead to musculoskeletal disorders in dentists by assessing their posture using RULA method. Materials and Methods. In this cross-sectional study, 130 dentists (84 male and 46 female) participated. The posture of the subjects during their normal workload was recorded by using the RULA method, and the range of musculoskeletal pains by using the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ), and individual and professional data was assessed by a demographics questionnaire. All tests were performed at the P<0.05 level. Results. Assessment of the physical status of the subjects showed that 82.8% of subjects were at high risk of musculoskeletal disorders. The majority of musculoskeletal pains were in the neck (55.9%) and the shoulder (43.8%). Moreover, 68.9% of the subjects had experienced pain at least once over the last year. Significant relationships were observed between musculoskeletal pain and daily work hours P=0.07 and number of patients P=0.02, but the pain was not significantly associated with BMI and experience. Conclusion. The present findings showed that unsuitable posture of dentists during work has a considerable effect on musculoskeletal disorders. Therefore, further investigation is required to avoid the detrimental effects of wrong posture

The Investigation of the Impact of Health Belief Model Based Training on Brest Self-Exam in Women Referred to Health Centers

Background and objective: Breast cancer is the most common cancer among women .More than 90 percent of patients are treated if diagnosed early. This study has been done to investigate the impact of Health Belief Model based training in the creation of the BSE behavior Methods: This study is a controlled intervention one performed on 180 women referred to health centers Torbat Heydaryieh which 90 people were in the intervention group and 90 people were in the control group. Before doing intervention training, a questionnaire designed based on HBM was completed by the investigating units. Then intervention training was carried out in intervention group using lecture, questions, and answers. Two month after the intervention, post tests were given using the same questionnaire. The data was analyzed by using spss 18 software, independent t-test, paired t-test and chi-square and was considered significant Results: Independent T-Test showed that before intervention, the difference between mean scores of knowledge and HBM structures of control and intervention groups was not statistically significant. But this difference was significant after the intervention Conclusion: It seems that, a training program designed based on HBM is effective to create the behavior of BSE. It is suggested educational programs Implemented  on based Health Belief Model In order to improve the performance of women. Paper Type: Research Articl

The Efficacy and Safety of Intrathecal Autologous Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: A Pilot Study

Purpose: Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is an uncommon and aggressive neurodegenerative disorder that influences the lower and upper motor neurons. There are low eligible drugs for ALS treatment; in this regard, supplemental and replacement treatments are essential. There are relative studies in the field of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) therapy in ALS, but the different methods, differently used medium, and difference in follow-up periods affect the outcome treatment. Methods: The current survey is a single-center, phase I clinical trial to evaluating the efficacy and safety of autologous bone marrow (BM)-derived MSCs through intrathecal administration in ALS patients. MNCs were isolated from BM specimens and cultured. The clinical outcome was evaluated based Revised Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Functional Rating (ALSFRS-R) Scale. Results: Each patient received 15±3×106 cells through subarachnoid space. No adverse events (AEs) were detected. Just one patient experienced a mild headache after injection. Following injection, no new intradural cerebrospinal pathology transplant-related was observed. None of the patients’ pathologic disruptions following transplantation were detected by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The additional analyses have shown the average rate of ALSFRS-R score and forced vital capacity (FVC) reduction have decreased during 10 months following MSCs transplantation versus the pretreatment period, from -5.4±2.3 to -2±3.08 ALSFRS-R points/period (P=0.014) and -12.6±5.22% to -4.8±14.72%/period (P<0.001), respectively. Conclusion: These results have shown that autologous MSCs transplantation reduces the disease’s progression and has favorable safety. Trial Registration: This study performed as a phase I clinical trial (code IRCT20200828048551N1)

Depression and anxiety symptoms are associated with prooxidant-antioxidant balance: a population-based study

Background: Depression and anxiety are significantly associated with systemic inflammation. Moreover, oxidative stress resulting from a disturbance in the prooxidant-antioxidant balance is linked to inflammation-related conditions. Therefore, depression/anxiety symptoms may also be associated with oxidative stress. Objective: To examine the association between depression/anxiety symptoms and serum prooxidant-antioxidant balance (PAB) in adults who participated in a large population-based, cross-sectional study. Methods: Serum PAB values were measured in 7,516 participants (62% females and 38% males) aged 35–65 years, enrolled in a population-based cohort study. Beck Depression and Anxiety Inventories were used to evaluate symptoms of depression and anxiety. Multinomial logistic regression was used to examine the effect of confounders on the status of serum PAB change. Results: Among men, serum PAB values were increased incrementally from 1.55±0.47 to 1.59±0.47, 1.69±0.38, and 1.68±0.38 in the no or minimal, mild, moderate and severe depression groups, respectively (P trend<0.001). Serum PAB values also increased significantly across these four corresponding groups among women [1.70±0.45, 1.73±0.44, 1.75±0.44, and 1.76±0.40, (P trend=0.005)]. About anxiety, serum PAB values increased significantly across the four groups in men (P trend=0.02) but not in women (P trend=0.2). The adjusted odds ratios for serum PAB values among men with severe depression and anxiety symptoms were 1.75 and 1.27, respectively. Moreover, the adjusted odds ratios for serum PAB values among women with severe depression and anxiety symptoms were 1.40 and 1.17, respectively. Conclusion: Symptoms of depression and anxiety appear to be associated with higher degrees of oxidative stress, expressed by higher serum PAB values

A Review on Development of Historical City Center and Revitalization Process in Isfahan/Iran

The need to protect our cultural heritage was stressed on revitalization of historical city centers in communities. The main aim of this research is to attract finance and activities to the historical city centers through the citizens and municipalities participation while cities expanded their boundaries toward suburban areas. Today the main problems which facing to the most historical city centers, is loss of their centrality through effect of urbanization on any point of the cities which is the most important issue on neglect and abandonment of the historical central area by decentralizing living, commerce and public areas. This article evaluate the ways in which city center revitalization can be effect on vitality and viability of the central area in case of Naghshe Jahan square which situated at the center of Isfahan city, Iran. Constructed between 1598 and 1629, it is now an important historical site, and one of UNESCO's World Heritage Sites

Echocardiographic right ventricular deformation indices before and after atrial septal defect closure: A scomparison between device and surgical closure

Background: Secundum atrial septal defects (ASD2) are one of the most common congenital disorders in children which includes about 10%–20% of congenital heart defects. In recent years, closure of secundum ASD percutaneously has been proposed to reduce mortality, morbidity, and become the standard method in both pediatric and young adults. The aim of this study was to determine the right ventricular (RV) function by strain and strain rate echocardiography parameters in children who underwent surgically versus percutaneous ASD2 device closure. Methods: In this cohort study, all children underwent ASD2 treatment from May 2014 to April 2016 were enrolled in this study. Echocardiography was performed 24 h after transcatheter closure and 3 days after surgical closure. MyLab 60 echo machine (Esoate, Florance, Italy) equipped with a multi-frequency 5 MHz transducer was used, and all echocardiographic data were collected by same pediatric cardiologist. All demographic characteristics and echocardiography indices were compared using SPSS version 18 between two groups. Results: Thirty-six patients (63.2%) were treated by the transcatheter closure and 21 (36.8%) underwent surgery. Longitudinal RV strain (S), longitudinal RV strain rate (S'), and early diastolic longitudinal RV strain rate (E') were improved significantly in device patients in comparison with surgical patients (P 0.05). However, tricuspid valve annular diameter was significantly decreased in patients who underwent ASD percutaneous device closure in comparison with a surgical group (P = 0.004). Conclusion: The results of this study showed that percutaneous ASD2 device closure will results in better RV function in comparison to surgical closur