Prevalence of and Some Factors Relating with Unwanted Pregnancy, in Ahwaz City, Iran, 2010

We aimed to find the prevalence and some factors relating with unwanted pregnancy. Methods. It was a cross-sectional study on 400 randomly pregnant women, who were referring to different health centers in Ahwaz city during 2010. Data was conducted based on questionnaire, and all the analysis was performed using SPSS (version 17) statistical analysis software. Results. The prevalence of unwanted pregnancy was 26%. The percentage of unwanted pregnancy in ages more than 35 years was approximately three times more than the intended pregnancy. There were significant relationship between unwanted pregnancy and some variables such as age, number of pregnancy, number of childbirth, education status, economic status, husband's occupation, and the relationship with the spouse and contraceptive methods (P < 0.0001). Conclusion. The prevalence of unwanted pregnancy was high. To prevent unwanted pregnancy using consultation services before planning to be pregnancy, it is necessary to identify the factors relating with unwanted pregnancy

Black and minority ethnic group involvement in health and social care research: a systematic review

BACKGROUND: Patient and public involvement (PPI) in research is growing internationally, but little is known about black and minority ethnic (BME) involvement and the factors influencing their involvement in health and social care research. OBJECTIVES: To characterize and critique the empirical literature on BME-PPI involvement in health and social care research. SEARCH STRATEGY: Systematic searches of six electronic bibliographic databases were undertaken, utilizing both MeSH and free-text terms to identify international empirical literature published between 1990 and 2016. INCLUSION CRITERIA: All study designs that report primary data that involved BME groups in health or social care research. Screening was conducted by two reviewers. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: Data extraction and quality appraisal were performed independently. Data extraction focused on the level(s) of PPI involvement and where PPI activity occurred in the research cycle. Studies were quality-assessed using the guidelines for measuring the quality and impact of user involvement in research. Data were analysed using a narrative approach. MAIN RESULTS: Forty-five studies were included with the majority undertaken in the USA focusing on African Americans and indigenous populations. Involvement most commonly occurred during the research design phase and least in data analysis and interpretation. CONCLUSION: This is the first systematic review investigating BME involvement in health and social care research internationally. While there is a widespread support for BME involvement, this is limited to particular phases of the research and particular ethnic subgroups. There is a need to understand factors that influence BME involvement in all parts of the research cycle

Environmental effects of the cold water fish farms effluents on the water quality of Gamasyab River as their main source of water supply in the west of Iran

Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) is one of the most-widely cultivated cold fresh water fish in the world. Gamasyab River, with a length of about 200 Km, is one of the longest rivers of Iran. The aim of this research is to determine the effects of trout farm effluents on this river water. From a total of 24 trout farms in the area, four farms were randomly selected and three sampling stations were chosen at each selected farm. Measured water quality parameters were temperature (T), total suspended solids (TSS), total dissolved solid (TDS), dissolved oxygen (DO), pH, five-day biochemical oxygen demand (BOD_5), chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia-nitrogen (NH_4-N), nitrate-nitrogen (NO_3-N) and phosphates (PO_4-P). Based on the laboratory analysis, DO in the river water was more than 6 mg/l in all cases. There were significant differences in six variables of T, BOD, COD, NO_3-N, NH_4-N, and TSS of all water samples taken from the second sampling stations between dry and wet season. The DO concentration in Gamasyab River decreased between the water inlet (first stations) and outlet (second stations), but increased in third station. Trout farm effluents had significant impact on the TSS content of the river. This significant increase in TSS concentrations is expected to have occurred due to cleaning or harvesting activities on any of the farms. The results of the study showed that, in all of season, the amount of TSS in the second stations was not equal to the standards of the Department of Environment Protection (40 mg/L) for discharging into river systems

Typical orbits of quadratic polynomials with a neutral fixed point: Brjuno type

We describe the topological behavior of typical orbits of complex quadratic polynomials P_alpha(z)=e^{2\pi i alpha} z+z^2, with alpha of high return type. Here we prove that for such Brjuno values of alpha the closure of the critical orbit, which is the measure theoretic attractor of the map, has zero area. Then combining with Part I of this work, we show that the limit set of the orbit of a typical point in the Julia set is equal to the closure of the critical orbit.Comment: 38 pages, 5 figures; fixed the issues with processing the figure

Investigating the relationship between low serum cholesterol and suicide in attempters with depression

Background & Objective: It has been postulated that depressed individuals with low total cholesterol levels may be more likely to die prematurely from suicide. This study aimed to examine the association between low serum cholesterol and suicide in depressed attempters. Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 180 suicide attempters, who met the inclusion criteria and were willing to participate in the study, were recruited in 2017. The data was collected using a demographic questionnaire and the Beck Depression Inventory-Second Edition (BDI-II). The blood cholesterol level was measured via an auto-analyzer. Results: The mean age was 26.39±10.75 years. The average cholesterol level in the moderate, severe, and serious depression groups was 151.30±35.23, 145.89±36.32, and 145.15±33.33, respectively. The mean age was higher in the group with a higher depression level, though the difference was not significant (P=0.06). The percentage of suicide attempts in single individuals was significantly higher (P=0.02). The mean cholesterol level in the group with the highest level of depression was the lowest, but the difference was insignificant (r=-.01, P=0.85). Only in females, the level of blood cholesterol showed a nearly significant difference between groups with different severities of depression (P=0.05). Cholesterol had a significant correlation with suicide frequency (P=0.008, r=0.28). Conclusion: Our results revealed no significant association between low serum cholesterol and suicide in attempters with depression; but low total serum cholesterol may be associated with depression and suicide in depressed subjects. Yet, more studies are required for verification of this causality. © 2020, Journal of Advances in Medical and Biomedical Research. All rights reserved

Evaluation of tokens of Communicative Language Teaching in Prospect (1) of junior high school in Iran

Backgrounds and Objectives:Today, all over the world and in our country, the need to speak English has increased and has caused a lot of demand for learning this language. This need is met through various means such as formal education in schools and colleges, travel to English-speaking countries, and so on. But classroom teaching seems to be the most common opportunity for language learning; Therefore, the need for quality education and appropriate materials is inevitable. According to education experts, the textbook is a manifestation of the approved curriculum of the educational system. The textbook is one of the most important sources of learning in educational systems and is the main material of the school curriculum. Research on textbooks is necessary because it is used by many teachers and students effective in designing appropriate learning opportunities for students. Studying textbooks can reveal the connection between some of the students' learning difficulties and the curriculum and help to incorporate the concepts of the curriculum in the appropriate way in the textbooks. Authors of Prospect (1) have stated that the book was developed based on dynamic communicative language teaching approach. The present study evaluates all texts, pictures and exercises of the book in terms of communicative language teaching criteria to assess its effectiveness. The researcher attempts to investigate the application of communicative language teaching in the content of the book under study. The study addresses this question ‘to what extend the content of the book is in harmony with principles of communicative language teaching’. Methods: It is a descriptive content analysis study. The instrument entails six components of communicative language teaching and has been validated through content analysis by 5 scholars. Data collection was done by three researchers working independently. Kappa agreement statistic is greater than 0.8 indicating satisfactory inter-rater reliability. Findings:The results, analyzed through Shannon entropy revealed that group interaction (0.37), lingual communication (0.009), culture comparing (0.167), two by two communication (0.139), meaningfulness (0.079) and information gap (0.046) carried content weight. The book seems to be effective in terms of communicative language teaching principles. Conclusion: Based on the obtained results, the importance of the components of communication approach in the 7th grade English textbook is as follows: 1. Strengthening group communication, 2. Adapting to the culture of the country, 3. Strengthening two-way communication, 4. Meaningful principle, 5. Information gap, 6. Lingual communication. The most prominent feature of this book is that it adequately addresses the components of the communication approach. Attention to strengthening group communication indicates that language teaching is moving away from the traditional method, which helps the learner a lot. Paying attention to the adaptation of the educational content to the culture of the country makes the content of the courses tangible and attractive and strengthens learning

Breeding ecology of the Iranian ground jay (Podoces pleskei)

Although Podoces pleskei is the only endemic bird of Iran, little information exists on its ecological features, population dynamics and threats that concern it. This species occurs in desert and semi desert areas, mostly on the Iranian plateau, though its range spreads southeast ward to the Iran- Pakistan border. In this research, a total of 52 nests were studied in three locations, the “Ghare Tappe”, “Marvast” and “Mehrano” region, from 2005 to 2008. Breeding habits, nest characteristics, hatching features, clutch size, length of incubation time, nesting period and features of the chicks were observed in the three locations and were analyzed using analysis of variance (ANOVA). To compare breeding success among the three study areas, Z test was applied. This bird builds its nest at the top of and within the denser parts of plants, particularly Atraphaxis spinosa, Ephedra intermedia and Zygophyllum eurypterum. At times of danger, they hide beneath shrubs. Z-tests showed that the breeding success of this bird varied between Marvast and Mehrano. The greatest cause of nest failure and chick mortality was the transcaspian desert monitor (Varanus griseus caspius), which feeds on the eggs and chicks.Key words: Breeding ecology, Pleske’s ground jay, nest characteristics, clutch size, nest success, threat

GPAQ-R: development and psychometric properties of a version of the general practice assessment questionnaire for use for revalidation by general practitioners in the UK.

BACKGROUND: The General Practice Assessment Questionnaire (GPAQ) has been widely used to assess patient experience in general practice in the UK since 2004. In 2013, new regulations were introduced by the General Medical Council (GMC) requiring UK doctors to undertake periodic revalidation, which includes assessment of patient experience for individual doctors. We describe the development of a new version of GPAQ - GPAQ-R which addresses the GMC's requirements for revalidation as well as additional NHS requirements for surveys that GPs may need to carry out in their own practices. METHODS: Questionnaires were given out by doctors or practice staff after routine consultations in line with the guidance given by the General Medical Council for surveys to be used for revalidation. Data analysis and practice reports were provided independently. RESULTS: Data were analysed for questionnaires from 7258 patients relating to 164 GPs in 29 general practices. Levels of missing data were generally low (typically 4.5-6%). The number of returned questionnaires required to achieve reliability of 0.7 were around 35 for individual doctor communication items and 29 for a composite score based on doctor communication items. This suggests that the responses to GPAQ-R had similar reliability to the GMC's own questionnaire and we recommend 30 completed GPAQ-R questionnaires are sufficient for revalidation purposes. However, where an initial screen raises concern, the survey might be repeated with 50 completed questionnaires in order to increase reliability. CONCLUSIONS: GPAQ-R is a development of a well-established patient experience questionnaire used in general practice in the UK since 2004. This new version can be recommended for use in order to meet the UK General Medical Council's requirements for surveys to be used in revalidation of doctors. It also meets the needs of GPs to ask about patient experience relating to aspects of practice care that are not specific to individual general practitioners (e.g. receptionists, telephone access) which meet other survey requirements of the National Health Service in England. Use of GPAQ-R has the potential to reduce the number of surveys that GPs need to carry out in their practices to meet the various regulatory requirements which they face

Higher education students’ achievement emotions and their antecedents in e-learning amid COVID-19 pandemic: A multi-country survey

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has had a wide range of negative consequences for higher education students. We explored the generalizability of the control-value theory of achievement emotions for e-learning, focusing on their antecedents. We involved 17019 higher education students from 13 countries, who completed an online survey during the first wave of the pandemic. A structural equation model revealed that proximal antecedents (e-learning self-efficacy, computer self-efficacy) mediated the relation between environmental antecedents (cognitive and motivational quality of the task) and positive and negative achievement emotions, with some exceptions. The model was invariant across country, area of study, and gender. The rates of achievement emotions varied according to these same factors. Beyond their theoretical relevance, these findings could be the basis for policy recommendations to support stakeholders in coping with the challenges of e-learning and the current and future sequelae of the pandemic.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio