Qom University of Medical Sciences Journal
Year:2016 | Volume:9 | Issue:12|Papers Count:14

Background and Objectives: Bisphenol A (BPA) is one of the chemical materials, which is used as monomer of epoxy resins and polycarbonate plastics. The present study was performed with the purpose of determining the effect of A on liver enzymes level and liver tissue structure.Methods: In this experimental study 40 male rats were divided into 4 groups of 10 each: The control group received olive oil at a dose of 1mg/kg bw; group II received BPA at 10mg/kg bw; group III received BPA at 50mg/kg bw; and group IV received BPA at 100mg/kg bw). The groups were administered BPA intraperitoneally for 15 days. At the end, the rats were anesthetized and after extraction of serum, their liver were removed for examination of liver enzymes and evaluated by light microscopy after H& E staining.Results: The doses of 10 and 50mg/kg bw of BPA had no significant effect on ALT enzyme and 10mg/kg bw had no significant effect on AST enzyme (p>0.05), while BPA at dose of 100 and doses 50 and 100mg/kg bw had significant effects on ALT and AST, respectively, and increased their serum concentration. BPA only at dose of 100mg/kg bw caused inflammation and vacuolization in liver tissue, and its low concentrations had no significant effect on the liver tissue.Conclusion: The results indicated that low concentrations of BPA had no significant effect on liver tissue and enzymes, but its increased concentration can cause damage to liver tissue and increase the serum levels of liver enzymes.

Background and Objectives: Post dural puncture headache (PDPH) is a Common problem in pregnant women, but there is still uncertainty about clinical effectiveness, especially in terms of drug therapy. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of coffee consumption on PDPH in cesarean section.Methods: This study was performed as a clinical trial on all women candidate for cesarean section referred to Razi hospital in Torbat Heydariye city, in 2015, and 140 cases were selected based on random allocation (Balanced Blocking method). In the intervention group, the patients were given instant coffee 8 hours after operation two times with one hour interval, in each of which two cups were given. In the control group, the same routine care was performed. The incidence and severity of headache in both groups were monitored by McGill Pain Questionnaire up to 24 hours after the operation. Data were analyzed using Chi-square and independent t- statistical tests. The significance level was considered to be p<0.05.Results: The incidence of PDPH was seen in 15.7% of patients in the intervention group and 37.1% of patients in the control group, which was significantly different (p=0.004). The mean severity of PDPH was 22.2±4.6 in the control group and 13.5±5.8 in the intervention group, which was statically significant (p=0.001).Conclusion: This study revealed that coffee consumption in patients who underwent cesarean section under spinal anesthesia canprevent PDPH and reduce the severity of headache.

Background and Objectives: Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli strains cause a wide range of gastrointestinal infections, especially in developing countrirs. The aim of this study was to evaluate of the antibacterial effect of methanol and aqueous extracts of Vaccinium arctostaphylos fruit on entropathogenic Escherichia coli in vitro.Methods: In this experimental study, methanol and aqueous extracts of Vaccinium arctostaphylos fruit were prepared by two methods, maceration and soxhlet. Antimicrobial effects of these extracts were examined by agar diffusion method on two strains of Escherichia coli (ATCC: 8739, ATCC: 25922) and 12 clinical strains of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) were determined by microdilution method. Analysis of variance and tindependent tests wee used to comoare the means.Results: All of the studied strains of Escherichia coli were sensitive to the methanol and aqueous extracts of Vaccinium arctostaphylos fruit.The mean zones of inhibition produced by the extracts were obtained in the range of 10.6-18.8 mm. Statistical analysis showed that there is a significant relationship between the increase in extracts’ concentrations and inhibition zone diameters (p<0.001). Also, the values of MIC and MBC were determined to be 50-200mg/ml and 100-400mg/ml, respectively.Conclusion: According to the results of this study, methanol and aqueous extracts of Vaccinium arctostaphylos fruit had inhibitory effect on enteropathogenic Escherichia coli.

Background and Objectives: Reduction of calorie (energy) intake can lead to stress management and improvement of nervous system function. In this research, the effect of intermittent feeding on metabolic signs of stress was investigated.Methods: Male laboratory mice with mean weight of 27±3g were divided into 4 groups of 7 each. The control group received ad-lib food and water and did not have stress. The second group (experimental) was deprived from food 2 hours per day for one week, and then went under stress for 4 days. The third group was only deprived from food 2 hours per day for a week, and the fourth group received electric shock for 4 days without food deprivation. In this investigation, plasma corticosterone level, the amount of food consumption, delay in eating, weight gain, and the amount of feces, were measured. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey test. The significance level was considered p<0.5.Results: In this study, stress increased the plasma level of corticosterone and fecal materials, and reduced food intake and weight of the animals and increased delay in eating. In the stress with intermittent feeding group, plasma level of corticosterone and delay in eating increased, and food intake and feces decreased. In this group, weight change was not observed, but in animals that only had intermittent feeding, increase in weight and food intake was observed.Also, delay in eating was decreased.Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that intermittent feeding can influence the effect of stress on nutrition and metabolism.

Background and Objectives: Todays, evaluation of the relationship between thyroid function and some psychiatric diseases have been identified. However, studies on the relationship between thyroid function and suicide attempt are limited. The present study was carried out with the aim of evaluating thyroid function in patients attempting suicide.Methods: In this descriptive analytical study during the years 2011 and 2012, 88 patients with major depression and recent history of suicide attemp and 89 patients with major depression without history of recent suicide, who were hospitalized in the psychiatric ward of Hazrat Rasoul Akram Hospital in Tehran, were included in the study. The studied variables in this research included demographic variables, such as age, gender as well as clinical findings, such as thyroid function tests, including TSH, T3, T4. thyroid function tests were requested for patients when hospitalized with a diagnosis of major depression during the years 2011 and 2012, that these values were extracted from the patients’ medical records.Results: The two groups were matched in terms of age and gender. In patients with recent suicide attempt, 5 (5.6%) cases of clinical hypothyroidism and 6 (6.8%) cases of subclinical hypothyroidism, were reported. In the major depression patients without recent suicide attempt, there were 3 (3.3%) cases of clinical hypothyroidism and 6 (6.7%) cases of subclinical hypothyroidism, and the two groups had no significant difference in terms of the incidence of thyroid disease (p=0.75).Conclusion: According to the results of the present study, lower levels of T3 and T3 to T4 ratio can be one of the factors related to the recent history of suicide in patients with major depression.

Background and Objectives: Clinical education evaluation in the fields of medical sciences is of particularly high sensitivity due to its important role in the training of professional staff, and different methods are mostly used in this field to assess performance and clinical competence of students. This study was carried out to compare the satisfaction of operating room students of two methods of electronics portfolio and conventional evaluation.Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, clinical evaluation was performed on 21 operating room students in the sixth semester by a conventional method and in the seventh semester by electronic portfolio. After similar clinical training, satisfaction of the two evaluation methods was assessed using a questionnaire. Data were analyzed using paired t-test. The significance level was considered less than 0.05.Results: The total satisfaction of electronic portfolio evaluation (11.5±6) was more than the conventional evaluation (6.6±4.1), and this difference was statistically significant (t=2.64, p=0.01). The level of satisfaction in terms of fairness of the evaluation, similarities of the existing subjects to clinical experiences, creating interest and motivation towards learning, dominance of coach in the implementation of evaluation method, getting feedback from coach, creating motivation for the use of books and other literature, paying attention to different aspects of evaluation, and helping to find defects and compensate them during training evaluation method, was reported more in the electronic portfolio than in the conventional method, and this difference was statistically significant (p<0.05).Conclusion: The use of electronic portfolio method increases the level of students’ satisfaction of the evaluation method of clinical training and could be effective in the elimination of defects from conventional evaluation.

Background and Objectives: Beta thalassemia is the most common autosomal recessive disorder. Up to now, more than 200 mutations have been identified, which affect beta-globin gene function and lead to lack of production or reduction of beta chain. This disease has a relatively high prevalence in Iran. Iran's population is composed of different ethnic groups, thus, determining the frequency and distribution of these mutations is essential in different parts of the country. Knowing the type and frequency of beta-thalassemia mutations in a separate area, could be necessary and useful in the prenatal programs of that area. This study was carried out with the purpose of determining the frequency of IVSII-1mutation of beta globin gene in thalassemia carriers in Qom province.Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, blood sample was taken from 50 individuals (mean age, 25±5 years) referred to Amir-Al- Momenin Laboratory affiliated to Qom health Center in order to determine the type of anemia in line with the pre-marriage tests that had given the diagnosis of minor thalassemia. In order to the identify and determine the prevalence of the IVSII-1 (G>A) mutation, DNA was extracted from 100 chromosomes from 50 beta thalassemia carriers by a commercial kits and examined using ARMS-PCR. Data were analyzed by t statistical test at the significance level less than 0.05.Results: IVSII-1 (G>A) mutation with a frequency of 10%, was observed in the studied subjects.Conclusion: Identification of this mutation with the frequency of 10% in Qom province indicates that the population of this region are at the exposure of the IVSII-1 (G>A) mediterranean mutation. Therefore, this study can be beneficial in diagnosis programs of beta thalassemia mutations and prenatal screening.

Background and Objectives: The aim of this study was to calculate the cost spent to develop databases Scopus, Science Direct, and Ovid and compare it with the rate of use and permeability in order to select beneficial collections and determine the position of these resources among the users in Qom University of Medical Sciences.Methods: The present study is practical in terms of purpose and survey in terms of method, and is a type of detachment analysis report. The statistical population of the research included: Shared university electronic information resources, such as e-journals and accessible databases of two citation databases, Science Direct and Scopus versus Ovid in years 2014. Information was collected using two methods of frequency of use and cost-benefit analysis. Data were analyzed by chisquare test.Results: The frequency of use, based to SAMAA index (number of paper download in the format of the HTML and PDF, number of abstract download, and number of searching and sitting down) in the databases Science Direct and Scopus and Ovid was significantly different, so that among these three databases, Science Direct and Scopus had the highest rate of use. The use and cost-benefit of the fields of medicine in these three databases were significantly different from each other, and medical subject area in the databases Scopus and Science Direct was higher than Ovid. No significant difference was observed between the rates of use of user groups (faculty members and staff, students) in the two databases.Conclusion: Considering the duration (about 20 minutes) of the users’ use of electronic resources, it can be concluded that the rate of use in the studied population is very low.

Background and Objectives: In recent years, systemic fungal infections caused by Candida species are one of the important causes of mortality due to increased immunosuppressive diseases. The prevalence of these fungal infections hasled to greater use of antifungal drugs and significant increase in intrinsic or acquired resistance of Candida species to antifungal agents. This research was conducted with the aim of investigating the prevalence and frequency of candidiasis in vaginal samples of women referred to health centers in Qom province and evaluating the target drug resistance pattern.Methods: This study was a descriptive cross-sectional study performed on 150 suspected candidiasis patients. The specimens were examined by direct method and were cultured on Sabouraud’s dextrose agar (containing chloramphenicol), corn meal agar (containing Tween 80), and CHROM agar candida; germ tube test and sugar assimilation test (API20C kit) were performed to isolate and differentiate the Candida species. Then, the effect of different antifungal drugs was tested using disk diffusion method.Results: Out of 150 specimens, 83 cases (55.3%) of Candida species were identified. Statistical analysis of isolated samples showed that Candida albicans (62.6%), Candida krusei (33.7%), and Candida tropical (3.6%) had the highest frequency. Resistance pattern of these species were different to various antifungal drugs.Conclusion: The results of this study showed that Candida albicans is the most frequent among species isolated from patients, and all the isolated Candida species are 100% susceptible to fluconazole and amphotericin B.

Background and Objectives: Academic burnout leads to poor performance in students. On the other hand, motivation has direct relationship with academic performance of students. In this study, the relationship between motivation and academic burnout among nursing and paramedical students was investigated.Methods: This study was conducted as a cross-sectional study on nursing and paramedical students of Qom city in the second semester of 2014-2015. A total of 264 students were randomly selected from nursing and paramedical students. Data collection tools were demographic information form, academic burnout questionnaire, and academic motivation scale. Data were analyzed using regression and Pearson’s correlation coefficient. The significance level was considered p<0.05.Results: The mean and standard deviation of academic burnout scores of the students was 28.52±15.84. All academic motivation subscales had significant relationship with academic burnout. There were significant relationships between a motivation (OR=1.17, CI=1.08- 1.26) and intrinsic motivation (OR=0.92, CI=0.88-0.95) with academic burnout.Conclusion: The findings of the present study indicated that a significant percentage of the students are experiencing academic burnout, and student with intrinsic motivation have lower academic burnout. Therefore, improvement of this personal trait in the students can reduce their academic burnout.