Ebnesina
Year:2016 | Volume:17 | Issue:4 (53)|Papers Count:8

Background: Poor physical fitness and subsequent musculoskeletal disorders are the major reasons for absence from work and decrease in occupational quality among flight staff. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders and assessment of some physical fitness factors in flight staff.Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 66 randomly selected individuals (Age: 36.1±7.1 years) of the flight staff of Mehrabad aerial station. Nordic questionnaire was utilized to evaluate the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders. However; Biering-Sorensen test, a defined test for assessment of trunk flexor muscles endurance, Pressure-Biofeedback unit, and Y balance test were used to assess the endurance of spinal extensor and trunk flexor muscles, core muscles strength, and dynamic balance, respectively.Results: The most prevalent musculoskeletal disorders among subjects were as the followings: lumbar spine (24.2%), knees (18.1%), and cervical spine (13.6%). A negative and significant correlation was found between most dynamic balance factors and spinal and trunk muscle endurance and core muscles strength.Conclusion: It can be concluded that there is a high prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in the lumbar spine, knees, and the cervical spine compared to the other areas of the body. Furthermore, low endurance and strength was observed for spinal, trunk, and core muscles.

Background: In order to promote the mental health of military personnel, it is essential to use devices to diagnose mental disorders at correct time. This study was conducted among the staff of a military unit to determine psychometric properties by Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R).Materials and methods: The present study is a descriptive-correlative research. A sample of 1430 personnel of a military unit were randomly selected and then were studied according to factors such as sex, age, education, work experience, and family history of psychiatric disorders. The survey tools were SCL-90-R and Minnesota Multiphase Personality Inventory (MMPI).Results: There was a high range of Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for test subscales (0.75 to 0.92). Also, this coefficient for Global Symptoms Index (GSI) was equal to 0.98. The correlation coefficients of SCL-90-R subscales were statistically significant with MMPI ones.Conclusion: Psychological tests, especially in the field of military forces have a great importance. Given the validity of SCL-90-R in military personnel, it can be used in the mental health planning of military staff.

Background: Suicide is a multi-faceted phenomenon which its incidence is affected by psychological, sociological, and cultural factors. One of these factors is identity which plays an important role in teenagers and young adults. This study aims to investigate the relationship between aspects of identity with suicidal thoughts and its predictive role in the army soldiers in Mashhad.Materials and methods: The study was a descriptive correlation study which was conducted on 361 soldiers selected by multi-stage cluster sampling in the city of Mashhad, in 2015. The instruments of this study were revised Cheek’s Aspects of Identity Questionnaire and the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation (BSSI). The data were analyzed by Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis.Results: Although there were negative relationships between suicidal thoughts and all four aspects of identity (personal, social, collective and relational), only social and relational aspects were significant. In addition, results showed that social identity alone was able to predict suicidal thoughts, significantly.Conclusion: It seems that suicidal thoughts can be reduced with training the individuals and their families.

Background: Job burnout is a significant problem in the staff of health organizations, particularly nurses, and leads to more clinical errors, patients' dissatisfaction, job leave, and negative outcomes which will eventually lead to lack of human force. Given the nature of nursing and its key role in looking after patients, this study aims to investigate the relationship between job burnout and some demographic characteristics of nurses working in AJA hospitals in Tehran.Materials and methods: In a cross-sectional study (descriptive-analytical study), 322 nurses working in AJA hospitals in Tehran in 2012-2013 were recruited using multi-stage random sampling method. Persian version of Maslach burnout inventory that reliability and validity was confirmed was used for data collection. Then, data were analyzed using SPSS19 using descriptive and analytical statistics. A p<0.05 was considered as significance level.Results: According to statistical tests, there was a significant statistical relationship between some dimensions of job burnout and gender, education, marital status, number of children, hospital location, employment in other places, job leave, absenteeism, working shifts, satisfaction from working shifts, and second job of nurses (p<0.05).Conclusion: Given the findings of the present study, regarding to the significant relationship between dimensions of job burnout with most demographic characteristics and influencing factors on it, it is recommended to adopt proper strategies with respect to staffing and development of strategic plans. It can reduce job burnout and consequently increase efficiency of health system.

Background: Nowadays, biosynthesis of nanoparticles is considered because of its low energy requirements and risk. In present study, silver nanoparticles produced by two species of lichens “Usnea articulata” and “Ramalina sinensis”. Furthermore, the antibacterial effects of nanoparticles were studied.Materials and Methods: To produce silver nanoparticles, lichens aqueous extract was placed in the vicinity of 1mmol of the silver nitrate solution. The production of nanoparticles was studied by spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The antibacterial effect of the produced silver nanoparticles was investigated by agar well diffusion method against Escherichia coli Pseudomonas aeruginosa Bacillus subtilis, and Staphylococcus aureus.Results: The biosynthesized nanoparticles by two types of lichens had a maximum absorption at the wavelengths of 450 and 480 nm. Also, the presence of silver nanoparticles was confirmed by XRD method. The size of silver nanoparticles produced by Usnea articulata was about 10 to 50 nm and the nanoparticles produced by Ramalina sinensis around was 50 to 80 nm. The antibacterial test of the nanoparticles showed a good inhibitory effect against all four bacteria.Conclusion: Lichens can be a good choice to produce silver nanoparticles, due to the abundance, fast growth, and environmental sustainability. The results of present study showed that biosynthesized silver nanoparticles had an effective inhibitory activity against bacteria. Therefore, these nanoparticles can be used in various industries.

Background: Resistance training is suggested for adults in order to improve physical fitness and overall health. The aim of present study was to compare the responses of blood pressure and heart rate to various protocols and different movements of resistance exercise.Materials and methods: A sample of 12 healthy males (age: 25.2±2.2 years) performed three resistance exercise protocols including maximal strength (three sets of five repetition at 85% of 1-RM), hypertrophy (three sets of 10 repetition at 70% of 1-RM), and strength-endurance (three sets of 15 repetition at 55% of 1-RM) in three separate sessions Blood pressure and heart rate were measured before and immediately after resistance exercise in all sessions, and after each movement in hypertrophy protocol. Data were analyzed by using repeated measures of analysis of variance (ANOVA).Results: Although the systolic blood pressure increased significantly after the three resistance exercise trails (p=0.001), no significant differences were observed among the three protocols. However, heart rate increased significantly in response to the three resistance exercise trials; and also significant differences were observed among the three protocols (p<0.001). The post-hoc analyses showed that the increase in heart rate in strength protocol was less than two others. A comparison between blood pressure and heart rate after different movements in hypertrophy protocol showed that different movements with weights alter blood pressure and heart rate differently (p<0.05).Conclusion: Based on the findings of present study, it can be concluded that the strength exercise protocol with higher periods of rest between sets and movements increase heart rate less than the hypertrophy and endurance-strength protocols.

Background: A military hospital plays a significant role during the crisis because of the specific security aspects. This study aimed to assess the clinical skills of nurses in crisis handling in military hospitals.Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in November 2014 in military hospitals of Kerman city. The study involved the nurses and paramedics population at work in these hospitals. Totally, 170 nurses were included by random clustered sampling method. The self-structured questionnaire was used to collect the data. The analysis of data were done by descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney, and Kruskal-Wallis tests using SPSS software.Results: The study showed that the clinical skills of nurses to provide services in times of crisis on the criteria valued at moderate level (83.78±14.72). The skill levels were good, moderate, and low in 17.70%, 51.13%, and 31.17% of nurses, respectively.Conclusion: The results revealed that our study population had moderate clinical skills in crisis and they require additional training and necessary skills in crisis situations.