Hormozgan Medical Journal
Year:2015 | Volume:19 | Issue:1|Papers Count:11

Introduction: Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disease which is associated with the inflammation of cardiovascular system and kidney. Studies have shown that medicinal plants could be effective in reducing inflammation; however, the effectiveness of purslane (Portulaca oleracea) on inflammation is not well defined. Thus, this study attempted to investigate the effect of Portulaca oleracea seed consumption on plasma levels of cystatin C, cathepsin S, and creatinine in women with type 2 diabetes.Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 14 women with type 2 diabetes were randomly divided into two equal groups of intervention and control (n=7). The subjects received Portulaca oleracea seed 2.5 g at lunch and 5 g at dinner (totally 7.5 g) per day for 8 weeks. Blood was collected before and 48 hours after the last intervention. Data were analyzed with paired and independent t-tests, and P<0.05 was considered significant.Results: Levels of cystatin C, cathepsin S, creatinine, and lipid profile decreased significantly in the intervention group after 8 weeks (P<0.05). There was also a significant difference between the intervention and control groups in levels of cystatin C and cathepsin S.Conclusion: Changes in biochemical markers showed that Portulaca oleracea seed could improve the levels of cardiovascular and kidney damage biomarkers and lipid profile in diabetic patients. However, further research is needed for more accurate conclusions.

Introduction: Diarrhea still remains a leading cause of mortality in developing countries. Zinc has been reported to affect the treatment of acute gastroenteritis in children. This study was aimed at evaluating the prophylactic effect of zinc on prevention of diarrhea in children.Methods: This randomized clinical trial was performed on 100 children of 6-36 months referring to Children Hospital outpatient clinic in Bandar Abbas who had no diarrhea during the study and no underlying medical condition such as celiac and allergy to cow’s milk. The subjects were randomly divided into two 50-member groups of supplementation who received zinc sulfate for three months and control who received no drugs. All children were followed up every 3 weeks for one year. Gastroenteritis, type of diarrhea, and the duration of each episode were recorded. Data were analyzed with Chi-square and t-test.Results: The mean age of the subjects was 21.5±7.9 months (ranged from 6 to 36 months); 61% of whom were male and 39% were female. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups in terms of baseline characteristics and history of vaccination. The incidence of diarrhea, fever, and vomiting had no statistically significant difference between both groups (P=0.83, P=0.88, P=0.53, respectively). No significant difference existed between the groups in terms of the mean number of diarrheal episodes (P=0.96) and the duration of diarrhea (P=0.09).Conclusion: The use of zinc for three months as prophylaxis had no impact on reducing the number and incidence of diarrhea in children aged between 6 and 36 months.

Introduction: Acinetobacter baumannii is a major cause of nosocomial infections which affect mainly disabled patients in intensive care units. The bacteria may acquire resistance to antibiotics and hence can seriously endanger antibiotic therapy. The most important problem facing treatment of A. baumannii is increasing reports of resistance to a wide range of antibiotics, including carbapenems, as the treatment of choice for this bacterial infection. Oxacillinase-type carbapenemases belonging to Class D beta-lactamases (OXAtype) are among the main mechanisms of reasons for resistance to carbapenems. The present study aimed to evaluate the patterns of antibiotic resistance and the prevalence of carbapenemase genes of oxacillinases in clinical isolates of A. baumannii in a hospital in Bandar Abbas, Iran.Methods: A total of 69 isolates of Acinetobacter were collected within two years from different samples of patients’ bodies in the Shahid Mohammadi Hospital of Bandar Abbas. The isolates genus was identified using biochemical methods and A. baumannii species using PCR. Antibiotic resistance to imipenem and meropenem was identified through disk diffusion method. OXA-type carbapenem resistance genes were identified by multiplex PCR. The data were statistically analyzed through the chi-square test using SPSS 17, and the graphs were plotted using Excel.Results: Out of 69 Acinetobacter isolates, 57 (82.6%) had blaOXA-51 gene and were identified as A. baumannii. Antibiogram showed a significant resistance to beta-lactams and other antibiotics studied. The resistance percentage of the isolates to imipenem and meropenem antibiotics were 29.8% and 70.2%, respectively. Although all isolates were susceptible to colistin and polymyxin B, 78.9% of isolates had blaoxa-23, 8.8% blaOXA-24, and 1.7% blaOXA-58 genes.Conclusion: This study showed that beta-lactamase OXA-23 gene is the common identified known carbapenemase among carbapenem-resistant A. baumannii in Bandar Abbas Hospital. Evaluation of antibiotic-resistant genes in A. baumannii is necessary to further control dissemination of antibiotic resistance genes.

Introduction: Oral Lichen Planus (OLP) is one of the most common mucocutaneous lesion, and its etiologic factors have not been elucidated yet. OLP has two different clinical forms including reticular and erosive. Mast cells function in non-specific immunology is an etiologic factor involved in the formation of lichen planus. This study aimed at determining the pattern of mast cells presence in clinical forms of reticular and erosive oral lichen-planus in basal, epithelial, and superficial connective tissue layers.Methods: The study population in this retrospective research included archival histopathological files in Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology Department, Faculty of Dentistry, Tehran University of Medical Sciences. A total number of 53 paraffin-embedded blocks consisting of 18 reticular and 17 erosive OLP samples were included in the study. Four-micron sections were prepared for toluidine blue staining. Mast cells were counted in ten fields of light microscopy at magnification of 400 in epithelial, basal, and superficial connective tissue layers, and the mean number of mast cells in each layer was calculated. Mann-Whitney and Friedman tests were used to analyze the data while p-values less than 0.05 were considered significant.Results: The mean number of mast cells was 1.85±2.9 in reticular and 2.02±3.18 in erosive groups. The mean count of mast cells in epithelial, basal, and connective tissue layers were 0.23±0.31, 0.34±0.45, and 4.98±3.28, respectively, in reticular lichen planus, and 0.21±0.25, 0.23±0.38, and 5.53±3.31, respectively, in erosive lichen planus. There was no significant difference between reticular and erosive forms of OLP and between epithelium and basal layers in terms of mast cells count (P=0.474, P=0.148, respectively), whereas a significant difference existed between epithelial and connective tissue layers (P<0.001).Conclusion: The number of mast cells in reticular and erosive forms of OLP was higher in connective tissue than epithelium. Regardless of tissue layer, mast cells count was higher in erosive than reticular form of lichen planus.

Introduction: Frequency of breakfast consumption has declined in the last half century. This meal is ignored by children and adolescents. This study was aimed at determining the effect of a training program based on theory of planned behavior on promotion of breakfast consumption in students.Methods: This interventional quasi-experimental study was carried out in Bandar Abbas in 2011 on 88 middle-school students who were selected through the multistage cluster sampling method. The data collection instrument was a questionnaire, designed based on the structured theory of planned behavior, whose validity and reliability were determined in the pilot study. The collected data were analyzed with SPSS 18 through linear regression, t-test, paired t-test, Wilcoxon, and Mann-Whitney tests.Results: After the completion of the training program, perceived behavioral control and intention of having breakfast were increased in the intervention group, and the change was significant based on Wilcoxon test (P=0.000).Conclusion: According to the results, instructional strategies based on theory of planned behavior should be taken into account in order to increase intention toward and consumption of breakfast by students. Considering the subjective norms encouraging students to have breakfast especially in peer groups and parents can be helpful in designing educational programs.

Introduction: Job satisfaction and organizational commitment are considered prerequisites of internal and external efficiency of an organization. This study was aimed at investigating the relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment of health educators of high schools in Hormozgan Province.Methods: In this descriptive-correlational study with respect to data analysis, 115 health educators in Hormozgan Province were selected through random sampling. The data were collected with job satisfaction and organizational commitment questionnaire. They were analyzed through descriptive statistics and regression methods using SPSS 18.Results: The results showed a significant positive relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment components including continuance, affective, and normative commitment (r=0.504). Fifty percent of changes in job satisfaction were affected by organizational commitment.Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that the relationship between job satisfaction and organizational commitment could provide valuable guidance for increasing motivation among health educators and actualizing their potential powers. As an important predictor of organizational commitment, job satisfaction played a significant role in health educators.

Introduction: Regular quality control of radiology devices and fixing their defects can play a crucial role in reducing absorbed dose of patients, increasing their longevity, and improving the quality of radiographic images. This study was aimed at performing quality control according to the standards and features of radiology machines in the teaching hospitals of Hormozgan Province.Methods: Several parameters were examined in this study, including voltage accuracy, voltage reproducibility, exposure time reproducibility, output linearity with mA, and adaptation of optical field with radiation field.Results: Evaluation of voltage accuracy showed that the radiology devices of No.3 in Shahid Mohammadi Hospital of Bandar Abbas, No.1 in Hazrat Abolfazl Hospital of Minab, and No.1 in Hazrat Fatemeh Zahra Hospital of Qeshm exceeded the normal ranges in all voltages, and the radiology devices of Shariati Hospital in Bandar Abbas in 78 kV and 85 kV.Conclusion: Quality control of radiology devices in health centers reduces patients’absorbed dose during various radiographies, increases their efficiency and longevity, and improves the quality of radiographic images and the disease diagnosis by physician.

Introduction: Maternal death caused by pregnancy and childbirth complications is one of the most important indicators of development of a society, and most countries are committed to reduce its rate. The reason for choosing this index as a development profile is the impact of various social and economic factors on it. Maternal mortality in Hormozgan Province, as one of the most disadvantaged provinces of Iran according to national indicators and targets of the World Health Organization, has an undesirable situation. Therefore, this study aimed at determining the prevalence and risk factors of pregnant women mortality in the province during 2007-2011.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the data were collected from prenatal care files, hospital records, and completed standard questionnaires of the National System of Maternal Mortality Care. The causes of mothers’ death were identified according to the autopsy report (in case of autopsy), comments of members of the University Committee, and final decision of the National Committee about mothers’ death. Morally, all extracted information were collected and coded anonymously. The data were analyzed using SPSS through t-test.Results: The rate of maternal mortality during 5 years of the study was 39.81 per hundred thousand live births; mostly occurred in the age group of 18-35 years (76.11%), with the highest number living in rural areas (85.93%). The most and less prevalent causes of maternal death were bleeding (25.37%) and infection (2.98%), respectively; 20.89% of mothers had 5 or higher pregnancies, and in 34.32% of them, two recent pregnancies were occurred in less than three years; 47.76% of the dead mothers suffered from an underlying disease from the beginning of pregnancy; 76.11% of mothers have died during and after pregnancy, and 23.89% during childbirth; and 76.11% of them had age-appropriate care during pregnancy, and the remaining had incomplete or no care (23.89%).Conclusion: The results showed that the maternal mortality rate in Hormozgan Province was far from the national average. It seems that raising awareness of society regarding the warning signs of pregnancy and postpartum, increasing coverage of prenatal, pregnancy, and postnatal care, and improvement of the quality of family planning counseling can be effective in reducing maternal mortality.

Introduction: As the most hazardous sewage, hospital wastewater contains various contaminants, and its uncontrolled discharge can seriously damage the environment. Bandar Abbas is located in an arid and semi-arid region; therefore, hospital wastewater should be treated through an appropriate and economic method. This study aimed to determine the efficiency of electrocoagulation with aluminum and iron electrodes in removal of COD from wastewater of Shahid Mohammadi Hospital of Bandar Abbas.Methods: This analysis was performed in laboratory-scale through an incoherent method using a reactor which contained iron and aluminum binary and quaternary electrodes. A total of 55 samples of raw sewage of the hospital were examined and a total of 216 samples were analyzed to determine the parameters which were effective in the process. Samples (3 L) were immediately transferred to the laboratory after collection. COD removal was performed through electrocoagulation at pH 3, 7, and 11, voltages 10, 20, and 30, and reaction times of 30, 45, and 60 min. The results were analyzed using SPSS 16 through analysis of covariance.Results: The data showed better performance of electrodes at 2 cm apart rather than 3 cm. The COD removal efficiency was increased by 6.2% when pH was decreased from 11 to 3 at optimum voltage of 30 V and reaction time of 60 min. The results showed that by increasing the reaction time from 30 to 60 min at voltages 10, 20 and 30, the efficiency of COD removal increased from 32.3% to 87.1%. Therefore, the highest efficiency of COD removal (87.1%) was obtained at optimal pH of 3, voltage of 30 V, and reaction time of 60 min with iron quaternary electrode.Conclusion: Given the high efficiency of electrocoagulation as well as its simplicity and relatively low cost, it can be used for removal of COD from hospital wastewater.