JOURNAL OF RAFSANJAN UNIVERSITY OF MEDICAL SCIENCES AND HEALTH SERVICES
Year:2016 | Volume:15 | Issue:9|Papers Count:10

Background and Objective: Although pregnancy is a pleasant period for women, physiological changes during this period can cause mental instability. The effect of the mental status of the mother on maternal and fetal outcome is an important issue in mental health during pregnancy. The assessment tool of pregnancy experience is able to study happiness and concern status in pregnant women. This research investigated the psychometric properties of Persian version of the Pregnancy Experience Scale.Materials and Methods:This is a discriptive study carried out in 2015. The original version of the Pregnancy Experience Scale–Brief Version is English that was translated into Persian after receiving permission from the tool designer and translating it using return method. Persian final version was completed by 244 eligible women in Shiraz. Questionnaire’s reliability was determined using Cronbach's alpha coefficient and test-retest. Exploratory factor analysis was used to assess the construct validity.Results: In order to determine the reliability, total Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.714 and intra-class correlation 0.721, which both showed appropriate reliability of the Persian version tool. Exploratory factor analysis confirmed two-factor structure of the questionnaire. KMO test showed the adequacy of the sample size that was calculated as 0.753 which was at an acceptable level and Bartlett's sphericity test was statistically significant.Conclusion: The findings showed that Persian version of Pregnancy Experience Scale–Brief Version has efficient validity and reliability. It can be used as an appropriate tool for evaluating happiness and concerns of the pregnant women in Iran.

Background and Objective: Boredom is a psychological phenomenon resulting in diverse side-effects. Mothers of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) due to the specific characteristics of their child are in conditions that are likely to develop this phenomenon. Therefore، measuring this variable as the first step to treatment is necessary. The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating psychometric characteristics of the Multidimensional State Boredom Scale (MSBS-PV) in mothers of children with ASD.Materials and Methods: The present study was a cross-sectional and validation study which was carried out in Isfahan city in 2015. The population includes all mothers of children with ASD in the city of Isfahan. The sample size of the research also included 150 participants selected using the convenience sampling method. After investigating content validity of MSBS-PV, correlation of scores with the total score and correlation of subcomponents were used to for material analysis. Exploratory factor analysis was used to determine the factor structure of the scale. Criterion validity was obtained using comparison of mothers of children with and without ASD. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient and test-retest method were used to determine internal consistency of MSBS-PV and reliability, respectively.Results: The minimum and maximum of the Content Validity Ratio (CVR) were as 0.8 and 1 and Content Validity Index (CVI) was 0.93. All items with the total score and subcomponents with each other had positive and significant correlation. The results of factor analysis indicated that the scale is constructed with five factors totally explaining 67.72% of the variance of the scale. In addition، there was a significant difference between mean scores of the MSBS-PV in the two groups of mothers of children with and without ASD (p˂0.001). Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the total questionnaire was 0.92 and the test-retest coefficient was 0.71.Conclusion: The findings of the present study indicated that the MSBS-PV has an acceptable validity and reliability. Consequently, can be used as a research and clinical instrument in families of children with ASD, caregivers، and other individuals involved with patient in one way or another.

Background and Objective: The percence of organic compounds resistant to biodegradation has become one of the most important environmental challenges in the chemical and petrochemical industry in this century. Phenol or hydroxyl benzene as an aromatic hydrocarbon discharged into the environment through certian industrial effluents which, thereby, pollutes water resources. This study examined the performance evalution of oxidizing agents of peroxide hydrogen, persulfate and periodate activated by ultrasound for removal of phenol from aqueous solutions.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, the treatability of polluted effluent using US/S2O8, US/IO4 and US/H2O2 with a frequency of 40 kHz for the treatment of contaminated aqueous phenolic compounds were investigated. The effects of operational parameters such as the concentration amount of persulfate(0.001-0.005 M), peroxide hydrogen (0.004-0.1M), and periodate (0.001-0.005 M), in different contact times in pH of (3, 7 and 10) and the impact of changes in the ionic strength in the contact times were selected as the variables of the study.Results: The results of this study showed that increasing the concentration of oxidation significantly increases the removal efficiency and then a decreasing trend was observed in the removal of phenol. So that, optimal concentration of persulfate, periodate, and hydrogen peroxide were selected as 0.003M 0.004M 0.1 M/l, respectively. Study of different changes of pH showed that all three processes had the most removal efficiency at pH=3 and ionic strength has reduced the US/S2O8 process efficiency and had no effect on the other processes.Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that combined ultrasonic and persulfate process in the optimal conditions had the highest efficiency compared to the other processes. Therefore, persulfate can be used as a good oxidizer together with ultrasonic waves to remove phenol in aqueous solutions.

Background and Objective: Age-related hyperkyphosis is excessive convexity of the thoracic spine. Patients have muscle weakness in the upper and lower peak of arc and they often have pain. By focusing on learning the correct posture, stretching the pectoral muscles, strengthening the erector spine muscles and deep core muscles, corrective exercises reduce the forces on the anterior vertebral body and the disc. So, this study examined the effectiveness of corrective exercises on kyphosis angle and pain in elderly women.Materials and Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, 30 elderly women (60-75 years old) were randomly assigned to an experimental group and a control group. The subjects in the exercise group participated in an 8 week (3 sessions a week) corrective exercise program. But the control group did not participate in any intervention. In each group pain and kyphosis angle were evaluated before and at the end of the trial, sequentially using VAS (Visual Analog Scale) and flexicurve ruler. In order to analyze the data، independent and paired sample t-tests and covariance analysis were used.Results: Twenty six subjects participated in the post test evaluations. Kyphosis angle was changed in the experimental group from 50.58±9.46 to 48.84±9.67 degrees (p=0.002) and significant improvements was observed in the pain (p=0.007). But there was no significant difference in the control group (p>0.05).Conclusion: The results suggested that a corrective exercise program may be effective in improving kyphosis angle and the amount of pain in elderly women. According to the results, it seems that it may be appropriate for the elderly people with hyperkyphosis to use corrective exercises along with other training methods to reduce their back pain.

Background and Objective: Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease recognized by a reduction in insulin secretion due to the malfunction of β-cells in the pancreas or an increase in the cells resistance to insulin. Also, diabetes can induce liver damage via oxidative stress. Considering the antioxidant and antidiabetic properties of the L. acanthodes, the aim of this study was to evaluate the aqueous extract effect of this plant on liver enzymes and histopathology in male type 1 diabetic ratsMaterials and Methods: In this experimental study, 28 male rats were divided into 4 equal groups: Control، diabetic control, and experimental diabetic treated with aqueous extract of L. acanthodes (100 and 300 mg/kg, ip). The diabetes in the diabetic control and the experimental diabetic groups was induced using an intraperitoneal injection of alloxan. Aqueous extract of L. acanthodes was intraperitoneally injected into the experimental diabetic groups, alternate days for one month. Distilled water was injected to the animals of the control and diabetic control groups. At the end of injection, the serum levels of liver ALT (alanine aminotransferase), AST (aspartate aminotransferase) and ALP (alkaline-phosphatase) enzymes were measured according to the international units per liter. Then, the liver sections were prepared and examined by means of light microscope. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey post hoc test.Results: Compared to the diabetic control group, serum levels of ALT, AST, ALP and number of hepatocyte cells, kupffer cells and arteritis in the experimental diabetic groups treated with aqueous extract of L. acanthodes significantly decreased (p>0.05), which indicated the improvement of structure of damaged liver tissue in male diabetic rats.Conclusion: Administration of L. acanthodes aqueous extract could attenuate serum level of liver enzymes and has protective effect against liver damage induced by diabetes.

Background and Objective: According to the relatively high prevalence of systemic lupus erythematosus in Iran and difficulties of the disease, the aim of this study was to investigate the scientific production of Iranian researchers in lupus field in Scopus.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study applied a survey method with a scientometric approach. Scientific productions of Iranian researchers on Lupus indexed by Scopus until 2015 were studied. A total number of 432 records were extracted. Results were presented as number and percentage.Results: The majority of the papers (90.05%) published in 2006-2015 and 53.24% of them published in the last four years. The co-authorship shows that Iranian researchers tend to participate in groups. "Lupus" has published most number of papers (4.86%). Sixty one point eighty percent of Iranian papers have been published in journals with impact factor.Conclusion: The number of Iran's papers in Lupus field in Scopus Databases was low; however، the scientific production of Iranian researchers and their impact in this field are increasing that signifies the Iranian researchers' effort.

Background and Objective: Events are considered as one of the most important disabling or fatal factors in humans. The aim of this study was to investigate the frequency of accidents in Saqez in 2014.Materials and Methods: This study is a cross-sectional study. Data were obtained from the Events Data Record program of Saqez Health Center in 2014. This information was based on age groups, gender, and accident type reported in terms of frequency and percentage.Results: The total number of accidents was 2525 with the overall prevalence of 10.6 per thousand, and 15.1 and 5.9 per thousand in men and women, respectively. The most frequent accident in men was car accident with 598 cases (32.1%) and in women, suicide with 189 cases (25.9%). In the age group of 25-15 years, most frequent accident was reported in women with 101 suicide cases (51.7%) and in men car accident with 185 cases (29.9%).Conclusion: According to the results of the study, frequency of accidents in men and age group of 15-25 years was higher and must be considered by health policy makers.

The existing evidence highlights that the published articles by scholars of Muslim countries including Iran receive less citations compared with their comparable fellow scientists from countries with similar per capita income. The aim of the current article is to provide some techniques which can increase the visibility of the published articles. There is a strong likelihood that by increasing the visibility of the published articles their readerships and citations will also increase.