Journal of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences
Year:2016 | Volume:15 | Issue:4|Papers Count:10

Background and Objectives: Social capital refers to the norms and networks that make people to cooperate in social actions for gaining reciprocal advantages. Focusing of its importance on health، the aim of this study was to evaluate social capital in the students of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences.Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was done on 180 students of Jahrom University of Medical Sciences in the fields of medicine، public health، nursing، laboratory sciences، anesthesia ،and operation roomusing simple random sampling in 2014. Bullen social capital questionnaire was used for data collection. Data analysis was performed using one-way ANOVA ,t-test and Pearson's correlation coefficient.Results: The results showed that among all the social capital issues, the highest average (56.29±20.56) belonged to the"communication with friends and family" and the lowest average (41.56±20.39) to the "participation in the community activities". Also social capital showed a significant association with the variables such as educational level, educational field, marital status, place of residence and indigenous status (p<0.05).Conclusion: Considering the significant association of the social capital with the educational and demographic variabless, interventions by stakeholders may increase the social capital.

Background and Objectives: Surface water and groundwater pollution can cause health problems for human. Antibiotics have special importance due to inducing bacterial resistance in a way that even in low concentrations can cause drug resistance. Ciprofloxacin is one of the antibiotics that various remediation methods have been, up to now, applied for. The objective of this study was to investigate ciprofloxacin removal efficiency from aqueous solutions by using CuO nanoparticles photocatalytic process.Materials and Methods: In this laboratory study, the effects of pH (3-11), nanoparticle dose (0.1-0.01 g/L), reaction time (15-120 minutes), initial antibiotic concentration (10-200 mg/L) and lamp power (8 watts) were assessed on ciprofloxacin removal efficiency in a batch photocatalytic reactor. Antibiotic concentration in output was measured by the spectrophotometer (LUV-100A) at the maximum wave length of 276 nm.Results: the optimum obtained pH and CuO nanoparticle dose were 7 and 0.7 g/lit respectively. In this study, at the optimum reaction time of 60 min, by increasing the concentration of ciprofloxacin the removal efficiency decreased. Under optimal conditions of concentration, the removal efficiency was 73%.Conclusion: On the basis of the obtained results, it can be concluded that CuO nanoparticles photocatalytic process can efficiently remove ciprofloxacin from aqueous solutions.

Background and Objectives: Role of different parts of the brain in stress management, especially nucleus accumbens (NAc), is not well known. In this study the role of NAc in response to chronic stress in male mice were evaluated.Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, intra-accumbal uni- and bi-lateral cannulation was performed by stereotaxic instrument. Five minutes before stress induction 2%, lidocaine solution was administered to the animals intra-accumbally. Stress by Communication Box induced to the animals between 9-11 am for 4 consecutive days (8 groups of 6). Plasma corticosterone, food and water intake, animals’ weight gain, and delay time in food intake were measured as stress metabolic signs. Data were analyzed using two-way analysis of variance.Results: Stress increased plasma corticosterone and delayed the eating time (p<0.001) and had no significant impact on weight changes and water intake. Lidocaine administration could not completely inhibit the plasma corticosterone levels and delays to eating time, compared with the control group. NAc transient inactivation inhibited stress in animals’ food intake (p<0.001) and weight (p<0.05), significantly. As well as, lidocaine administration either unilateral of right or left side or bilateral decreased water intake (p<0.05).Conclusion: It seems that NAc, as a brain structure, plays a role in mediation of chronic stress effects on metabolic functions. There are also some differences between the right and left sides of the NAc which may reflect a kind of side bias in the functions of the NAc.

Background and Objectives: Public health issues and the spread of disease correlate with geography and always have locational aspects. Therfore, in this study the spatial analysis of malaria disease reports between 2004-2014 in Bam were investigated using geographic information system (GIS).Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, information on positive cases of malaria were obtained from the health center in the Bam city for 11 years from 2004 to 2014 Then Based on the postal address of each case, the geographical coordinates of each patient were determined for spatial analysis of malaria. For spatial analysis, Moran’s index autocorrelation and kriging interpolation method were used in GIS software.Results: During the 11-year period 112, cases of malaria disease occurred in Bam, among which 38 cases were women (33.9%) and 74 cases were men (66.1%). From a total of 112 patients 102, (91.08%) had vivax malaria and 10 patients (8.92%) were infected with Plasmodium falciparum. The spatial distribution of disease was random (Z-score=-0.04) in the study area and most outbreaks risk of disease was in the peripheral areas of the city.Conclusions: This study indicated that the prevalence of malaria in the Bam countryside is more than the central areas. Spatial Analysis can be a useful tool in malaria prevention and control program by showing high risk areas for malaria and it can help to assess environmental factors.

Background and Objectives: Toxic contaminants such as inorganic anions cause water pollution and create some potential risks to human health and the environment. Nitrate as an inorganic anion is one of the most important sources of pollutants for surface and underground waters. Regarding adsorptive properties of zeolite, it is widely used to absorb water and wastewater pollutants. The aim of this study was to investigate the nitrate removal from the aqueous solutions by using zeolite clinoptilolite modified by surfactants.Materials and Methods: In this laboratory study, the zeolites granulated and modified by surfactant Hexadecyltrimethyl Ammonium Chloride and cetylpyridinium bromide were investigated through the impact of the parameters such as pH (3 to12), time (30 to 300 min), initial concentration of nitrate (20 to 250 mg/L), and adsorbent dose (5 to 20 grams per liter) in a batch laboratory scale. For better understanding of the adsorption process, the experimental data were analyzed with Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models and kinetic adsorption studies.Results: The results showed that nitrate removal efficiency had a reversed relationship with adsorbent dose and direct contact time, The results also showed that the removal of nitrate from solution is inversely related to the initial nitrate concentration. The maximum nitrate removal efficiency for both absorbents was in pH=7. Time of nitrate removal was obtained by 180 min in equilibrium. The data for both absorbents follow Freundlich adsorption isotherm and pseudo-second degree kinetics.Conclusion: The results of the study showed that the Iranian surfactant-modified zeolites could be used effectively for removal of nitrate. Considering its low cost, easily availability and modification, the zeolites can be used to remove nitrate from underground waters.

Background and Objectives: Nowadays, cell therapy is one of the most important and promising strategies in the treatment of diseases. Unique capabilities of stem cells caused them to be used in both research and treatment as a valuable resource in basic science and medical researches.The use of stem cells has been limited due to the related ethical problems. One of the major concerns of scientists to develop and use more of this science is finding alternative methods for producing these cells. Creating induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs) is one of the most important methods in achieving this goal. In this regard, various methods are developing that have the ability to change the gene expression and protein profiles, which results in a change in cells morphology and function in the direction of returning to a undifferentiated status and creating stem cells. These methods include nuclear transfer, use of cell extracts and synthetic molecules, mandatory expression of specific genes، and changes in the levels of cytoplasmic. In this review article, it has been tried to review the methods in the field of the induced pluripotent stem cells production.Literature search was performed through various combinations of keywords regarding induced pluripotent stem cells, Dedifferentiation methods, and IPSCs generation methods. Papers included in our review cover the period between 2002 to 2015. At the end of the review process, 68 articles were used in our final manuscript. In the present study, we review various methods in the IPS cells generation.

Background and Objectives: Students experience different stressors throughout their education. Therefore، strategies to reduce stress and prevent its consequences are necessary. This study was carried out to determine the levels of stress and coping methods used by nursing students in the city of Gonabad.Material and Methods: This cross-sectional study carried out in 2012 in which a total of 300 nursing students of Medical University of Gonabad were recruited by census method. Data were collected using personal characteristics, depression, anxiety, and stress scale questionnaires (DASS21) and coping method questionnaire (CISS-48). Data were analyzed using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and chi-square test.Results: The results indicated that majority of the students had normal stress level (56.7%) and 41.7 % of them used problem-oriented coping style Also a reversed and significant correlation was found between problem-oriented coping style with stress (r=-0.208, p=0.001) and semester with stress (r=-0.122, p=0.035). There was also a significant relationship between history of anxiety disorder and stress score (p=0.001).Conclusion: According to the results, students should be educated about positive coping methods against stress such as problem-oriented coping style, so that negative effects of stressors on the quality of clinical education can be reduced as possible .