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Dietary assessment and effect of Pilates exercises on quality of life, body composition, and physical fitness in Iranian postmenopausal women
Menopause is an important period of life for women, all of whom experience this natural state. However, awareness of the bodily changes during this period is of great significance. Hence, not paying attention to the dietary, physical, and psychological criteria can reduce the quality of women’s lives. This study aimed to evaluate health-related quality of life (HRQoL), body composition, and physical fitness in postmenopausal women after Pilates exercises. Thirty postmenopausal Iranian women were randomly divided into Pilates (performed for 8 weeks) and control groups. The HRQoL Questionnaire (SF-12) was filled out, and a three-day record of food intake was also kept for dietary assessment. The diet of the women consisted of mean values of 1,923 Kcal daily energy, 16% protein, 72% carbohydrate, 12% fat, and 11.32 mg iron. Calcium, zinc, vitamin D, and vitamin E intake were respectively 73, 87.5, 81.7 and 83.53% of the recommended daily allowance. Pilates exercises had a significant effect on flexibility (P=0.002), endurance (P=0.001), muscle strength (P=0.001), body mass index (P=0.001), lean mass (P=0.003), body fat percentage (P=0.001), and quality of life (P=0.001). Therefore, Pilates is an appropriate training to increase body fitness and improve body composition, lean mass, and quality of life in postmenopausal women
Spatial distribution of BTEX emission and health risk assessment in the ambient air of pars special economic energy zone (PSEEZ) using passive sampling
Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) are a challenging group of volatile organic compounds in industrial and energy areas. Since these aromatics may cause serious diseases such as cancer and respiratory illnesses, they must be monitored. Pars Special Economic Energy Zone (PSEEZ) in Iran is the second largest energy zone of the world with numerous gas refineries and petrochemical complexes for producing a wide range of products. This study is focused on determination of BTEX concentration in the whole South Pars area (46 sampling points) which is the active site of PSEEZ using passive sampling. Then, the results of the passive sampling are used for providing spatial distribution of BTEX using GIS. The annual BTEX measurements revealed that benzene and toluene concentration violates the maximum permitted values at numerous points most of which are located in the vicinity of petrochemical complexes. Active sampling in these complexes not only confirms the results of passive sampling, but also suggests a more intensified BTEX pollution in the air quality of the area which reaches as high as 3500 μg.m−3 and 18,000 μg.m−3 for benzene and toluene, respectively, being far beyond the acceptable standards. Health risk analysis also confirms the intensity of BTEX at the selected points. This study suggests a reconsideration of the location of non-operational sites and personnel who are more vulnerable to BTEX contamination. Also, BTEX profile provided by GIS in this research gives a suitable plan for relocating
Assessing the Effectiveness of COVID-19 Prevention Campaign in Health Volunteers of Urmia City
Holding educational campaigns with the purpose of conveying message about one particular behavior in the target group, is one of the society-based educational strategies. This study aimed to investigate the efficiency of the Campaign of COVID-19 Prevention on Health Volunteers in Urmia. The present study was a semi-experimental research, in which the sampling was done in a census way with 200 people participated. In this study, which was done as pre- and posttest, the amount of knowledge, attitude and behavior of health volunteers were evaluated by the designed questionnaires. The campaign was held for 2 months, which has benefited from the five methods of pamphlet, banners, films, social networking sites, and educational classes. After the campaign, the knowledge level, attitude and behavior of Health Volunteers increased to 35.1%, 30.09%, and 29.2%, respectively, which was meaningful statistically. Holding the campaign can trigger positive changes in improving the knowledge, attitude, and behavior of health volunteers, leading to the prevention of a plethora of health problems in society
Prevalence of Violence in Iranian Pregnant Women: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Violence against pregnant women is a significant public health problem, resulting in disability and various physical and mental health disorders. This systematic review and meta-analysis explored the prevalence of physical, verbal, sexual, psychological, emotional, economic, and other types of violence among pregnant women in Iran.
Methods
Bibliographic databases including PubMed, Embase, Web of Science (WoS), and Scopus, and also Iranian databases including Scientific Information Database (SID), Magiran, and Civilica were searched from 2002 to September 16, 2020. Following a random-effects meta-analysis, we estimated the pooled prevalence of exposure to different types of violence among Iranian pregnant women. Overall, 61 articles that met the inclusion criteria were analyzed in this systematic review.
Results
The prevalence of physical violence was 19.0% (95% confidence intervals [CI]: 14.0, 24.0), verbal violence was 42.0% (95% CI: 24.0, 61.0), sexual violence was 26.0% (95% CI: 20.0, 32.0), psychological violence was 37.0% (95% CI: 28.0, 46.0), emotional violence was 51.0% (95% CI: 40.0, 62.0), economic 39.0% (95% CI: 19.0, 60.0), and the prevalence of other types of violence was 54.0% (95% CI: 46.0, 62.0).
Conclusions
This study revealed that Iranian pregnant women are often exposed to different types of violence. Therefore, screening for violence in this vulnerable group seems necessary due to the sensitive nature of pregnancy and its importance in maternal health. This alarming rate of violence calls for adopting upstream policies and interventions to reduce violent practices against pregnant women in Iran
Fabrication of Fibrous Materials Based on Cyclodextrin and Egg Shell Waste as an Affordable Composite for Dental Applications
In this study, the fibrous nanostructures based on cyclodextrin from egg shell waste were fabricated using electrospinning technique under optimal conditions. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), thermal stability analysis and abrasion testing were used to characterise the final products. The cyclodextrin nanofibrous products were used as new nanostructures in the field of dental coatings due to the obtained properties such as uniform shape, small particle size distribution, high thermal stability and optimal abrasion resistance. The DFT calculations confirmed the chemical stability of the final products. The MTT test results confirmed that the fibrous nanocoatings of the egg shell have no significant side effects on healthy cells. These fibrous nanostructures could be a promising candidate for use as a dental nanocoating material
Are we underestimating floating microplastic pollution? A quantitative analysis of two sampling methodologies
Microplastics (MPs) are widespread in the water column of several aquatic ecosystems. Thus, the sampling methodology is considered as a basic factor influencing MPs abundance. In this baseline, a total of 67 investigations were chosen to conduct a quantitative analysis between two sampling methods: Trawl and bulk. The aim is to report a general overview of the MPs abundance and characteristic differences based on the sampling procedures and provide methodological recommendations. MPs abundance reported by bulk studies is 3500 higher than trawl studies. Furthermore, the morphological types and polymers abundances were statistically affected by the type of sampling tool. Conversely, MPs size ranges were significantly different between sampling procedures, suggesting that trawling underestimates the smaller MPs fractions. The analysis confirms that the sampling methods should be selected based on the research objectives. In this sense, it is recommended to combine both types of sampling procedures to obtain comprehensive data
Bone mass and microarchitecture in T2DM patients and corticosteroids therapy: the Bushehr Elderly Health program
Purpose
Our study examined whether T2DM and glucocorticoids treatment affect bone quality and quantity that are measured by Bone Mineral Density (BMD) and Trabecular Bone Score (TBS).
Materials & methods
Participants in this study were 2294 women and men aged over 60 years who participated in stage II of the Bushehr Elderly Health (BEH) program. Patients with T2DM and those who received glucocorticoids were included. BMD was detected using the DXA method and the TBS of L1-L4 was evaluated by TBS iNsight® software. To evaluate the correlation between TBS and BMD levels with diabetes and taking corticosteroids sex-specific multivariable linear regression models were appplied.
Results
TBS and BMD were not significantly different in those who had received glucocorticoids versus those who did not.T2DM revealed a significant association with both BMD and TBS in men (beta = 0.12, p < 0.001 and beta = 0.063, p = 0.03, respectively). BMD values were significantly higher in diabetic women (beta = 0.073, p < 0.01). BMI had a significant association with both TBS and BMD but in an opposite direction, in women and men (BMD: beta = -0.22, -0.24, and regarding TBS: beta = 0.37, 0.25, all p-values < 0.001).
Conclusion
Our findings showed that T2DM had major effects on BMD in both men and women. However, T2DM only affects TBS in men. Furthermore, neither BMD nor TBS were affected by GC intake in men or women.Based on the variable importance of covariates, BMI was the most influential factor on both BMD and TBS, although in opposite directions, in both sexes
Novel compound heterozygous variants in XYLT1 gene caused Desbuquois dysplasia type 2 in an aborted fetus: a case report
Background
Desbuquois dysplasia type 2 (DBQD2) is an infrequent dysplasia with a wide range of symptoms, including facial deformities, growth retardation and short long bones. It is an autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in the XYLT1 gene that encodes xylosyltransferase-1.
Case presentation
We studied an aborted fetus from Iranian non-consanguineous parents who was therapeutically aborted at 19 weeks of gestation. Ultrasound examinations at 18 weeks of gestation revealed growth retardation in her long bones and some facial problems. Whole-exome sequencing was performed on the aborted fetus which revealed compound heterozygous XYLT1 mutations: c.742G>A; p.(Glu248Lys) and c.1537 C>A; p.(Leu513Met). Sanger sequencing and segregation analysis confirmed the compound heterozygosity of these variants in XYLT1.
Conclusion
The c.1537 C>A; p.(Leu513Met) variant has not been reported in any databases so far and therefore is novel. This is the third compound heterozygote report in XYLT1 and further supports the high heterogeneity of this disease
Reactivity to Conocarpus tree pollen in patients with respiratory allergic diseases in the south-western part of Iran
Aeroallergens are known as the major cause of allergic respiratory diseases. The present study aimed to investigate the skin prick test (SPT) reactivity to the pollen of Conocarpus erectus trees and to find the association between the indoor and outdoor aeroallergens in the patients. In the present case series multicentre study, 104 patients with respiratory allergies such as allergic rhinitis and asthma who were referred to the Bushehr University allergy clinic participated. The SPT was applied by using the extract of Conocarpus erectus pollen and the other allergens to determine the patients’ reactivity. The frequency of positive sensitivity to Conocarpus erectus pollen was 61 (58.6%) and it was 62.5%, 55.7%, and 53.8% for the tree pollen allergens Citrus X Sinensis, Morus rubra, and Phoenix dactylifera, respectively. In addition, the maximum frequency of sensitivity to other aeroallergens was with house dust mite (HDM) (78.8%), Salsola kali; 71.2%), and cockroach (71.2%). The maximum frequency of reactivity to food allergens was with egg yolk (37.6%), shrimp (37%), and beef (34.6%). This study concludes that the frequency of sensitivity to Conocarpus erectus pollen was high and similar to the pollen allergens of other trees that are widely cultivated in southern Iran. Green spaces are the key element of urban management, and the interaction between citizens and the environment, as well as promoting human health are very effective. Therefore, the lack of planning in urban populations in the choice of ornamental species can be a triggering factor, especially in patients with respiratory allergies
Application of walnut shell ash/ZnO/K2CO3 as a new composite catalyst for biodiesel generation from Moringa oleifera oil
A novel heterogeneous catalyst based on walnut shell ash (WSA)/ZnO/K2CO3 composite was synthesized and applied for the production of biodiesel via the transesterification process of Moringa oleifera non-edible oil. Chemical precipitation and calcination processes were used to produce the catalyst. The results showed that the specific active surface areas for free WSA, ZnO, and WSA/ZnO/K2CO3 composite samples were 8.1, 24.1, and 1.9 m2.g−1, respectively. XRD and FTIR tests were confirmed the occurrence of different functional groups or compounds in the structure of the synthesized catalyst and indicated the activity potential of the catalyst. A response surface method-central composite design (RSM-CCD) was used to investigate the effect of independent variables including the temperature and time of reaction, the methanol to oil ratio, and catalyst concentration on the process efficiency. A probability value (P-value) < 0.0001 and a Fisher value (F-value) of 192.16 were obtained indicating the high capability of the proposed model. The value of C.V.% of 1.10 showed that there is a little deviation between the experimental and the predicted data by the model, which shows the high accuracy of the model. In addition, R2 and Adj. R2 parameters confirmed the high ability and accuracy of the model. Based on RSM-CCD results, the maximum efficiency of 97.34 % was obtained using a reaction temperature of 65 °C, a reaction time of 4 h, a catalyst content of 4 wt%, and methanol to oil ratio of 18:1. Moreover, it was shown that that the synthesized catalyst can be re-cycled for multiple usages in the biodiesel generation process. The E factor showed that the produced fuel is biocompatible. The properties of the produced biodiesel showed that it has good compliance with ASTM-D6751 and EN-14214 and can replace diesel-derived fuels as a suitable fuel source