Learning styles of health services management students at Tehran University of medical sciences

Identifying learning styles among students are very important in order to orient in learning and teaching activities. The aim of this study was to determine the learning styles of students in the ground of health services management in Tehran University of medical sciences in 2010. In this descriptive cross-sectional study, total of health services management students' in Tehran University of medical sciences applied in a census study. The tool which used in this research was VARK learning style questionnaire. Data was analyzed by VARK software that later on designed into Excel and SPSS soft wares. In total, 130 out of 150 students completed returned questionnaire [Response Rate=87%]. Only 33.1% of the students preferred a Uni-modal learning style. Among those students; 10.8% preferred kinesthetics style, 10% preferred read and writing style, 9.2% auditory, and 3.1% preferred visual style. In contrast, the most of students [66.9%] preferred multi-modal [Bi-modal [18.5%], Tri-modal [13.1%], Quad-modal [35.4%]] learning styles. There was no significant association between grade point average, sex and education degree with learning styles. Awareness of existing different learning styles among health services management students' will help to trainers and educators to develop the effective learning approaches and also tailored to students in learning styles. Based on results, it is suggested to apply active learning strategies such as discussion groups, role playing, and simulation and so on to students in this field

Radiographic findings of pulmonary tuberculosis in Tehran in comparison with other institutional studies

Tuberculosis [TB] is one of the most common worldwide infections, especially in developing countries. Early diagnosis is very important for prevention of the chronic form of the disease and sequel formation. Chest x-ray [CXR] is an easy, feasible, non-expensive and quick tool for the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. We retrospectively evaluated 200 chest x-rays of secondary pulmonary TB cases in university-affiliated hospitals. These cases were all proved by a positive sputum smear or culture for mycobacterium tuberculosis. In this study, we correlated CXR findings of 100 male and 100 female patients. The peak age of involvement in both groups was 61-80 years. None of the chest x-rays were normal. The main radiographic findings were consolidation-infiltration, fibrosis, pleural effusion, cavitation, pleural thickening and bronchiectasis. Mediastinal lymphadenopathy was detected in 9% of the cases. Pulmonary infiltration with consolidation was the most common finding [55%]. Miliary shadowing, atelectasis and pneumomediastinum were the least common presentations. Lymphadenopathy was more common in 40 to 60-year-old women. Right lung involvement was more common than the left side and the upper zones were involved in most cases. The most common underlying diseases were hypertension and diabetes mellitus. Infiltration in diabetic patients and fibrotic appearances in hypertensive patients were common findings. There was no significant difference between our data and the other studies carried out in Iran. The patients were younger in the studies from other countries. However, cavitary lesions were more common in other studies than this study, which seems to be due to the higher prevalence of underlying diseases such as HIV or diabetes

chemical constituents and antibacterial activity of essential oil of peucedanum ruthenicum [M. Bieb.] rochel [Umbelliferae] leaf

The essential oil of Peucedanum ruthenicum leaf obtained by hydro distillation and was analyzed by GC and GC/MS. Among the 17 identified constituents accounting for 100% of the total oil, the major component was Thymol [57.79%]. Antimicrobial activity of the essential oil was investigated against various Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacteria. The essential oil of P. ruthenicum showed activity against Gram-positive and Gram negative bacteria