[Hospital safety index analysis in confronting disasters: a case study]

Hospitals have an important role in order to maintain and improve health and to function without interruption in emergency situations. Hospital Safety Index is one of the indicators that can help to determine the efficiency of hospitals in disasters situations. This study was done in order to assess the safety of one of the referral hospitals related to Social Security Organization in disasters in Tehran. In this applied study, a referral hospital in Tehran city was studied based on structural, nonstructural and functional factors by using WHO/PAHO standard checklist. According to the results, the final Safety Index score placed this hospital into C category of three categories of safety. It means that the lives and safety of occupants of this hospital deemed at risk during disasters. The Hospital Safety Index helps authorities to quickly determine where interventions can improve safety. The safety index is not only a tool for making technical assessments, but it provides a new approach to disaster prevention and mitigation for the health sector. Calculating the safety score allows hospital to establish maintenance and monitoring routines and look at actions to improve safety in the medium term. This quick overview will give decision makers a starting point for establishing priorities and reducing risk and vulnerability in healthcare facilities

Radium and Radon exhalation studies of soil

Everyone is exposed to radon because it is present everywhere with varying concentrations. Radon and its progeny are well established as lung carcinogenic. Track etch technique using LR-115 plastic track detectors has been used to measure the effective radium content and radon exhalation rates in soil samples collected from urban area of Etah district of Uttar Pradesh province in Northern India. The values of effective radium content are found to vary from 27.87 to 45.14 Bq.kg-[1] with a mean value of 34.98 Bq.kg-[1]. The mass exhalation rates of radon vary from 2.38 _ 10[-6] to 3.86 _ 10[-6] Bq.kg[-1].d[-1] with a mean value of 2.99 _ 10-6 Bq.kg[-1].d[-1]. The surface exhalation rates of radon have been found to vary from 6.19 _ 10[-5] to 10.03 _ 10[-5] Bq.m [-2].d[-1] with a mean value of 7.77 _ 10[-5] Bq.m [-2].d[-1]. Radon exhalation study is important for understanding the relative contribution of the material to the total radon concentration found inside the dwellings. The values of radium and radon exhalation rates are found to be below the safe limit recommended by OECD, 1979

opposite associations of lycopene and body fat mass with humoral immunity in type 2 diabetes mellitus: a possible role in atherogenesis

This study examined the possible effects of lycopene at physiological dosage and body fat mass on the humoral immune response in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus [T2DM]. A total of 35 patients with Typ2 diabetes mellitus from both sexes aged 54 +/- 9 yrs from the Iranian Diabetes Society were introduced into a double blind placebo controlled clinical trial conducted for 2 months. After a 2-week lycopene free diet washout period, patients were allocated to either lycopene supplementation group [10mg/d] [n=16] or placebo age- and sex matched group [n=19] for 8 weeks. Patients were instructed to keep their diets and physical activities as unchanged as possible. Lycopene supplements increased serum lycopene levels [p<0.001]. While intake of dietary energy and nutrients did not change in either groups, the ratio of total antioxidant capacity to malondialdehyde increased significantly in the lycopene group [p=0.007]. There was an inverse correlation between serum levels of lycopene and those of IgG [r= -0.338, p=0.008]. On the contrary, changes of serum levels of lycopene directly correlated with those of IgM [r=0.466, p=0.005]. Interestingly, changes of the amount of fat mass correlated directly with those of serum IgG [r=0.415, p=0.044] but inversely with of serum IgM [r= -0.469, p=0.021]. While truncal fat might promote adaptive humoral immunity, lycopene probably by inhibiting MDA-LDL formation might attenuate T cell dependent adaptive [pro-atherogenic] humoral immune response. These findings may have preventive implications in long term diabetic complications, notably atherogenesis

effect of various pressure by elbow supporting band on pain in tennis elbow

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of the pneumatic forearm support band on elbow pain. It also investigated the effect of varying the pressure of the forearm support band on the common extensor origin. Thirty subjects [14 males, and 16 females] participated in this study. They were diagnosed by an orthopedist as grade II lateral epicondylitis. Subjects were seated in the test chair and the tests were done without the using of the forearm support band and with the band at varying pressures. Pain was measured using a 10 cm visual analogue scale. By using the Biodex system 3 isokinetic dynamometer, patient was asked to hold the handle firmly and move it from full flexion to full extension exerting his maximum effort. The test was performed in two speeds 90°/sec and 240°/sec. Five minutes of rest were allowed, then the band was applied without fitting it snugly, then the cuff was inflated to the desired pressure [20, 30, or 40 mm Hg]. The whole test procedure was repeated for each pressure. The order of testing [without band, with pressure 20, 30, and 40 mmHg] was randomized. Results of this study showed that the band caused a significant decrease in pain at wrist extensors origin. Varying the pressure of the band on the forearm by means of modifying the pressure inside the air cell of the pneumatic band did not have a significant effect on pain at wrist extensors origin. According to the results of the current study, the band was efficient in decreasing pain of the common extensor origin with test speed 90°/sec at pressure 20 and 30 mmHg. and with test speed 240°/sec at all of the three tested pressures. Within the limits of the pressures used in the current study, varying the pressure of the band had no significant effect on pain scores