[Information needs and information seeking behavior and related factors in Shahroud university of medical sciences]

Introduction: Considering the academic members as fundamental part of education and research in the country, meeting the guidelines of resolving the information needs is very important. So the present study was aimed to assess the information needs and information seeking behavior in academic members of Shahroud University of Medical Sciences in 2013

Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted. Using census method, 210 of the faculty members, clinicians, GPs and lecturers of the university were investigated. A researcher made questionnaire was applied in order to collect the data. SPSS 16 software was used to analyze the data using Chi-Ssquare and T-test

Results: Findings showed that participants' main purpose to search for information was to update their educational and research information [36.2%], prepare scientific papers [33.3%] and teaching [31.9%]. The first problem regarding the access to information resources was low speed of the Internet. Databases with 48% met the information needs of the participects followed by printed resources which was found to be 13, 8 percent

Conclusion: Databases provides individual information needs three times more than printed resources. Low speed of the Internet was mentioned as the main barrier to impede access to information resources. Therefore, providing up to date databases as well as increasing speed of the Internet are of high importance

Effects of exogenous salicylic acid application on growth, metabolic activities and essential oil composition of Satureja khuzistanica Jamzad

Satureja khuzistanica Jamzad, with the common Persian name "marzeh khuzestani", is an endemic medicinal plant, distributed in the southwestern areas of Iran. Salicylic acid [SA] is a signaling molecule and a hormone-like substance that plays an important role in the plant physiological processes. This study was conducted to determine the influence of foliar SA application [0, 50, 100, 200 and 400 mg.L[-1]] at two times including vegetative stage [VS] and both vegetative and reproductive stages [VS+RS] on growth parameters, enzymes activity including superoxide dismutase [SOD] and polyphenol oxidase [PPO], protein content, essential oil percentage and composition of S. khuzisra, zica under field conditions. The essential oils were isolated from aerial flowering parts of the plants by hydro- distillation method and then subjected to GC and GC-MS analyses to determine the oil constituents. Results showed that SA application at 100 and 200 mg.L[-1] were the most effective treatments in growth characteristics, but the highest essential oil content and yield was obtained at 400 mg.L[-1] SA treatment. In both spraying times, plants treated with 100 and 200 mg.L SA concentration showed more PPO and SOD activity than control plants, respectively. Also, results showed that the 14 compositions were identified in essential oil of plants under all employed treatments. Carvacrol was the major component of oils, which is also showed more variability than that of other components. It was concluded that foliar spray of SA at low concentration once at vegetative and second time at reproductive stage might be employed for enhancing both primary and secondary metabolites production of S. khuzisranica plants

[ pattern of road traffic injuries and related factors in Shahrood, Iran]

Injuries and deaths from traffic crashes have become a major public health and socio-economic problem in Iran. Our study aimed to investigate patterns of road traffic injuries [RTI] in Shahrood and to furnish evidence for developing measures and strategies and to improve RTI. A descriptive-analytical study was performed on cases of road traffic injury admitted between 21 Mars and 22 Sept 2005 [the first six months of Iranian calendar] to the trauma center of Imam Hossein Hospital in Shahrood. Data were collected by a questionnaire and analyzed with regard to demographic, pre-hospital and hospital information. Of the 621 injured traffic victims admitted over the 6-month period, 72% were men. The majority were in the 20-29y [30/3%] and 13-19 y [19/6%] age categories. The mean age of the men and women were 29/2 +/- 15/2 and 32 +/- 16/6 respectively. Motorcyclists were more likely to be injured in urban areas whereas the majority of car drivers and occupants had been injured on country roads. Moreover, 63/8% of the subjects were admitted as inpatients and the mean length of hospitalization was 3 days +/- 3/4 and 8 subjects had undergone amputations. Fracture of bones [41/4%] was the most common injury; 30% of the road injuries occurred from 10 am to 1 pm. A total of 90.1% of motorcycle drivers were not wearing helmets and 44/1% of injured car drivers were not using seat belt. Thirty-one deaths were recorded, accounting for 18% of all deaths registered at Imam Hossein Hospital. This study provides useful information for establishing priorities for the prevention of road accident injuries. Only a minority of motorcyclists and car drivers used safety devices [helmet and seat belt respectively] at the time of accident. Strategies to reduce RTI would include: improving the road traffic environment, setting road safety rules and ensuring compliance, developing stakeholder coalitions, changing current perceptions and promotion of healthy practices by enforcing the laws requiring the use of helmets and safety belts a helmet and seatbelt

[In vitro cell cycle synchronization of sheep granulosa cells]

To investigate the effect of different methods of synchronization on sheep granulosa cell cycle. Granulosa cells were aspirated from ovarian follicles and plated in a DMEM medium containing 15% FBS. Upon 70-80% confluency, the medium of the primary-cultured as well as the passaged-5 cells were replaced with the medium containing either 0.5% FBS for 24, 48 and 72 h or 0.5 mg mimosine for 24 h. In the last group the cells were cultured in a base medium for further 4 days. In the present investigation, for each culture system, the cells were examined in terms of their cell cycle stage using flow cytometry. Moreover, the cultures were investigated with respect to their apoptotic as well as the proliferating cell contents by using Brdu labeling and TUNEL staining. At primary as well as passaged-5 cultures subjected to serum starvation for 24 h, the frequency of GO/G1, proliferating as well as apoptotic cells were similar to those of control group. At culture with 48 and 72h serum starvation, the percentage of G0/G1 cells tended to increase significantly to 83% and 85% at primary culture and 89% and 90% at passage-5 culture respectively. Moreover, treating the cultures with mimosine caused the G0/G1 cell to increase. The percentages of apoptotic cells in cultures with either serum starvation [for 24 and 48 h] or with mimosine did not increase compared to those of control cultures. According to our results, 72 h after serum starvation, frequency of the apoptotic cells appeared to increase significantly

[Epidemiology of burn injuries in patients referred to emergency room in Shahrood Imam Hossein Hospital]

Burning is one of the worst events that a person might experience in his/her life. In addition to its remarkable physical and psychological complications, extensive burning involves expenses for both the patient's family and the society. This study was carried out to determine the epidemiology of burning in patients referring to Shahrood Imam Hossein hospital. In this cross-sectional study, 295 patients suffering from burning who had referred to the emergency room were studied. Data were collected prospectively. Of the 295 patients, there were 168 [56.9%] males and 127 [43.1%] females, with a mean age of 24.6 [range 1-18]. 46 subjects [15.6%] had been hospitalized. Most of the burns [84.7%] occurred at home and the scald burn was the most common involving 197 [66.8%] patients. There were no statistically differences between the total burn surface area by sex. The overall hospitalization ratio for work-related burns was 46.2%. Children and adolescents are among the group mostly susceptible to accidental burning. These cases usually occur at home. This type of burning can be prevented through general training and observing the associated safety rules