Stage-based interventions for drug abuse prevention among petrochemical workers in assaluyeh

Educational program for drug abuse prevention should emphasize on trans-theoretical model [TTM]. This study was designed to survey effects of TTM in substance abuse prevention among petrochemical workers in Iran. This randomized clinical trial was done on 181 workers of petrochemical company in Assaluyeh. Education program was prepared according to resistance skills, decisional balance, processes of change [cognitive and behavior], self esteem, self-efficacy and life skills. Intervention group received educational program by lecture and group discussion about principles of TTM. Intervention and control groups was compared before and 5 month after intervention. Intervention group received educational package, including posters and pamphlets, within 5 months. Educational activities had significant impact on awareness of substance abuse, risk factors and protective factors, self efficacy, decisional balance for apply resistance skills contain pros and cons, attitude and also processes of change on resistance skills in cognitive and behavioral domain, while there found no significant changes in control group. According to positive effects of TTM as a educational program for drug abuse prevention, application of this model recommended in prevention of drug abuse among industrial workers

Evaluation of first and second Markov chains sensitivity and specificity as statistical approach for prediction of sequences of genes in virus double strand DNA genomes

Growing amount of information on biological sequences has made application of statistical approaches necessary for modeling and estimation of their functions. In this paper, sensitivity and specificity of the first and second Markov chains for prediction of genes was evaluated using the complete double stranded DNA virus. There were two approaches for prediction of each Markov Model parameter, initial probability and transition matrix, which together with the first and second Markov chains resulted in development of eight algorithms for gene prediction. In order to compare the algorithms, a sensitivity and specificity repeated measure with 3 factors [Markov model, type of selection and estimation of transition probabilities] were utilized. Results significantly revealed that the second order Markov chain had more sensitivity and specificity than the first order Markov chain, with p-Value < 0.001. By adding the covariates, the number of annotated genes per length of genome as well as the A and T and C and G contents of genomes in the repeated measure showed an insignificant difference between the sensitivities of the two Markov models [0.407, 0.071 and 0.120, respectively]. It was also proved that gene base-pairs per genome length and A and T contents of the genome, as model covariates, resulted in significant differences between the specificities of the Markov models

Development of a community-based care system model for senior citizens in Tehran

In recent years a variety of system models for providing community based health care services for the elderly has been envisioned and implemented in the developed countries which meet the special care needs of different groups of elders .In Iran as a developing country, a considerable percentage of old people live in the society need to receive specialized care and health services. In order to respond to these care needs, developing and implementing health and social care systems with consideration of relevant factors such as: existing and available resources and facilities[financial and human resources];social and cultural issues and characteristics of each groups of elders[healthy elders, frails,homebounds,…] seem to be necessary. At the development phase of the care model in this study Ellowing methodological triangulation must be considered:1. Comprehensive review of current and related literature.2. Conduction of an ethnographic study on a number of Tehranian elders and their families.3. Seeking opinions of a group of experts on this issue using nominal group technique, and analysis as well as synthesis of the collected data were employed to develop a community based care system for elders. The preliminary results of employing this care system and examination of expected outcomes such as promoting quality of life and expectancy in elders reflects the efficiency of this system, although further complementary studies and particularly cost benefit analysis are strongly recommended

Hypothermia in Iranian newborns. Incidence, risk factors and related complications

To determine the incidence rate and factors associated with hypothermia in Iranian newborns and to discover the effect of hypothermia on neonatal morbidity and mortality. We selected a random sample of 1952 neonates using a multistage sampling technique from February 2004 to February 2005 in University Teaching Hospitals in Iran. We measured repeatedly at different time points the rectal temperature of these newborns. At each time of measurement, those with rectal temperature <36OC were considered as hypothermic. The obtained results showed that approximately one third of newborns became hypothermic immediately after birth. In addition, the regression analysis revealed that low birth weights, prematures, low apgar scores, infants of multiple pregnancies and those who received cardiopulmonary resuscitation had higher risk for being hypothermic. It was also found that hypothermia increases the risk of metabolic acidosis, jaundice, respiratory distress, hypoglycemia, pulmonary hemorrhage and death, regardless of the newborn's weight and gestational age. There is an urgent need to train mothers and all levels of neonatal care staff to control this health problem in our country