[Relationship between central corneal thickness, intra ocular pressure and visual field in normal tension and primary open angle glaucoma]

Glaucoma is one of the most important cause of blindness wordwide. Exact determination of intra ocular pressure is important for the diagnosis and decision making about glaucoma treatment. Central corneal thickness is considered as effective factor on intra ocular pressure and visual field defect. This study was carried out to determine the relationship between central corneal thickness, intra ocular pressure and visual field in normal tension and primary open angle glaucoma. This descriptive study was carried out on 45 eyes with normal tension glaucoma and 45 eyes with primary open angle glaucoma in Al-Zahra ophthalmology hospital in Zahedan, Iran during 2010. Intra ocular pressure and central corneal thickness were measured by Goldman tonometer and pachymeter and visual field exanimated by Humphrey perimeter. Data were analyzed using SPSS-16, paired t-test, ANOVA, Mann-Whitney and Pearson correlation tests. There was significant correlation between central corneal thickness and intra ocular pressure [r=0.309, P<0.05]. A significant difference was detected in intra ocular pressure between two type of glaucoma [P<0.05]. Mean value of central corneal thickness in patient with mild visual field defect was higher than severe visual field defect but there was not significant statistical difference between central corneal thickness and visual field defect in subjects with glaucoma. This study indicated that increasing corneal thickness is accompanied with intra occular presure

[Comparison of bench-scale production of xanthan by xanthomonas campestris in solid state and submerged fermentation]

Xanthan gum is an important natural biopolymer with numerous applications in various technologies, specially food industry. In this research, microbial production of xanthan by Xanthomonas campestris PTCC1473 from sugarcane molasses and date sugar in submerged fermentation [SmF] and also dried date waste [cake produced after pressing] in solid state fermentation [SSF] were compared. The Plackett-Burmann design [PBD] was used in this study. Chemical composition and characteristics [dried cell weight, nitrogen, moisture, ash and pH] of the substrates were determined. Yeast malt broth [YMB] and yeast malt agar [YMA] were used as maintenance and inoculum preparation media, and incubation was performed in a shaker incubator [at 28degreeC, 72 h and 200 rpm]. The fermentation medium was centrifuged at 5degreeC and 21055 multiplied by g for 50 minutes and the supernatant separated from the pellet for further xanthan extraction. After precipitation of xanthan by isopropanol, resuspension and further purification by centrifuge [at 2056 x g], the xanthan dry weight was determined. The effects of several variables, including the kind and concentration of carbon [date sugar and sugarcane molasses], nitrogen [ammonium nitrate and diammonium phosphate] and phosphorus [KH2PO4], temperature, shaking, and size and age of inoculum, on the yield were determined. The most effective variables were found to be the type of carbon and nitrogen sources in the medium. It can be concluded that both the yield [% w/w of xanthan/consumed sugar] and productivity [g/g.day xanthan/consumed sugar] are higher in SmF [22.4 and 7.46] than in SSF [13.3 and 4.43]. In addition, date extract results in a higher productivity than date waste and sugarcane molasses. The xanthan yield could be increased by changing the composition and physical conditions of the culture medium

[Prevalence of contraceptive use and the importance of the husband's cooperation in married women in Iranshahr, 2005]

Men [husbands] play a very important role in family planning programs, especially in developing countries. The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of different methods of contraception in women of reproductive age in Iranshahr in 2004-2005 and the extent of their husbands' participation in family planning. This was a cross-sectional study focused on women who were married but not pregnant at the time of the research. We used multi-stage cluster sampling and a pre-tested questionnaire to record the method of contraception and to see if the husband was actually participating in family planning. We used the SPSS [13[th] version] software to calculated measures of location and dispersion. The total sample of 700 married women in the [10-49y] age group included 400 subjects in rural areas and 300 in cities. Of these, 696 agreed to take part in the research. Overall, 65.5% of these women were using at least one form of contraception; the remaining 34.5% did not use any contraceptive methods. The percentage of unwanted pregnancies was estimated at 16%. The mean number of pregnancies was 7, with a median of 4.5. Sixty-three percent of the subjects reported good cooperation by their husbands. Logistic regression analysis showed that the probability of using contraception was significantly related to the husband's cooperation. Our results underline the importance of men's support and cooperation in the success of family planning efforts

Study on the sources of nosocomial fungal infections at intensive care unit and transplant wards at a teaching hospital in Tehran

The incidence of nosocomial fungal infections has increased dramatically during the past two decades as the consequence of continuous increase in the number of severely immunocompromised patients. This study was done to determine the presumptive sources of nosocomial fungal infections at the intensive care unit and transplant wards [in a university- based teaching hospital in Tehran] during a 10-month period. Totally 583 samples were obtained from the air, surfaces, health care workers and also from the patients at those wards. Mycological culture of the samples yielded growth of 25 different genus and species of fungi and the most common isolated fungi were Candida albicans, Penicillium spp., Aspergillus niger, and Cladosporium spp., respectively. It was noted that health care workers were carrying fungi on their hands [50%], nasal mu-cosa [57.6%], in oral cavity [38.6%] and also by their shoes [92.3%] and uniforms [92.7%]. Environmental fungal contamination was shown and it was more prominent at the intensive care unit. Hospitalization also had more significant effect on colonization of fungi in the patients at the latter ward. Therefore, the highly susceptible patients in present study were at the greatest risk of developing fungal infections and preventive measures were critical for prevention and control of these life-threatening fatal infections

[Clients' Satisfaction with services at urban health centers in Arak]

Background: Health systems constantly try to improve their services to better satisfy clients' needs. One of the ways for evaluating service delivery is to ask from receipients. Satisfying clients' health needs by providing services at health centers is essential and evaluting their satsfaction with these services can improve quality care and develop future planning

Purpose: This descristive study was conducted to determine clients' satisfaction with services in urban health centers in terms of practitioners' performance, pharmacy, dentistry, and personnel behavior as well as communication

Method: In this study, 285 clients were chosen by nonprobablility sampling method. Data collection instrument was a questionnaire with 38 questions, including 11 demographic and 27 medical services satisfaction questions. It was validated by content validity and its reliabity was achieved by test-retest method

Findings: Most of the clients [%80.6] had high satisfaction with practitioners [mean = 26.72 +/- 2.54], and %75 with pharmacy and dental services [mean = 17.83 +/- 2.52]. On the other hand, %63.9 had an averge satisfaction with injection and dressing services [mean = 24.69 +/- 4.42]. The majority of clients [%77.8] were satisfeed with the behavior of personnel [from doorman to doctors], %80.6 with pharmacy, %6 1.1 with injection and dressing unit, and %75 with dintistry services. Therefore, satisfaction with clincal staff was more than other personnel

Conclusion: Results showed that the majority of subjects [%63.2] had high level of satisfaction with medical services and %36.8 had an average level of satisfaction. The results can show that provision of the services has a good quality from the clients' point of view. As a matter of fact, more comprehensive studies in this regard are recommended

[Relation between lifestyle and gastritis in clients referring to hospitals affiliated to universities of medical sciences in Tehran, 2003]

Background: Gastritis is one of the most common digestive disorders with considerable effects on health and immunity. With respect to the role of unhealthy living in gastric diseases, studying on lifestyle can detect inappropriate behaviors in lifestyle for having a more healthier one

Purpose: This analytical case-control study was conducted to determine the relation between lifestyle and chronic gastritis in clients referring to hospitals affiliated to Universities of Medical Sciences in Tehran in 2003

Methods: The study population consisted of 80 randomly selected clients with predetermined criteria. Those with or without gastritis were matched in terms of demopraphic features. A questionnaire validated by content validity and made reliable by test-retest was used to collect data

Findings: Results indicated that there was a significant difference between the groups in terms of eating habits, sleep patterns, smoking, alcohol consumption, types of drugs taken, and the frequency of stressors [p<0.05]

Conclusion: It 'seems that there is a relation between lifestyle and chronic gastritis