Association of trace metals with various sedimentary phases in dam reservoirs

In the present study sediment and water samples collected from Kowsar Dam reservoir in Kohkiluye and Boyerahmad Province, southwest of Iran, are subjected to bulk digestion and chemical partitioning. The concentrations of nickel, lead, zinc, copper, cobalt, cadmium, manganese and iron in water and bed sediment were determined by atomic absorption spectrometry. The concentrations of metals bounded to five sedimentary phases were estimated. On this basis, the proportions of natural and anthropogenic elements were calculated.The anthropogenic portion of elements are as follows: zinc [96%]> cobalt [88%]> iron [78%]> magnesium [78%]> nickel [78%]> copper [66%]> lead [63%]> cadmium [59%]. The results show sediment contamination by nickel, cadmium and lead, according to the world aquatic sediments and mean earth crust values. Manganese and copper have strong association with organic matter and are of high portion of sulfide bounded ions. Finally, The degree of sediment contamination was evaluated using enrichment factor, geo-accumulation index [Igeo] and pollution index [IPoll]. The sediments were identified to be of high cadmium and lead pollution index. The pattern of pollution intensity according to enrichment factor is as follows; manganese [1.25] < copper [1.63] < zinc [1.93] < cobalt [2.35] < nickel [3.83] < lead [12.63] < cadmium [78.32]. Cluster analysis was performed in order to assess heavy metal interactions between water and sediment. Accordingly, nickel, cadmium and copper are earth originated. Zinc, copper and manganese are dominated by pH. All the elemental concentrations in water and sediment are correlated except for sedimental copper

[Quality of life and satisfaction with services in caregivers of children with cancer]

Quality of life has been defined in a variety of ways depending on the context and the orientation of scholars. The purpose of the this study was to evaluate caregivers ' quality of life and also to investigate the correlation between quality of life of caregivers and their satisfaction with social work section services. The present study employed a correlational design, with 125 caregivers of Iranian children with cancer. It was conducted at hospitals covered by MAHAK. Quality of life in caregivers was measured by the Iranian version of WHO, QOL-BREF. Satisfaction of social work section services was measured by questioner including six services. Data was analyzed by t-Test and ANOVA using SPSS-PC [v.17]. The scores of all dimensions of caregivers' quality of life were lower than general population. The difference was significant in physical [p<0.001], psychological [p=0.000] and environmental [p<0.001] dimensions. The lowest score and highest difference was found in psychological dimension of quality of life. The highest satisfaction rate was related to supporting the child and family and the highest dissatisfaction was related to services given to family. The highest positive correlation was found between satisfaction with services for child and psychological dimension of care givers' quality of life [r=0.28, p<0.001]. Understanding of factors that associate with caregivers' quality of life is of central importance to the improvement of care, treatment process and for effective interventions for children with cancer. These findings provide useful information for managers to enhance quality of services and to enhance caregivers' satisfaction

[Correlation between anthropometric indices at birth and developmental delay in children 4-60 months]

Advancements in medical knowledge and treatment modalities have resulted in increasing the survival rate of high risk infants. This increased number of survivors call attention to future development of these children. After infection and trauma, developmental and behavioral problems are the most common children medical problems. The aim of this study was to determine correlation between anthropometric indices at birth and developmental delay in children 4-60 months that were visited in health services centers affiliated to University of Medical Sciences in 2010. In this descriptive-corrolational study, 401 children 60-4 months that were visited in health services centers affiliated to University of Medical Sciences in 2010 were selected by multistage method. Anthropometric indices of children at birth were collected from their health care records and development status of children was measured by "Ages and Stages Questionnaire". Validity of 0/84 and reliability 0/94 were obtained from pervious study. Data were analyzed by SPPS v 18. The results showed that the average age of children in normal group was 17/33 +/- 13/18 month and in developmental delay group was 29/92 +/- 19/19 month. Most gender in normal group was female [%56] developmental delay group was male [%55/2]. In addition, there were no correlation between height and head circumference at birth and developmental delay. However, birth weight of children with developmental delay were four times lower than birth weight of normal developmental children [p = 0.004, OR = 4]. Factors that lead to intrauterine growth reduction will create many problems in the neonatal period. On the other hand, staying these infants in NICU is longer and lead to presenting disorders in child developmental process

Determination and comparison of range - average and perturbation of basic frequency in addition to intensity disturbance in the voice of the patients with unilateral vocal fold paralysis and normal persons

Vocal fold paralysis is one of the relatively prevailing damages causing voice disorder. There is little knowledge about how it impacts different features of people voice. Now it assumes that laboratory measurements may reveal the effects of this complication arising voice disorder. As, there are not authenticated acoustic measures in Iranian Population the voice of affected individuals is compared with the normal persons in this study. In a descriptive - analytical and cross - sectional study 10 male patients of based hospital affected by vocal fold paralysis were monitored and some of acoustic traits of their voice were compared with the control group by use of DR. SPEECH software. The results were analyzed by independent t-test. There were no significant differences in average and extent of frequency alterations during reading sentences. The average of basic frequency perturbation and intensity disturbance in two groups were significantly different. Any damage to vocal folds makes them asymmetric which in turn vibrate two vocal folds with different pitch resulting in two different basic frequencies. Therefore noises arise in patient voice. These noises in our samples were appeared in high frequencies due to increase of maximum basic frequency which this later enhances mean of basic frequency of patient voice. High pitch extent of basic frequency alterations is the result of difference in voice box mechanisms. Frequency disturbance is due to momentary and involuntary changes in vocal system which appears in damaged larynges and asymmetric vocal folds. Vocal pitch perturbation as a sudden involuntary change in sound intensity is affected by sub-glottal air pressure. This pressure is poorly controlled due to injured vocal folds which cause sudden changes in voice intensity