Synthesis of novel antibacterial and antifungal dithiocarbamate-containing piperazine derivatives via re-engineering multicomponent approach.

A metal-free multicomponent synthetic route for the diverse preparation of dithiocarbamate-containing piperazine derivatives was developed through the C-N bond cleavage of DABCO ring. This multicomponent re-engineering approach proceeds via the reaction of amines, CS2 and DABCO salts in one pot. Various DABCO salts and secondary amines are tolerated well in this protocol to afford a broad spectrum of dithiocarbamate-containing piperazines in good to high yields. Then, the selected compounds have been deployed against some critical types of bacteria and fungi. A certain number of synthesized compounds revealed not only appropriate antibacterial activity as investigated by disc fusion and minimum inhibitory concentration methods against bacteria (Gram-positive and Gram-negative), but also depicted good to excellent antifungal activity.

The Relationship of School Participation with Motor Proficiency and Executive Function in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder.

OBJECTIVES: Participation in meaningful activities is an important aspect of development in children with developmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The purpose of this study was to assess the correlation of school participation with motor proficiency and executive function in children with ASD. MATERIALS & METHODS: In this cross-sectional (descriptive-analytic) study, 52 students aged 6 to 12 years old with ASD were selected through the convenience sampling method. The GARS-2 scale was used to confirm ASD diagnosis. Other psychiatric comorbidities such as ADHA were studied by the CSI-4 tool, and students with comorbidities were excluded. Data were collected using SFA, BOTMP-2, and BRIEF questionnaires. It should be noted that in the BRIEF questionnaire, a higher score indicates a more severe disability. RESULTS: Our findings showed that motor proficiency and its components had a significant direct correlation with school participation in children with ASD (P ≤0.001). On the other hand, school participation was inversely and significantly correlated with the behavioral regulation and metacognition monitoring indices of the executive function dimension (P <0.05). CONCLUSION: Based on the findings of this research, the development of motor proficiency and improvements in the behavioral regulation and metacognition monitoring of students with ASD will boost their participation in school activities. Motor proficiency was significantly correlated with school participation in children with ASD. More attention should be paid to perceptual motor interventions and cognitive rehabilitation programs (with a focus on monitoring metacognition and shifting behavioral regulation) to increase the participation of children with ASD in school activities.

Effect of General Health Status on Chronicity of Low Back Pain in Industrial Workers.

Recognizing patients at a higher risk of developing chronic low back pain (LBP) is important in industrial medicine. This study aimed to assess the power and quality of General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) for prediction of the odds of chronicity of acute LBP. This study was conducted on industrial workers. All subjects with acute LBP who met the inclusion criteria were enrolled. Demographic characteristics, occupational, physical, and mental parameters and the general health status of subjects were evaluated;  they were followed up for developing chronic LBP for one year. Cigarette smoking, high body mass index, job stress, physical load and high GHQ scores were found to be the risk factors for the progression of acute LBP to chronic LBP (P<0.05). Standing position while working, age, work experience, exercise, level of education, weekly work hours and shift work were not the risk factors for chronic LBP (P>0.05). High GHQ score can be a risk factor for progression of acute LBP to chronic LBP. The GHQ in combination with the Job Content Questionnaire can be used as a quick and simple screening tool for detection of subjects at high risk of chronic LBP when evaluating acute LBP in an occupational setting.

Comparing the Effects of Drug Therapy, Perceptual Motor Training, and Both Combined on the Motor Skills of School-Aged Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Children.

The purpose of this research was to compare the effects of drug therapy, perceptual motor training and a combination of drug therapy and perceptual motor training on gross and fine motor skills of 6 to 12 year-old Iranian attention deficit hyperactivity disorder children. Thirty-six attention deficit hyperactivity disorder children currently under treatment in three Iranian psychological-neurological clinics participated in this research study. Participants were sampled from the accessible population and randomly assigned to three experimental groups (n = 12 each). The Conners Parent Rating Scale was used to classify the children and the Bruininks-Oseretsky Test of Motor Proficiency was administered before and after a three month treatment/ training session. Participants in the first experimental group received drug therapy (including methylphenidate). In the second group participants took part in 18 sessions of perceptual-motor skill training for six consecutive weeks, and in the third group children received both interventions. The results indicated that interventions using perceptual-motor training alone or in combination with a drug therapy significantly improved both gross and fine motor skills over a period of six weeks. Participants in the drug-only group showed no improvement in motor performance.

Dimensions of Quality of Life in Spinal Cord Injured Veterans of Iran: a Qualitative Study.

The purpose of this study was to shed light on the identification of themes and sub-themes of the quality of life (QOL) in Iranian veterans with spinal cord injury (SCI). Studies have reported decreased QOL in SCI patients which encompass all aspects of their life. Little is known about QOL in SCI veterans from Iran. The aim of this qualitative study was to identify related aspects of such patients through in-depth patient interviews. The present study was a qualitative study of content analysis. Sampling took place in the Veterans Department of Khatam-Al-Anbia Hospital and was objective focused in accordance with qualitative studies. The participants were 11 SCI veterans and 4 veteran spouses. The data was collected by means of in-depth interviews and the use of the constant comparison method. The five themes of QOL included social, economic, cultural, medical, and environmental resulted from 7530 primary codes. We noted 29 QOL sub-themes. This article addresses different dimensions of QOL for SCI veterans. The current study suggests that the main aspects that should be evaluated in SCI veterans are the social, economic, cultural, medical, and environmental issues which affect their QOL. Moreover, participants put the most weight on their financial situation.

Asthma and body mass index in occupational setting.

BACKGROUND: Asthma is the most common respiratory disease with an increasing prevalence. On the other hand, obesity is also a challenging disease compromising health in human communities. This study sought to assess the correlation of asthma and body mass index (BMI) in occupational setting. METHODS: This study was conducted in a cable manufacturing company in 2012. A total of 551 workers from the production (exposed group) and non-production (unexposed group) units were studied. A questionnaire specifically designed for this purpose was filled out for study subjects and then all workers with respiratory symptoms suggestive of asthma thoroughly examined by a physician and medical history was taken from them. Complementary diagnostic tests were also carried out. RESULTS: A total of 11.6% of our understudy subjects had asthma. The prevalence of asthma in exposed subjects with BMI≥25 kg/m(2) was found to be significantly higher than in exposed workers with BMI<25 kg/m(2) (p<0.01). However, no significant differences existed in prevalence of asthma between the two subgroups of BMI≥25 kg/m(2) and BMI<25 kg/m(2) in the unexposed group (p>0.05). After adjusting for confounding factors significant associations were observed between BMI and asthma at cut points of 30 kg/m(2) and 25 kg/m(2) (OR: 8.53 and 2.41, respectively). CONCLUSION: Our study results showed that prevalence of asthma might be higher in workers with higher BMI who are exposed to occupational asthmogens. This finding highlights the necessity of offering weight loss recommendations in periodic examinations to workers with exposure to occupational asthmogens.

Occupational asthma in a cable manufacturing company.

BACKGROUND: During the past decade, incidence of asthma has increased, which might have been due to environmental exposures. OBJECTIVES: Considering the expansion of cable manufacturing industry in Iran, the present study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of occupational asthma in a cable manufacturing company in Iran as well as its related factors. PATIENTS AND METHODS: This study was conducted on employees of a cable manufacturing company in Yazd, Iran, in 2012. The workers were divided into two groups of exposure (to toluene diisocyanate, polyvinyl chloride, polyethylene or polypropylene) and without exposure. Diagnosis of occupational asthma was made based on the subjects' medical history, spirometry and peak flowmetry, and its frequency was compared between the two groups. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of occupational asthma was 9.7%. This rate was 13.8% in the exposed group. Logistic regression analysis showed that even after adjustment for confounding factors, a significant correlation existed between the frequency of occupational asthma and exposure to the produced dust particles (P < 0.05). In addition, age, work experience, body mass index, cigarette smoking and shift work had significant correlations with the prevalence of occupational asthma (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Considering the high prevalence of occupational asthma among cable manufacturing company workers in Iran, this issue needs to be addressed immediately in addition to reduction of exposure among subjects. Reduction in work shift duration, implementation of tobacco control and cessation programs for the personnel, and performing spirometry tests and respiratory examinations in shorter periods may be among effective measures for reducing the incidence of occupational asthma in this industry.

Combined effect of cigarette smoking and occupational exposures on lung function: a cross-sectional study of rubber industry workers.

Workers in the rubber industry are exposed to pulmonary health hazards. The main purpose of this study was to assess the combined effect of cigarette smoking and occupational exposures on lung function. The exposed group consisted of tire manufacturing workers in production units and the non-exposed group included executives from the same factory. The researchers calculated the synergy index (SI) to determine the combined effect of exposures to cigarette smoke and pulmonary health hazards on lung function. A significant correlation was found between occupational exposures in the rubber industry and abnormal spirometric findings (p < .05). The synergistic effect of cigarette smoking and occupational exposures on lung function was significant (SI = 2.25; p < .05). This study demonstrated that occupational exposures and smoking may have a synergistic effect on the respiratory systems of tire manufacturing workers. The results suggest that tire manufacturing companies should consider establishing spirometric surveillance systems in their factories. Also, smoking cessation should be promoted, engineering controls applied, and respiratory protection provided to workers.

Effect of exposure to occupational noise and shift working on blood pressure in rubber manufacturing company workers.

This study aimed to assess the relationship between shift working and occupational exposure to noise with blood pressure (BP). The study was carried out in a rubber manufacturing company in 2010. Demographic, medical and occupational information for carrying out the study were collected through direct interview. All 331 under study workers were divided into four groups according to work shift and noise exposure severity, from non-noise exposed day time workers (Group 1) to noise exposed shift workers (Group 4). Finally, systolic and diastolic blood pressure levels were compared among these four groups. The results of this study showed that there was a significant difference between average systolic and diastolic BP and hypertension (HTN) frequency in the four groups (p<0.05). The highest rate of HTN and mean systolic and diastolic BP were observed among shift workers who were exposed to noise higher than permissible limit (Group 4). Also the results of logistic regression analysis showed that there was a significant relationship between simultaneous exposures to noise more than the permitted limit and shift work with HTN (p<0.05). The results of our study showed that shift working and simultaneous exposure to noise have an additive effect on occurrence of HTN. It is recommended that during periodic physical examinations of noise exposed shift workers, assessment of the cardiovascular system and BP should be done as well as the auditory system.