Annals of Military and Health Sciences Research
Volume:16 Issue: 4, Autumn 2018

Refractive errors are a major reason for visual impairments that can occur at any age. One of the most important target populations for refractive errors investigation is the military population. The study aimed to estimate the prevalence of refractive errors in Iranian Army Air Force soldiers who presented to Shahid Babaee Hospital of Isfahan. 500 male military soldiers with the age range of 18 to 29 years (mean age ± standard deviation (STD) 19.9 ± 1.6 years) were recruited in the study. We set the spherical equivalent (SE) based on dry retinoscopy cutoff points of -0.50 diopter (D) for myopia and + 0.50 D for hyperopia. The cylinder error of ≥ 0.75 D was considered as astigmatism. The data of 500 consecutive participants complying with the inclusion/exclusion criteria were analyzed. All the 500 participants were men for whom, the overall prevalence of myopia (SE ≤ -0.50 D), hyperopia (SE ≥ 0.50 D), and astigmatism was 18.8% [95% confidence interval (CI): 15.5 - 22.5], 13.4% (95% CI: 10.5 - 16.7), and 20.8% (95% CI: 17.3 - 24.6), respectively. With-the-rule (WTR) and simple astigmatism were found to be more frequent. The results indicated that the prevalence of refractive errors in Iranian Army Air Force soldiers is significantly high despite the prior screening. Due to their visual activities during the military period, accurate optometric and ophthalmic examinations would be helpful.

Despite facing new opportunities, entering a university and changing family life into student life create tension. This tension generates psychological problems such as anxiety, depression, and homesickness for the students. The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of resilience in homesickness among students of Arak University of Medical Sciences. In this cross-sectional research, the study population included all bachelor students of Arak University of Medical Sciences in 2018. In total, 205 students were randomly selected to participate in the study. For data gathering, the homesickness questionnaire by Zare and Aminpour and the Connor-Davidson resilience scale were used. Pearson correlation and regression analysis were used to analyze the data. The results indicated a significant relationship between homesickness and resilience (P = 0.000, R = -0.62). Furthermore, resilience could explain 38.9% of the variance of homesickness in the students. This study indicated a relationship between homesickness and resilience among students of medical sciences. Thus, it is recommended to provide students with resilience training at the beginning of university education.

The extremely high prevalence, chronicity, and high comorbidity with other mental disorders suggest that anxiety disorder imposes many expenses on individuals, families, and society, and has negative impacts on quality of life, social, and individual aspects. This quasi-experimental study utilized a pretest-posttest design with a follow-up period of three months. 30 eligible patients were selected by random sampling and assigned to two experimental (10 persons receiving unified protocol for the transdiagnostic treatment and 10 persons receiving emotion regulation intervention) and control (10 persons receiving no intervention) groups. The instrument for measuring variables was the Mood and Anxiety Symptoms Questionnaire (MASQ-D30). The data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (repeated measurements and Bonferroni post hoc test). The results showed that the interventions had significant effects on anxious arousal and they were able to show therapeutic effects in the post-test stage maintained until the follow-up stage. The therapeutic effects of the interventions were slightly different, although statistically insignificant. The most important implication of the research is the effectiveness of the interventions. Thus, care therapists are suggested considering the relative limitations of specific treatments, avoiding the multiple treatment guidelines, and paying attention to the privilege of these approaches such as the applicability for a wide range of disorders and ability to easy learning. Thus, they would find these treatments effective in this area.

Bisphosphonates are one of the most important drug families, which inhibit osteoclast-mediated bone loss due to osteoporosis and other disorders. However, the impact of different members of this family of drugs on the various cortical and trabecular bone mineral density wasn’t investigated. In this study the therapeutic effects of bisphosphonates in Ovariectomized (OVX) female rats was assessed, for eight weeks, and these effects were compared on trabecular and cortical bones. Thirty adult female rats (225 + 25 g) were divided to five equal groups [Sham, the untreated OVX rats (negative control), and the OVX rats treated with zoledronic acid, alendronate, and risedronate]. The effectiveness of these treatments after eight weeks was comprehensively evaluated by in vivo and in vitro analysis. Systemic delivery of zoledronic acid, alendronate, and risedronate had statistically significant effects on serum parameters in comparison to the untreated OVX animals. Moreover, administration of zoledronic acid, alendronate, and risedronate increased expression of osteogenic genes (OCN, ALP, and Col1), bone mineral density (BMD), and biomechanical performance of the OVX-induced osteoporotic bones in comparison with the untreated OVX rats (P < 0.05). However, different analyses showed that trabecular BMD significantly increased in zoledronic acid- and risedronate-treated animals in comparison to those of the alendronate-treated group (P < 0.05). It was concluded that zoledronic acid, alendronate, and risedronate sufficiently improved OVX-induced osteopenia. Moreover, it was found out that zoledronic acid and risedronate considerably improved the regeneration of trabecular bones in comparison to the alendronate.

Household dust is known as an important source of toxic heavy metals for all age groups particularly for children and this problem is a major concern around the world. This study was designed to assess the non-carcinogenic risk of cadmium (Cd), chromium (Cr), lead (Pb), and nickel (Ni) in indoor dust collected from 20 private residences in the city of Khorramabad, west of Iran, during year 2017. In this study, a total of 80 household dust specimens were collected using a brush and plastic spatula. After dust samples were naturally air-dried and sieved through a nylon mesh and then acid digested, the element contents were measured using inductively coupled plasma spectrometer. Also, the non-carcinogenic risk was calculated based on the models developed by the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The results showed that the maximum concentrations of elements in dust samples were 17.72 mg/kg for Cd, 22.55 mg/kg for Cr, 101.65 mg/kg for Pb, and 89.47 mg/kg for Ni. Also, based on the results, ingestion (oral) of dust particles was the main exposure pathway to elements. On the other hand, the non-carcinogenic risk levels of all analyzed metals were lower than the allowable limit. Due to adverse effects of toxic heavy metals on human health, it is recommended to pay special attention to other toxic elements of household dust that citizens have long-term exposure to.