Journal of Community Health Research
Volume:3 Issue: 1, Apr-Jun 2014

Most inappropriate healthy behaviors originate in the experience of childhood and adolescence, and healthy nutrition during maturity period plays an effective role in the human growth and health. In this semi experimental study, the effect of various educational methods on nutritional knowledge, attitude and behaviors of guidance school students in Qom city was evaluated in the period of 2011-12 and compared by using a four-part questionnaire (demographic, knowledge, attitude and behavior characteristics). Three schools were selected by cluster sampling method and from each school, 110 students were randomly grouped (330 students) to control, booklet and lecture groups. Firstly, the questionnaires were completed by students as a pretest and then nutritional educational program was performed for three groups in three sessions; and three months later the same questionnaires were used. Interventions caused a significant increase in the mean scores of knowledge, attitude, and behavior of two experimental groups (P<0.05) although this difference was not statistically significant in control group (p>0.05). The mean differences of knowledge and attitude sections in lecture group were more statistically significant than booklet group (p<0.05). Both educational methods increased the level of nutritional knowledge, attitude, and behaviors of students and it was more significant in lecture group. Collectively, the results of this study demonstrated positive effects of educational health programs on promotion of nutritional knowledge, attitude, and behaviors of students. Therefore, it is necessary to consider educational programs in order to improve nutritional behavior.

Malignant melanoma is a fatal cutaneous neoplasm and one of the fastest growing cancers worldwide. The objective of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of melanoma in different cultural settings and the probable role of clothing for prevention. In this cross-sectional study, data about diagnosed melanoma patients in Kerman Province, Iran including age, pathology, sex, location, and site of skin involvement, were obtained from the Kerman and Rafsanjan Cancer Registries from 2005 to 2009. Similar data related to melanoma incidence in Victoria, Australia were obtained from the Victorian Cancer Council, Melbourne. Incidence by age, sex and site of skin was calculated in both Kerman Province and Victoria State. Then the incidence differences for exposed and unexposed limbs were calculated and compared. Melanoma incidence in Kerman was 5.7 in million annually. Incidence in men was higher than women. The highest incidence was seen in 70-79 years of age. Most cases of melanoma (30%) were localized in the face. Incidence in Victoria State was 431.9 in million annually. The incidence in men was more than women. The highest incidence was seen above 80 years of age. Most of the cases (30.1%) of melanoma were seen in the trunk and then arm with 22.1%. The incidence difference between the two nations was significant except for the hands and male’s feet. The present study suggests that clothing is possibly preventing about 25.7, 37.4 and 72.6 cases of melanoma respectively in the trunk, arm and leg in 1,000,000 people annually in Iran.

Heavy metals widely used in the industrial and refining activities are frequently detected in sediments. The main objectives of this research were focused on determining the concentration of Cd and Pb in the sediments of Asaluyeh and compare with the standard. The concentration of Pb and Cd in the sediments of Nayband Bay area (contaminated area) and Lavar-e Saheli (control area) were measured. In the summer of 2013, the samples of sediment were collected from 40 stations. The samples were digested using the method Yap 2002 and analyzed by atomic absorption spectrophotometer. The median concentration of Pb and Cd in the sediments collected from Nayband ranged from 3.56 to 5.25 μg/gdw and 1.16 to 1.44 μg/gdw, respectively. The concentrations of Pb and Cd in most of the sediment samples in the study area were higher than the Persian Gulf standards. Therefore, it is essential to use abatement efforts to clean-up the polluted areas in the coastal area of the Asaluyeh Bay and prevent the discharging of the untreated or partially treated wastewater to the Persian Gulf as well.

Textile wastewaters from dyeing and finishing processes are heavily polluted with dyes, textile auxiliaries and chemicals and have a broad range of pH, high COD concentration and suspended particles. In this study, the efficiency of color and turbidity removal from synthetic textile wastewater samples were investigated by combined process of coagulation/ flocculation and electron beam irradiation. The experiments have been done on model dye solution samples which prepared from ten dyes that are supplied from Yazd Baff textile factory. Aluminum sulphate was employed to determine the optimum conditions for removal of turbidity by jar-test experiments. Then samples were irradiated by 10 MeV electron beam of Rhodotron TT200 accelerator at different doses of 1, 3 and 6 kGy. Absorption spectra of the samples were measured using UV-Vis spectrophotometer (Perkin Elmer, Lambda 25). The pH and turbidity values of the solutions were measured by a Metrohm 827 model pH meter and 2100AN turbidimeter (Hach company). According to results, the degree of decoloration and turbidity removal of synthetic dye solutions increased dramatically when the alum concentration increased and reached to 64% and 90% respectively at 112 ppm. After irradiation, it is observed that absorbance at 540 nm decreased rapidly by increasing of radiation dose, because of macromolecules degradation and then decreased slowly and degree of decoloration reached to 95%. The amount of pH was decreased by irradiation and then changed very slowly or remained constant with increasing irradiation dose. The above results indicate that combination of coagulation/ flocculation and irradiation of 10 MeV electron beam is so effective for turbidity removal and decoloration. Coagulation process eliminates suspended particles from disperse dyes effectively, while destruction of soluble dye molecules happen by irradiation that increase decoloration efficiency considerably.

Dental fear is a major factor in postponing and cancelling a dental appointment. The studies in this field are still limited. The current study was conducted to examine dental fear in patients going to dentists in Mashhad, Iran. In this descriptive study, 400 patients were selected randomly from 20 dental offices in Mashhad. The data were collected, using Dental Fear Scale. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire have been measured and confirmed in previous studies. The data were analyzed, using the SPSS software to perform t-test, ANOVA, Spearman’s rank-order correlation coefficient, and Pearson’s product-moment correlation coefficient. Nearly 20.8% of the participants had mild, 57.5% had moderate, and 21.8% had severe dental fear. The mean score of fear was statistically higher in females (49.95±13.3) compared to males (39.69±14.7). In terms of marital status, the highest mean score of fear was observed among the divorced and widows (51.82 ± 14.2). In terms of occupation, the highest mean score of fear was observed among the housewives (52.63±12.89). Correlational analysis showed the following inverse relationship between dental fear score and age(r=-0.18,p<0.001), education level(ρ=-0.28,p<0.001)and income level (ρ=-0.39,p< 0.001). females, particularly housewives, have a significantly higher level of dental fear, and it had an inverse correlation with age, education level and level of income and they should be considered in interventional and educational programs aimed decreasing dental fear level.

Industrial growth, development programs and infrastructure projects, in spite of all the advantages and benefits to humans, has been considered as the source of many hazards, risks and failures. Risk assessment is the organized and systematic method to identify hazards and risk estimation for decisions ranking, in order to reduce the risk to an acceptable extent. The aim of this study was the risk assessment of Ilam gas refinery with William fine procedure. executive group consisting of managers of the gas refinery departments and agencies were formed in order to identify the risks. The risks of units using the form HSE-FO-001 (0) -90 were identified and the risk assessment of them was recorded. This technique is based on the calculation and assessment of risks that including the severity of the outcome, Occurrence probability and exposure. 289 risks were found in this study which 5 risks (1.73%) had level of urgency (urgent need for corrective actions), 40Risk (13.84%) had abnormal levels (need of immediate attention) and 244 Risk (84.43%) had a normal risk level(should be deleted). According to information obtained from the risk assessment tables, the major risks that threaten employees of Ilam gas refinery including the risks associated with working at height, inhalation of gas containing H2S and exposure to excessive noise. Therefore, the engineering measures, in order to reduce the level of risk in the refinery units, must be conducted.

Satisfaction as a key indicator of health care quality is important for development, recognition and treatment of people in need. The aim of this study was to determine the rate of satisfaction of referral people to health center of Yazd city. This was a descriptive analytic (cross- sectional) study. The participants were 360 clients referred to 13 health centers of Yazd city whom were selected by simple sampling methods. The data was collected by a standard questionnaire. After collection, the data were analyzed by SPSS 18 and descriptive tables and ANOVA and T-test. The mean age of participants was 32.81±9.96 of which 135(37.6%) were male and 224(62.2%) were female. About 303(62.2%) were married. 187(51.9%) were university educated and 15(4.2%) were illiterate. Results showed that more than 94% satisfaction of participants from the time was moderate. The satisfaction of 49.4% of participants by the behavior of employees was good. Results of the present study showed that the most discontent was of equipment, which should be considered in Planning by authorities.

Dyes have complicated structures, they are usually toxic and resistant to biological treatment and enter the environment through industrial waste streams. The aim of this study was to review the isotherm and kinetic adsorption studies of Reactive Blue 19 (RB19) dye onto Jujube stems powder from synthetic textile wastewater. This study was conducted in laboratory scale. Synthetic wastewater was prepared with dissolving RB19 in distilled water. The dye concentration was determined by using the UV/Vis spectrophotometer at 592 nm. In this study, we investigated the effects of initial dye concentration, pH, adsorbent dose and contact time. For better understanding of the adsorption process, the experimental data were analysed with Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models and kinetic studies. The results showed that removing RB19 dye with Jujube stems powder as a natural biosorbent had the best efficiency in alkaline condition (pH=10) and by increasing the pH from 3 to 10, the dye removal efficiency increased. By decreasing of initial dye concentration and increasing the time and adsorbent dose, dye removal efficiency increased. In this study, the best fit of the adsorption isotherm data was obtained using the Langmuir model. Kinetic analysis of our results showed that the results well fitted by pseudo-second-order reaction. We can conclude that Jujube stems powder could be used as a biosorbent for dye removal from aqueous solutions.