مجله تصویر سلامت
سال پنجم شماره 4 (زمستان 1393)

Comprehensive development of the world depends on research and its continuous improvement in all fields and creating suitable infrastructure are essential for organizations and society’s growth. This study aims to survey the quality of annual research festival in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences.

This is a cross-sectional study which was done with the participation of faculty members and students. In quantitative section, a researcher-made questionnaire with 18 questions related to research festival criteria was used and its validity and reliability was approved using statistical tests. In qualitative section, the participants responded to questions related to “participating and non participating causes in festival”, “the weaknesses and strengths of the festival” and “required interventions for festival improvement”. The results were reported as frequency (percentages) for quantitative and theme (with sub-theme) for qualitative section.

The results showed that the quality of festival in some aspects such as “on schedule assessing of the researchers’ documents” and “festival time and place” is acceptable, in other aspects such as “clarity of assessing process”, “evaluation of festival status” and “festival motivation power” is not acceptable, and in the rest of the aspects, its quality is on average. By regarding the obtained results we can recognize that there is a close relation between quantitative and qualitative results.

The study findings indicated that the quality of the festival was on average and requires interventions for improvement.

Animal bites are among the most significant public health problems due to the risk of rabies. Because of high mortality rate and economic damages, rabies is of very importance. This study was conducted to investigate the epidemiology of animal bites in Azarshahr in 2010 and 2011.

In this cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study, all cases of animal bites in 2010 and 2011 that were recorded in rabies treatment centers of Azarshahr were included in the study using census method according to the existing data recorded in animal bites registry. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Chi-square test using SPSS software.

During 2010 and 2011, a total number of 630 animal bites cases occurred that 86.5% of the cases were male. In 51.7% of the cases, animal bites occurred in urban areas. The incidence rate of animal bites was calculated as 291.0 in 100000. The average age and the standard deviation of cases was 31.52±16.73. The main biting animal was domesticated dog (66.3%) and most of the bites happened during summer (28.4%). The most injured body organ was hand (47.6%). The association between animal type and injured organ was statistically significant (P<0.001).

Due to the high costs of vaccination and immunoglobulin expenses, prevention strategies seem to be necessary. Since most of the bites were caused by domestic dogs, health education interventions with the aim of more controls on domestic animals could be a cost-effective approach.

Stevia rebaudiana Bertoni is an ancient perennial shrub of South American used since ancient times for various purposes throughout the world. Stevia extracts contain high levels of sweetening compounds called steviol glycosides which besides sweetening (300 times sweeter than sacarose) possess antioxidant, antimicrobial and antifungal activity. Stevioside and rebaudioside A are the main sweetening compounds of this plant which are thermostable even at temperatures of up to 200 °C, making them suitable for use in cooked foods. Preparations of steviol glycosides are reported to be used principally as sweeteners in fruit and milk-based drinks, desserts, yoghurts, confectioneries, and pickles. The use of Stevia extract as a table-top sweetener is well known. The leaves of Stevia has functional and sensory properties superior to those of many other high-potency sweeteners and is likely to become a major source of safe and high-potency sweetener for the growing natural food market in the future.