میر غنی سید صومعه

Protection of the respiratory system has been a vital, and for this purpose, various solutions have been proposed, including the use of masks. One of the most important parameters to measure the effectiveness of the mask against the penetration of microbial agents. The present study was conducted with the aim of evaluating the bacterial and particle filtration of medical masks.

To assess bacterial performance, the national standard 6138, compliant with EN14683, and Type I medical masks were utilized. Staphylococcus aureus bacterial suspension was prepared and passed through the mask using a nebulizer and through an impactor with a flow rate of 28.3 l/min. Plates containing soy agar were placed in the impactor. Subsequently, all plates were incubated, and the bacterial filtration efficiency (BFE) of the masks was determined by counting the bacterial colonies that passed through the mask’s media as a percentage of the total bacteria. It is worth noting that the pressure drop and particle filtration efficiency were also determined for all masks

Based on the results of the particle removal performance for the particle size of 3 µ, the masks were categorized into three groups with efficiency above 99%, above 95% and 90%. According to the standard, all masks had an acceptable pressure drop below 40 Pa. The acceptable bacterial filtration rate for type I masks should be above 95%. The results showed that type A and B masks have an acceptable bacterial filtration rate and there is a significant correlation between the types of masks examined in terms of bacterial and particle efficiency.

The results showed that different types of masks under investigation have significant differences in terms of particle capture efficiency and bacterial filtration performance. In addition, there is a significant correlation between bacterial and particle filtration efficiency.

Despite the legal prohibition of asbestos fiber usage in the country, numerous studies have documented its presence in the air of various cities, including Tehran. This urban air pollution stems from the extensive use of asbestos in construction materials such as pipes, insulators in cooling and heating systems, and friction devices like brake pads and clutch plates, among other consumer products. Prolonged exposure to these fibers can have severe health consequences for residents, leading to respiratory issues, pulmonary fibrosis, and cancers such as mesothelioma. Consequently, we conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study to examine both the extent and nature of asbestos fiber distribution in Tehran’s air.

This study measured the concentration of asbestos fibers in Tehran’s air over a 12-month period. Monthly samplings were conducted at eleven Tehran Air Quality Control Company-operated stations. The sample collection, preparation, and analysis adhered to the NIOSH 7400 method. Microscopic examination results were then translated into asbestos fiber concentrations using the appropriate formulas.

Analysis of samples taken across four seasons revealed that spring recorded the highest average asbestos fiber concentration at 0.00134 f/ml, while the lowest concentration was observed in summer at 0.117 f/ml.

Given the widespread ban on asbestos use in many countries, including Iran, its presence in urban air is unexpected. Regrettably, flawed policy decisions made during the import ban announcement and the extended timeframe set for the ban’s initiation allowed companies to import and stockpile asbestos indiscriminately for future use.

Strategic management involves determining the organization’s direction, preparing a strategic vision and mission statement, and providing the basis for growth, profitability, and production. It also includes the inclusion of employee safety and health programs throughout the organization. The existence of a strategic plan for the scientific and practical strengthening of occupational health and safety is one of the country’s academic and industrial priorities. The purpose of this study is to present a strategic plan for developing the specialized field of occupational health and safety engineering in Iran.

The current study is a collaborative action research study that was conducted in 2021. The strategic planning committee consisted of 20 professors, experts, and doctoral students. Over the course of 14 weeks, they held regular weekly meetings, collected information from inside and outside the organization, analyzed the organization’s internal and external environment, and identified its strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. Based on this analysis, the committee determined the organization’s mission, perspective, values, and general and specific goals for 2021-2024. They also identified the necessary measures to achieve these goals and developed an operational plan to improve the performance of the specialized field of occupational health and safety.

Conducting this applied research led to the strategy of internal and external analysis of the specialized OHS field, determining the direction of the basic strategy, mission, perspective, values, and general goals. Finally, seven specific goals and 286 actions were determined to improve the performance of OHS. The SWOT analysis of OHS’s internal and external environment identified 27 strengths, seven weaknesses, 26 opportunities, and 12 threats. According to the results of the SWOT matrix, the strategic position of the OHS field is to implement preventive strategies and maintain existing conditions.

This plan aligns with the 4-year OHS plan. In developing the program, attention has been paid to the documents and policies of upstream organizations. The strategic position of occupational health and safety engineering is a prudent strategy. In this situation, strategies for maintaining existing conditions can be applied. Therefore, it is suggested to reduce the weaknesses of OHS as much as possible and increase its strategic capabilities by focusing on prudent strategies. From the second year of implementing the strategic plan, the OHS field can gradually focus on developing activities.

Occupational stress is known today as one of the biggest challenges to higher education policy-makers. Students with high levels of stress find themselves lacking in self-confidence, vulnerable in controlling academic processes, and unable to compensate for clinical weaknesses. The main purpose of this study was to assess the levels of occupational stress among clinical dental students of Alborz University of Medical Sciences, Alborz, Iran.

This study was a descriptive-analytic research with a cross-sectional design. The statistical population included all dental clinical students enrolled in the 7th, 9th, and 11th semesters in 2018 (n=84). According to the Krejcie and Morgan’s table, the sample size was 70. The data were also collected through the Osipow Occupational Stress Questionnaire, and then analyzed using the SPSS Statistics software (ver. 22). Besides, t-test was employed to investigate the relationship between variables and stress.

The results revealed that the mean score of the students was 150.8. The mean total stress in the age group above 26 years was also 158 and that was 147 for those under the age of 26 (P-value=0.027). Besides, the mean score of overall occupational stress was equal in women and men. Comparisons also demonstrated that students in the 9th and 11th semesters (mean=161) were undergoing more stress than the ones enrolled in the 7th semester (mean=147) (P-value=0.014).

It was concluded that these clinical dental students were suffering from moderate-to-severe occupational stress. Likewise, older students had more stress than younger counterparts did. As well, male and female students’ levels of occupational stress were the same. Resolving this issue accordingly required special attention by higher education policy-makers to provide support and counseling in this respect.

Due to low concentration of melatonin and also the existence of other compounds in body fluids, measuring the amount of melatonin is a serious challenge for the analysts. Before measurement of melatonin amounts using chromatographic method, sample preparation is unavoidable. The aim of current study is develop a new sample preparation method that not only have high accuracy and validity, but also can using by conventional equipment available in the laboratory to determine trace levels of salivary melatonin. For this purpose, the dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) method, that has not been used so far to preparation of salivary melatonin samples, were optimized.
Optimization procedure involved evaluation of eight factors affecting DLLME method. From these factors, seven were examined in four levels, and just pH was done in five levels. Accuracy and precision of the optimized method was evaluated at three concentrations of 50, 100, 250 pg.ml-1 by achieving CV% for day-to-day and within-day reproducibility.
Optimum values were determined. Accuracy and precision of the optimized method was investigated at three concentrations of 50, 100, and 250 pg.ml-1 by achieving CV% of 6.29, 2.39, and 1.82 for the "day-to-day" and 4.49, 2.68, and 1.83 for "within-day" reproducibility.
Due to the results of this study for Coefficient of variations, the optimized method was provided with proper accuracy and precision. Although optimized extraction factors must be fit analyte, but these factors can be used for similar chemical compounds with a slight modification.

Exposure to some organic solvents such as benzene and toluene cause adverse effects on organs and cause the spread of diseases such as cancer، leukemia and adverse effects on the nervous system. Medical staff with long-term exposure to volatile organic compounds including benzene، toluene، xylene and xylene in indoor air in hospitals and serious complications of than in medical staff and hospital staff who are looking for a lot of medical expenses، the importance of this more highlights. The aim of the present study is detect and measure BTEX (benzene، toluene، um - xylene followed - xylene and ethylbenzene) in air and comparison with hospital standards recommended by the technical department of occupational health.

First critical sectors of Imam Hossein hospital such as pathology and emergency was selected. Air sampling was performed using activated charcoal and with the using the health and safety of the United States methods. Using gas chromatography with mass spectrometry and flame detector operation was performed to determine the amount of pollutants. The processing and analysis of data، spss version 13 software was used.

In all parts of the ward، operating room، emergency room، laboratory pollutants benzene، toluene، ethyl benzene and xylene have been identified and followed. The concentration of toluene in waste elimination، landry and pathology parts is 0/5477 mg/m3،0/4052mg/m3 and 0/81 mg/m3 Respectively.

This study shows that pollution exists in all parts of the hospital that is compatible with other studies and This shows the importance of detailed field studies to identify the sources of these pollutants in the environment is sterile، like a hospital.

The purpose of this research was to qualitatively evaluate the workers health-house, and to determine an appropriate pattern of qualitative evaluation for such centers in Yazd, Iran. In the current qualitative ordinal study, in order to collect the required data regarding the effectiveness and quality of health care in the worker health-house, after determining the variables on the basis of definitions and standard values of the proposal, designing questions for handling the Delphi method, checklists, and questionnaires was completed. Then, for determining the score and value of each question, the questionnaires and checklists were handed over to the relevant experts. There were 6 randomly selected samples of industries with the workers health-houses and 6 industries without such centers. To avoid any bias in the study, all the questionnaires and checklists were given to the postgraduate students in the field of occupational health. Next, after a separate scoring of the questionnaires and checklists by Delphi group (30 people), the average scores for each question and ultimately each questionnaire and checklist were assessed and then chosen as criteria of measurement in our investigation. Considering the qualitative ordinal study of the facilities, equipments,and performances of personnel in the workers health-houses, the results showed that the average of the official as well as technical facilities and equipments were 65.1% and 61.1% respectively, which according to the table for system status, were both in a moderate rank of quality. However, checking the space and personnel situation, they were 49.3% and 46.6% respectively; as these amounts of quality were ranked in a "bad" situation. Finally, concerning the performance of personnel, the results showed a rank of "moderate" with the average score of 63.3% for the health care technicians called as: "Behdashtyar" and a rank of "bad" with the average score of 32.8% for the occupational practitioners.Discussion & Based on the research findings among the industries with more than 50 personnel in Yazd, it was found that, regarding the measured variables in 2006 using the proposed methodology of the ordinal qualitative study and considering the acquired result of (56.9%), the quality of those centers were determined as "moderate" rank.