mohammadreza ghasemzadeh

Suicide is an important health issue nearly all over the world. The Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale (C-SSRS) is a well-known instrument for suicide risk assessment. Our purpose in this study is to provide a Persian version of the C-SSRS and evaluate its psychometric properties in the Iranian military population, particularly suicide risk leveling characteristic of the C-SSRS.

For linguistic adaptation, we gathered opinions of an expert panel consisting of 23 professionals in mental health sciences. Furthermore, this version was administered to two groups of soldiers, one representing a sample of normal population (N = 338), while the other group comprised a sample of clinical population from a referral psychiatric hospital (N = 348) in Tehran, capital of Iran, from July 2021 until one year later. Besides the C-SSRS, the Beck Scale for Suicidal Ideation (BSSI), Beck Hopelessness Scale (BSS), and General Health Questionnaire 28 (GHQ28) were obtained from the participants. Correlation coefficients, internal consistency, and factor analysis were evaluated using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (version 23) software.

All items of the Persian version of the C-SSRS had acceptable content validity and face validity. This tool demonstrated high correlation coefficients with the BSSI (r = 0.73, P < 0.001) and BHS (r = 0.64, P < 0.001), but a low correlation coefficient with the GHQ28 (r = 0.22, P < 0.001). Specifically, the suicide risk level based on the C-SSRS had a high correlation with both the BSSI and BHS. Also, its internal consistency was satisfactory (Cronbach's alpha = 0.89). Furthermore, factor analysis revealed two factors that is consistent with suicidal ideation and suicidal behavior factors.

Our results indicated acceptable validity and reliability for the Persian version of the C-SSRS, demonstrating its capability to classify suicide risk. It can be concluded that the ordinal suicide risk level (as red, orange, yellow and green) is a valid index for the application of the C-SSRS.

Today, the role of electric energy in creating social welfare and industrial development of human societies is not hidden from anyone. In recent years, comprehensive and complete laws have been compiled and implemented for the production and supply of this energy in the market. What shows up more than ever is the concern of engineers in this field for the production, transmission and uninterrupted supply of electrical energy. The use of efficient equipment with high reliability has led engineers to use gas insulated posts in transmission and distribution networks. The use of gas insulation, while reducing the dimensions, has caused a reduction in transportation costs and installation and commissioning time of this equipment. Although gas insulation equipment requires minimal repairs due to special manufacturing technology and insulation, but the reliability and proper functioning decreases as the life of this equipment increases. Often over time, partial drainage is a defect that occurs in this equipment. This event leads to insulation failure finally, which is an important quantity in assessing insulation conditions. The most common causes of partial discharge in gas substations are three factors: conductor electrode protrusion, Existence of void in insulation and free particles suspended in gas pressurized enclosure. In this paper, studies related to the factors affecting the insulation failure of GIS substations and its timely detection methods, based on the benefit of existing articles and research.

 Military personnel are prone to depression due to their job’s nature and requirements. Therefore, the use of accurate and efficient screening tools to diagnose depression is essential. The aim of this study is to investigate the psychometric properties of the Iranian version of the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self Report (QIDS-SR) in the military community.

 The present study is a descriptive-correlational and validation study. In this regard, a sample of 410 volunteers was chosen from the 505th specialized military psychiatric hospital of the Islamic Republic of Iran. In addition to the demographic questionnaire, participants also completed the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self Report (QIDS-SR) and the Beck Depression Inventory II (BDI-II). Then the face and content validity, internal consistency, test-retest validity, cut-off point, and sensitivity and specificity of the inventory were analyzed by using qualitative method, Cronbach's alpha, Pearson correlation coefficient, independent means comparison test, and receiver operating curve analysis which were all done via the SPSS-26 software.

 The results showed that this inventory has good content and face validity. The internal consistency of 0.91 and the reliability coefficient of the test-retest indicates the stability of the scores in the interval of 3 days. The independent t-test showed that this inventory can differentiate between depressed and non-depressed people. The sensitivity of the inventory was 0.87 and its specificity was 0.73. Therefore, according to the most appropriate sensitivity and specificity, the cut-off point of the quick inventory of depressive symptomatology was 17.

 The findings indicated that the list of quick inventory of depressive symptomatology has good validity and reliability among the Iranian military population and can be used in research and clinical situations.

Here, we aimed to investigate the therapeutic effects of Nigella sativa extract on serum brain‑derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and depression score in patients with depression.

This clinical trial was performed in 2021 in the hospitals of military forces in Tehran on 52 male patients with major depressive disorder treated with sertraline. We used the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale‑21 Items (DASS‑21) questionnaire to assess the patients. Serum BDNF levels were measured by the enzyme‑linked immunosorbent assay. Patients were then divided into two groups receiving 1000 mg N. sativa oil extract, daily, and placebo. Both groups received sertraline for at least 3 months. DASS‑21 questionnaire and serum BDNF levels were measured after 10 weeks.

After treatments, we observed significantly decreased DASS‑21 score (−11.24 ± 5.69) in the intervention group (P < 0.001) and placebo (−2.72 ± 6.19,P = 0.032), but patients in the intervention group had significantly lower scores (50.1 ± 6.8 vs. 58.2 ± 5.6, respectively,P < 0.001). Furthermore, patients in the intervention group had significantly decreased depression score (−5.5 ± 2.47, P < 0.001) and lower scores compared to the placebo (P < 0.001) (18.6 ± 2.7 vs. 23.4 ± 2.1 in intervention and placebo, respectively). We also observed significantly increased BDNF levels in the intervention group after the treatments (6.08 ± 3.76, P < 0.001) compared to the placebo group (29.4 ± 3.6 vs. 24.9 ± 2.1, P < 0.001). Serum BDNF levels had also significant reverse correlations with DASS‑21 score (r = −0.35, P = 0.011) and depression score ( r = −0.45, P = 0.001).

The use of N. sativa resulted in decreased depression score and increase in serum BDNF levels that indicate the importance and efficacy of this drug.

The fact that substance use may result in dependence and severe harm to the user and the community has led to serious and extensive endeavors to design and implement preventive interventions. Prevention programs, however, have been shown to have different effects, and that should not be taken for granted. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses in the field have tried to reveal the effects of different types of substance use prevention programs and to identify the influencing factors.

The purpose of the current review was to more accurately identify factors associated with the effectiveness of interventions or reversal of desired effects. Evidence Acquisition: We systematically reviewed systematic review and meta-analyses studies within the period of 2009 - 2019 that reported the effectiveness of substance use prevention programs. After the systematic screening of 1586 articles, 43 articles were finally reviewed.

In preparation for extracting our data, we designed a structural model for analyzing the results of research on the effectiveness of substance use prevention programs. In general, universal types of prevention programs were reported as more effective than the two other types of selective and indicated programs. Regarding the context of programs, the school setting was more effective than others. In the case of interventions performed in the family setting, selective programs were more effective. Interventions provided by specialists were more effective than those provided by laypeople and / or peers. Interventions provided by more than one person and from more than one discipline showed higher effectiveness.

Based on our structural design, we feel that further studies are needed to extend our knowledge regarding the effectiveness of substance use prevention programs.