mohsen dowlati

Ensuring access to nutritious and sanitary food is essential for maintaining health, particularly during disasters. This study aimed to assess awareness and attitudes towards food safety during disasters among Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences students.  This study was conducted in 2022 using a cross-sectional descriptive design. The sample consisted of 350 students from the Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences. The research tools comprised a demographic survey and a researcher-made questionnaire assessing students' knowledge and attitudes concerning food hygiene practices during disaster scenarios. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 24 and analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, and independent t-test.  The average age of the participants was 21.25 ± 3.17. The average knowledge and attitude scores of the Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences students regarding food hygiene during disasters were 80.80 ± 5.22 and 22.00 ± 10.51, respectively. A significant correlation was found between the knowledge level and the educational level of the participants. Television and radio were identified as the primary sources of information on food hygiene during disasters, while friends and family were the least utilized sources.  Based on the study findings, enhancing public education on food hygiene during disasters is recommended as a core curriculum in medical science universities. Public education should be widely implemented across various departments and faculties to reach a broader audience. Mass media, particularly radio, and television, should be prioritized for effective dissemination of information.

Life in today's world is filled with stress and challenges, requiring individuals to develop skills to cope with crises. One such skill is resilience. This study aims to determine the correlation between hope and resilience among students at Khorramshahr University of Marine Science and Technology.

This research utilized a descriptive-correlational design. The study population consisted of all students enrolled at Khorramshahr University of Marine Science and Technology in 2021. A sample size of 200 participants was determined through simple random sampling. Data were collected using three questionnaires: a demographic questionnaire, Miller’s Hope Scale, and Connor’s Resilience Scale. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS version 24, employing descriptive statistics, analysis of variance, independent t-tests, and Pearson's correlation coefficient.

The mean and standard deviation for hope and resilience were 148.45±5.75 and 67.09±7.07, respectively. The results indicated a statistically significant relationship between the average resilience scores and marital status (P<0.05). Additionally, Pearson's correlation coefficient revealed a significant correlation between hope and resilience among students (P=0.03).

The findings suggest that both resilience and hope play crucial roles in the mental health of students. By fostering hope and resilience, it may be possible to enhance students' life satisfaction. Furthermore, hope serves as a psychological strength that contributes to increased resilience. Therefore, implementing educational programs, workshops, and establishing counseling and support groups can be effective intervention strategies to nurture hope among students.

Air pollution is the fourth leading cause of premature death after hypertension, smoking and malnutrition and is the second leading cause of death from non-communicable diseases after smoking (1-3).Increased air pollution can increase the vulnerability of the respiratory system, and poor air quality is a serious risk for acute and chronic respiratory diseases and cardiovascular disease. Also Exposure to air pollution causes underlying diseases such as high blood pressure, diabetes, cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, and as a result these underlying diseases increase the vulnerability to Coronavirus disease 2019 (4).People with the underlying disease and living in contaminated areas are at higher risk for coronary heart disease, and studies show that air pollution is a contributing factor to diseases such as the flu and covid-19. Airborne particles increase Coronavirus disease 2019 mortality by up to 6%, ozone up to 7% and nitrogen dioxide up to 15%. When different dust particles increase in the air and the virus spreads in the air; For example, The virus has more chance to spread to other people when talking, coughing and sneezing(5).

Today, the world is facing the problems of population growth, urbanization, increasing need for food, depletion of water resources, and environmental degradation. Therefore, the present study investigates the impact of urban agriculture on food security.

Search engines including PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Science Direct, Google scholar, Magiran, and scientific information database (SID) were applied with keywords such as population growth, food security, sustainable development, urban agriculture, food system to find related articles published up to 2022.

The impact of urban agriculture on food security can be seen through several factors such as nutritional stability, food availability, affordable food supply, and revenue generation through sales.

Urban agriculture refers to production of food products in urban environment, where food is produced on rooftops, backyards, gardens, or in public open spaces. This work proposes new opportunities for sustainable development and urban management to make significant changes in living environment, health and land management. Furthermore, this research provides the poor in the city a chance to achieve food security by reducing household food costs

 Water is one of the most valuable environmental factors that play a significant role in human life and health. Domestic fresh water is a basic need for human well-being and economic activities.

 The present study investigated the relationship between religiosity and commitment to the tendency to save water among women in Yazd in 2022.

 This descriptive-analytical research was carried out in 2022. The research population included all housewives and working women who visited health centers in Yazd City. Three hundred fifty people were randomly selected. The data were collected using 3 questionnaires on the tendency to save water, religiosity, and commitment, which had been used in a similar study. The data were analyzed using SPSS24 software using Pearson correlation coefficient tests, descriptive statistics, chi-square, and t-test.

 The mean age of the studied women was 33.05 ± 3.62. The mean scores of the tendency to save water, religiosity, and commitment were 42.18 ± 5.14, 41.67 ± 6.35, and 35.11 ± 6.84, respectively. There was a significant relationship between the tendency to save water score and economic status. The correlation matrix showed a significant positive correlation between the tendency to save water, religiosity, and commitment.

 Cultural factors such as religiosity and commitment or sense of responsibility, as two different elements that form people's attitudes, affect water consumption behavior. These results are much more important for married women in Yazd City because they have an educational role and are influenced by both religious and citizenship cultures.

In the current situation, ensuring food security and maintaining it, especially due to growing demand and significant population growth on the one hand and excessive and incorrect use of limited and non-renewable resources and reserves and the emergence of challenges such as climate change on the other hand is very important.  According to the World Bank, food security is achieved when all people have access to enough food at all times to live a healthy life. This has three aspects: "food availability", "access to food" and "sustainability in food intake" (Eslami AR, 2021). The threat of declining food security due to climate change is one of the major challenges of the 21st century. The impact of climate change on agricultural benefits and food security depends on the scale of climate change (Marzban et al., 2023) .

It has been known that healthy nutrition is important in increasing immunity and reducing diseases. Lack of some nutrients can lead to a decrease in the function of the immune system and, as a result, an increase in the probability of infections or their exacerbation. This study was conducted with the aim of investigating knowledge, attitude and nutritional practice related to COVID-19 in the students of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences.

The present descriptive and analytical study was conducted in 2022 on 350 students of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences. The research tools included a demographic checklist and a questionnaire of knowledge, attitude and nutritional practice related to COVID-19, used in a similar study. The collected data were analyzed by SPSS 24 software using descriptive statistics and analysis of variance, independent t-test, and Pearson's correlation coefficient.

The mean age of the subjects was 22.15±4.98 year.  The mean scores of knowledge, attitude, and nutritional behavior of students of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences regarding COVID-19 were 23.17 ±4.17, 18.04 ±3.29, and 41.64 ±7.16, respectively. The results showed that there was a statistically significant relationship between the knowledge score with the educational level and history of infection with COVID-19 and the nutritional practice score with the variable of history of infection with COVID-19 (P < 0.05). Also, there was a positive and significant correlation between Knowledge, attitude, and practice.

According to the results of the study, the studied students had a relatively good knowledge, attitude, and practice towards nutritional issues related to COVID-19; however, there is still room for improvement.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has stated that the world may face a food crisis with rising prices and products at risk due to the war in Ukraine. Food prices have already increased due to climate change and the coronavirus epidemic. After the war, the cost of wheat has risen more [1]. About a third of the world’s wheat is supplied by Russia and Ukraine, known as Europe’s breadbasket. Wheat shortages may occur as farmers in Ukraine cannot grow their crops [2].

 This study aimed to conduct a systematic review of models describing the integrated logistics operations performed as a response to natural disasters, with the hope to identify the challenges and limitations of healthcare systems in natural disaster management.

 A systematic literature search was carried out in PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Google Scholar, and bibliographies of retrieved articles using MeSH headings and keywords such as natural disaster, logistics, model. A total of 98 publications were identified through the search process. Seven potentially relevant articles met the inclusion criteria. The key demographic, clinical, and pathological information of all qualified studies were extracted from the full-text articles.

 Among the seven included studies, six had either model data or considerations on distribution methods. Storage, human resources, infrastructures, primary priority items, coordination of organizations, and information and communication with the media were also the focus of studies. The articles were mainly from Iran (n=2), the United States (n=2), and Indonesia (n=2). The models presented in the studies has mainly focused on a specific aspect of disaster management, such as smart government development, use of military services, people with logistic training and/or medical team model.

 This study systematically highlighted the crucial points that should be considered in managing natural disasters including human resources, infrastructure, storage, priority items, distribution, access system, coordination of organizations, information, and communication with the media. In this regard, we prepared a comprehensive comparison of possible models and logistics.

Bioterrorism is an important health and social issue in the world. This research was conducted with the aim of determining the knowledge and attitude of students regarding bioterrorism in a military medical science university.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2021. The study population included all students studying at a university of military medical sciences in Tehran, Iran. A sample size of 300 students was calculated and demographic data were recorded. The data collection tool was the standard questionnaire of students' knowledge and attitude regarding bioterrorism.

The mean and standard deviation of students' knowledge and attitude scores regarding bioterrorism were 8.15±2.11 and 12.35±2.35, respectively. Low knowledge and attitude were reported in 63 and 72 percent of students, respectively. The mean score in the domain of decontamination and maintenance of bioterrorism victims was 3.56 and in the domain of factors causing bioterrorism was 1.25. The most important sources of students' information about bioterrorism were radio and television, followed by newspapers and magazines.

Low knowledge in students about bioterrorism can increase the probability of risks related to bioterrorist attacks. Therefore, educational programs and workshops about bioterrorism for students can be effective in increasing the level of students' knowledge and attitude.

Environmental health issues and epidemic pandemic aspects including infection spread during managing dead bodies revealed that infectious diseases and the associated mortality were often caused by infectious pathogens due to mismanagement of dead bodies. Dead body management is one of the main environmental health challenges during and after disasters and emergencies, especially following epidemic. This systematic review aimed to investigate the dead body management of epidemic victims. This systematic review followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines. In this study, electronic databases, including Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, Pro Quest, Google Scholar, and Cochrane Library, were searched from March 1, 1970, to September 30, 2021. A comprehensive literature search was performed using scientific databases and gray literature. A thematic synthesis approach was used to analyze the data. In total, 2764 articles were identified, 11 of which met the inclusion criteria for entering the process of final synthesis. The findings showed three main sections, including (1) dead body management in the hospital and transfer of epidemic victims, (2) mortuary, shrouding, funeral, and burial of epidemic victims, and (3) management of families and risk communication. Implementation of the standards and protocols during dead body management of epidemic victims is essential with the aim of saving the lives of service providers and participants in ceremonial washing and burial.

Food poisoning is the most common and important form of the food-borne disease caused by consuming contaminated food. The present study was conducted with the aim of determining the knowledge, attitude and practice of students of Chabahar University of Maritime and Marine Sciences in the field of food poisoning.

The current study was a cross-sectional descriptive study that was conducted in 2022. The research population was all students studying at Chabahar University of Maritime and Marine Sciences. The sample size of 150 people was calculated. The tool of data collection was the questionnaire of knowledge, attitude and practice of students in the field of food poisoning, whose reliability and validity were confirmed.

The mean and standard deviation of students' knowledge, attitude and performance scores were 20.33±3.09, 43.14±5.11 and 13.04±5.64, respectively. The mean knowledge score in 61% of students was estimated at a good level. The mean attitude score in 64% of students was at the moderate level, and practice was reported to be poor in 58%. A statistically significant relationship was observed between knowledge and level of education and practice with a history of poisoning in students (P<0.05).

Despite the high level of knowledge and a moderate level of attitude in students, their practice was at a poor level. Considering the sensitive job of naval students in the future who spend a long time on the ship, it is suggested to hold training workshops with the aim of improving their practice in the field of food poisoning.

 The probability of sexual violence in areas affected by natural disasters may increase. An increase in the rate of unwanted pregnancies and subsequent intentional abortions, physical and mental injuries, and death can be the consequences of sexual violence. One of the characteristics of natural disasters is their unpredictability and ambiguity. Since decisions must be made quickly during the response, there must be adequate planning in advance, and preparedness in the community will reduce surprises in the responding organizations. This study aimed to identify the factors affecting the preparedness against sexual violence in natural disasters.

 In this study, an electronic search was performed in the MEDLINE (PubMed), Scopus, Web of Science, and ProQuest databases. Other search resources, such as Science.gov, Scienceopen.cond Meta-search engines, organizational websites, including UNICEF, UNFPA, and IFRC, as well as key journals and the International Disaster and Risk Conference were hand-searched from 1/1/1990 to 8/29/2021. The PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) checklist was used to select the studies, and the findings were finally analyzed by thematic analysis method using MAXQDA10 software.

 A total of 40 papers out of a total of 2978 studies were considered in this analysis. Macropolicies, empowerment, contextualization, management and organization, command community-based, and responsive planning were the five primary categories that were found.

Preparedness measures are highly important to respond promptly and effectively to sexual violence and should be integrated into disaster preparedness programs. The findings of this study can be used by disaster response managers and policymakers in developing and improving preparedness programs.

Biological events, including epidemics, pandemics, and emerging and reemerging infectious diseases, have significant adverse consequences on human health. Hospitals have a major role in the management of outbreaks and mitigation of their consequences. During pandemics, health systems, especially hospitals, are affected. The current study aims to collect and analyze hospital lessons learned during the COVID-19 epidemic in Iran.

The study data were collected through document analysis, direct observation, and taking the opinions of an expert panel (including hospital chiefs, hospital managers, disaster committee managers, matrons, and other hospital staff) at hospitals involved with coronavirus patients. 

The practical measures performed in Iran hospitals included the development of the hospital incident command system, screening and triage, establishing a call center, patient and family management, personnel management, volunteers management, education, planning, safety, environmental health, dead patients management, sampling, food hygiene of staff and patients, coordination and cooperation, sharing information, home treatment and care, infection prevention, and control and isolation.

COVID-19 pandemic has significant adverse consequences on human health, hospital, and medical staff. During COVID-19, hospitals will face a high surge in suspected and confirmed patients. Therefore, hospitals should perform the proper measures to manage an emergency.

Context: 

Evaluating systems is one of the essential items affecting faculty member performance. Using an appropriate evaluating system is essential for performing different proper roles for faculty members.

 This study aimed to systematically review the models, tools, and challenges of evaluating the performance of clinical faculty members.

 This systematic review investigated eight international and four national electronic databases in 2019. Descriptive and thematic analyses were done to extract the most relevant information about the models, tools, and challenges of evaluating the performance of clinical faculty members.

 In total, 15163 articles were identified, of which 25 met the inclusion criteria. The findings were demonstrated in four main categories of the model of evaluating the performance of clinical faculty members, education, data gathering tools, and challenges of evaluating the performance of clinical faculty members. The main subthemes for evaluating the performance of the clinical faculty member model were systems, structure, indicators, and process.

 This study recommends policymakers and educational managers to design an appropriate evaluating tool. Further research should be conducted to develop a practical system for solving the mentioned challenges.

Extreme weather or climate, including heat waves and cold waves, is considered a health issue causing adverse effects on health, such as cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), mortality and morbidity. Thus, this systematic review aimed to study the impacts of extreme ambient temperature on cardiovascular outcomes.

This study was carried out based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) protocol. Papers about the ambient temperature and cardiovascular outcomes were searched in the scientific database, including ISI, PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar, from January 1970 up to the end of 2020. We used the key terms, such as “heat wave”, “cold wave”, “extreme event”, “cardiovascular disease”, “mortality”, and “morbidity”. The thematic analysis method was used to determine all themes and analyze the data.

Among the 7631 searched and extracted papers, 20 articles met the eligibility criteria for including the process of final analysis. Effects of extreme events included mortality, morbidity, and hospitalization due to CVD. A relationship between extreme events and CVD mortality was confirmed for cerebrovascular diseases, including congestive heart failure (CHF), ischemic heart diseases (IHD), myocardial infarction (MI), cardiac arrhythmia, coronary heart disease (CHD), out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA), acute coronary syndrome (ACS), and blood pressure.

The present study indicated the impact of extreme ambient temperature on CVD outcomes. The findings provided adaptation and preventive measures and strategies which can be used for CVD patients and managers to prevent CVD due to ambient temperature.

Natural disasters are always among the main problems and challenges facing societies. Earthquakes had many adverse effects on human life, causing mortality, morbidity, and economical, psychological, and environmental damages. Tehran is one of the most vulnerable regions for disasters, especially earthquake due. In recent decades, ambient air pollution represents one of the most environmental risks to health in Tehran. One of the main factors increasing the concentration of air pollutants is vehicles. After the earthquake, people left their homes and stayed into their cars until morning. Therefore, due to the pollution caused by leaving the cars on, the concentration of pollutants increased and the caused a greater number of deaths attributed to air pollution.

Disasters and emergencies are always among the major challenges and problems facing societies. By proper education and preparedness promotion for households, the effects of disasters and emergencies can be reduced. This study was performed to provide disaster assessment and education guidelines in western regions of Tehran Province in 2018. 

This was a cross-sectional study. For data collection, the “Disaster Assessment and Education Guidelines” provided by the Ministry of Health was used. The forms and checklists were compiled by experts of urban and rural health centers. Then, the level of household preparedness for disaster was evaluated.

Based on the present study in 314 centers covered, 1726803 households were evaluated. In the northwest and west Tehran health centers, Shahryar, Malard, Qods, Robat Karim, and Baharestan and all of the regions, the levels of preparedness were estimated 34.9, 24.7, 31.3, 36.2, 21.9, 24.6, 12.3, and 26.9, respectively. 

The city of Tehran is located on important faults and areas prone to floods. So Tehran is highly vulnerable to natural disasters. Because of the important role of the people and the community-based management of disasters, household readiness must be improved to reduce the burden of death, injuries, and other disastrous consequences.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory tract infection caused by a newly emergent coronavirus. Iran is one of the countries affected by the disease. Health center services have a critical role in response to the COVID-19 outbreak. This study with the aim of providing the functions and services of primary health care was performed by a health center in Iran during the COVID-19 outbreak. Based on the results, of the functions and services of the primary health care included purposive inter-organizational interaction and cooperation, risk analysis, planning, education and consultation, exercise, risk communication, environmental health, occupational health, and development of health infrastructures. Iran established and developed specific approaches for case identification, screening, and resource allocation to protect public health by primary health care services. Health center services are effective for a proper response to COVID-19 and a reduction in mortality by screening, rapid identification, and public education.

Isfahan is one of the most important industrial cities in central Iran that air pollution has been the biggest challenge of this city in recent years.  So, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of meteorological parameter on particulate matter concentration (PM2.5) in ambient air of Isfahan metropolitan, from March 2019 to March 2020.

In this cross‑sectional descriptive study, 19 sampling points in Isfahan city were chosen using GIS software. Sampling of PM2.5 was carried out for 24 hour using the sampling pilot during the four seasons in the air of Isfahan city. Sampling of PM2.5 was performed using PTFE filters (37mm, 1µ) peripheral pump and Personal Modular Impactor (Based on NIOSH Guideline). The concentration of particles collected on the filter was calculated by gravimetric method. Meteorological parameters including temperature, humidity, pressure, Precipitation, UV and Wind speed were recorded during sampling through portable devices. Finally, for the processing of PM2.5, relationship between PM2.5 concentration and meteorological parameters was assessed by SPSS24 and EXCEL software, and to draw the graphs, Excel and R software were used, respectively. ArcGIS 10.3 was used for the spatial distribution of PM2.5 concentration. The inverse distance weighting (IDW) interpolation technique was applied to generate maps for annual averages.

Seasonal variation trends of PM2.5 particles showed that maximum and minimum annual mean concentrations has happened in Winter and Summer season with the value of 64.06 and 31.32 µg/m3, respectively. Also the citizens of Isfahan are exposed to PM2.5 pollutants 4-5 times more than the EPA-recommended standard (10 µg/m3). The findings of this study also show that there is a positive correlation between PM2.5 particle concentration and temperature, relative humidity and pressure (p<0.05). Moreover, a weak and negative correlation was found between ultraviolet radiation, Precipitation, and Wind speed with PM2.5 particle concentration (p>0.05).

The highest concentrations of particles were observed in winter season. Also, the particle concentration scatter map shows that the central and north and northeast regions of Isfahan are more polluted than other areas. Therefore, to protect the health of citizens of Isfahan, appropriate policies and strategies should be adopted to reduce the concentration of particulate matter and other pollutants in the ambient air of this city`.

Fire buildings is considered as one of the most common and the most devastating disasters and emergencies. Saving school buildings against incidents such as fire is very important since students are so vulnerable to incidents especially fire. The most school classes were devoid of safety conditions and oil‑burning heaters were used. Such a condition has increased the risk of disaster and is considered as a serious menace for students’ lives. The present study conducted with aim of review the Health, Safety and Education Measures for Fire in Schools. To this purpose, we selected suitable keywords some articles published in Scientific Information Database of PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and ProQuest were searched. The search was limited to reviewed articles in English and Persian language published between 1970 and 2019, based on inclusion and exclusion criteria. Furthermore, the selected articles were reviewed for relevant citations. The reviewing of articles was conducted by two member of research team independently. The primary search found 194 relevant studies. After eliminating the duplicates and articles which were not related to the review of the abstract, 51 references were identified for inclusion. Finally, 13 articles were selected after screening and evaluated by two authors to final review main factors and dimensions of schools’ health, safety and education include the rules and laws, allocating sufficient budgets, education the teachers, students and their families, exercise, risk analysis, intersectional relations, fire extinguishing equipment, early warning system, and also optimization and reformation of heating system. Applying these new approaches prevents disasters and increases the level of preparedness in case of fire occurrence.

Quantification of the attributed effects of air pollution determines the impact of air pollutants on the community and shows the critical condition of air quality.
This study aimed to quantify and estimate the cardiovascular and respiratory diseases attributed to PM10 in Urmia during 2011-2016.

In this descriptive-analytic study, at first, hourly data of pollutant PM10 concentrations were received from air pollutants station located in the Department of Environmental Protection. The data were evaluated using AirQ2.2.3 software after primary and secondary processes and filtering.

The results showed that the mean annual concentration of PM10 during 2011-2016 was 88.66, 92.45, 81.22, 78.38, 113.78, and 92.67 μg /m3, respectively. The number of hospitalized cases due to respiratory diseases attributed to PM10 in this period was 486, 525, 459, 453, 684, and 552, respectively, and the number of cases due to cardiovascular diseases was 188, 203, 177, 175, 263, and 213, respectively.

Considering the attributed health effects of PM10, the necessary measures should be taken to identify the causative agents and to understand the mechanisms of these processes and correct them.