reyhaneh sefidkar

Considering the abundance and the large number of workers employed in micro and small industrial workshops in Iran and the importance of workers’ health, the present study aimed to investigate the mediating role of chronic fatigue in the relationship between mental workload and work ability with cognitive failure using path analysis.

This study was conducted using a cross-sectional design on a sample of workers employed in micro and small industrial workshops in the city of Eghlid. Data were collected utilizing various measures, including demographic and occupational information questionnaires, the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX), the Work Ability Index (WAI), and questionnaires for chronic fatigue and cognitive failure. The correlation test and path analysis modeling were used in SPSS (version 24) and AMOS softwares to investigate the relationship between variables.

The mean scores of mental workload, work ability, chronic fatigue, and cognitive failure   were 69.63, 35.20, 15.58, and 53.30, respectively. The values of the goodness of fit indices lead to   the confirmation of the conceptual model by the research data. Also, based on the findings of the path analysis, the current research model has a good fit (CFI=1.00, GFI=0.998, NFI=0.999, AGFI=0.98 and RMSEA=0.003(0.00,0.169)).

The path analysis results indicate that chronic fatigue plays a significant mediating role   in the relationship between mental workload and work ability with cognitive failure. A better understanding of the mediating mechanisms and complex effects of these relationships can contribute to improving the management of chronic fatigue and enhancing cognitive performance in the workplace.

Dear Editor in Chief.During the disease epidemic in Iran, the government first considered emergency measures for the center of the disease epidemic, the Qom province, and after that by observing new cases in Tehran, Gilan, and Mazandaran provinces, which are the adjacent provinces to Qom province, the emergency measures for these three provinces were considered as well (1).

Preterm birth is the most important in children under 5 yr mortality. In this study, we used the Global Burden of Disease Data (GBD) to evaluate the trend of preterm infant mortality rate for all countries from 1990 to 2017 and to assess the effect of development factors on this trend.

The preterm infant mortality rate data from 196 countries of the world, from 1990 to 2017, were extracted from the GBD database. To study the trend of preterm infant mortality rate, a mixed-effects log-linear regression model was fitted separately for each IHME super-region. In the next step of data analysis, the development factor was included in the model to determine its effect on this trend for all countries under study.

The average rate mortality rate has declined about 2% per year throughout the world over the mentioned period. The highest and lowest decreasing trends were observed in high-income countries (about 4.0%) and Sub-Saharan Africa (about 1.0%), respectively. Including the effect of development factor in the mentioned model revealed that in 1990, the rate of preterm infant mortality in developed countries was 2.2 times of this rate in developing countries and this rate ratio has increased to 2.69 in year 2017.

Although the preterm infant mortality rate were decreasing in all super regions, there is a remarkable gap in this rate between developing and developed countries yet. Therefore, preventative strategies are needed to reduce preterm birth and its burden, especially in the developing world.

  Anxiety is among the most prevalent psychological disorders induced by myocardial infarction. Traditional medicinal herbs have long been used to reduce anxiety. Avicenna was the first physician in the world who referred to the inotropic effects of Melissa officinalis as a fragrant herb. In addition, he emphasized the strengthening effects of this herb on the heart, nerves, and brain with exhilarating effects. Further, M. officinalis plays a role in removing nightmares, phobias, and palpitations. Accordingly, the present study assessed the effectiveness of aromatherapy using M. officinalis in alleviating anxiety in cardiac patients. This study was conducted on 96 patients who were equally assigned into 2 groups on a quasi-random basis. The case group underwent aromatherapy in the CCU as a cotton patch measuring 15 * 15 cm soaked in three drops of M. officinalis extract and attached to their collar for 30 minutes twice a day during 3 successive days. However, the same treatment pattern was followed by the control group while they only received odorless sesame oil on a similar cotton patch attached to their collar. Furthermore, the patients completed the Spielberger anxiety questionnaire before the intervention, on the second day after the second phase of aromatherapy, and immediately after completion of the intervention. The data were analyzed using independent t test. Based on the findings, no statistically significant difference was observed in the mean total scores of anxiety between the 2 groups at pretest and during the treatment (P ≥ 0.05). However, there was a significant difference between the mean total scores of anxiety in both groups at the post-test (P ≤ 0.05). In general, aromatherapy with M. officinalis extract reduced anxiety in cardiac patients. This method, as one branch of complementary medicine, can exert positive effects on diminishing the anxiety of cardiac patients.

Self-confidence in adolescents gradually diminishes during puberty due to changes in identity and in their responsibilities. It decreases more in adolescents suffering from chronic disease of diabetes, in whom promotion of self-confidence for self-management behaviors, has a significantly positive effect. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of spiritual care on the self-confidence of adolescents with type 1 diabetes. This quasi-experimental clinical trial study was performed on 52 adolescents with type 1diabetes, selected through convenience sampling and randomly assigned in two groups, the intervention and control (n=26 each). The intervention was implemented daily for 6 sessions in the experimental group. Data were collected using the demographic and Rosenberg scale and analysis was done by SPSS-19 software. Descriptive and inferential statistics and repeated measure ANOVA, Mann-Whitney, Fisher, and Chi-square tests were used. The mean scores of self-confidence in the control group before/after the intervention, and also in the follow up period were 0.46, 1.5, and 1.46, respectively. The values in the intervention group were 3.92, 5.69, and 6.38, respectively. Results of analysis of variance showed the significant effects of intervention (p<0.001). The results indicate the effect of spiritual care on the self-confidence of adolescents with type 1 diabetes, emphasizing that nurses, as part of the health care system, must pay attention to spiritual care and its continuity in the care of these patients.

Background and Pain relief and reducing the interventions during labor is an essential aspect of obstetric care. Acupressure is one of the methods that is used to reduce pain and facilitate delivery. This study was designed to investigate the effect of acupressure before the onset of labor on the use of analgesics and oxytocin in term nulliparous women.
In this clinical trial, 162 pregnant women without any symptoms of labor were randomly divided into three groups: acupressure, sham acupressure and control group. The subjects were selected from Shahid Akbar Abadi Hospital in Tehran, 2015. Acupressure was performed in the Sp6, BL32, and BL60 at 39-40 weeks of gestation in low risk participants. They were then followed during labor. Statistical analysis was performed in SPSS 22.0 applying Chi-square, Kruskal-Wallis and ANOVA.
The use of analgesics during labor in the acupressure, sham acupressure, and control groups were 30%, 42%, and 50%, respectively and the Kruskal-Wallis test did not show a significant difference between the groups (P = 0.122). The use of oxytocin was 54% in the acupressure group, 58% in sham acupressure, and 78% in those who received routine care indicating statistically significant differences between the three groups (P = 0.028). The use of oxytocin was found to be lower in acupressure group compared with other groups.
Acupressure before labor decreased the consumption of oxytocin during labor. So it could be beneficial in decreasing interventions during labor.

Nowadays, air pollution in cities with regard to its harmful outcomes has been turned into one of the serious challenges in urban management. Pollutants as Carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and the aerosols that are known to be among the most important factors related to heart, vascular, and lung disease, have underlined public welfare and health, and the organizations concerned with community health undertake remarkable expenses for disease coming out of these pollutants per year. Awareness of the air situation and its quality over periods and the process of air pollutants’ changes in locations, and especially detection of high risk places can play an important and efficient role in urban health management and land use policy-making. In this paper, for the prediction of the possibility of occurring a pollutant in different locations, based on location information, one modern method of analysis entitled indicator kriging method is introduced. Since, nowadays, CO and PM10 are the two major pollutants in Tehran city, using the mentioned method, the probability of occurrence of each of them in Dey 1390 along with their accuracy is being measured and then a map is provided for the possible occurrence of these pollutants over the whole city of Tehran.