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Benzene is one of the most harmful VOCs pollutions which its control emission is a vital purpose in industries and environment. A new and efficient method based on solid phase gas extraction (SPGE) with Schiff base immobilized on MWCNTs (TerphApm@MWCNTs) as a novel sorbent was used for benzene removal from artificial air after loaded in Robson quartz tubes (RGT). The TerphApm@MWCNTs were synthesized and purified via heat treatment at 60 °C as a new heterogeneous sorbent. In bench scale set up, a system was designed and developed for standard gas generation of benzene in air with difference concentrations, and then was passed through RGT by SKC pump at optimized flow rate. Benzene volatile was absorbed on the TerphApm@MWCNTs and desorbed from it at 80 °C before determined by GC/FID. The important factors such as, temperature, humidity, benzene concentration, amount of adsorbent and flow rate were optimized. The recovery and capacity of benzene capture with 20 mg of TerphApm@MWCNTs were obtained 98% and 492 mg g−1 (25 °C). The flow rate and temperature had highly impact on the removal efficiency and adsorption capacity. According to results, the unique characterization of TerphApm@MWCNTs can be considered as a best adsorbent for benzene removal from air as compare to MWCNTs, SWCNTs, and NAC. Keywords: Benzene, Adsorption, Air pollutant, Schiff base immobilized on MWCNTs, Solid phase gas extraction

Background Metabolic syndrome (MetS) is a group of risk factors that are associated with increased risk for atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease. Objective The objective of this study was to determine the prevalence of metabolic syndrome and its individual components among Iranian bakery workers. Methods A cross-sectional study enrolling 163 randomly selected bakery workers from Semnan province (Northeast Iran), was conducted in 2017. A standard questionnaire was used for data collection. Analyses were performed using t-test, one-way ANOVA and Latent Class Analysis (LCA) in R software. Results The prevalence of MetS was 19.8% among bakery workers. More bakery workers with MetS had no regular exercise (p = 0.001) and worked more than eight hours a day (p = 0.001). In this study, the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) diagnostic criteria had more agreement with the American Heart Association (AHA) (49.1%) than the World Health Organization (WHO) and Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) criteria. Also, the National Cholesterol Education Program Adult Treatment Panel III (NCEP ATPIII) had the highest sensitivity for diagnosing MetS. The sensitivity of the four diagnostic methods, WHO, IDF, ATP and AHA, were 45.2%, 61.7%, 67.9% and 64.8%; and their specificity were 98.2%, 100%, 100% and 100%, respectively. Conclusion The prevalence of MetS is high among bakery workers in Iran. Increased physical activity and intake of fruit and vegetables are recommended for the prevention of MetS.

Introduction: Adverse patient outcomes have become a big concern in the quality of healthcare. Different factors can have an impact on the variety and rate of adverse patient outcomes. Objectives: The present study aimed at determining the rate of patient safety during events and evaluating nursing workloads as well as identifying the main factors that affect the incidence rate of patient safety events among nurses. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 293 nurses working in 24 wards of Baqiyatallah hospital in Tehran, Iran, in 2016. The sampling method was stratified random sampling. Data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire, which was classified into 4 subtitles: Individual and organizational characteristics, perceived subjective, objective workloads, and some patient safety events during the past 6 months. Binary and multiple regressions were used to survey the relationship between variables using the SPSS Version 23 software. Results: Bloodstream infection, pressure ulcer, and patient falls were the most reported adverse outcomes during the past 6 months with 76.1%, 66.2%, and 59%, respectively. At least one of the 6 adverse outcomes was reported by nurses within the range of 45%-77%. Of all individual characteristics, the only significant relationship occurred between work experience and bloodstream infection (P value = 0.28 and 0.32). No significant relationship was detected between adverse patient outcomes and objective workloads. Regression models revealed that the subjective workload of adverse patient outcomes increased with making adjustments in the individual and organizational characteristics. The incidence rates of adverse outcomes were 5.69-9.78 times more than the fixed shifts in all rotational shift works. Conclusions: The nurses reported a high incidence rate of all patient safety events, and the results revealed that the objective workload could not be a predictor for patient adverse events. According to the findings, subjective workload and work shift were significantly related to the incidence rate of adverse patient events. In conclusion, good regulation of sleep-wake cycles can be an important factor for decreasing the rate of adverse patient events.

Background: Manual handling of patients without using proper devices built for this purpose is the most important risk factor causing musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) among nursing staff. Objectives: The aim of the present study was to determine the prevalence of MSDs, assess the risk of manual handling of patients, and identify the risk factors related to the development of such disorders among nursing staff. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2015 and included 220 nurses from 24 wards who were working in Baqiyatallah hospital, Tehran, Iran; their duties mainly involved patient handling. The participants were selected based on the random stratified sampling method. In this study, the Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire, demographic questionnaire, movimentazione and assistenza di pazienti ospedalizzati (MAPO), and patient transfer assessment instrument (PTAI) methods were applied as data collection tools. In addition, Spearman correlation coefficients and binary and multiple logistic regressions were used to determine the possible relationships between the variables. Results: The prevalence of MSDs among the participants over the past 12 months was found to be 79.5%. The results for the risk factors showed that the lower back, neck, shoulders, and upper back were the most affected areas of the body. According to the MAPO and PTAI, 60% and 40% of the wards, respectively, are at risk of MSDs. A significant relationship between MAPO and PTAI was found, with a coefficient correlation of 0.252. Based on the statistical analysis, positively significant relationships were found between body mass index, gender, nurse-to-bed ratio, final PTAI and MAPO indices, and MSDs. Conclusions: The prevalence of MSDs among the nurses was high, and the occurrence of such disorders was found to be related to the scores of MAPO and PTAI indices. Based on the results, these two indices can be used as appropriate tools to assess the risk of MSDs in patient handling by nursing staff. The risk of developing MSDs can be lowered through interventional programs, such as providing and equipping hospitals with the tools required for patient handling and educating staff on how to properly use such devices. In addition, increasing the nurse-to-bed ratio will lower the burden for the nurses in patient handling.