Search

Background and Objectives: Leadership style of head-nurses and clinical competency of nurses have a crucial role in developing of healthcare services quality. Recent studies showed differences between leadership styles and clinical competency of nurses in public and private hospitals. Therefore , this study aimed to assess leadership styles of head-nurses and clinical competency of nurses in public and private hospitals of Ahvaz. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 67 head-nurses and 335 nurses in public and private hospitals of Ahvaz during 2014. Head-nurses and nurses were selected through census and systemic sampling methods, respectively. Data was collected by Burdens & Metzcus Leadership Behavior questionnaire and Meretoja questionnaire, and was analyzed using chi-square test and independent t-test. Results: Most of the head-nurses in the public (%52.9) and private (%57.5) hospitals had relationship-oriented leadership style, and no significant difference was observed between leadership styles of the head-nurses in the two kinds of the hospitals (p=0.703). The nurses in the private hospitals (125.32±8.41) had significantly higher clinical competency compared to the nurses in the public hospitals (118.22±9.51) (p=0.002). Conclusion: The results showed more clinical competency in the nurses of the private hospitals compared to the public hospitals. Due to scanty of studies in this regard, further investigations are recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives Brucellosis is an infectious zoonotic disease that continues to be of public health and economic concerns in many parts of the world. Since Iran is an endemic area for brucellosis, this study was conducted to look into the sero-prevalence of brucellosis in blood donors in Khuzestan province, South West of Iran. Materials and Methods In the cross-sectional study, 3000 sera were obtained from blood donors having referred to transfusion centers of Khuzestan cities in 2011. Sera were screened for serological evidence of brucellosis using the Rose Bengal Plate Test (RBST), Standard Tube Agglutination Test (STAT), and the 2-Mercapto ethanol (2ME) test. A titer of ⩾ 1/80 for STAT and a titer of ⩾ 1/40 for 2ME were taken as criteria of brucellosis. Data were analyzed by SPSS 18 software and Chi test. Results Seropositivity rates of brucellosis in blood donors were 1.7%, 1.46%, and 0.56% by RBPT, STAT, and 2ME, respectively. There was no statistical correlation between brucellosis and sex or age groups (p = 0.26 and p = 0.56, respectively). The highest rates of brucellosis seroprevalence was found in Izeh (1.7%) and the lowest in Ahvaz (0.2%). The area of living and season were significantly associated with brucellosis (p = 0.032 and p = 0.019, respectively). Conclusions Based on the results, the Seroprevalence of brucellosis in blood donors at Khuzestan province is greater than expected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The first purpose of this study was to investigate the rate of oral and laryngeal Diadochokinesis (DDK) in Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients in comparison with healthy people. The second goal was to determine if DDK rate has any relationship with the disease progression.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, two groups were enrolled: MS patients (n=31) and healthy subjects (n=14) . The samples of DDK tasks were collected. The scores of Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS) and duration of disease were considered as the indices of disease progression.Results: There were significant differences between the two groups in the rates of all DDK tasks (P≤0.001). Significant correlations were found between laryngeal DDK tasks and disease progression (r = - 0.488, r = -0.396, r = -0.444, r = - 0.667, P ≤ 0.027). Two oral DDK tasks were in correlation with EDSS and the disease duration (r = -0.403, r = -0.446, r =-0.521, r = -0.465, p≤0.025). There were high correlations between functional systems of EDSS (pyramidal, cerebellar and brainstem) and DDK tasks (r = - 0.448, r = -452, r = -0.458, r =-0.379, P ≤ 0.036).Conclusions: In the present study, poor performance in DDK tasks provided evidence for insufficient motor control over related speech subsystems in MS. These findings suggest that DDK rate is a sensitive beneficial speech motor control assessment in MS. Moreover, DDK tasks might be introduced as additional prognostic parameters for detecting disease progression and evaluating treatment achievements.

Oils shales are the largest energy resource in the world and are widely used in the development of industrial fuel and petroleum activities. Oil shale is one of the important mineral resources in Morocco and it has a large reserve, the most important of which is of Timahdit, Tarfaya, and Tangier. Nowadays, the increasing concentration of toxic organic species (Antibiotics, Colorants) in soils and domestic, agricultural, and industrial wastewater has become a major environmental concern. for this reason, we have focused on the interactions of raw oil shale deposits with toxic organic species as part of an additional valuation of national energy resources. Our work is focused on the contribution of organic matter on antibiotic retention, as well as the role of hydrophobic interactions on the molecules-mineral surfaces. The results of the characterizations show the possible contribution of raw oil shales in the accumulation of organic pollutants in soil and water. Thermally treated oil shell powders can be good mineral sorbents for environmental cleaning.