Search

Background and Aims: Preventive behaviors against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) are important, and messages that create a sense of danger are necessary to create these behaviors. One of the widely used models for designing risk messages is the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM). The present study was conducted to investigate the factors related to protective behaviors against COVID‐19 in the personnel of the health department based on EPPM. Methods: In this cross‐sectional study, 699 personnel of the deputy health department of Chaharmahal and Bakhtiari province were included in the study by census method. Data were collected online using valid questionnaires, including demographic questions and history of contracting COVID‐19 and the questionnaire of EPPM constructs. Data were analyzed in SPSS24 software, using descriptive and analytical statistics. Results: The results showed that there were positive correlations between the protective behaviors and the constructs of perceived severity (p < 0.001, r = 0.542), perceived susceptibility (p < 0.001, r = 0.260), self‐efficacy (p < 0.001, r = 0.594), response efficiency (p > 0.001, r = 0.522), and risk control (p > 0.001, r = 0.501). There was a negative correlation between protective behaviors and fear control (p < 0.001, r = 0.329). The results of multiple linear regression showed that these six constructs explained 49.8% of protective behaviors against COVID‐19, among which the role of the perceived severity construct was stronger than other constructs. Conclusion: Regarding the results, it is suggested that the results of this research be used in the development of training programs to improve protective behaviors in high‐traffic offices, and by focusing on fear and risk control. Highlights: The Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) model was suitable for predicting protective behaviors against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID‐19) disease.Except for the fear control construct, the rest of the constructs of the EPPM model are correlated with protective behaviors against the COVID‐19 disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. The outbreak of COVID-19 reduced social interactions and access to healthcare centers, affecting older people’s self-care ability and quality of life. Low quality of life was associated with a higher mortality rate in older people with COVID-19; thus, large measures should be taken in this field. Objectives. The present study aimed to determine the correlation between self-care at home and older people’s quality of life in Pol-e Dokhtar City during the COVID-19 pandemic. Material and methods. The present cross-sectional and descriptive study was conducted by random sampling on 300 older people in Pol-e Dokhtar City. Three questionnaires acquired the data: the demographic information questionnaire, the standard older people self-care questionnaire and the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQoL-BREF) questionnaire, which were analyzed using SPSS 22 software. Results. The total self-care score was low, and older age was associated with decreased self-care and quality of life. An increased education level enhanced the levels of self-care and quality of life. The psychological and social self-care scores were directly associated with the rise in the quality of life score. The use of insurance increased self-care and quality of life. Retired older people had higher self-care, but employed older people had a higher quality of life. Conclusions. Variables such as psychological and social self-care could predict older people’s quality of life during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, educational interventions, social-cultural and recreational sports activities and spiritual, material and emotional support should be done to improve older people’s self-care and quality of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water has been the source of life since it was found. In recent years, the false assurance of the permanence of water services in Iran has led to the creation of institutional structures related to water in an inappropriate and incompatible manner with environmental changes, and when water crises occur, such as droughts, floods, and, on a larger scale, climate changes, they do not have the flexibility and resilience to these changes. To this end, recognizing the current water governance system in the country is considered an essential need. The present study examines the regime of water governance and its structural characteristics in the Kor River basin, which is one of the areas facing water shortage challenges. In order to analyze these characteristics and determine the regime of the water governance system, the method of social network analysis (SNA) was used in the network of formal and informal institutions of Kherameh county downstream of the Kor River basin. This research has been done in a period of 9 months and includes designing questionnaires, field visits, completing questionnaires and analyzing the results. The results showed that the water governance network in this region has an unstable and weak structure and as a result, the level of cooperation and coordination between the institutions is low and the level of power centralization is high. As a result, the governing regime is centralized, and therefore, the establishment of a polycentric governance system requires the improvement of horizontal relations between formal and informal institutions and protection and development institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reductions in the age of onset of smoking in adolescence is a public health concern. Evidence suggests that infrastructural factors play an important role in adolescent smoking behavior. Therefore, the present study aimed to perform a psychometric analysis of the questionnaire of infrastructural factors on smoking behavior and evaluate the theoretical framework with a path analysis approach in adolescents in Isfahan, Iran. A total of 340 adolescents in Isfahan, Iran selected using simple random stratified cluster sampling were included in the present psychometric cross-sectional research. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire of infrastructural factors. The participants' mean age was16.67(0.98) years. The total corrected item-total correlations index was 0.714. Considering the three-factor assumption of the present study and identification of two factors, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was performed simultaneously in both models. The results of path analysis showed acceptable goodness of fit for the explanatory model of infrastructural factors. This study proposed a reliable and valid explanatory model of infrastructural factors and its questionnaire for smoking behavior. The questionnaire can also be utilized in future research on smoking behavior in adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reductions in the age at onset of smoking to adolescence is a public health concern. Evidence suggests that cognitive factors(CF)play an important role in adolescent smoking behavior. the present study aimed to perform a psychometric analysis of the questionnaire of CF on smoking behavior and evaluate the theoretical framework with a path analysis approach in adolescents in Isfahan, Iran. This psychometric cross-sectional study recruited a sample of 340 adolescents selected by simple random stratified clustered sampling in Isfahan in 2019. The data were collected using a researcher-made questionnaire on cognitive variables based on Bandura's social cognitive theory. The participants' mean age was16.67(0.98) years. The content validity index, content validity ratio, and total corrected item-total correlations index of the questionnaire of CF were 0.79, 0.56, and 0.362 respectively. The results of confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable goodness of fit for the first and second-order measurement models of cognitive variables and the results of path analysis showed acceptable goodness of fit for the explanatory model of CF. This study proposed a reliable and valid explanatory model of CF and its questionnaire for smoking behavior. The questionnaire can also be utilized in future research on smoking behavior in adolescents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smoking is one of the leading causes of mortality in the world. Evidence suggests that environmental factors (EF) play an important role in adolescent smoking behavior. Therefore, the present study aimed to perform a psychometric analysis of the questionnaire of EF on smoking behavior and evaluate the theoretical framework with a path analysis approach in adolescents in Isfahan, Iran. This psychometric cross-sectional study recruited a sample of 340 adolescents selected by simple random stratified clustered sampling in Isfahan in 2019. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire of EF. The participants' mean age was 16.67 (0.98) years. The content validity index and content validity ratio of the questionnaire of EF were 0.8 and 0.58, respectively, and its total corrected item-total correlations index was 0.377. The results of confirmatory factor analysis showed acceptable goodness of fit for the first-order measurement model of environmental variables, and the results of path analysis showed acceptable goodness of fit for the explanatory model of EF. The present study provided a valid and reliable explanatory model of EF of smoking behavior and its related questionnaire, so it can be used in studies related to adolescent smoking behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the past decades, Vehicular Ad hoc Networks (VANETs) have been increasingly developed. Providing secure and efficient communication is essential in VANETs. One of most important challenges in the secure and efficient communications is proposing an appropriate authentication scheme. In this paper, we suggest an efficient and novel authentication scheme for VANETs. In the proposed scheme, vehicles authenticate each other without any limitation such as need for group of signers, online Road Side Units (RSUs), a set of pseudo identities and tamper-proof devices. Moreover, our simulation shows that the proposed scheme is well designed and efficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Head louse, pediculosis capitis, is a major health problem in the world. Head louse infestation is still common in many countries including Iran. It causes serious health problems in many communities particularly among the school-age children. The aim of this study was to determine the major factors in an outbreak of pediculosis capitis in students of Bahar in 2011. Methods: All confirmed and recorded cases that were diagnosed in an outbreak of pediculosis capitis in students of Bahar in Hamedan province in October-December 2011 were included in this study and their demographic and epidemiological data were analyzed. Results: Among all of the 17722 students in Bahar, 1217 (6.74%) were infested. From these infested students, 98.1% were female, 59.8% resided in urban area and 57.6% were studying in primary schools. Statistically significant relationships were found between head lice infestation, and factors such as sex, residency status and level of education of the students (P<0.05). Conclusuion: This is the first time that an outbreak of head lice infestation was reported in Bahar city among students. As it is probable that personal and public hygiene by seasonal and nomadic migrant workers was the primary cause of the outbreak providing facilities for workers and upgrading the knowledge of these workers', people and students about the prevention and treatment of infested cases is essential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cancer is a group of diseases that have received much attention in biological research because of its high mortality rate and the lack of accurate identification of its root causes. In such studies, researchers usually try to identify cancer driver genes (CDGs) that start cancer in a cell. The majority of the methods that have ever been proposed for the identification of CDGs are based on gene expression data and the concept of mutation in genomic data. Recently, using networking techniques and the concept of influence maximization, some models have been proposed to identify these genes., Objectives: We aimed to construct the cancer transcriptional regulatory network and identify cancer driver genes using a network science approach without the use of mutation and genomic data., Materials and Methods: In this study, we will employ the social influence network theory to identify CDGs in the human gene regulatory network (GRN) that is based on the concept of influence and power of webpages. First, we will create GRN Networks using gene expression data and Existing nodes and edges. Next, we will implement the modified algorithm on GRN networks being studied by weighting the regulatory interaction edges using the influence spread concept. Nodes with the highest ratings will be selected as the CDGs., Results: The results show our proposed method outperforms most of the other computational and network-based methods and show its superiority in identifying CDGs compared to many other methods. In addition, the proposed method can identify many CDGs that are overlooked by all previously published methods., Conclusions: Our study demonstrated that the Google's PageRank algorithm can be utilized and modified as a network-based method for identifying cancer driver gene in transcriptional regulatory network. Furthermore, the proposed method can be considered as a complementary method to the computational-based cancer driver gene identification tools., (Copyright: © 2021 The Author(s); Published by Iranian Journal of Biotechnology.)