Iranian Journal of Public Health
Volume:39 Issue: 4, Winter 2010

The nutrients are able to interact with molecular mechanisms and modulate the physiological functions in the body. The Nutri­tional Genomics focuses on the interaction between bioactive food components and the genome, which includes Nutrigenet­ics and Nutrigenomics. The influence of nutrients on f genes expression is called Nutrigenomics, while the heterogene­ous response of gene variants to nutrients, dietary components and developing nutraceticals is called Nutrigenet­ics. Genetic variation is known to affect food tolerances among human subpopulations and may also influence dietary require­ments and raising the possibility of individualizing nutritional intake for optimal health and disease prevention on the ba­sis of an individual's genome. Nutrigenomics provides a genetic understanding for how common dietary components af­fect the balance between health and disease by altering the expression and/or structure of an individual's genetic makeup. Nutrige­netics describes that the genetic profile have impact on the response of body to bioactive food components by influenc­ing their absorption, metabolism, and site of action.In this way, considering different aspects of gene-nutrient interac­tion and designing appropriate diet for every specific genotype that optimize individual health, diagnosis and nutri­tional treatment of genome instability, we could prevent and control conversion of healthy phenotype to diseases.

Understanding customers has become an urgent topic for increasing competitiveness. The purpopse of the study was to develop a qualitative dynamic attribute value model which provides insight into the customer's value for healthcare institute managers by conducting the initial open-ended questionnaire survey to select participants purposefully. A total number of 427 questionnaires was conducted in two hospitals in Taiwan (one district hospital with 635 beds and one academic hospital with 2495 beds) and 419 questionnaires were received in nine weeks. Then, apply qualitative in-depth interviews to explore customer's perspective of values for building a model of partial differential equations. This study concludes nine categories of value, including cost, equipment, physician background, physicain care, environment, timing arrangement, relationship, brand image and additional value, to construct objective network for customer value and qualitative dynamic attribute value model where the network shows the value process of loyalty development via its effect on customer satisfaction, customer relationship, customer loyalty and healthcare service. One set predicts the customer relationship based on comminent, including service quality, communication and em­pahty. As the same time, customer loyalty based on trust, involves buzz marketing, brand and image. Customer value of the current instance is useful for traversing original customer attributes and identifing customers on different service share.

Exposure to formaldehyde (FA) causes irritative effects and induces nasopharyngeal cancer; the Interna­tional Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC, Lyon) classified FA as carcinogenic to humans, Group 1. Many studies have been published so far concerning the occupational exposure of industrial workers, embalmers, pathologists and anatomists to FA but very few data regarding medical examiners are available. To assess the extent to which subjects were exposed to FA, airborne concentrations of this chemical were measured by High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC). In September-October 2006 we examined the person­nel, which worked in an autopsy room (medical examiners) and in three laboratories of pathologic anatomy of the Uni­versity Medical School of Bari, Policlinico Hospital, Southern Italy. Irritative effects were also investigated. All the personal exposure data obtained exceeded the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health Threshold Limit Value-Time Weighted Average (NIOSH TLV-TWA: 0.02 mg/m3) and, in a few cases, even the Ameri­can Conference of Industrial Hygienists Threshold Limit Value-Ceiling level (ACGIH TLV-C: 0.37 mg/m3). Irritative effects in more than 50% of the workers enrolled, increasing the risk of injuries.

Fusarium species are capable of causing a wide range of crop plants infections as well as uncommon hu­man infections. Many species of the genus produce mycotoxins, which are responsible for acute or chronic diseases in ani­mals and humans. Identification of Fusaria to the species level is necessary for biological, epidemiological, pathologi­cal, and toxicological purposes. In this study, we undertook a computer-based analysis of ITS1-5.8SrDNA-ITS2 in 192 GenBank sequences from 36 Fusarium species to achieve data for establishing a molecular method for spe­cie-specific identification. Sequence data and 610 restriction enzymes were analyzed for choosing RFLP profiles, and subsequently de­signed and validated a PCR-restriction enzyme system for identification and typing of species. DNA extracted from 32 refer­ence strains of 16 species were amplified using ITS1 and ITS4 universal primers followed by sequencing and restric­tion enzyme digestion of PCR products. The following 3 restriction enzymes TasI, ItaI and CfoI provide the best discriminatory power. Using ITS1 and ITS4 primers a product of approximately 550bp was observed for all Fusarium strains, as expected regarding the se­quence analyses. After RFLP of the PCR products, some species were definitely identified by the method and some strains had different patterns in same species. Our profile has potential not only for identification of species, but also for genotyping of strains. On the other hand, some Fusarium species were 100% identical in their ITS-5.8SrDNA-ITS2 sequences, therefore differentia­tion of these species is impossible regarding this target alone. ITS-PCR-RFLP method might be useful for preliminary differ­entiation and typing of most common Fusarium species.

Neisseria meninigitidis is one of the most frequently encountered microorganisms associated with central nervous system infections. The aim of this study was to evaluate a PCR-based assay for specific and rapid detection of N. meninigitidis in CSF specimens. Since April 2002 to July 2006, 130 CSF specimens were collected from patients suspected of having bacterial meningitis. Bacterial isolation and identification was carried out according to the standard bacteriological methods. The PCR was used to amplify a 101bp fragment of capsular transport gene A (ctrA) of N. meningitidis. PCR yielded an amplified product with the expected size of 101 base pair fragment. Sensitivity test proved 500 ng of N. meningitidis DNA as the final detection limit and specificity test revealed no cross-reaction for a wide range of res­pira­tory pathogenic organisms. The PCR assay was more sensitive than the bacterial culturing. It might be possible to apply this procedure for rapid diagnosis of meningococci in clinical samples.

Determining real effects on internet dependency is too crucial with unbiased and robust statistical method. MARS is a new non-parametric method in use in the literature for parameter estimations of cause and effect based research. MARS can both obtain legible model curves and make unbiased parametric predictions. In order to examine the performance of MARS, MARS findings will be compared to Classification and Regres­sion Tree (C&RT) findings, which are considered in the literature to be efficient in revealing correlations between variables. The data set for the study is taken from "The Internet Addiction Scale" (IAS), which attempts to reveal addiction levels of individu­als. The population of the study consists of 754 secondary school students (301 female, 443 male students with 10 miss­ing data). MARS 2.0 trial version is used for analysis by MARS method and C&RT analysis was done by SPSS. MARS obtained six base functions of the model. As a common result of these six functions, regression equation of the model was found. Over the predicted variable, MARS showed that the predictors of daily Internet-use time on average, the purpose of Internet- use, grade of students and occupations of mothers had a significant effect (P< 0.05). In this compara­tive study, MARS obtained different findings from C&RT in dependency level prediction. The fact that MARS revealed extent to which the variable, which was considered significant, changes the charac­ter of the model was observed in this study.

We examined a molecular method with a single-PCR for amplification of a part of CP5 gene enabling us to differen­tiate the pathogenic species, Entamoeba histolytica, from the non-pathogenic species, E. dispar. We developed a single PCR method for this purpose. After investigation of GenBank, primer pairs were de­signed from highly conserved regions of cysteine proteinase (CP5) gene. The primers were utilized in PCR using isolated ge­nomic DNA template of E. histolytica and the PCR products were then sequenced. The same primer and method for PCR was used for isolated genomic DNA template of E. dispar. A fragment of about 950 bp was isolated in PCR by using DNA from E. histolytica, however, no banding pattern was produced by using the same primers for E. dispar. We characterized CP5 gene at molecular level in E. histolytica iso­lates from 22 positive; including 20 non-dysentery samples isolated from both cities as well as two dysentery samples iso­lated only from Tabriz. Nucleotide sequence comparison in gene data banks (NCBI, NIH) revealed significant homology with CP5 gene in E. histolytica isolates We developed a PCR method, which could detect simply and rapidly E. histolytica by amplifying a specific PCR fragment.

Health locus of control (HLC) has been associated with a variety of ailments and health outcomes and de­signed to predict behaviors and cognitive processes relevant to mental and physical health. This study investigated the relation­ships between perceived health locus of control, self-esteem, and mental health status among Iranian students. In this analytical study the subjects were recruited from students in Gonabad University of Medical Sci­ences, Iran, who studied in the first year (N=154). Students completed the questionnaires for assessing demographic, per­ceived health locus of control, self - esteem and psychological well- being data. The statistical analysis revealed a negative relationship between perceived Internal HLC and self-esteem with psychologi­cal well-being. The positive correlation of the perceived Chance HLC with psychological well-being was statisti­cally significant (r= 0.21, P< 0.01) and the positive correlation of the perceived Internal HLC with self-esteem was statisti­cally significant (r= 0.25, P< 0.01). A significantly direct relationship between low perceived Internal HLC, self-esteem and psychological problems was found among these students. The findings will be addressed in relation to their implications for effective mental health education based on health locus of control especially internal and powerful others beliefs associated with self-esteem for students. This will re­quire additional monitoring and uninterrupted trying in order to be effective.

Anthropometric data can be used to identify the physical dimensions of equipment, furniture, etc. The use of furni­ture that fails to fulfill the anthropometric data of its users has a negative impact on human health. Specific anthropomet­ric dimensions are necessary to design school furniture. Anthropometric data have been measured in many communi­ties especially among schoolchildren. There are different ethnic groups with probably different anthropometric data in Iran, and anthropometric data can change by time, so gathering data about anthropometric dimensions is important. This study was designed to obtain anthropometric dimensions of Iranian children (Fars ethnicity) aged 7-11 years. In a cross-sectional study in Yazd, Iran, descriptive statistics as well as key percentiles for 17 static anthropomet­ric data of primary school students (1015 males and 1015 females), were measured and compared between boys and girls. The age of the students was between 6 and 11 years. Mean weight was between 21.56±5.33 kg and 36.63±9.45 kg in boys and between 20.79±3.48 kg and 35.88±9.40 kg in girls. Mean height was between 1187/02±53.98 mm and 1420.83± 69.39 mm in boys and between 1173.90±51.01mm and 1421.27±70.82 mm in girls. There was also some differ­ence in other anthropometric data between two genders. Results of this study showed some differences in anthropometric data with other studies. We also observed signifi­cant gender differences in some dimensions as well.

The purpose of this study was to determine the age- related loss of health-related physical fitness and norma­tive data in healthy population women aged 20-60 years old of Tehran, Iran. In this cross-sectional study, 1000 healthy women aged 20-60 years old were randomly selected from northern, south­ern, eastern, western and center regions of Tehran. Cardiovascular fitness was determined by Ros and Jakson protocol. Body composition were measured using Jackson and Poolak procedure, flexibility was determined by sit and reach test, muscu­lar strength with a standard dynamometer and muscular endurance were measured with Sit-ups test in one minutes. Cardiovascular fitness (vo2max), body composition, flexibility, muscular strength and endurance remained un­changed in the 20 and 30 year old age groups. Around of 40 years old, cardiovascular fitness, muscular strength and endur­ance began to gradually decline but body composition increased and flexibility unchanged. Data for Vo2max and the other vari­ables in 4-yr groups provide "normative" results. Result indicated age- related declined in Vo2max (0.43 ml/ kg/min× yr (-1)), muscular strength (0.004 kg/weight ×yr (-1)) and endurance (0.63 repetition ×yr (-1)), and increased in body fat (0.43 % ×yr (-1)) in 30-60 year. One-way ANOVA test showed that all variables significantly differed (P<0.001) among dec­ades except sit and rich test (P< 0.059) between the second and third decades. Vo2max had a significant relationship (P< 0.01) with Age, BMI, body fat percent and muscular strength and endurance. Iranian women have a greater decline in cardiovascular fitness; muscular strength and endurance. The results of this study can be used as reference material for clinical studies in different age groups.

Health system pharmacies, like other health care professional, practice under a number of mandated stan­dards. Basic concepts of quality assurance (QA) standards should be applied to hospital pharmacy practice. The survey re­ported here is to assess QA system implementation and its standard indicators observation in Tehran University of Medical Sci­ences (TUMS) hospital's pharmacies in 2007 - 2008. A cross - sectional, descriptive analytical survey was accomplished. First, a checklist within the framework of QA standard indicators was made to assess TUMS hospitals pharmacies practice. Collected data was saved by Excel soft­ware for recording and analyzed by SPSS version-15. Observation rate of QA standard indicators was classified by inappropri­ate, relatively appropriate, and appropriate. Characteristics of TUMS hospitals pharmacists organizational structure, size, equipment, safety facility and drug require­ment were studied by QA standard indicators. Many of QA standard indicators are observed and implemented in TUMS hospitals pharmacies, but several of these standards are not observed too. It is appropriate that all TUMS hospitals pharmacies are required to advance the profes­sion, often with the same goal of increasing involvement in direct patient care.

The goal of this study was to determine the application of health belief model in oral health education for 12-year-old children and its effect on oral health behaviors and indexes. A quasi- experimental study was carried out on twelve-year-old girl students (n-291) in the first grade of secon­dary school, in the central district of Tehran, Iran. Research sample was selected by a multistage cluster sampling. The data was obtained by using a valid reliable questionnaire for measuring the perceptions, a checklist for observing the quality of brush­ing and dental flossing and health files and clinical observation. First, a descriptive study was applied to individual percep­tions, oral behaviors, Oral Hygiene Index (OHI) and Decayed, Missing and Filled Teeth Index (DMFTI). Then an educa­tional planning based on the results and Health Belief Model (HBM) was applied. The procedure was repeated after six months. After education, based on HBM, all the oral health perceptions increased (P<.05). Correct brushing and flossing are influenced by increased perceptions. A low correlation between the reduction of DMFTI and increased perceived sever­ity and increased perceived barriers are found (r= -0.28, r = 0.43 respectively). In addition, there was a limited correlation be­tween OHI and increased perceived benefits (r = -0.26). Using health belief model in oral health education for increasing the likelihood of taking preventive oral health be­haviors is applicable.

. The aim of this study was to investigate of relationship of musculoskeletal symptoms with weight of backpack in Tehran secondary school students. This cross-sectional study was performed in the city of Tehran in 2009. Two hundred thirteen students partici­pated in study. Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire was used, asking about complaints of back, neck, and/or shoulders. Length and weight of the children were determined. Schoolbags were weighed, and the relative weight of the schoolbag was calculated. Most prevalent discomfort was in shoulders as 38.1%, neck 27.6% and back 16.7%. Average difference of weight of backpack in sample that had musculoskeletal with other samples was significant (P< 0.05).

The oral health-related quality of life indicators are increasingly used to measure the impact of the oral condi­tions on quality of life. One of the most used indicators is the Oral Health Impact Profile (OHIP-14), but it has never been ap­plied in Iran. The aim of this study was to validate the usage of OHIP-14 among Iranians. A cross-sectional study was performed in Kerman (Iran). A consecutive sample (n= 400) of the Kerman Dental School Clinics attending patients participated in this study. All participants self-completed the translated OHIP-14. Reliabil­ity analyses, validity tests, and responsiveness were carried out to evaluate the psychometric properties of the OHIP-14. The reliability coefficient (Cronbach's alpha) of the OHIP-14 was above the recommended 0.7 threshold and consid­ered excellent (alpha: 0.85). The coefficient of the test-retest reliability measured by ICC was 0.88 (CI 95%: 0.80-0.93). Poorer oral condition was strongly associated with OHIP scores of the patients, supporting construct validity. More­over, for evaluation of responsiveness, the ES was measured to be 0.43 and the SRM was 0.67. The Persian version of OHIP-14 is a precise, valid and reliable instrument for assessing oral health-re­lated quality of life among Persian population

Respiratory virus infections in children are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. A total of 897 clinical specimens were collected from February 2007 to January 2008 and transported to the Na­tional Influenza Center. Two hundred and two samples belonged to children under the age of six from 897 specimens, de­scribed above, were selected. Then they were tested for influenza virus types and subtypes by real time PCR assay subse­quently, the specimens were tested for RSV and hMPV by hemi-nested multiplex PCR and parainfluenza viruses type 1-4 by hemi-nested multiplex PCR and adenovirus by hemi-nested PCR. The throat swab was taken from the Kawasaki case with the history of chicken`s contact. The specimen was tested for all influenza subtypes especially H5N1 and the results were negative. Meanwhile PCR was done for screening of other respira­tory viruses that results came out positive for RSV and hMPV. In the present study, we demonstrated the possibility to detect dual infection caused by RSV and hMPV, but be­cause of the extravagant pattern of this case, more investigation is suggested specially on Kawasaki patients.