نشریه دانشگاه علوم پزشکی خراسان شمالی
سال نهم شماره 4 (زمستان 1396)

Today, the presence of organic and toxic pollutants is considered one of the most serious environmental problems of the world in water resources. Based on this, methods have been developed to treatment wastewater containing toxic pollutants. In recent years, one of the methods considered by researchers is the process of adsorbing contaminants with magnetic nanoparticle. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to investigate the absorption of 2,4-D herbicide from aqueous solution by a Fe3O4@SiO2-NH2 synthesized nanoparticle.
Material & The synthesis of Fe3O4@SiO2-NH2 is done by co-precipitation methods. The characteristics of prepared adsorbent were determined by SEM, FTIR, XRD and EDX. In this study, we have investigated the effects of pH, initial concentration of pollutant, absorbent dose, at the time of 0-120 min on the removal efficiency of 2,4-D from aqueous solutions. Also, the kinetic equations and equilibrium isotherm studies were conducted.
The optimum pH and contact time obtained was 6 and 30 minutes, respectively. Also, increasing contact time from the onset of the process to the balance time of 60 minutes, the absorption capacity of 2,4-D is raised 65.3%. The results of the kinetic equations and isotherms showed that the process of adsorption of the 2,4-D follows the second order kinetic equation and Langmuir isotherm((R2> 0.99). Also, the investigation from thermodynamic parameters showed that the adsorption is endothermic and spontaneous.
The results of the adsorption experiments showed that the application of synthesized nanoparticles Fe3O4@SiO2-NH2 is a good method for the removal of 2,4-D due to quick and easy separation and no secondary pollution in solution.

In universities and organizations, professional ethics are under the influence of organizational culture. Organizational culture is a set of shared meanings and values, which connect members together. The present study aimed at investigating the relationship between organizational culture and professional ethics among the faculty members of North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences, Bojnourd, Iran.
The current descriptive, analytical research was conducted on 83 faculty members of North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences through census in 2015. Professional ethics and organizational culture questionnaires were used to collect data. Data were analyzed by one-sample t test, Pearson correlation coefficient, and ANOVA with SPSS version 19.
The mean scores of organizational culture and professional ethics subscales were 162.1 ± 20.8 and 63.5 ± 5.2, respectively. The mean score of organizational culture was at enough good level, while that of professional ethics good. There was no significant relationship between organizational culture and professional ethics in the current study (P > 0.05). There was also no significant relationship between organizational culture and professional ethics in terms of age, gender, and work experience; a significant relationship was only observed between the level of education and professional ethics in the studied population (P Based on the viewpoints of the studied faculty members, professional ethics is at good level in North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences. To institutionalize professional ethics in the university, the managers and officials are recommended to take con.

Hydatidosis is one of the most common diseases in humans and livestocks caused by the larval stage of Echinococcus granulosus. The hydatid cyst are occurred in different organs of humans as the intermediate hosts. The economic burden of the disease in Iran is very high.
The current retrospective study was conducted from 2007 to the beginning of 2015 in hospitals and health centers of Bojnourd, Iran, on 90 people who underwent surgery for hydatid cyst. In 60 subjects protoscolex was observed in the germ layer tissue of hydatid cyst studied using DNA extraction and molecular phylogenetic methods.
A total of 90 patients were enrolled in the current study and followed up for 6 years. Based on the results obtained from enzymatic restriction of ITS1, RsaI, and HpaII, and COX1 sequences, all species isolated in the current study were sheep strain (G1). The COX1 gene sequences were registered in GeneBank with accession numbers KY485993 to KY486007. Phylogenetic analysis of COXI sequences showed the highest likelihood with G1 sheep strain using the maximal likelihood method.
Based on the demographic characteristics of the patients, the genotype of the parasite, and host-parasite relationships, the apropriate treatment and tramsmisson pattern are easy to achieve; moreover, proper prevention programs can be performes for rural sectors.

Low serum vitamin D levels, and obesity/overweight are 2 common complications of teenagers. The current study aimed at examining the effect of high intensity interval training (HIIT) on serum levels of vitamin D and anthropometric parameters in adolescents with overweight.
A total of 96 students from 2 schools of District 5 of Tehran Municipality, Iran, were selected using the random cluster sampling method and assigned into 2 groups of intervention and control. In the intervention group, the HIIT training program was performed 3 times a week in 40-minute sessions for the total of 6 weeks, while in the control group, the program was limited to walking around the school yard. In 2 stages, before and after the intervention, blood samples were taken from participants and their anthropometric parameters were measured. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure serum vitamin D level in the study participants. Anthropometric parameters including weight, body mass index (BMI), fat mass, and lean body mass were measured by a digital scale and a bioimpedance analyzer.
Serum vitamin D level increased significantly at the end of the training program in the intervention group compare with the control group (P = 0.003). There was no significant difference in the anthropometric measures between the intervention and control groups as well as the pretest and posttest anthropometric measures of the intervention group.
Based on the results of the current study, HIIT training program improved serum vitamin D level in adolescents with overweight compare with the controls, but it had no impacts on the anthropometric measures. Further studies on genders, different age.

Iodine deficiency is associated with a wide range of disorders such as goiter and hypothyroidism. The present study aimed at evaluating the levels of urinary iodine (UIE), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), and thyroid hormones (FT3 and FT4) as well as their intercorrelations in thyroids dysfunction among the operating room staff in Bojnurd, North Khorasan Province, Iran.
The current descriptive-analytical study was performed on 65 operating room staff in Bojnurd, in 2014. After obtaining the informed consent from all the participants, a demographic questionnaire was completed for each of them. Then, serum FT4, FT3, TSH, and anti-TPO (anti-thyroid peroxidase antibodies) as well as UIE levels were measured for each subject. Results of the clinical tests were analyzed with SPSS version 21 using chi-square test and logistic regression. P In the current study, 65 subjects were studied of which 49 (75.4%) were female and 16 (24.6%) male. The mean age of the participants was 32.08 ± 7.9 years. Level of TSH in 93.8% of the cases was within the normal range and 6.2% had above normal measures. FT4 and FT3 levels in 95.5% of the cases were normal and in 5.1% above normal limits. The mean UIE in 81.5.8% of the current study cases was normal.
Based on the results obtained in the current study, none of the subjects had iodine deficiency. Given that the current study findings cannot be generalized to the total population of North Khorasan Province, further studies to evaluate iodine status in larger sample sizes are recommended.

Total iron binding capacity (TIBC) assay is important investigation of body iron state. The most common method is chemical-precipitation reference method with pre-analysis step. New diagnostic approaches for direct measurement of TIBC have been proposed to streamline and reducing the time of analysis. The aim of study was to compare of accuracy and precision of TIBC direct assay with precipitation method.
Under standard laboratory condition, twenty-five individual's serum samples for each of the low, normal and high TIBC levels were analyzed by both precipitation and direct methods. To investigate of analytical accuracy and precision, the ssayedcommercial serum-control was used.
There were not significant difference between different serum-TIBC levels which analyzed by precipitation and direct methods (P=0.25, P=0.17 and P=0.34 for ow, normal and high levels, respectively); however, there were more differences between serum-TIBC that analyzed by precipitation method. To investigate of within-run -run 9%) for precipitation and direct methods, respectively. However, there were not significant differences in accuracy and precision between two methods (P=0.53).
The results showed that despite of allowable accuracy and no significant differences between precipitation and direct methods of TIBC measurement, because of lower standard deviation and CV%, and also simplicity of direct assay, it is suggested that the direct assay can be replace instead of precipitation method.

Due to the high prevalence of depression in modern societies, particularly among female adolescents, and high sensitivity of this age, the current study aimed at determining the prevalence of depression among female high school students in Bojnurd.
The current cross sectional study was conducted on 384 female high school students in Bojnurd, North Khorasan Province, Iran in 2016. The data collection tool was a 2-part questionnaire; first part included demographic information and the second part was the Beck depression inventory. The questionnaire was completed by the students voluntarily. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 20 using descriptive statistics, the Man-Whitney U, Kruskal-Wallis, and Spearman correlation tests.
The mean age of the students was 16.1 ± 1.03 years; of the total 384 subjects, 5.1% reported parental divorce and 10.1% parental addiction. Most of the students (50.8%) were educated in public schools. The results of the current study showed that 43.7% of the study subjects had mild, 15.4% moderate, and 1.8% severe depression. A significant relationship was observed between the depression and age, grade, type of school (private/public), and parental divorce in the current study.
Based on the results of the present study, the prevalence of depression is relatively high among female high school students in Bojnurd. It is recommended to take necessary measures in order to promote self-esteem, as well as life and communication skills at family, school, and society levels in adolescents.

The level of health literacy is important to take care and treat patients with chronic diseases, such as diabetes. The current study aimed at determining the relationship between health literacy and nutrition behaviors in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus in the 2 villages of Kaghazi and Husseinabad in Aran and Bidgol, Isfahan Province, Iran.
The current descriptive, analytic study was performed on 120 patients with type 2 diabetes in 2 rural health houses of Hosseinabad and Kaghazi villages in 2016. The census sampling method was used. Data were gathered using demographic questionnaire, nutrition behaviors, and HELIA (Health Literacy for Iranian Adults).The collected data were analyzed with SPSS version 17, using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation), t test, correlation coefficient, and analysis of variance (ANOVA).
In the current study, 80 (66.7%) subjects were female; 29.2% were worker, 5.8% employee, 4.2% retired, 5% unemployed, and the rest were housewives. The mean age of the participants was 48.88 ± 9.57 years. In addition, the mean scores of nutrition behavior and health literacy of the participants were 17.38 ± 2.56, 114 ± 23.21, respectively. The findings of the current study indicated no significant relationship between health literacy and nutrition behaviors, although there was a significant relationship between health literacy and education (P Health literacy is desirable at the level of Iranian community, but due to the lower scores of nutrition behaviors, it is suggested to hold training sessions by health practitioners for patients with diabetes, especially rural females who play a major role in families in order to increase the level of health literacy and optimal nutrition behaviors.

Dust storms often occur in arid and semi-arid areas, which carry large amounts of particulate matter and accordingly are considered as one of the most important regional and international scales environmental issues; hence, understanding the origin of such dusts, and determining chemical properties and elements available in the particles in order to evaluate their impact on public health are of great importance.
The current study was performed from 2011 to 2012 in Agricultural Research Center and Health School of Ahvaz Jundishapur University of Medical Sciences, Iran. In the present study, different deposit-gauge samples were collected in the normal and dusty days. Then, the concentration of heavy metals and chemical composition of the collected particles were determined. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) and ICP-MS (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) were used to determine the feature structure of the chemicals and identify metals in the particles.
The results showed that carbonates (calcite) and silicates (quartz), followed by dolomite, were the main components of mineral dust transferring from Western Middle East to Iran. It is evident that particles originated from North-East Saudi Arabia or areas inside Iraq on the Euphrates and Tigris rivers in the evaporate deposits mostly contain gypsum, while sulfur, titanium, manganese, and phosphorus are the most abundant elements.
Comparison of the concentration of compounds on the normal and dusty days showed that the concentration of particles was higher in dusty days, which may result from higher exposure of such particles to industrial zones and urban areas air pollutants. Hence, inhalation of such dusts is one of the most important life threatening factors to the residents of the Western and Southwestern Iran.

Social participation is an important and modifiable dimension of healthy and successful aging. The current study aimed at determining the level of social participation as well as its related factors and barriers to the elderly people in Khorramabad, Iran.
The current cross sectional study was performed on 285 elderly people living in Khorramabad in 2015. The Canadian community health survey (CCHS) and the social participation questionnaire were used to collect data. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS software version 20 using independent t test, the Welch test, Pearson correlation, and linear regression. The level of significance for all the tests was set to P The mean age of the older people in the current study was 69.68 (± 6.39) years. The mean score of social participation for the study participants was 10.06 ± (5.50). Disease (81.3%), financial problems (72.5%), and lack of physical accessibility (55.9%) were respectively the main barriers to social participation. There was a significant relationship between age, gender, marital status, housing status, level of education, occupation, income, and social participation.
Despite willingness of the elderly people in the current study, their social participation was low. Officials are suggested to make policies and develop plans in order to remove the barriers and provide a platform to promote social participation among seniors.

Working memory plays an important role in different cognitive abilities and psychiatric disorders. The current study aimed at designing the Persian version and evaluating the psychometric properties of the paced auditory serial addition task (PASAT) to measure working memory in children.
The present cross sectional, correlational study was conducted on 240 normal children aged 8 to 12 years. PASAT is used to evaluate working memory. Exploratory factor analysis and Cronbach's alpha were used to evaluate the validity and reliability of the test. Digit span test was also used to evaluate the concurrent validity. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 22 using the Pearson correlation coefficient.
Exploratory factor analysis showed the satisfactory results of a 5-stages serial test to assess psychometric properties of PASAT in order to measure working memory in children. Cronbach's alpha was 0.85. The correlation between different stages of PASAT and digit span test was significant that confirmed concurrent validity of the test.
PASAT is a proper test to measure working memory in children with satisfactory psychometric properties.

Due to the important role of communication in effective classroom management, the current study aimed at examining the relationship between communication skills and quality of teaching among the lecturers of North Khorasan University of Medical Sciences from the viewpoint of medical students in 2015.
The current descriptive correlational study was conducted on a total of 1280 medical students of Northern Khorasan University of Medical Sciences; the sample size was calculated by the Morgan table formula and accordingly, 370 subjects were selected using the stratified random method. Data collection tools were the Barton G.A. communication skills and the Suraj teaching quality questionnaires. The validity of the questionnaires was confirmed and their reliability was also assessed by Cronbach’s alpha (the Barton communication skills = 0.859, and the Siraj teaching quality = 0.912). The obtained data were analyzed with SPSS version 20 using Pearson correlation and multivariate regression tests.
The results showed a significant positive relationship between communication skills and quality of teaching in the university lecturers; for instance, by increasing communication skills, the quality of teaching was also increased. The study found a significant direct correlation between verbal and feedback skills- while feedback skills had higher correlation- with quality of teaching. The adverse correlation was also observed between self-presentation and quality of teaching.
There is a significant positive relationship between communication skills and quality of teaching among the university lecturers. Also, feedback-skill is an important factor in increasing the lecturers’ quality of teaching and classroom management.

Chavill, Ferulago carduchorum Boiss, a member of Apiaceae family, has been extensively used from ancient times. The present study aimed at evaluating the inhibitory effect of aqueous and ethanolic extracts of chavill leaf and stem on aspartyl proteinase secreted from Candida albicans.
The current cross sectional study was conducted on 10 C. albicans species isolated from immunocompromised patients in Yasooj, Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province, Iran. The anticandidal activities of the aqueous and ethanolic extracts of chevill leaf and stem were evaluated using the 24-hour broth microdilution CLSI (the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute) method. In addition, time-kill test was carried out to evaluate anticandidal activities of the extracts. Also, hyphal formation, Sap enzyme activity, and SAP1gene expression were investigated on the best plant extract tested.
The current study data indicated that ethanolic extract of chavill leaf represented the highest antifungal activity compared with those of the other extracts (P The results of the current study indicated that ethanolic extract of chavill leaf has an inhibitory effect on aspartyl proteinase secreted from C. albicans. In addition, the ethanolic extract of chavill leaf can significantly reduce the expression of virulence genes such as SAP1 in C. albicans.

Since providing health care services to victims of disasters is the main role of hospitals, finding solutions to overcome surge capacity is always considered by the hospital administrators. Therefore, the current study aimed at finding strategies to overcome hospitals surge capacity in disasters and its related factors.
The current systematic review was performed in 5 phases. In the first phase, appropriate keywords were selected and the search strategy was determined. Second, internal and external databases were searched. Third, of the obtained literature, those related to the study objectives and met the inclusion criteria were selected. A total of 17 papers were selected and the relevant data were extracted from them. Fourth and fifth, the keywords were extracted out of the papers and then, interpreted and compared in tables.
The identified strategies and factors were categorized in five areas. In the area of manpower, most studies addressed the absence of healthcare staff from work during the hospital overcapacity in disasters. Two main strategies suggested to cope with hospital overcapacity were cancelling elective admissions and early discharge of patients. In the area of medications/equipment, some items such as basic supportive medications and oxygen were considered as essentials for hospital surge capacity. Controlling commutes to the hospital, separating the spaces, and allocation of tasks among staff ere the main structural and strategic suggestions to overcome hospitals overcapacity.
Application of the strategies identified in the current review can help authorities to better overcome hospitals overcapacity in disasters.

The Bardet-Biedl syndrome (BBS) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder that involves multiple organs; the symptoms are central obesity, mental retardation, polydactyly, retinal dystrophy, retinitis pigmentosa, hypogenitalism, hypogonadism, and renal failure; however, the signs and symptoms of this condition vary among affected individuals, even among members of a family.
Case report: Here in the current paper, authors reported the cases of an 8-year-old male and a 7-year-old female from Mane & Samalqan in North Khorasan Province, Iran, with obvious signs of Bardet-Biedl syndrome, while no familial relationships between their parents.
Bardet-Biedl syndrome, a rare often forgotten or undiagnosed disorder, should be promptly diagnosed by pediatricians and timely referred to the ophthalmologist, endocrinologist, and nephrologist. Although this syndrome is mostly reported among the offspring of consanguineous marriage, the current reported cases were the children of non-familial marriages. Hence, genetic testing before getting married, particularly between relatives, is highly recommended.