Health and Development Journal
Volume:2 Issue: 2, 2013

The first step of solid waste management is identification of its composition and the amount of solid waste production per capita. The aim of this research was to estimate the quantity of solid waste production at Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences and the possibility of recycling. This study was a cross-sectional study. The quantity of solid waste production was measured at the student dormitories, self-service, caféteria and administrative sections of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. The solid waste produced during two consecutive weeks in one month was weighted and the weight and percent of its components were determined. The obtained data was statistically analyzed by using SPSS 16. The results showed that putrescible waste was approximately 66.7% of the total solid waste produced. The share of other components of waste such as paper & cardboard, plastic, metals and glass was 19.2%, 10.8%, 0.15% and 0.14% respectively. Solid waste production rate was 144 grams per capita per day. As the main content of solid waste is putrescible, the best alternative for the University’s solid waste is to convert it into compost. Also better management in preparation and distribution of food can be one main strategy to reduce putrescible waste.

Hamadan’s Bazaar is an important market in terms of historical, economic, social and safety aspects. Hamadan’s Bazaar is a critical unit in regard to safety measures, because of inappropriately designed buildings and paths along with the high economic value of the existing goods. The purpose of this study was safety assessment of the bazaar in order to introduce strategies to prevent accidents. In this cross sectional study, Hamadan’s bazaar was divided into 83 zones byobservation (risk assessment), evaluation and interview with experts. Risk assessment foreach zone was performed based on 22 parameters such as the dominant material, activityvalue, suitability of firefighting systems and etc. Comparison of parameters and computing theirs weights was conducted through the paired comparison method. Four risks estimates including general, prevention, detection and control risks were calculated for each zone. Safe, precaution and danger limits were defined for the mentioned risks. The results showed that considering prevention, detection and control risk, respectively 25.5, 47 and 53 % of the zones were in danger and the rest were in precaution limit. In terms of total risk, 20.5 and 79.5 % were in danger and precaution limits respectively. The results showed no region of the market was in safe limits. Thereforeimplementation of technical and administrative controls such as firefighting equipment

Nowadays little attention is paid to effective preventive measures in offices in order to identify and alleviate musculoskeletal disorders. The aim of this study was to investigate and identify the musculoskeletal disorders among the employees of one of the governmental offices in Qazvin in 2011. This was a cross sectional descriptive and analytical study and the population under study were all of the employees of one of the governmental offices of Qazvin (119people). Data was collected by the Body Map questionnaire and analysis was performed by the SPSS17 software. The average age and work experience of the employees was 42.3±5.5 and 17.3±6.6 years respectively. The highest and lowest incidence of musculoskeletal disorders was in the neck and palms respectively. There was a significant statistical relation between employment years, weight, height, age and gender with some musculoskeletal disorders. But there was not a significant relationship between education level and job type with musculoskeletal disorders. Sitting, immobility and working with the computer had the highest prevalence among the predisposing factors of musculoskeletal disorders. Choosing the right individuals for occupations, applying work – rest periods,turnover, stretching exercises and sports, proper design of workstations and chairs based on ergonomic science, and under the supervision of occupational health, physical education and sport science experts, is recommended in order to prevent musculoskeletal disorders among the office employees.

Pregnancy, due to hormonal changes and body reshaping, might disturb the pregnant women’s body image and self-esteem and also increase depression susceptibility.Body dissatisfaction may result in some compensating attempts, such as weight loss, for improving body shape. These behaviors could result in serious outcomes for maternal and child health. The aim of the present study was to evaluate body satisfaction and its relationship with some indicators of mental health (depression, and self- esteem) in pregnant women. In this cross-sectional study, 255 pregnant women referred to health centers were studied by using standard questionnaires for body satisfaction, depression (Beck Depression Inventory) and self- esteem (Rosenberg questionnaire). Data analysis was performed through SPSS-16 software package and using coefficient of correlation, Chisquare, ANOVA and linear regression. The mean age of participants was 29.1± 6.4 years. In whole, 48.7% had body dissatisfaction and 30% had some degrees of depression. There was a significant negative relationship between depression and having a good body image (r= -0.230, p<0.01). Self-esteem showed a significant positive relationship with body satisfaction (r= 0.125, p<0.01). With respect to the effects of psychosocial factors on body image, in anyplanning for improvement of pregnant women’s health, special attention to body image is highly recommended.

Religious belief is one of the most important factors in people’s life that can affect their mental health. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between religious belief and mental health among high school students in Dargaz city, Khorasan Razavi province, Iran, 2010-2011. This cross-sectional study was performed on 157 high school students selected by using two-stage cluster sampling. Then, all students were asked to complete the Mabad questionnaire (a scale for measurement of obeying religious laws) as well as the 28- item General Health Questionnaire. The results of this study indicated significant relationships between religiousness and qualitative variables of general health, physical symptoms, social functioning and anxiety but there was not any significant relationship between religiousness and depression (P=0.27). Correlation analysis showed a significant correlation between religiousness and general health (r= - 0.175, P=0.03) and physical symptoms (r= - 0.182, P=0.01), but there was no significant correlation between religiousness and other subscales. Our findings showed that religiousness and adherence to religious principles could be one of the factors positively affecting mental and physical health of students.

In nursing and midwifery as well as other jobs, research is a primary requisite for professional development. But, only a limited number of nurses and midwives do research. This study has been conducted to determine the barriers of research in nurses and midwives working at Shiraz teaching hospitals. This cross-sectional study was carried out in 2009 and 350 nurses and midwives in Shiraz teaching hospitals were selected through stratified, random sampling. Data was collected by a questionnaire about research barriers. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS16 software and statistical tests such chi-square and Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient. Among the personal barriers, “lack of time and being too busy” and “not being fluent in English” gained the highest and the lowest scores respectively. Among the Institutional barriers “not being motivated by the employer” and “ethical constraints in conducting research” gained the highest and lowest scores respectively. The only demographic variable significantly related to conducting research was job history (P=0.04). According to the results, in order to remove the barriers of research in nurses and midwives, they should become less busy, more facilities should be available and cumbersome administrative regulations should be alleviated.

Surface absorption using low cost materials has been an appropriate method to treat lots of industrial wastewater. The aim of this study was application of wheat brad as a low cost adsorbent for reactive black 5 removal from textile wastewater. In this study, modified wheat brad was used for dye removal from textile wastewater at laboratory scale. Cetylpyridinium chloride monohydrate (CPC) at 2.5 mmol/L was applied for modification of wheat brad. The experiments were conducted at batch system and the effects of parameters such as pH, adsorbent dose, initial dye concentration and contact time on RB5 adsorption by modified wheat brad were studied. According to the results of this study, the minimum and maximum dye removal efficiency were obtained at pH solution 1 and 7 that were 61.54% and 83.15%, respectively. With increasing contact time and adsorbent dose, dye removal efficiency increased. Furthermore, by increasing the dye initial concentration in solution, dye removal rate increased and dye removal efficiency decreased. Based on the results, the Langmuir isotherm and second order kinetics are the best modules for explanation of RB5 adsorption onto modified wheat brad. Considering the high cost of other methods in dye removal, modified wheat brad could be used as a relatively efficient and low cost adsorbent in dye removal from textile wastewater.