داریوش شهبازی

One of the side effects of radiation therapy for non-laryngeal head and neck cancers is laryngeal damage, leading to vocal disorders. Considering the impact of voice on the patient’s quality of life, the long-term follow-up after treatment using a voice handicap index questionnaire is the aim of this study.

This descriptive-analytical study included 30 patients with non-laryngeal head and neck cancers and 30 normal individuals. Specialized examinations have confirmed damage in the larynx. The VHI Questionnaire sub-group scores were assessed at 6 and 24 months post-treatment, along with the voice quality of patients and a control group at 24 months post-treatment. Pearson's correlation coefficient test was used to assess the relationship between each sub-group of the questionnaire at the two mentioned time points.

The patients' examination results revealed a significant decrease in the total questionnaire scores from 19.8 at 6 months to 11.37 at 24 months post-treatment (P < 0.05). The study found no significant difference between the patient and control groups after 24 months (P < 0.05). The questionnaire sub-group scores showed a negative correlation, indicating a trend of decreasing scores at the final follow-up.

This study showed that after the treatment, the radiation damage decreased over time and improved the patient's quality of life.

The use of radiopharmaceuticals in nuclear medicine departments and their harmful biological effects on patients and their relatives are necessary to assess the dose in the Nuclear Medicine Department, Chamran Hospital, Isfahan, and compare with permitted values.

In this experimental cross-sectional study, the cumulative dose of 15 personnel and 30 patients referred to Chamran Hospital in Isfahan with thyroid cancer who were candidates for receiving 200 mCi of iodine 131 and overnight quarantine was investigated. For this purpose, thermoluminescence dosimeters (TLDs) were used. TLDs were placed at distances of 0.5, 1, and 1.5 meters from the patients' heads, and then they were collected and read, and the values were compared with permitted doses.

The cumulative dose of gonads, thyroid, two thumbs, and index finger of personnel was 0.113 ± 0.11, 0.134 ± 0.09, 0.501 ± 0.12 mSv, and found that the annual dose is 1.356, 1.608, and 6.012 mSv, respectively. The average cumulative dose of the patients at distances of 0.5, 1, and 1.5 meters from the patients was 49.12 ± 5.74, 12.73 ± 4.43 and 3.53 ± 4.37 mSv, respectively.

The dose of the fingers of personnel was within the boundary of permitted doses, so it is necessary to recommend using lead gloves in possible cases. The minimum distance required to minimize the risks caused by iodine 131 is 150 cm, and it seems crucial to observe this distance in the first five days of discharge of patients.

The removal of sulfur dioxide from industries and the environment to reduce occupational exposure is one of the important issues in pollutant control. This study aims to improve the performance of sulfur dioxide removal in the combined process of non-thermal plasma and nano photocatalysts.

Two different reactor shapes were used in the experiments: rectangular with steel as the cathode and metal mesh as anode and cylinder with copper and steel materials as a cathode. Photocatalysts were loaded as IPC and in the second reactor. The measurement of SO2 was done with the Testo 350 device and the analytical method was done with Niosh 6004 standard method. The collected information and data were analyzed with SPSS and R software.

SO2 removal has an inverse relationship with increasing flow rate and a direct relationship with increasing voltage. Increasing the residence time to 1.1 seconds increased the removal efficiency. Among all tested compounds, the highest average efficiency of SO2 removal was observed in Series+TiO2 (97.3%) and Series+ZnO (94.3%) methods.

among the important and investigated factors, voltage and residence time had a significant effect on improving the removal efficiency. Due to the removal of pollutants in a short period, the low cost of small-scale reactor construction, and the use of cheap, simple, and readily available photocatalysts, the present method is efficient in the field of SO2 removal.

Nowadays, attention to opportunities andthreatsinthe field ofhealthcare and culminating in thehospitals facedwith uncertaintyandrisks wasessentialandmanage the risks involvedin thesecentersis very important. The aimof thisstudy is HSErisk assessmentmodelbasedsystemsinhospitalsmartyrBeheshtiUniversityof Medical Sciences, approaches thatcan becontrolled.
In thisstudy,weidentifythe principalrisksandsetstandards formeasuring andprovidingcomprehensive questionnaire. Theanalytical Network predictionbased onfuzzy logic(FANP)was used for priority of risk.
Findings:Theriskprioritynumber isused inhospitals,Biological factorsaffectinghumanRPNequal to32.85 was the highest risk and Physical factorsaffectinghumanisequal to11.68 was the least HSE risk of hospital.Also the result showed that priority of the risk factors affecting the company's reputation was high.
Discussion & The results showed thatHospital managementshould beincontrol ofchemical and biologicalagentstoadopta specificmanagement plans. Also, according tothe results, it is clear thatit is necessary toconsider themanagementof workplaceergonomicsprogramhas beenandcontrol measureswithinthescopedefined.

The role of ion channels and ion concentrations in cell cycle events is noted in recent years. Investigation of the role of ion channels during different cell cycle phases tend to discover a relationship between the potential of cell membrane and cell proliferation ability. A variable electric field is produced due to changes in cell membrane potential that plays role in cell division. In this study, inducing external fields with similar intensity and frequency proportion to those fields in cell membrane, the effects of low-frequency electromagnetic fields (ELFs) on viability and proliferation ability of MCF-7 cancer cells was evaluated. Electromagnetic fields with three different intensities and frequencies were produced using an alternative wave generator and an amplifier. MCF-7 cells were exposed to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) for 24, 48 and 72 hour. Along with each treated cell group, a control group was considered. The influence of electromagnetic fields on cells viability and proliferation was examined using MTT [3-(4, 5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2, 5-diphenyltetrazoliumbromide] assay. The relative frequency of cell growth inhibition for constant frequency of 125 kHz, for intensities of 1.00, 1.75 and 2.50 microtesla and exposure time of 24 hours was 2.40, 6.04 and 9.28 percent, respectively. For the exposure time of 48 hours and the same frequency and intensities, the relative frequency was 5.61, 8.66 and 11.95 percent, respectively. Under the same conditions and for the exposure time of 72 hours, the relative frequency was 11.15, 23.26 and 31.82 percent, respectively. For constant intensity of 2.5 microtesla and frequencies of 175 and 225 kHz, the relative frequency of cell growth inhibition for 24 hours was 6.58 and 6.79 percent, respectively. The relative frequency of cell proliferation rate reduced with increase of exposure time as well as intensity of electromagnetic fields. However, it does not notably change with increasing frequency. According to finding of this study, it can be concluded that electromagnetic fields with frequency and intensity in this range can disturb the division cycle of MCF-7 cells.

One of the holy shrines –Emamzadeh- of Shemiran was Emamzadeh Chenar located in Darband Street, Tajrish. Near this place, there was the cemetery of Tajrish which turned into a park by Reza Shah, and later changed function to a hospital –Shohada hospital. This article describes the story of this Emamzadeh.

Radiation therapy with linear accelerators (Linac) is one of the efficient techniques for cancer treatment. However, the interaction between high energy photons and various materials on the Linac's head produces photoneutron contamination. Total flux of neutrons per unit of radiation in the isocenter is the sum of thermal, scattered and direct neutrons fluxes. In this study, the neutron contamination at an energy level of 18 MeV was investigated in 15 points of the Linac's room at Seyed-Al-Shohada Hospital, Isfahan, Iran. For calculation of the dose of the neutrons, 30 thermoluminescence dosemeters (TLD-600 and TLD-700) were randomly distributed in 15 points of the treatment room. In order to use TLDs, both thermal and gamma calibrations are required. While thermal calibration was performed with a 60Co source at the hospital, gamma calibration was conducted with an AM-Be source at the secondary standard dosimetry lab (SSDL) in Karaj, Iran. The exposure of the detectors was performed during the treatment of a patient at a dose of 100 cGy during 111 Monitor Unit. The results of the TLD detectors were all in the range of millisievert (mSv) and less. The measured doses in detectors 1, 2, 3, 4 and 15 were 0.378, 0.652, 0.693, 0.0605, and 0.671 mSv, respectively. Based on our findings, non-zero values of photoneutron contamination exist in the treatment room which are not always considered in the treatment planning of patients.

The carcinogenic effect of radiation is directly related to the exposure rate and the risk is even more in infants. The scope of the present study is to evaluate of the average of cumulative radiation dose in neonates in the neonatal surgery ward due to diagnostic and therapeutic radiologic procedures during the admission period, in Alzahra hospital of Isfahan, Iran. This investigation was a descriptive study on 168 neonates. It was done in neonatal surgery ward during last 9 months of 2009 in Alzahra hospital of Isfahan, Iran. The patients were selected randomly and with no attention to age, sex, diagnose and admision time. Thermo luminescent dosimeters (TLD GR200), were used for dosimetry and each chips was putted in a plastic envelope on the neonate sternum during the admission period. The cumulative absorbed dose by each patient was stored during the admission by TLD and followed by reading by TLD reader. For using of TLDs, they were calibrated and two calibration factors (individual and batch) were performed in radiotherapy section of Seyed Al-shohada hospital of Isfahan, Iran. After checking the accuracy of calibration, the absorbed dose by each patient was achieved by using of calibration factors. The average of admission time for each patient was 7.64 days and the average of cumulative absorbed dose was 3.13 Millisievert (mSv) during this time. The maximum absorbed dose in one patient was 42.83 mSv. The average number of conventional radiography for each patient was 2.77. The average of conventional radiography and cumulative absorbed dose in patient with no examination or just simple x-ray examinations was 2.58 and 0.863 mSv, respectively. Chest x-ray examination was the most examination used here (338 person). The average dose for each chest x-ray examination was 0.313 mSv. The average of cumulative absorbed dose among patients with fluoroscopic examination was about 12.6 mSv. The cumulative absorbed dose in 19 patients was more than 10 mSv. The average of cumulative absorbed dose was not more than the dose limit according to reference levels, but in comparison with other medical centers in the world is very high. Therefore, it is necessary to pay more attention to reduce radiological imaging procedures, particularly about fluoroscopic procedures.

MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) is one of the best diagnostic techniques in medicine. During an MRI examination, three types of field are employed to produce images. Various experimental studies have been performed about effects of each single type of field, but only few studies are available on their combination to generate MRI. The main objective of this research was to study the effects of MRI on the sex hormones and other fertility parameters in adult male rats.

In this experimental study, 40 adult male Wistar rats (220±10 g) were randomly divided into two protocols. Each protocol contained two groups of exposed (10 rats) and control (10 rats) rats. Exposed groups were placed in MRI for 25 minutes. After MRI, the animals of the first protocol were placed in the holder and scrotal skin temperatures were measured by the thermometer. These animals were anaesthetized and serum samples were obtained and stored. Then, the testes were cut and weighed. After 96 hours, these experiments were repeated for the animals of second protocol.

Our results for the first protocol (after MRI) indicated that there were no significant effects on the testes weight, scrotal skin temperatures and serum levels of LH in the exposed rats. However, the serum level of testosterone was significantly reduced (P<0.001) and serum level of FSH was increased (P<0.001). Regarding the second protocol (96 hours after MRI), significant increase was observed for FSH, just in the exposed rats, which was similar to the first protocol (P=0.04).

Our results suggest that MRI causes dysfunction in the secretion of some sex hormones in the adult male rats.