abbas jahangiri

The increasing challenges in water resource management necessitate adopting efficient strategies to optimize water consumption, particularly in the household sector. This study identifies and prioritizes educational programs that can effectively reduce water consumption using a systematic decision-making approach.

The research employs a Multi-Criteria Decision-Making (MCDM) model, specifically the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP), to rank educational strategies based on their effectiveness. Data collection involved a combination of literature reviews, expert opinions, and survey questionnaires. A total of 28 experts in the fields of water management, education, and public policy participated in this study. The criteria evaluated included cost, educational effectiveness, sustainability of impacts, ease of implementation, and behavioral change. The decision alternatives included public education, school-based education, training for government and private sector employees, and technology-based education. Data analysis was performed using Expert Choice software.

The results reveal that "school-based education programs" are the top priority due to their long-term effectiveness in changing behaviors and transferring knowledge to families. "Public education campaigns" and "technology-based education programs" rank second and third, respectively, with the latter facing challenges such as infrastructure limitations. "Training for government and private sector employees" was ranked last, given its limited target audience and relatively lower impact.

Originality/Value: 

This study fills the gap between theoretical research and practical application by presenting a systematic framework for prioritizing educational strategies. The findings provide policymakers with actionable insights to design cost-effective and impactful educational programs to achieve sustainable water resource management.

The increase in population growth, industries and living standards have caused an increasing need for drinking water in many countries. The reuse of treated water and wastewater is one of the most important options to deal with water shortage. To ensure the correctness of this work, it is necessary that the health risk assessment be reassessed during use so that consumers do not face serious problems. In this regard, the assessment of health risks assessment for the water recovered from the backwashing wastewater of the Saveh water treatment plant was investigated.

To reuse the backwash wastewater from the Saveh water treatment plant, the processes of primary sedimentation and coagulation (in the form of a test jar) were investigated. Metals and heavy metals like iron (Fe), aluminum (Al), lead (Pb), Arsenic (As) and cadmium (Cd) were examined to evaluate health risks. The initial settling time was 1 hour, the coagulant used was FeCl3 made in Iran, and heavy metal contents were also measured with an Inductively coupled plasma (ICP) device.

The value of HRIs for Al, Fe, As, Pb and Cd in the treated spent filter backwash water (SFBW) with primary sedimentation and coagulation was less than “1” and indicates the absence of risk.

The treated backwash wastewater treated with primary sedimentation and coagulation processes as well as raw water of the Saveh have no harmful effects in terms of heavy metals, and its reuse will not pose a risk to the health of the consumer.

Selection of the appropriate process is one of the most important issues prior to design and construct any wastewater treatment plant. Considering the importance of this issue, current study was carried out to selecting the best wastewater treatment process in city of Farmahin.

In this descriptive study that conducted in 2021, three wastewater treatment processes named: Activated Sludge with nitrogen and phosphorus removal, Extended Aeration with nitrogen and phosphorus removal and Membrane Bioreactor were considered as problem alternatives. The required data was obtained by distributing a researcher-made questionnaire consisting of cost, technical, environmental and managerial criteria among 21 experts. The weight of each attribute was determined using the Entropy method and finally, decision matrix was processed by using one of the newest multiple attribute decision making methods called “Measurement Alternatives and Ranking according to COmpromise Solution (MARCOS)”. It should be noted that all calculations were performed using Excel 2016 software.

The results showed extended aeration with nitrogen and phosphorus removal with 0.758 utility function has taken first priority, activated sludge with removal of nitrogen and phosphorus with a 0.723 utility function has taken second priority and finally membrane bioreactor with 0.576 utility function has taken last priority. Therefore, the best wastewater treatment process in the city of Farmahin is extended aeration with nitrogen and phosphorus removal.

 In this paper, by using one of the newest multiple Attribute decision making methods called "MARCOS", the best wastewater treatment process for the city of Farmahin was selected. The results of this research are very useful for the Markazi Province Water and Wastewater Company.

Service organizations such as water and wastewater companies need feedback and performance evaluation to deliver better services. The purpose of this study was to analyze trend of water supply to Iranian cities and villages and wastewater disposal from them during the years 2012 to 2018. For this purpose, in this descriptive-cross-sectional study that required data were adapted from the statistical yearbook of the national water and wastewater company, performance of four areas include urban water supply, rural water supply, urban wastewater disposal and rural wastewater disposal over 7 consecutive years were evaluated by using one of the newest multiple attribute decision making methods called Measurement Alternatives and Ranking according to COmpromise Solution (MARCOS) with considering each year as an alternative and using time series analysis and linear fitting with the help of Excel  and SPSS  software. The results, with a 99% confidence level, showed that the performance of all four areas has significantly increased.

Social Security Organization (SSO) provides healthcare services to the insured directly and indirectly. The purpose of this study was performance trend analysis of direct and indirect treatment of the SSO over the past 25 years and examining the correlation between them.

In this descriptive study that required data were obtained from SSO website, trend of direct and indirect treatment sectors performance of SSO was analyzed during the past 25 years (1993 to 2018) using Dynamic Multiple Attribute Decision Making (DMADM) with the help of Excel 2010 software by considering each year as an alternative and 21 key attributes that weights were determined using Entropy method. Also, Pearson correlation coefficient between direct and indirect treatment performance was calculated with the help of SPSS 16 software.

The trend of both types of treatment was incremental until 2007, then direct treatment was decreasing, but indirect treatment up to 2013 had a decreasing trend and after that had an increasing trend. The correlation coefficient of Pearson was equal to 0.912 until 2013 and from 2013 onwards equal to -0.991 (p-value ≤0.05 for both) which shows a direct, strong and significant relationship between the performance of direct and indirect treatment up to 2013 and strong, significant and inverse relationship afterwards.

According to the results of data analysis, it seems that new strategy of SSO has been providing more healthcare services indirectly by healthcare purchasing from government and private sectors.

Nowadays efficiency analysis due to identification of weaknesses, strengths and amount utilization of available resources is important. The purpose of this study was efficiency analysis and ranking of provincial units of Social Security Organization (SSO) in indirect treatment sector.

In this descriptive cross-sectional study, technical, managerial and scale efficiencies of SSO in 31 provinces of Iran by input oriented model of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) with assuming variable returns to scale were analyzed and the provinces were ranked using the Anderson-Peterson model. The input variables included number of specialized staff, number of support staff, income amount of each province and the output variables included number and cost of prescriptions that have been investigated. The required data were adapted from the 2017 SSO Statistical Yearbook and data analysis was performed using DEAP 2.1 and EMS 1.3.0 software.

Average scores of technical efficiency 0.880, managerial efficiency 0.818, and scale efficiency 0.928 were calculated. Based on above efficiency scores, Kohgiluyeh and Boyerahmad and Tehran ranked first and Kerman ranked last.

In general, there is capacity of technical, managerial and scale efficiency improvement respectively 12%, 18.2% and 7.2% in indirect treatment sector of SSO. Therefore, weak and inefficient provinces should be placed in the priority of improving efficiency. This can be achieved through imitation of efficient provinces, implementing electronic prescribing and more accurate management of SSO revenues and number of human resources employed in the indirect treatment sector.

Iranian health system transformation plan has been implemented since 2014 with the aim of financial protection of people, equity establishment in access to health services and quality improvement of hospital services. Hospital performance evaluation is essential in order to monitor the health system transformation plan. One of the tools for evaluating hospital performance is the dynamic multi-attribute decision-making method. The purpose of this study was to use the dynamic multi-attribute decision-making method to evaluate the performance of the hospital before and after the implementation of the health system transformation plan. In this cross-sectional study, the performance of Shariati Hospital in Tehran was evaluated for 48 consecutive months (24 months before and 24 months after the Health System Transformation plan, 2012-2016). Each month was addressed as an option in the decision-making matrix and ,with considering six important health indicators, the hospital performance was dynamically assessed  using the weighted aggregated sum product assessment and through EXCEL software 2010.  Hospital performance scores had some fluctuations over time; however, in general, it had an increasing trend over forty-eight months. The highest and lowest values were for months 42 and 13 (0.4932 and 0.9408, respectively). In addition, in the first month of the solar year, the hospital performance score declined significantly for each year. Changes in hospital performance scores during the study period show improvement in hospital performance. Nevertheless, this incremental process cannot be considered as a positive outcome of the health system transformation plan. Therefore, while improving the current process, continuing the hospital performance evaluation can lead to the hospital's performance promotion.

One of the most important ways to promote the quality and attractiveness of the journal for readers is the accurate evaluation of the published articles research methodology in the journals. The purpose of this study was to investigate the research methods of the articles published in the Journal of Hospital.
  In this descriptive study, the research methods of all articles published in the Journal of Hospital from Fall 2016 to Fall 2018 including qualitative or quantitative, field or library research , data collection methods, data analysis software, location of research, nature of the research (descriptive or analytical, etc.), topics, as well as the number of authors were investigated.
  Data of 55.29% of papers was qualitative that was turned to quantitative, 47.06% of articles had descriptive-analytical method, and 68.24% of papers had employed a field research method. In addition, 51.76% of articles had used questionnaire and the SPSS software was used in 52.08% of the articles. The location of 45.45% of researches was in Tehran province. Finally, the subject of 23.53% of papers was policy making, planning, leadership, and management in hospitals.
  Most authors of the articles have followed a very similar research method during the mentioned period. So, creating diversity in the nature of the researches, using other methods of collecting information rather than questionnaires, doing more library research, and not limiting the researches to Tehran province are the most important suggestions for future researchers.

Water consumption management strategies seek to reduce water consumption and establish a reasonable and sustainable balance between water supply and demand. The purpose of this paper was to rank the consumption management strategies in drinking water distribution networks by using Multiple Attribute Decision Making (MADM). To this end, four strategies and five attributes were considered to form the decision making matrix. The strategies were: 1) Cultural approach; 2) Using low-flow fixtures; 3) Increasing water tariffs; 4) Reducing permissible water consumption without income. Five attributes were: 1) Strategy implementation cost; 2) Time required for the implementation of the strategy; 3) Customer satisfaction from the strategy implementation; 4) Impact of strategy on consumption reduction; 5) Impact of strategy on unaccounted for water. These studies were conducted in Central Province Rural Water and Wastewater Company. In order to determine the score of each strategy from each index, group decision making was used and a questionnaire was distributed among 14 authorities of the Company. The average scores were incorporated into the decision matrix. Furthermore the weight of each attribute was determined using the Entropy method. In order to process the decision making matrix, WASPAS method was used and calculations were implemented in Excel 2010 spreadsheet. Finally, the strategies were ranked and the results showed that the best strategy to reduce drinking water consumption in the villages of this province is to use low-flow fixtures. Therefore, it is recommended that these fixtures be made available to the public in accordance with a comprehensive plan and also the necessary training in this regard be provided.

Social Security Organization as a health service provider provides some parts of healthcare services in indirect sector through contracting with private and public centers. The purpose of this paper was to performance assessment and ranking provincial units of this organization in indirect treatment sector. In this cross-sectional descriptive study, the performance of this organization's indirect treatment across the country was assessed using the TOPSIS method by considering six important attributes. For this purpose, each province was considered as an alternative also the required data from the 2017 statistical yearbook was obtained. Calculations and ranking of provinces were done using Excel 2010 software. The ratio of the total number of contracted healthcare centers to the population covered by the treatment of each province and proportion of the total number of doctors contracted to the population covered by the treatment of each province attributes with the highest weight were identified. The highest and lowest performance scores were calculated 1 and 6×10-4 respectively. Although the social security organization has used indirect treatment in all provinces of the country as a strategy to increase the access of insured persons to medical resources, it did not have the same performance in all provinces. Therefore, it is recommended to increase the purchase contracts of health services with hospitals, clinics, polyclinics, day clinics, healthcare centers, general practitioners, specialists and dentists of public sector, private, military, etc., especially in provinces with poor performance.

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a mathematical model that evaluates the relative efficiency of Decision Making Units (DMUs). The purpose of this paper was systematic study of applying this technique in Iran Banking System. In this systematic review that was conducted in September 2017, initially by searching keywords in scientific databases attempted to search the research has been conducted a bout DEA in Iranian banks regardless of the time of publication that a total of 409 research was found. Then 349 researches were removed from the study because of the irrelevant, repetitive and inaccessibility to the full text. Then attempted to statistical analysis of 60 remaining researches via Excel 2010 software. 80 percent of the researches were published in 2009 onwards. Most research has been conducted in Tehran Province and Melli and Saderat banks. The variety of choices outputs and inputs indexes was very high. In 36.7 percent of researches; input oriented model is used also in 36.7 percent of researches constant returns to scale is assumed. The results showed that although the interest of Iranian researchers in this field has increased, each with a particular view has analyzed the efficiency of the banks and have achieved different results.

Industrial engineering can be regarded as the main core of communication between industry and the university, because it has many applications in all industries and even service environments. Therefore, in this research, selected industrial engineering colleges have been evaluated and ranked. For this purpose, the industrial engineering Colleges of Tarbiat Modarres, Khaje Nasir al-Din Tousi, Amir Kabir, Sharif, Science and Technology, and Tehran universities were studied with regard to eight indicators and ranked using one of the newest Multiple Attribute Decision Making methods called Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS) with Excel 2010 software. The results showed that Faculty of Industrial Engineering, Tehran University because of Earn more score, ranked first, Science and Technology University, second rank, Amirkabir University, Third Rank, Sharif University, Fourth Rank, Tarbiat Modares University, fifth rank, and finally Khaje Nasir-Al-Din Tusi University ranked the last. In the meantime, number of books and papers published per faculty members were identified as the most important indicators. Therefore, the encouragement of faculty members to the research field can play main role in increasing the rank of universities.

Selectivity the dams and Power plants is one of the most important issues in water resources management. The purpose of this paper was Selectivity the Khersan 1 dam and powerhouse by using one of the newest of the Multiple Attribute Decision Making (MADM) method in the name of Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS) and its comparison with other MADM methods. In this case study that data required for making decision matrix is obtained in previous research, three alternatives: D axis- concrete arch, D axis- Pebble and F axis- concrete arch for selectivity by using WASPAS method with the help of the Excel 2010 software was analyzed. Calculated scores showed that D axis- concrete arch has achieved first priority (Q=0.9081), F axis- concrete arch has achieved second priority (Q=0.8487), finally D axis- Pebble has achieved third priority (Q=0.8202). Generally it can be said that SAW, AHP and WASPAS methods have led to the same result while TOPSIS had different result.

Indirect treatment is one of the methods of providing health care for customers in social security organization through the purchase of services from public and private centers. In this way, a portion of the health care is outsourced. The purpose of this study was to rank different regions of Iran in terms of the level of health services outsourcing and indirect care activities of the Social Security Organization.

In this descriptive sectional study, the required data were obtained by referring to the Social Security Organization website and downloading the Statistical Yearbook of 2016. Then, indirect treatment performance of that organization in all provinces, as well as Kashan area, was evaluated and compared with each other using six indicators for covered population in each area. Evaluation was carried out using one of the newest multiple attribute decision making methods, namely Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS).

The ratio of the number of contracted-out treatment centers to the population covered by insurance in each region was recognized as the most important indicator due to having the highest weight. There was provision of indirect healthcare services form in all studied regions; but the highest performance was observed in Sistan and Baluchestan Province, while the worst performance was observed in Bushehr Province.

Social Security Organization has used indirect care method (purchasing health services and contracting with public and private centers) as a strategy to increase the accessibility of medical resources to insured customers, and to replace development and construction of proprietary centers in all regions of Iran with outsourcing (with different amount of outsourcing in different regions).

The development of healthcare sector in a society is measured by existence of healthcare resources and level of people's access to them. The purpose of this paper was ranking provinces of Iran in terms of existence of healthcare resources and level of people's access to them by using Multiple Attribute Decision Making (MADM).
In this sectional case study that data requirement has earned by referring to statistical yearbook system, development scores of 30 Provinces of Iran by using one of newest MADM methods named Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS) with considering 24 important healthcare indicators were evaluated via Excel 2010 software.
In terms of existence of healthcare resources, the province of Tehran with a great difference compared to other provinces of the country with a score of 0.9131 and the province of Semnan with a score of 0.0603 have earned the first and last rank respectively while in terms of level of people's access to them with attention to the population of each province, Ilam with a score of 0.1146 and Khuzestan with a score of 0.0409 have earned the first and last rank respectively.
Provinces of Iran in terms of existence of healthcare resources and level of people's access to them are different from each other and healthcare sector resources are not distributed equally.

Patients can determine the quality of services provided in hospitals. The purpose of this paper was assessment and ranking selected hospitals in terms of delivery quality of services in Iran. Firstly by a systematic research in various scientific databases attempted to find researches that have done about using SERVQUAL model in Iranian hospitals that 22 relative papers was found. Then with the help of the Weighted Aggregated Sum Product Assessment (WASPAS) method, Scores for each were calculated via Excel 2010 software. The most published researches in terms of time were related to the year 2016 and locally were related to Tehran province and the reliability index had the highest weight. Shahid Elmi field hospital in Zabol with score of 1.001 and D hospital affiliated to Qazvin University of Medical Sciences with score of 0.313 respectively, ranked first and last. Shahid Elmi field hospital in Zabol because of gain the top rank can be considered as a template for other hospitals under study. Also combining MADM with SERVQUAL can be used in order to assessment and ranking hospitals as a new method.

Performance evaluation is a numerical scale that Provides management information about evaluating and monitoring the current situations and activities of hospital. One of the performance evaluation tools is Dynamic Multiple Attribute Decision Making (DMADM) method. The purpose of this paper was performance evaluation of hospital via DMADM.
In this cross-sectional case study the performance of Imam Khomeini hospital in Arak during 30 consecutive months that each month in decision matrix considered as an alternative, by considering 6 important attributes dynamically by using weighted aggregated sum product assessment (WASPAS) via Excel 2010 software was evaluated.
Hospital Performance Scores had fluctuations during the time but generally showed an upward trend during the thirty months. The maximum and minimum value was relevant of 27 and 12, respectively (0.9577, 0.5503). Furthermore showed a significant decrease in March of each year.
The trend of hospital Performance Scores showed that the performance of mentioned hospital has improved during the time. Using the DMADM method in order to performance evaluation is a suggestion to managements and future researchers

Measuring and improving the quality of services in the higher education sector that is the basis of development of each country is very important. The purpose of this paper was ranking the universities of Iran in terms of perceived quality of services from students by using combination of SERVQUAL and Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) methods. For this purpose at first by systematic search in different scientific databases attempted to finding the researches was conducted regarding measuring the universities quality of service delivery from the perspective of students by using SERVQUAL model that 33 relevant studies were found. Then scores of each university was calculated with the help of DEA method and considering each dimension of quality as an output and by considering each research as a decision making unit via DEAP 2.1 software. Highest scores were related to higher education centers in Tabriz, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences and the University of Urmia while lowest scores were related to Islamic Azad University of Dezful and Faculty of Health and Nutrition, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. The scores of 82 percentage of the conducted researches was between 0.498 to 0.781, in other words were at moderate level. The result of calculated scores showed that on average, there is the possibility of increasing 31.8% in the quality of services in Iran's universities and the main reason for this lack of quality is the responsiveness dimension that relevant authorities can improve the level of their quality of services by modeling of higher education centers in Tabriz.

Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) is a mathematical model that evaluates the relative efficiency of Decision Making Units (DMUs) with multiple input and output. The purpose of this paper was systematic study of applying this technique in Iranian hospitals.
In this systematic review which was conducted in September 2015 and February2016, attempted to search the research which conducted in Iranian hospitals regardless of the time of publication using searching keywords in six scientific databases and with the help of Google search engine. A total of 6,613 researches found. Then, 6,566 researches removed from the study because of the irrelevant, repetitive and Inaccessibility to the full text. Then, attempted to statistical analysis of 47 remaining researches via Excel 2010 software.
93.6 percent of the researches were published in 2009 onwards. The most research and least research have been conducted in three and eleven provinces respectively. The diversity of output indexes have been more than diversity of input indexes. In 81 percent of researches; input oriented model was used and in 74.5 percent of researches variable returns to scale is assumed. In most studies, referred to Iran's inefficient hospitals because of existence of excess resources.
In last seven years, the interest of Iranian researchers has increased about DEA application in hospitals especially in Tehran, Yazd and Khoozestan provinces. Scientific and rational use of resources is a proposal to the relevant authorities.

The goal of lean thinking is value creation and the eradication of waste. The purpose of this paper was systematic study of items and rate of implementation the lean management tools and techniques in Iran’s healthcare system. In this systematic review that was conducted in December 2014, by searching keywords related to lean management in Iranmedex, Magiran, Irandoc, SID scientific databases and Google search engine, attempted to search the Research has been conducted in Iran’s healthcare centers regardless of the time of publication. A total of 10,550 Research was found. After reading them, 10478 Research were excluded from the study because of the irrelevant, repetitive and lack of access to the full text and abstract. Then attempted to classify and statistical analysis of 72 remaining researches via Excel 2010 software. 5S(6.9 percent), Kaizen(8.3 percent), visual control(1.4 percent), value stream mapping and simulation(18.1 percent), value stream mapping (2.8 percent), simulation(5.6 percent), Poka-Yoke(9.7 percent), Hospital Information System(26.4 percent), Maintenance and Repair(5.6 percent) and identification the waste(15.3 percent), were identified as the most important lean off practices in Iran healthcare centers. 84.7 percent of the researches were published in 2007 onwards. The findings showed that the much of the tools related to Lean Management has been applied in Iran’s healthcare centers in the last eight years. The computers have played the greatest role in lean off. The interest of Iranian researchers has increased about lean healthcare. Deployment, collateralizing and propagation of lean healthcare with the help of industrial engineers are the main offers to policy makers in the healthcare sector.

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (WMSDs) are one of the most important factors for occupational injuries and disabilities, with the back injuries being the most common work-related injuries in different industries in many developing countries.. The objectives of the present study were determination of the prevalence of WMSDs symptoms, identification of major risk factors associated with WMSDs symptoms and ergonomics interventions to reduce these disorders..Patients and This follow-up and interventional study was carried out in a lead mine. Forty persons participated in this study. The Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire was used to study the prevalence of WMSDs and the quick exposure check (QEC) method was used to assess the physical exposure to risks. Ultimately, data was analyzed using McNamar’s and Cochran’s tests by SPSS version 11 software.. The results revealed that the highest prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders was reported in lower back (57.5%) and knees (50%) during the 12 months prior to the study. After ergonomics interventions, significant reductions in WMSDs were observed at the time of follow-up. According to Cochran’s test, significant differences between the pre, four and nine months after the intervention in lower back and knee were observed (P < 0.005).. Consistent reductions were observed for all WMSDs disorders at the ninth month of the follow-up. It can be inferred that the use of practical and low-cost methods of engineering and administrative interventions together and monitoring the proper implementation of these interventions during a long time may achieve desired results in reducing musculoskeletal disorders in small scale and poor industries in developing countries..

All managers want to improve their organization 's efficiency. The purpose of this paper In addition to the asses the efficiency of Hospital during the time, is trying to answer to this question that, is the recruitment of new personnel able to increase hospital efficiency? In this sectional study, the relative efficiency of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Arak during the thirty-one months Since April 2011 to November 2013 (16 months before and 15 months after the recruitment) by input-oriented DEA method with five inputs and five outputs and with considering each month as a decision making unit, was calculated by DEAP 2.1 software. Then, the efficiency scores during the two stages, once for sixteen months, and once for a total of thirty one month separately by Mann - Kendall test via Minitab 16 software was analyzed and the most important event in the hospital during the study period, was asked from hospital authorities. Most inputs and outputs of hospital have increased. The efficiency of the last eight months was equal to one. In addition, the efficiency of eleventh month was lower. The value of zs for first sixteen months and for a total of thirty-one months -0.55769 and 2.05318, respectively calculated. Trend analysis of the efficiency Scores showed that simultaneously with the recruitment of new personnel without reports of other influential factors, Hospital efficiency has significantly improved.