مجله طب دریا
سال چهارم شماره 1 (پیاپی 14، بهار 1401)

Major causes of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) in military cases include severe head trauma, exposure to explosives, and penetrating ballistic injuries. Military TBI may lead to a number of adverse consequences, including headache, dizziness, vomiting and impaired consciousness, PTSD, depression, irritability, the tendency to commit suicide. TBI may also reduce the quality of life of veterans and have a serious impact on their social functioning. In terms of pathophysiological mechanisms, blast damage and shock waves produced by explosive weapons are the most common damage mechanisms in military TBI. This explosive lesion manifests itself pathologically as vasospasm, axonal and microvascular damage, congestion, hemorrhage, and brain cell edema, and its pathological diagnosis focuses more on multifocal traumatic axonal injury and Tau protein hyperphosphorylation. In fact, Tau protein phosphorylation is thought to be the main mechanism leading to neurological symptoms after TBI, although the evidence is still insufficient. The next pathogenesis mechanism in military TBI is cerebral blood vessel damage, possibly associated with perivascular inflammation and autoimmune processes and oxidative damage, which increases cerebral blood vessel permeability and impairs energy metabolism in brain cells, as well as ion concentration balance within. It breaks down outside the brain tissue cells, eventually leading to vasogenic edema after TBI. Unpredictability of pathological changes and delay in post-injury assessment have been reported to be major factors limiting early detection of military TBI. However, advanced imaging techniques and biomarkers have been reported to be useful for early detection of military TBI. Today, immediate interventions in patients with TBI, despite various new technologies, remain a clinical challenge. To fully repair injuries to the nervous system and to enable military personnel to recover from their social functions, the development of technologies for appropriate diagnosis and treatment is essential.

Cyanobacteria are ubiquitous photosynthetic microorganisms that cause blooms in surface waters; some species endanger the health of humans and other animals. To date, more than 65 cyanobacterial neurotoxins have been discovered, of which Saxitoxins (STXs) is the most well-known and have many variants. Saxotoxins target voltage-gated ion channels that cause skeletal or respiratory muscle block and cause death due to the inability to breathe. Saxotoxins, by accumulating in marine food sources such as snails, shellfish, and finfish, cause poisoning of aquatic mammals and humans. The incidence of saxitoxin has been reported in several different regions, including the Persian Gulf, Australia, and North and South America, which should be given special attention due to the high lethality of this type of poisoning. In addition to the risk to human health, it is also very dangerous for wildlife, especially aquatic animals. Due to the high toxicity of saxitoxin and some reports in Iran, more precise and extensive preventive and control measures should be taken for this dangerous toxin, which has been somewhat facilitated due to sensitive diagnostic methods.

Considering the importance of sleep quality in all aspects of quality of life; the aim of this study was to investigate the prediction of sleep quality based on mental health in sailors.

The present study was a descriptive-correlational study conducted in 2022, in Bushehr, a coastal city in the south of Iran. The statistical population included 60 sailors aged 40 to 50 years in Bushehr. Sampling was done by the availability method. 12-Item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12) (Goldberg & Williams, 1988) and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) were used to collect data.

The mean age of sailors was 46.9 years. There was a significant positive relationship between mental health and sleep quality. The results of regression analysis showed that mental health explains 37% of the variance in sleep quality.

Considering the prevalence of unfavorable patterns of sleep quality in sailors and the 37% importance of mental health in improving the quality of sailors' sleep, strategies and interventions to promote mental health in sailors should be adopted to avoid short-term and long-term effects of lack of sleep quality.

Patient satisfaction, as one of the effective tools in evaluating the quality of healthcare and planning to improve the health system, is of great importance. The aim of this study was to determine the level of patient satisfaction with the provided services in one of the Iranian naval clinics.

This cross-sectional study was performed in an Iranian naval clinic in 2020. A sampling method was available and 203 patients were included in the study. The data collection tool was the Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire with 48 questions, with confirmed validity and reliability. This questionnaire evaluated patients' satisfaction in two parts of treatment services including medical, nursing, health, and cleaning services, and non-treatment services including admission services, staff, nutritional status, welfare facilities, pharmacy, and religious observance.

Patients' satisfaction with the services provided in the medical sectors was 73.4% and in the non-medical sectors was 70.7% (good level). The highest and lowest levels of satisfaction in the medical sectors were related to medical (75.5%) and nursing services (69.9%) and the highest and lowest levels of satisfaction in the non-medical sectors were related to admission services (79.1%) and nutrition (59.9%). There was a significant relationship between age, marital status, and previous referrals to the clinic with patient satisfaction. There was no significant relationship between gender, education, the reason for referring to the clinic, and insurance with patient satisfaction.

The findings of the present study showed that the patients were more satisfied with the medical services compared to the non-medical ones. It seems that managers and planners should focus on improving the clinic's condition and increasing their satisfaction with the provision of well-equipped and well-trained staff, with a particular emphasis on improving nutritional services.

Health and happiness are among the most essential psychological needs of human beings and affect the quality of life. The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between Sports Participation Motivation with mental health, happiness and quality of life in the staff of the Baqerul Uloom Marine Science Training Center.

This descriptive correlational study was performed on 285 employees in 2022 in Baqerul Uloom Marine Science Training Center, Iran. Data collection tools were Gill Participation Motivation Questionnaire (PMQ), Goldberg General Health Questionnaire (GQH-28), Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHI) and Quality of Life Questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF).

The mean score for Sports Participation Motivation was 2.69, for mental health was 21.51, for Happiness was 68.21 and for quality of life was 2.41 in the staff of Baqerul Uloom Marine Science Training Center. The intensity of the correlation between sports participation motivation and mental health (0.54), happiness (0.48), quality of life (0.58) was considered significant (P˂0.01).

The present results showed that the use of sports activities can be effective in mental health, happiness and quality of life in the staff of Baqerul Uloom Marine Science Training Center. Therefore, it is suggested as a method of complementary medicine to increase mental health, happiness and improve the quality of life of employees.

Stressors and job psychological pressures lead to reduced physical health, productivity, and proper performance of personnel. The purpose of this study was to identify the factors affecting job stress management in naval personnel using the grounded theory method.

This qualitative research was conducted using the grounded theory method. The statistical population included all specialists, psychologists in the field of industrial-organizational and occupational, and senior staff of the Iranian Navy, whose 22 of them were selected by purposive sampling method. The data collection tool was an in-depth and semi-structured interview that was completed in several sessions. Qualitative data obtained from the interviews were analyzed based on Strauss and Corbin (2008) using the coding method in three stages open coding, axial coding, and selective coding.

By open coding; 114 concepts, by axial coding; 23 components and according to the role and position; 6 main dimensions were extracted as follows: Influential factors (causal conditions) are effective on job stress management (main category) and these dimensions affect the top position of job stress management (strategies dimension). On the other hand, the dimensions of the context and interveners affect the strategies. Finally, strategies affect the use of job stress management (outcomes). The reliability of expert opinions was 0.96.

Identifying these factors (findings of current model) can help to better manage the job stress in naval personnel to increase their personal, family, and work health, as well as increase job productivity.

The blooming of marine benthic dinoflagellates with the potential to produce biotoxins is a phenomenon that has recently caused growing concern in the health, economic and ecological sectors of tourist and fishing areas. Since the early 1980s, the occurrence of toxic marine algae blooms has increased and caused widespread poisoning in humans. Recently, many harmful and toxic dinoflagellates have been reported from the coastal areas of southern Iran, which have played a role in most of the harmful algal blooms in the coastal strip of the Sea of Oman and the Persian Gulf. Many of these dinoflagellates are benthic and epiphytic in the sense that they generally live on the seabed or on coral reefs and macroalgae and can cause extensive health and economic damage during large-scale blooms due to their proximity to the coast. Also by entering the food web, they can also be transmitted from small organisms such as zooplankton to larger aquatic organisms such as fish, thereby threatening human health. The present study, to evaluate the potential dangers of toxic dinoflagellates causing harmful algal blooms, conducted review studies using library resources. Also, by analyzing the relevant contents of the articles and searching in Iranian and international scientific databases, the biotoxin of marine dinoflagellates and its effects on the aquatic, marine ecosystem, and human health were studied. The results of this study show that 80 species of phytoplankton have the potential to produce toxins, of which about 20 benthic species produce the strongest marine biotoxins, which are deadly to aquatic animals and even humans. The most dangerous of these biotoxins include saxitoxins, gonyautoxins, palytoxins, brevetoxins, yessotoxins, ciguatoxins, maitotoxin, okadaic acids, and azaspiracids and if harmful algal blooms are formed, they can lead to widespread death of aquatic organisms and if they enter the human body, they can cause acute and deadly poisoning. Findings from a review of related studies clearly demonstrate the importance of identifying toxic benthic dinoflagellates and the need to include them in programs to monitor harmful algal blooms on coasts.