Survey of Knowledge and Attitude of Female Hairdressers in Rafsanjan Regarding the Prevention of Blood-Borne Diseases and Its Relationship with Demographic Characteristics

Background: Failure to observe hygienic principles and making minor cuts with scissors and razors while applying makeup may lead to the transmission of diseases of blood origin. The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge and attitude of female hairdressers in Rafsanjan regarding the prevention of Blood-borne diseases and its relationship with demographic characteristics in 2019-2020. Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed in all hairdressing salons in Rafsanjan that had official activities, by census (201 hairdressers). The tool for measuring knowledge and attitude was a researcher-made questionnaire that was completed as a self-report. The questionnaires were anonymous and coded and included demographic information, awareness and attitude. Data were entered into SPSS software version 18 and reported by indices of Dispersion indices, frequency distribution and Pearson correlation coefficient. Results: The average knowledge and attitude of hairdressers about Blood-borne diseases were 57.95 ± 5.11 and 57.95 ± 11.35, respectively. There was a statistically significant relationship between the mean score of knowledge and attitude of the research samples with the level of literacy (p value = 0.001). Most of the research samples mentioned that there is a vaccine to prevent hepatitis C disease and it was believed that covering the needle head after use has no effect on Blood-borne diseases. Conclusion: Considering the average level of knowledge of hairdressers, it is suggested that more effective training courses to increase the knowledge of hairdressers using different training methods in order to make more effectiveness of health programs.

Statistics of eigenvalue dispersion indices: quantifying the magnitude of phenotypic integration

Quantification of the magnitude of covariation plays a major role in the studies of phenotypic integration, for which statistics based on dispersion of eigenvalues of a covariance or correlation matrix—eigenvalue dispersion indices—are commonly used. However, their use has been hindered by a lack of clear understandings on their statistical meaning and sampling properties such as the magnitude of sampling bias and error. This study remedies these issues by investigating properties of these statistics with both analytic and simulation-based approaches. The relative eigenvalue variance of a covariance matrix is known in the statistical literature as a test statistic for sphericity, thus is an appropriate measure of eccentricity of variation. The same of a correlation matrix is exactly equal to the average squared correlation, thus is a clear measure of overall integration. Exact and approximate expressions for the mean and variance of these statistics are analytically derived for the null and arbitrary conditions under multivariate normality, clarifying the effects of sample size N, number of variables p, and parameters on the sampling bias and error. Accuracy of the approximate expressions are evaluated with simulations, confirming that most of them work reasonably well with a moderate sample size (N ≥ 16–64). Importantly, sampling properties of these indices are not adversely affected by high p:N ratio, promising their utility in high-dimensional phenotypic analyses. These statistics can potentially be applied to shape variables and phylogenetically structured data, for which necessary assumptions and modifications are presented.

Can rational sampling maximise isolation and fix distribution measure of entomopathogenic nematodes?

Summary Entomopathogenic nematodes (EPN) can infect and kill a wide range of insect pests and are used as safe alternatives to chemical insecticides. Hence, a hypothesis was tested for obtaining EPN with high recovery frequency value and accurate distribution pattern based on combining four factors: favourable sampling method, time and site targeting and use of multiple extraction technique. As the extreme diversity of EPN sampling makes any generalisation from a given case study difficult, this functional sampling was limited to recovering EPN from citrus trees only in Egypt. It could both detect more EPN isolates and allow the application of different indices of dispersion to study their spatial distribution pattern. Therefore, stratified random and systematic sampling from weed-infested soil under tree canopy during the season of abundant insect pests was done, followed by multiple cycles of Galleria-baiting technique. Consequently, the nematodes were recovered from the seven surveyed groves (100%) and from 37 of 60 (61.7%) soil samples. The spatial distribution of these EPN isolates, previously identified as Heterorhabditis indica, was characterised using five dispersion indices, which were mainly a random rather than an over-dispersed distribution.

The Relationship Between Spiritual Health and Successful Aging

Objectives: Successful aging is a positive inner feeling and satisfaction with the past and present life experiences. Thus, the present study aimed to determine the predicting factors of successful aging in a sample of Iranian elderly. Methods & Materials: This cross-sectional and descriptive-analytic study was conducted on 291 elderly in Qazvin City, Iran, in 2018. The study participants were selected using the two-stage cluster sampling method. Data collection was performed using the demographic characteristics checklist, the Successful Aging Scale, and Paloutzian and Ellison Spiritual Wellbeing Scale. Data analysis was conducted using descriptive tests (frequency, percentage, central & dispersion indices) and a hierarchical linear regression model. Results: The study sample was 291 elderly with a Mean±SD age of 68.3±6.7 years. The obtained results indicated that the spiritual health of 81.1% of the explored elderly was strong; most of the examined elderly presented a good level of successful aging. Besides, spiritual health was a predictor of successful aging in the study participants. Regarding the aspects of spiritual health, existential health positively and significantly impacted successful aging (B=0.65, P<0.001). Furthermore, the obtained data revealed that the employed elderly (B:4.29), compared to housewives (B:-4.25), those with high economic status, compared to those with a moderate (B:-3.44) and low (B:-7.332) economic level, and the elderly without a history of physical (B:-4.55) and mental (B:-2.54) conditions obtained significantly higher scores in successful aging. Conclusion: The existential aspect of spiritual health is among the predictors of successful aging. Given the importance and sensitivity of the issues related to the elderly, by interventions focused on spiritual education, one can increase the quality of this period and enrich it.

Trend of Congenital Hypothyroidism Incidence and its Affecting Factors in Shahr-e-Kord, Western Iran

Background: Congenital hypothyroidism is one of the most common endocrine disrupters and metabolism, and is one of the most important preventable causes of physical and mental disabilities. Methods: This was a case-control study, in which 54468 infants were screened from 2006 to 2014 in Shahre-Kord, western Iran. To describe the data, central and dispersion indices such as mean and standard deviation was used. For modeling, logistic regression was used. All the tests were performed at the significant level of 5%. Results: Overall, 111 cases were diagnosed with hypothyroidism, which made the prevalence value equal to 2 cases per 1000 births. The prevalence in females and males was 1.9 and 2.2 per 1,000 birth, respectively. The odds ratio for this disorder was 4.47(2.42-9.28) for the neonates with a family history of hypothyroidism and 1.72(1.05-2.82) for those born through cesarean. Conclusion: The incidence of this disorder is similar in males and females, and the incidence of this disease in people with a family history is far more than others.

Population structure and spatial distribution of Copaifera langsdorffii Desf.

The aim of this work was to analyze the population structure and the spatial distribution of Copaifera langsdorffii Desf. in two areas of the Cerrado biome. The study was carried out in two physiognomies of the Cerrado biome: cerrado sensu stricto and cerradão, both located in the southern region of the state of Tocantins. The spatial distribution was evaluated using Morisita and dispersion indices, as well as the population structure of C. langsdorffii. We quantified 318 individuals of C. langsdorffii in the two studied areas. There were 200 individuals sampled in the cerrado sensu stricto and 118 in the area of cerradão. Regarding the type of spatial distribution of individuals of C. langsdorffii, the value found for the Morisita index was 2.67 in the physiognomy of cerrado sensu stricto, suggesting grouped spatial distribution (I >1). The dispersion index calculation showed that, in fact, the spatial distribution of the individuals sampled in the two areas was the grouped type; for the area of cerrado sensu stricto, the variance (S2) found was 24.21 and for the cerradão it was 9.67, higher than their means 10.00 and 9.67 respectively. By analyzing the age structure of the population of C. langsdorffii, we found a typical trend of the inverted-J curve, suggesting that the areas studied are self-regenerating communities composed of young and developing individuals.