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Introduction: Maintaining hospital air quality is very important, especially in intensive care units (ICUs), where patients undergo invasive procedures. Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of determining the relationship between particulate matters (PMs) and bioaerosols in pediatric ICU (PICU), neonatal ICU (NICU), and ICU open heart (ICU OH) of Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Kashan. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted for six consecutive months, i.e., autumn and winter of 2021. PM samples were taken using a Grimm Dust Monitor and microbial samples were taken using a Quick Take 30 sampler. Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used for analysis and then ANOVA and LSD were used for further tests. Results: The maximum and minimum PM10 concentrations in the PICU and ICU OH were 59.19 and 9.71 μg/m3, respectively; and the maximum and minimum PM2.5 concentrations were 20.23 μg/m3 in the NICU and 4.69 μg/m3 in PICU. The mean PM concentration and the number of bacterial and fungal colonies were consistent with the WHO and EPA guidelines. Gram-positive Staphylococcus were the most abundant bacteria (90.96%). The most abundant fungi were Aspergillus (54.23%), Penicillium (15.64%), and Cladosperium (12.17%) species. There was also no significant relationship between PMs and bioaerosols. Conclusion: The mean concentrations of PMs and bioaerosols match with the guidelines, which can be attributed to more observance of health protocols and restrictions on the movement of people into ICUs due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Introduction: Regarding the relationship between students' academic progress and their performance after graduation and considering the important role of entrance quota to the university in the academic progress of students, this study was designed to compare the academic progress of students of the service commitment quota with other quotas in Kashan University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the academic year 2021 on 337 incoming medical students of Kashan University of Medical Sciences by census method. Demographic variables and information related to students' academic performance were extracted from the Hamava system and through the university education department. The collected data were analyzed through ANOVA, chi-square, LSD and Mann-Whitney tests. Results: As to comparing the academic performance of students based on the method of admission, the students of the service commitment quota had the lowest average of the basic science (14.77±1.61) and the total average until the end of physiopathology (14.75±1.54) and their diploma grade (P=0.046, F=3.80), entrance exam score (p0.05). Conclusion: The results revealed that, in general, the academic status of students of the service commitment quota were lower than that of daily students and similar to students of self-governing campuses. It is recommended that the educational officials should take measures to improve the academic performance of students of the service commitment quota.

Background: The gap between research and practice is one of the important challenges of the health system. A possible answer to this challenge is knowledge translation. This research was designed and conducted to assess the status of knowledge translation in Kashan University of Medical Sciences in 2022. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2022 on a sample of 114 faculty members of Kashan University of Medical Sciences using convenience sampling. The research tool was the knowledge translation questionnaire, which was designed and validated by the knowledge translation committee of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. The collected data were analyzed through SPSS software and using one-sample t-tests, independent t-tests, analysis of variance, Mann-Whitney U and repeated measurements. Results: The mean score of knowledge translation was 2.73±0.54 and each of the dimensions of audience needs assessment, knowledge production and knowledge application were 2.68±0.65, 2.82±0.59 and 2.67±0.57, respectively, which have a significant difference with the average limit of 3. »Knowledge application« dimension had the lowest and »Knowledge production« dimension had the highest average. Also, there was no statistically significant difference between the overall average score of knowledge translation and each of its dimensions with department, work experience, executive position, education level and attending knowledge translation training workshops and the number of research projects of the studied faculty members. Conclusion: The results show that the status of knowledge translation in Kashan University of Medical Sciences is lower than the average level and far from the desired level. Therefore, it is necessary to take measures to facilitate the process of knowledge translation in the university and improve its conditions.

Background: Moral intelligence has a direct effect on the professional performance of individuals, desirable health services and reduction of medical costs. This study was aimed to evaluate the moral intelligence of trainees and medical interns of Kashan University of medical sciences in 2021. Materials and Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed in 2021 on clinical students. Sampling was done by stratified random sampling among medical trainees and interns. A total of 209 people participated in the study. The data collection tool was Lenick and Kiel Moral Intelligence Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: The results of this study showed that the mean score of students' moral intelligence was 71.75. 9.15 (good). In examining the dimensions of moral intelligence, honesty with a score of 73.15±10.44 has the highest score and forgiveness with a score of 10.92±68.06 has the lowest score. The difference in the mean score of moral intelligence in the dimension of responsibility was significant (P=0.03). Moral intelligence and all its dimensions except empathy were lower in dormitory students than in students living in a private home with family. Conclusion: Considering the level of moral intelligence score of medical students in clinical courses, there is a need to revise the ethical guidelines for the development of moral intelligence.

Aims: Blastocystis species are one of the most common enteric protist infections in humans and some animals worldwide. Molecular studies have shown that there is a high level of genetic variation among Blastocystis isolates. The aim of this study was to identify the subtypes and frequency of Blastocystis isolates in patients who referred to the medical diagnostic laboratories in Kashan, Central Iran. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 1118 patients, from December 2017 to June 2018. Fecal specimens were evaluated by the microscopic examination. Positive samples were cultivated in Robinson media. After massive growth and DNA extraction, a 550 bp from the small subunit ribosomal RNA gene was amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for subtype identification. The PCR products have been sequenced, identified, and compared at the NCBI site. The results were analyzed using the SPSS software version 16. Results: The frequency of Blastocystis sp. was 8.58%, (confidence interval = 6.94%–10.22%) from which 76% were men and 24% were women. Of the 51 PCR positive samples, ST3 (41.2%), ST1 (39.2%), ST2 (11.8%), and 7.8% isolates were identified as mixed. ST3 and ST1 have been more common. The highest levels of infection were observed in the food-handlers, the age group of 31–40, and people with high school education. Conclusion: The results showed that the frequency of Blastocystis was lower than other studies and the most common Blastocystis subtype was subtype 3, followed by subtype 1, and subtype 2.

Aim: Sleep and rest are the essential physiological needs of human. Nurses are at risk of developing sleep problems than others because of having various shift work. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the sleep quality and related factors in the nurses. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 200 nurses were selected randomly from Shahid Beheshti Educational Hospital of Kashan University of Medical Sciences, Iran, 2016. Persian version of Pittsburgh Sleep Questionnaire Index and demographic questionnaire were used for the detection of sleep quality. Results: The mean age of cases was 51.31 years, and most of them (73%) were female. The majority of them had rotating shift work and worked over 150 h per month. 95.5% (191 cases) of them had poor sleep quality. The mean total score of sleep quality in females was higher than males (P = 0.04). The nurses with rotating shift work had higher mean total score of sleep quality than nurses with fixed shift work. Nurses with over 150 h per month had more problems in daily function than others (P = 0.04). Conclusion: These results present that the majority of the nurses had poor sleep quality. Poor sleep quality could be affect function, mental and physical health, and secondary effect delivery service to patients. Therefore, attention to this issue and strategies for improved sleep quality is necessary.

Background and objectives: Neisseria gonorrhoeae is the second most sexually transmitted diseases agents in developing countries. Antimicrobial resistance strains have created serious health concern. The aim of this study was to determine the frequency of endocervical gonococcal infection and antimicrobial susceptibility of N.gonorrhoeae in Kashan, Iran. Materials and Methods: In this study, 294 endocervical swabs were collected from married women referred to the obstetrics and gynecology clinics in Kashan from December 2012 to May 2013. The samples were cultured in modified Thayer Martin in 37°C with 5-10% CO2 for 72 hours. Gram staining, oxidase, catalase and carbohydrate utilization tests were used to identify the isolated species. All isolates were tested for their susceptibilities to antimicrobials using the Kirby Bauer-disk diffusion techniques. Results: N.gonorrhoeae was detected in 2.38% of studied cases (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.5-3.26%). All isolates were resistance to ceftriaxone, penicillin G, ciprofloxacin, cefepime, and two isolate (28.5%) showed intermediate sensitivity to tetracycline. Conclusion: Continued monitoring of prevalence of N.gonorrhoeae is important for preventing the dissemination of this microorganism. The present study emphasizes the importance of surveillance of antimicrobial resistance of N.gonorrhoeae in order to manage the rate of resistant strains and to revise the treatment policies.

Background: To assess the mortality predictive value of routine blood tests in patients with hip fracture., Methods: In a retrospective descriptive study, medical records of 204 hip fractured patients with the age of 60 or older who were admitted to the Department of Orthopedics was considered regarding routine laboratory tests. Predictive values of these tests were assessed using receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC)., Results: The incidence of death due to hip fracture was 24%. The mortality rate was significantly increased with age > 65 (OR= 15). There was no significant difference between mortality in regards to gender. High plasma BUN (more than 20 mg/dl) and creatinine (more than 1.3 mg/dl) significantly increased the chance of mortality. [OR= 3.0 and OR=2.5 for BUN and creatinine, respectively]. Patients' mortality did not show any correlation with sodium and potassium plasma levels and blood hemoglobin., Conclusions: There is direct correlation between plasma levels of BUN and creatinine and 3-month mortality after hip fractures. Patients with high plasma levels of BUN were three times more likely to die than those with normal BUN. Also, patients with high plasma creatinine levels were 2.5 times more likely to die than those who had normal values. Mortality was also associated with increasing age but did not vary with gender. Patients aging more than 65 were 15 times more likely to die following a hip fracture than those with younger age.