Assessment of rotavirus and norovirus emitted from water spray park: QMRA, diseases burden and sensitivity analysis.

A quantitative model on exposure to pathogenic viruses in air of recreational area and their corresponding health effects is necessary to provide mitigation actions in content of emergency response plans (ERP). Here, the health risk associated with exposure to two pathogenic viruses of concern: Rotavirus (RoV) and Norovirus (NoV) in air of water spray park were estimated using a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) model. To this end, real-time Reverse Transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (real-time RT-PCR) was employed to measure the concentration levels of RoV and NoV over a twelve-month period. The probability of infection, illness and diseases burden of gastrointestinal illness (GI) caused by RoV and NoV for both workers and visitors were estimated using QMRA and Monto-Carlo simulation technique. The annual mean concentration for RoV and NoV in sampling air of water spray park were 20and 1754, respectively. The %95 confidence interval (CI) calculated annual DALY indicator for RoV (Workers: 2.62 × 10-4-2.62 × 10-1, Visitors: 1.50 × 10-5-2.42 × 10-1) and NoV (Workers: 5.54 × 10-3-2.53 × 10-1; Visitors: 5.18 × 10-4-2.54 × 10-1) were significantly higher the recommended values by WHO and US EPA (10-6-10-4 DALY pppy). According to sensitivity analysis, exposure dose and disease burden per case (DBPC) were found as the most influencing factors on disease burden as a consequences of exposure to RoV and NoV, respectively. The comprehensive information on DALY and QMRA can aid authorities involved in risk assessment and recreational actions to adopt proper approach and mitigation actions to minimize the health risk.

Data on health risk assessment of fluoride in drinking water in the Khash city of Sistan and Baluchistan province, Iran.

According to studies, high concentration of fluoride in drinking water has adverse health effects such as dental and skeletal fluorosis. This data analyzes the concentrations and health risks of fluoride in 30 drinking water samples collected from 11 villages of the Khash city, Sistan and Baluchistan province in Iran. Fluoride concentration was measured using SPADNS method according to the standard method for examination of water and wastewater. Data indicated that average fluoride concentration in drinking water was 0.731 mg L-1. The mean estimated daily intake (EDI) values for fluoride in different groups of infants, children, teenagers and adults were 0.0058, 0.0414, 0.0292 and 0.0234 mg/kg, respectively. Also, risk assessment data indicated that hazard quotient (HQ) value of groundwater samples was less than one in 90% of samples in age groups of infants, children, teenagers and adults.

Data on health risk assessment of fluoride in water distribution network of Iranshahr, Iran.

The main of this data was determine the concentrations and health risks of fluoride in 66 drinking water samples collected from villages of the Iranshahr city, Sistan and Baluchestan Province in Iran. Fluoride concentration was measured by the standard SPADNS method. Data indicated that fluoride concentration in drinking water ranged from 0.25 to 1.72 mg L-1 and average of fluoride concentration was 0.27 mg L-1. The mean estimated daily intake (EDI) values for fluoride in different groups of infants, children, teenagers and adults were 0.0021, 0.0151, 0.0107 and 0.0086 mg/kg, respectively. Also, risk assessment data indicated that hazard quotient (HQ) value of groundwater samples is more than 1 in 6% of groundwater samples in age groups of children and teenagers.

Developing a model for hospital inherent safety assessment: Conceptualization and validation.

BACKGROUND: Paying attention to the safety of hospitals, as the most crucial institute for providing medical and health services wherein a bundle of facilities, equipment, and human resource exist, is of significant importance. OBJECTIVE: The present research aims at developing a model for assessing hospitals' safety based on principles of inherent safety design. METHODS: Face validity (30 experts), content validity (20 experts), construct validity (268 examples), convergent validity, and divergent validity have been employed to validate the prepared questionnaire; and the items analysis, the Cronbach's alpha test, ICC test (to measure reliability of the test), composite reliability coefficient have been used to measure primary reliability. The relationship between variables and factors has been confirmed at 0.05 significance level by conducting confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equations modeling (SEM) technique with the use of Smart-PLS. RESULTS: R-square and load factors values, which were higher than 0.67 and 0.300 respectively, indicated the strong fit. Moderation (0.970), simplification (0.959), substitution (0.943), and minimization (0.5008) have had the most weights in determining the inherent safety of hospital respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Moderation, simplification, and substitution, among the other dimensions, have more weight on the inherent safety, while minimization has the less weight, which could be due do its definition as to minimize the risk.

A novel method for artery detection in laparoscopic surgery.

BACKGROUND: One of the most important difficulties in laparoscopic surgery is intraoperative blood vessel detection. An accidental injury to a blood vessel may cause serious complications and could result in changing from a laparoscopic procedure to open surgery. Moreover, differentiating arteries from veins is necessary in all surgical cases. In this study we evaluate a new image-processing method for artery detection that would be useful during laparoscopic and endoscopic procedures. It is possible to install the program on any ordinary laparoscopy set and it displays the artery's region on the monitor. METHODS: This method uses the artery's pulse to detect an artery and distinguish it from veins. By subtracting the systolic and diastolic images, the change regions are detected and shown on a monitor. The performance of this method in detecting arteries in simulation and in real laparoscopic surgery is evaluated. Artery detection in different pulse rates, different artery depths, and different blood pressures is tested via the simulation phase. It is also tested in two laparoscopic surgeries, one on a kidney and one on a stomach. RESULTS: In simulation phase the method can correctly detect all arteries that are not too deep and can move superficial tissues with zero false-negative and false-positive rates. In real laparoscopy, the false-positive rate was 8% and the false-negative rate was 5%. CONCLUSION: This method is a noninvasive, reliable, and cost-effective technique to detect artery regions, even if some of them are covered with fat or other tissues, while suppressing veins and other tissues.