Hamed Akbari

Occupational risk of bladder cancer among Iranian male workers

Background: Approximately 5-10% of human cancers are thought to be caused by occupational exposure to carcinogens. Compare to other cancers, bladder cancer is most strongly linked to occupational exposure to chemical toxins. This study has been performed to understand which occupations and exposures are related to bladder cancer in Iran. Materials and Methods: This study is a case-control study which is conducted on cases with bladder cancer (160 cases) diagnosed in Baharlou hospital in 2007-2009. One hundred sixty cases without any occupational exposure were considered as controls matched for demographic characteristics. Demographic data and characteristics of occupation were compared. Results: Mean age of cases and controls were 63.7 and 64 years, respectively (P = 0.841). History of urinary tract stone had significantly difference in two groups (P = 0.039). Occupations such as bus and truck driving, road and asphalt making, mechanics, working in refinery and Petrochemical, plastic, metal manufactory, welding, and pipeline founded a higher risk for bladder cancer rather than controls. Conclusion: Our findings on Iranian workers are concurrent and compatible with findings of previous reports about occupational and environmental risk factors of bladder cancer. Although our study population was

Historical Cohort Study on the Factors Affecting Blood Pressure in Workers of Polyacryl Iran Corporation Using Bayesian Multilevel Modeling with Skew T Distribution

Background Hypertension is considered as a major public health problem in most countries due to its association with ischemic heart disease which causes cerebrovascular disease and death. Objectives The purpose of the present study was to study factors affecting Blood Pressure (BP). Patients and Methods The data were extracted from annual observation of the workers who worked in Polyacryl Iran Corporation (PIC) between 1998 and 2010. In this research, we assessed the effect of Body Mass Index (BMI), age, sex, job status, marital status, job schedule type, and education level on Systolic Blood Pressure (SBP) and Diastolic Blood Pressure (DBP) using Bayesian multilevel modeling with skew t distribution using WinBUGS software. Results Totally 3965 persons participated in this study, 75(1.9%) female and 3890 (98.1%) male. In this study age, sex, BMI, job status, marital status, and education level had statistical association with SBP. The result for DBP was similar to SBP except the education level which had no statistical association. Conclusions Treating obesity, increasing physical activity and quality of married life are proposed as practical solutions to reduce BP.

Evaluation of the Effect of Shift Work on Serum Cholesterol and Triglyceride Levels

Background: Working outside daylight hours (7 am to 7 pm) is called shift work. Shift work is a common practice in many industries and factories such as steel industries, petroleum industries, power plants, and in some services such as medicine and nursing and police forces, in which professionals provide services during day and night. Objectives: Considering the contradictory reports of different studies, we decided to evaluate the effect of shift work on cholesterol and triglyceride (TG) levels through a historical cohort on steel industry workers. Patients and Methods: This retrospective cohort study was performed on all the staff of Isfahan’s Mobarakeh Steel Company between years 2002 and 2011. There were 5773 participants in this study. Data were collected from the medical records of the staff using the census method. For analysis of data, generalized estimating equation (GEE) regression was used. Results: The results showed a significant difference in cholesterol levels between shift workers and day workers on the first observation (P < 0.001), yet no such difference was observed for TG (P = 0.853). Moreover, the results showed that the variables of age, work experience and BMI were not similar between shift workers and day workers. Therefore, to remove the effect of such variables, we used GEE regression. Despite the borderline difference of cholesterol between regular shift workers and day workers, this correlation was not statistically significant (P = 0.051). The results for TG also showed no correlation with shift work. Conclusions: According to the findings of this study, there is no relationship between shift work and changes in serum TG and cholesterol. The lack of relationship can be due to shift plans for shift workers, nutrition, or the “Healthy Heart project” at Isfahan Mobarakeh Steel Company.

Predicting needlestick and sharp injuries and determining preventive strategies using Bayesian network approach, Iran

OBJECTIVES Recent studies have shown that the rate of needlestick and sharps injuries (NSIs) is unacceptably high in Iranian hospitals. The aim of the present study was to use a systematic approach to predict and reduce these injuries. METHODS This cross-sectional study was conducted in 5 hospitals in Tehran, Iran. Eleven variables thought to affect NSIs were categorized based on the Human Factors Analysis and Classification System (HFACS) framework and modeled using a Bayesian network. A self-administered validated questionnaire was used to collect the required data. In total, 343 cases were used to train the model and 50 cases were used to test the model. Model performance was assessed using various indices. Finally, using predictive reasoning, several intervention strategies for reducing NSIs were recommended. RESULTS The Bayesian network HFACS model was able to predict 86% of new cases correctly. The analyses showed that safety motivation and fatigue were the most important contributors to NSIs. Supervisors’ attitude toward safety and working hours per week were the most important factors in the unsafe supervision category. Management commitment and staffing were the most important organizational-level factors affecting NSIs. Finally, promising intervention strategies for reducing NSIs were identified and discussed. CONCLUSIONS To reduce NSIs, both management commitment and sufficient staffing are necessary. Supervisors should encourage nurses to engage in safe behavior. Excessive working hours result in fatigue and increase the risk of NSIs.

Microbiological dataset of rural drinking water supplies in Zahedan, Iran

The residual chlorine and microbial quality of drinking water in the Zahedan villages by a number of1221 samples from all 168 villages were collected between 2014–2015. Then the samples were evaluated using 9-tube fermentation methods and portable chlorine method test. Based on the microbial coliform and fecal coliform indices, the data indicated that the maximum and minimum controlling of the bacteria in the distribution network were in the winter (90.62%) and autumn (85.56%), respectively. Also in the reservoirs, the maximum and minimum controlling of the bacteria were in winter (93.49%) and autumn (87.35%), respectively. The residual chlorine was prepared in almost all of seasons.

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.

Data on investigating the nitrate concentration levels and quality of bottled water in Torbat-e Heydarieh, Khorasan razavi province, Iran

The human body is primarily water and healthy drinking water is vital to human life. Today, the bottled-water industry has been widely developed in most countries and more than 150 several brands of bottled water are produced in Iran. Considering the increasing consumption of bottled water and its potential for contamination with harmful chemical and microbial agents such as nitrate, the aim of this study was to assess the nitrate concentration and also the microbial quality of bottled water in a number of brands produced in the Torbat-e Heydarieh city in 2017. In present descriptive-analytical research, random sampling (80 samples) was done by collecting 1.5 l bottled water with different production dates from 20 factories. These samples were collected in four different seasons. Measurement of nitrate concentration and microbial quality including total and fecal coliforms, were performed according to the Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater. The results indicated that, in general, the mean concentration of nitrate in all samples was range 0.6-16 mg/L and all samples are within the national standard of Iran (less than 50 mg/L) and international standards. Also, total coliforms and fecal coliforms in any of the studied samples were zero.

Data on aluminum concentration in drinking water distribution network of rural water supply in Sistan and Baluchistan province, Iran

The aim of this study is to determine the Aluminum concentration in groundwater resources of Sistan and Baluchestan province, Iran. See the data in this article. For the purpose of this study, a total of 871 water samples were collected and values of quality parameters including pH, turbidity, total dissolved solids (TDS) and Aluminum concentration were measured (with two-time repetitions) according to Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater, during the year 2016. The mean, maximum, minimum of Aluminum concentrations in all groundwater resources of Sistan and Baluchistan province, were: 0.015, 0.059, 0.0004 mg/l, respectively and also, the standard deviation was 0.012. Moreover, employing GIS software, the geo-statistical distribution of Aluminum concentration in groundwater aquifer in Sistan and Baluchestan was mapped.

Data on Nitrate–Nitrite pollution in the groundwater resources a Sonqor plain in Iran

Nitrate is a groundwater pollutant which in higher concentrations limits, leads to health hazard such as Methemoglobinemia and formation of nitrosamine compounds. In this research, the nitrate and nitrite concentrations in all water resources in the villages of Songor plain were determined and the relationship between these values with the water table and zonation of nitrate concentration were investigated in the GIS environment. In this study, 37 samples of all groundwater resources of Sonqor plain were taken in, high water (March 2016) and low water (October 2017) periods. Water nitrate levels were then determined by spectrophotometry and results compared with national standards of Iran and analyzed by SPSS. Finally, the concentration distribution mapping was carried out in GIS environment and the factors affecting nitrite changes were analyzed. Nitrate concentration of water resources of Sonqor plain was fluctuating at 3.09–88.5 mg per Liter. In one station, nitrite concentrations in the high (88.5 mg/L) and low (71.4 mg/L) water seasons were higher than the maximum limit. Low thickness of alluvium, the site of wells in the downstream farmlands, the farming situation of the region, nitrate leaching from agricultural soils and wide use of nitrogen fertilizers in agriculture were considered as the causes of the pollution in one station. Though the average concentration of nitrate and nitrite are not high in this region, but because of problematic consequences of high nitrate concentrations to human health, proper management in use of chemical fertilizers, treatment or disposal of contaminated wells and protection of water wells is highly recommended.

Data on estimation for sodium absorption ratio: Using artificial neural network and multiple linear regressions

In this article the data of the groundwater quality of Aras catchment area were investigated for estimating the sodium absorption ratio (SAR) in the years 2010–2014. The artificial neural network (ANN) is defined as a system of processor elements, called neurons, which create a network by a set of weights. In the present data article, a 3-layer MLP neural network including a hidden layer, an input layer and an output layer had been designed. The number of neurons in the input and output layers of network was considered to be 4 and 1, respectively, due to having four input variables (including: pH, sulfate, chloride and electrical conductivity (EC)) and only one output variable (sodium absorption ratio). The impact of pH, sulfate, chloride and EC were estimated to be 11.34%, 72.22%, 94% and 91%, respectively. ANN and multiple linear regression methods were used to estimate the rate of sodium absorption ratio of groundwater resources of the Aras catchment area. The data of both methods were compared with the model׳s performance evaluation criteria, namely root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (%) and correlation coefficient. The data showed that ANN is a helpful and exact tool for predicting the amount SAR in groundwater resources of Aras catchment area and these results are not comparable with the results of multiple linear regressions.