The relationship between succession and intellectual capital with entrepreneurship in hospitals

BACKGROUND

The hospital environment is very dynamic and faces many internal and external changes. Healthcare knowledge and technology are developing at a swift pace. This study investigated the relationship between succession and intellectual capital with entrepreneurship at the Qazvin University of Medical Sciences hospital, Iran.

METHODS

The number of employees working in six hospitals was 2256, and according to Morgan's table, the required number of samples was 331. We distributed three hundred sixty-five questionnaires considering 10% of sample loss. We used a multi-stage stratified sampling method. In the first stage, each hospital was considered a stratum. After that, occupational groups were considered the next stratum within each hospital, and based on the ratio, the required number of samples for each occupational group was randomly selected. We used the Sobel test to investigate the mediating role of intellectual capital and the structural equation model to fit the research model.

RESULTS

Succession aspects, including culturalization, meritocracy, job promotion path, and the role of senior managers, have a positive and significant effect on intellectual capital. Succession is only effective on intellectual capital and does not affect the personnel's entrepreneurship directly or through intellectual capital.

CONCLUSION

Conducting training classes and intervention programs and using localized succession models can create a suitable platform for increasing organizational creativity and entrepreneurship, motivating the hospitals' personnel, and increasing intellectual capital.

A survey on the seroprevalence of toxocariasis and related risk factors in Eosinophilic children of Northwest Iran

Background

Toxocariasis is a serious zoonotic helminthic disease caused by the nematodes; Toxocara species.

Aim

A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the seroprevalence of toxocariasis and related risk factors in eosinophilic children referred to the pediatrics hospital of Qazvin province northwest Iran during 2019-2020.

Methods

A total of 200 blood samples were collected from eosinophilic children referred to the Qods Pediatrics Hospital. Demographic data, clinical symptoms, and dogs- and soil-contact history were collected. The presence of anti-Toxocara IgG antibody was evaluated by T. canis IgG ELISA kit.

Results

Anti-Toxocara IgG antibodies were detected in 14 (7%) of the total eosinophilic children. The seropositive rate of toxocariasis in hyper-eosinophilic children (>1000/mm3) was 15.1%, while the seropositivity was 4.1% in children with eosinophilia status (500-999/mm3). There was a significant association between the eosinophilia rate and seropositivity (P<0.05). Also, seroprevalence in asymptomatic eosinophilic children was 4.4%, while in children with clinical symptoms it was 17.1%. Accordingly, a statistically significant difference was found between clinical symptoms and Toxocara infection (P<0.05).

Conclusion

The prevalence of toxocariasis in eosinophilic children is a serious health problem in the study area. Therefore, serologic evaluation for the diagnosis of Toxocara infection is recommended for eosinophilic children.

Molecular characterization of Echinococcus granulosus sensu stricto isolated from livestock of Qazvin, Iran

INTRODUCTION

Hydatidiosis is a serious parasitic disease in humans and livestock, worldwide. Echinococcus granulosus shows notable genetic variation among intermediate hosts. Several genotypes of the worm have been reported from different parts of Iran, but no information over the parasite genotypes status in the study region is available. The current study investigated the presence of different genotypes of E. granulosus in the livestock of Qazvin, Iran, by sequencing the mitochondrial Cox1 genes.

METHODOLOGY

One hundred twenty E. granulosus isolates, including 30 from goats, 40 from cattle and 50 from sheep were collected from the slaughterhouses in Qazvin province. Mitochondrial Cox1 gene region was amplified by PCR and 30 isolates were sequenced. Phylogenetic analysis was done by using the MEGA 7.0 software. Morphological analysis was performed on rostellar hook length of protoscoleces.

RESULT

All isolates were identified as E. granulosus sensu stricto (G1-G3 complex) among 17% of isolates clarified as G3 genotypes. G1 was the predominant genotype among the specimens. No significant difference between the rostellar hooks measurements of different genotypes was observed.

CONCLUSION

Our findings confirmed the presence of E. granulosus sensu stricto in the region although further studies are required to determine the haplotype diversity of E. granulosus using different mitochondrial and nuclear genes.

Disaster Risk Assessment in Educational Hospitals of Qazvin Based on WHO Pattern in 2015

Introduction

In addition to damaging communities and infrastructures, unexpected disasters affect service provider centers as well. Structural, non-structural, and functional components of hospitals could be affected when hazards or disasters occur, and they may be unable to admit casualties, have their own personnel and patients killed or injured, have their property destroyed. In such as case, they would increase the burden of death resulting from the disaster. Therefore, in this study, hospital safety was reviewed in two hospitals in Qazvin in 2015.

Methods

This cross-sectional descriptive study was conducted on two of the Rajaee and Velayat Hospitals in Qazvin. The tools used to assess for the hospitals’ risk of experiencing a disaster were observation, interviews, and a checklist of hospital disaster risk assessment provided by the World Health Organization (WHO), including 5 sections and 145 indices for the safety assessment of hospitals. To determine the general weight, three main parts of the questionnaire, i.e., functional safety, non-structural safety, and structural safety, were given weights of 0.2, 0.3, and 0.5, respectively, according to the original version of the indices. Each index was scored as 0, 1, and 2 based on the low, medium, and high scores. The safety scores that were obtained were categorized in three groups, i.e., low safety (≤ 34%), medium safety (34–66%), and high safety (> 66%). The data were analyzed using Excel 2007 software.

Results

Functional, structural, and non-structural safety scores were evaluated as 60.20% (medium safety), 67.61% (high safety), and 76.16% (high safety), respectively. General preparedness of the hospitals we studied were 71.90%, a high safety level. This high preparedness was related to the indices of availability of medicines, equipment, water supply, and other resources required in emergency conditions (85%), and the lowest preparedness was related to contingency plans of medical operations (19%).

Conclusion

The preparedness of the two hospitals in the study was evaluated as being high. Considering the history of disasters in this Province, it would be effective to retrofit hospitals and compile written plans for administrative measures at the time of disasters. These measures must be consistent, and there should be safe installation of risky office and medical equipment.

The agnarid terrestrial isopods (Isopoda, Oniscidea, Agnaridae) of the province of Qazvin, Iran, with a description of a new species

Six species of terrestrial isopods from the province of Qazvin, central Iran, are recorded. Three species, Hemilepistusklugii (Brandt, 1833), Protracheoniscusehsani Kashani, 2014 and Mongoloniscuspersicus Kashani, 2014, were previously reported from the province. Hemilepistuselongatus Budde-Lund, 1885 and Protracheoniscusmajor (Dollfus, 1903) are recorded for the first time, and one species, Protracheoniscussariisp. n., is described as new. The diagnostic characters of the new species are figured.

Prevalence of intestinal parasites in a population in Eghbalieh city from Qazvin Province, Iran

Intestinal parasitic infections are endemic worldwide and have been described as constituting the greatest single worldwide cause of illness and disease. The prevalence of Intestinal parasitic infections was estimated to be 5.92 %. Entamoeba coli was the most common parasite followed by Giardia lamblia and Blastocystis hominis. About 5.15 % of samples contained a single parasite and 0.76 % contained multiple parasites. In this study, the prevalence of intestinal parasites especially helminthic infections was low. The study aimed to estimate prevalence of intestinal parasites in Eghbalieh city from Qazvin Province, Iran.

Isolation and characterization of medically important aerobic actinomycetes in soil of iran (2006 - 2007)

The aerobic actinomycetes are a large group of soil-inhabiting bacteria that occur worldwide. Some of them are the main cause of two important diseases, nocardiosis and actinomycetoma. To identify the prevalence and geographic distribution of aerobic actinomycetes in soil of Qazvin province, a study was carried out during 2006-2007. In this study, the incidence and diversity of medically important aerobic actinomycetes was determined in 300 soil samples of different parts of Qazvin. The suspensions of superficial soil samples were prepared by adding of normal saline, streptomycin and chloramphenicol and the supernatants were cultured on brain-heart infusion agar and Sabouraud's dextrose agar contain cycloheximide. The isolated microorganisms were examined by Gram and acid-fast stains and were identified biochemically and morphologically. Of 96 aerobic actinomycetes isolates identified, Actinomadura madurae and Streptomyces somaliensis were the most frequently isolated species each representing 19.8% of isolates, followed by Nocardia asteroides (15.6%), N. otitidiscaviarum (9.4%), N. brasiliensis (7.3%), A. peletieri, S. griseus, and Nocardia spp. (each 5.2%), and N. transvalensis, Nocardiopsis dassonvillei, Actinomadura spp. and Streptomyces spp. (each 3.1%). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on epidemiological investigation of medically important aerobic actinomycetes in soil samples from Iran. In recent years, mycetoma and nocardiosis have been increasingly reported in Iran. The results showed that medically important actinomycetes occur in the environment of Iran and soil could be potential source of actinomycotic infections.