Effects of Acupressure on Pain and Vital Signs of Patients After Small Abdominal Surgeries: A Clinical Trial

Background: Several studies have investigated the effect of acupressure on pain and vital signs however the results are inconsistent. Either no study has been conducted on the effect of acupressure on vital signs of post-surgical patients, or it is not available. Objectives: The present study was conducted to assess the effects of P6 acupressure on pain and vital signs of patients following small abdominal surgeries. Patients and Methods: A double-blind randomized controlled trial has been conducted during the first three months in 2012 on patients after small abdominal surgeries in Al-Zahra hospital of Isfahan. Patients who were candidates for small abdominal surgeries and met the inclusion criteria were entered the study and were randomly allocated to the intervention and placebo groups (40 patients in each group). In the intervention group, acupressure was applied to P6 acupoint on both hands. An acuband without a push button was also placed around the patients’ wrist in the placebo (control) group. Acubands were worn for seven hours. Pain and vital signs were assessed prior starting acupressure and once every hour in the first seven hours after regaining consciousness. Data analysis has been conducted with SPSS version 11.5. T test was applied to compare the severity of pain and the mean of vital signs in the two groups. Results: The mean score of pain severity was higher in P6 group at the first and fourth hours following surgery but this score was lower in this group at other times. However, the differences between the mean of pain severity of the two groups were not statistically significant. In total, no significant differences were observed between the vital signs parameters in the two groups at seven hours. Conclusions: This study showed that P6 acupressure had no statistically significant effect on post-operative pain, and vital signs of patients who underwent small abdominal surgeries. Further investigations with larger sampling are suggested

Faculty Members Quality of Work Life in Kashan University of Medical Sciences in 2012

Background: Quality of work life (QWL) is one of the most important factors for motivating humans and improving work. As one of the main assets for a university, faculty members should have a good QWL. However, few studies have been done concerning the QWL in faculty members and there are differing results from these previous reports. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the faculty members’ QWL in the Kashan University of Medical Sciences. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 65 faculty members of the Kashan University of Medical Sciences during 2012. Faculty members were randomly selected from a list that was prepared through the Kashan University of Medical Sciences website. The data-gathering instruments consisted of two parts. The first part consisted of questions concerning demographic information, while the second part was the Walton’s quality of work life questionnaire. For statistical analyses, t-tests and one-way analyses of variance were used. Results: The subjects consisted of 64.6% men, 33.8% were in the medical college, 43.1% lived in a personal house, and 43.1% were instructors. The results of the study showed that faculty members’ overall QWL was 72.98 ± 9.62. No significant differences were observed between the subjects' mean QWL with regard to place of work, scientific ranking, and living location. Conclusions: QWL has an important impact on attracting and retaining employees, thus, it is necessary to pay greater attention to the faculty members’ QWL

Does the Boltzmann principle need a dynamical correction?

In an attempt to derive thermodynamics from classical mechanics, an approximate expression for the equilibrium temperature of a finite system has been derived [M. Bianucci, R. Mannella, B. J. West, and P. Grigolini, Phys. Rev. E 51, 3002 (1995)] which differs from the one that follows from the Boltzmann principle S = k log (Omega(E)) via the thermodynamic relation 1/T= dS/dE by additional terms of "dynamical" character, which are argued to correct and generalize the Boltzmann principle for small systems (here Omega(E) is the area of the constant-energy surface). In the present work, the underlying definition of temperature in the Fokker-Planck formalism of Bianucci et al. is investigated and shown to coincide with an approximate form of the equipartition temperature. Its exact form, however, is strictly related to the "volume" entropy S = k log (Phi(E)) via the thermodynamic relation above for systems of any number of degrees of freedom (Phi(E) is the phase space volume enclosed by the constant-energy surface). This observation explains and clarifies the numerical results of Bianucci et al. and shows that a dynamical correction for either the temperature or the entropy is unnecessary, at least within the class of systems considered by those authors. Explicit analytical and numerical results for a particle coupled to a small chain (N~10) of quartic oscillators are also provided to further illustrate these facts.Comment: REVTeX 4, 10 pages, 2 figures. Accepted to J. Stat. Phy

Epidemiology of Patients With Multiple Trauma and the Quality of Their Prehospital Respiration Management in Kashan, Iran: Six Months Assessment

Background: Respiration management is an important and critical issue in prehospital transportation phase of multiple trauma patients. However, the quality of this important care has not been assessed in Iran Emergency Medical Services’ (EMS). Objectives: This study was conducted to investigate the quality of prehospital respiration management in patients with multiple trauma, referred to the Shahid Beheshti Trauma Center, Kashan, Iran. Patients and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in the first six months of 2013. All the 400 patients with multiple trauma, transferred by EMS to the Shahid Beheshti Medical Center, were recruited. The study instrument was a checklist, which was completed through observation. Descriptive statistics were presented. Results: Out of all included individuals, 301 were males (75.2%) and 99 were females (24.8%). The most common mechanism of trauma was traffic accident (87.25%). Furthermore, 71.7% of the patients were injured in head and neck and chest areas. The quality of consciousness monitoring and airway management was desirable in 95% of the cases. However, the quality of monitoring patients’ respiration was only desirable in 42% of the cases. Only 18.6% of the patients received oxygen therapy during prehospital transportation. Conclusions: The quality of monitoring patients’ respiration and oxygen therapy was undesirable in most patients with multiple trauma. Therefore, the EMS workers should be retrained to apply proper respiration management in patients with multiple trauma

Jarzynski Equality for an Energy-Controlled System

The Jarzynski equality (JE) is known as an exact identity for nonequillibrium systems. The JE was originally formulated for isolated and isothermal systems, while Adib reported an JE extended to an isoenergetic process. In this paper, we extend the JE to an energy-controlled system. We make it possible to control the instantaneous value of the energy arbitrarily in a nonequilibrium process. Under our extension, the new JE is more practical and useful to calculate the number of states and the entropy than the isoenergetic one. We also show application of our JE to a kind of optimization problems.Comment: 6 pages, 1 figur

Shampoo-Clay Heals Diaper Rash Faster Than Calendula Officinalis

Background: Diaper rash is one of the most common skin disorders of infancy and childhood. Some studies have shown that Shampoo-clay was effective to treat chronic dermatitis. Then, it is supposed that it may be effective in diaper rash; however, no published studies were found in this regard. Objectives: This study aimed to compare the effects of Shampoo-clay (S.C) and Calendula officinalis (C.O) to improve infantile diaper rash. Patients and Methods: A randomized, double blind, parallel controlled, non-inferiority trial was conducted on 60 outpatient infants referred to health care centers or pediatric clinics in Khomein city and diagnosed with diaper rash. Patients were randomly assigned into two treatment groups including S.C group (n = 30) and C.O group (n = 30) by using one to one allocation ratio. The rate of complete recovery in three days was the primary outcome. Data was collected using a checklist and analyzed using t-test, Chi-square and Fisher’s exact tests and risk ratio. Results: Totally, 93.3% of lesions in the S.C group healed in the first 6 hours, while this rate was 40% in C.O group (P < 0.001). The healing ratio for improvement in the first 6 hours was 7 times more in the S.C group. In addition, 90% of infants in the SC group and 36.7% in the C.O group were improved completely in the first 3 days (P < 0.001). Conclusions: S.C was effective to heal diaper rash, and also had faster effects compared to C.O