Assessing Reliability and Validity of an Instrument for Measuring Resilience Safety Culture in Sociotechnical Systems

Shirali, Gholamabbas,Shekari, Mohammad,Angali, Kambiz Ahmadi Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute 2018 Safety and health at work Vol.9 No.3

Background: Safety culture, acting as the oil necessary in an efficient safety management system, has its own weaknesses in the current conceptualization and utilization in practice. As a new approach, resilience safety culture (RSC) has been proposed to reduce these weaknesses and improve safety culture; however, it requires a valid and reliable instrument to be measured. This study aimed at evaluating the reliability and validity of such an instrument in measuring the RSC in sociotechnical systems. Methods: The researchers designed an instrument based on resilience engineering principles and safety culture as the first instrument to measure the RSC. The RSC instrument was distributed among 354 staff members from 12 units of an anonymous petrochemical plant through hand delivery. Content validity, confirmatory, and exploratory factor analysis were used to examine the construct validity, and Cronbach alpha and test-retest were employed to examine the reliability of the instrument. Results: The results of the content validity index and content validity ratio were calculated as 0.97 and 0.83, respectively. The explanatory factor analysis showed 14 factors with 68.29% total variance and 0.88 Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin index. The results were also confirmed with confirmatory factor analysis (relative Chi-square = 2453.49, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = 0.04). The reliability of the RSC instrument, as measured by internal consistency, was found to be satisfactory (Cronbach ${\alpha}=0.94$). The results of test-retest reliability was r = 0.85, p < 0.001. Conclusion: The results of the study suggest that the measure shows acceptable validity and reliability.

Molecular Mechanisms of Apoptosis and Roles in Cancer Development and Treatment

Goldar, Samira,Khaniani, Mahmoud Shekari,Derakhshan, Sima Mansoori,Baradaran, Behzad Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2015 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.16 No.6

Programmed cell death (PCD) or apoptosis is a mechanism which is crucial for all multicellular organisms to control cell proliferation and maintain tissue homeostasis as well as eliminate harmful or unnecessary cells from an organism. Defects in the physiological mechanisms of apoptosis may contribute to different human diseases like cancer. Identification of the mechanisms of apoptosis and its effector proteins as well as the genes responsible for apoptosis has provided a new opportunity to discover and develop novel agents that can increase the sensitivity of cancer cells to undergo apoptosis or reset their apoptotic threshold. These novel targeted therapies include those targeting anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 family members, p53, the extrinsic pathway, FLICE-inhibitory protein (c-FLIP), inhibitor of apoptosis (IAP) proteins, and the caspases. In recent years a number of these novel agents have been assessed in preclinical and clinical trials. In this review, we introduce some of the key regulatory molecules that control the apoptotic pathways, extrinsic and intrinsic death receptors, discuss how defects in apoptotic pathways contribute to cancer, and list several agents being developed to target apoptosis.

Assessing Reliability and Validity of an Instrument for Measuring Resilience Safety Culture in Sociotechnical Systems

Gholamabbas Shirali,Mohammad Shekari,Kambiz Ahmadi Angali 한국산업안전보건공단 산업안전보건연구원 2018 Safety and health at work Vol.9 No.3

Background: Safety culture, acting as the oil necessary in an efficient safety management system, has its own weaknesses in the current conceptualization and utilization in practice. As a new approach, resilience safety culture (RSC) has been proposed to reduce these weaknesses and improve safety culture; however, it requires a valid and reliable instrument to be measured. This study aimed at evaluating the reliability and validity of such an instrument in measuring the RSC in sociotechnical systems. Methods: The researchers designed an instrument based on resilience engineering principles and safety culture as the first instrument to measure the RSC. The RSC instrument was distributed among 354 staff members from 12 units of an anonymous petrochemical plant through hand delivery. Content validity, confirmatory, and exploratory factor analysis were used to examine the construct validity, and Cronbach alpha and test-retest were employed to examine the reliability of the instrument. Results: The results of the content validity index and content validity ratio were calculated as 0.97 and 0.83, respectively. The explanatory factor analysis showed 14 factors with 68.29% total variance and 0.88 Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin index. The results were also confirmed with confirmatory factor analysis (relative Chi-square = 2453.49, Root Mean Square Error of Approximation = 0.04). The reliability of the RSC instrument, as measured by internal consistency, was found to be satisfactory (Cronbach a = 0.94). The results of test-retest reliability was r ¼ 0.85, p < 0.001. Conclusion: The results of the study suggest that the measure shows acceptable validity and reliability.

Vaginal Laser Therapy for Stress Urinary Incontinence: A Systematic Review of Prospective Randomized Clinical Trials

Amene Ranjbar,Vahid Mehrnoush,Fatemeh Darsareh,Ahmed Kotb,Ahmed Zakaria,Mitra Shekari,Malihe Shirzadfard Jahromi 대한폐경학회 2022 대한폐경학회지 Vol.28 No.3

The most common type of urinary incontinence in women is stress urinary incontinence (SUI) which negatively impacts several aspects of life. The newly introduced vaginal laser therapy is being considered for treating SUI. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the efficacy of vaginal laser therapy for stress urinary incontinence in menopausal women. We searched the following databases: MEDLINE (via PubMed), EMBASE, Cochrane Library databases, Web of Science, clinical trial registry platforms, and Google Scholar, using the MeSH terms and keywords [Urinary Incontinence, Stress] and [(lasers) OR laser]. In our systematic review, prospective randomized clinical studies on women diagnosed with SUI as per the International Continence Society’s diagnostic criteria were included. The Cochrane Risk-of-Bias assessment tool for randomized clinical trials was used to evaluate the quality of studies. A total of 256 relevant records in literature databases and registers and 25 in additional searches were found. Following a review of the titles, abstracts, and full texts, four studies involving 431 patients were included. Three studies used CO2-lasers, and one used Erbium: YAG-laser. The results of all four studies revealed the short-term improvement of SUI following both the Erbium: YAG-laser and CO2-laser therapy. SUI treatment with CO2-laser and Erbium: YAG-laser therapy is a quick, intuitive, well-tolerated procedure that successfully improves incontinence-related symptoms. The long-term impact of such interventions has not been well established as most trials focused on the short-term effects.

The effects of water-pipe smoking on birth weight: a population-based prospective cohort study in southern Iran

Shahrzad Nematollahi1,,Mohammad Ali Mansournia,Abbas Rahimi Foroushani,Mahmood Mahmoodi,Azin Alavi,Mohammad Shekari,Kourosh Holakouie-Naieni 한국역학회 2018 Epidemiology and Health Vol.40 No.-

OBJECTIVES: Consecutive community health assessments revealed that water-pipe smoking in women and impaired growth in children were among the main health concerns in suburban communities in southern Iran. The aim of the present study was to identify the effects of water-pipe smoking during pregnancy on birth weight. METHODS: Data from a population-based prospective cohort study of 714 singleton live pregnancies in the suburbs of Bandar Abbas in southern Iran in 2016-2018 were used in this study. Data about water-pipe smoking patterns and birth weight were collected by questionnaires during and after the pregnancy. Low birth weight (LBW) was defined as a birth weight below 2,500 g. Statistical analyses were performed using generalized linear models, and the results were presented in terms of relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI). RESULTS: Fifty (8.2%) of the study subjects smoked water-pipe. The adjusted risk of LBW increased 2-fold in water-pipe smokers (adjusted RR [aRR], 2.09; 95% CI, 1.18 to 3.71), and by 2.0% for each 1-year increase in the duration of water-pipe smoking (aRR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.99 to 1.05). CONCLUSIONS: Our results showed that water-pipe smoking during pregnancy was an important risk factor for LBW in this population sample from southern Iran. The introduction of regulations onto prevent water-pipe smoking and the implementation of community health action plans aiming at empowering women and increasing women’s knowledge and awareness regarding the health consequences of water-pipe smoking are proposed.