Background: Firefighters are exposed to a wide range of occupational stressors due to the nature of their job. Multicriteria decision-making technique (MCDM) is a method for identifying, evaluating, and preventing occupational stressors among firefighters. The purpose of this study was to identify and prioritize the occupational stressors among firefighters using the fuzzy delphi method (FDM) and fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP). Methods: This qualitative-descriptive study was carried out in two stages. First, the most important occupational stressors of firefighters were identified and screened using a systematic review of scientific references and expert opinions based on the FDM. Then, all of the screened stressors were weighted and prioritized by the FAHP using the opinions of experts. All results were analyzed using Excel software. Results: Among, the 52 occupational stressors of firefighters identified in the first stage, 27 stressors were selected to enter into the FAHP. The FAHP results showed that among the four main dimensions, the weight of managerial factors (0.358) was more than other dimensions. The overall result of the study, regardless of the stressors' main dimensions showed that the most important stressors among firefighters were financial strain due to inadequate pay, fear of explosion at incident scenes, toxic smoke, and gases produced at fires and lack of attention given to job safety by management, respectively. Conclusion: According to the results of the study, most occupational stressors of the firefighters are caused by organizational factors. Therefore, the implementation of management strategies to reduce the occupational stress of firefighters is recommended.

Objective The present study aimed to identify and prioritize control measures of violence against health care workers (HWs) using the fuzzy analytical hierarchy process (FAHP) and fuzzy additive ratio assessment (ARAS‐F). Background Occupational violence is a pervasive problem in health care centres. Reducing violence against staff is one of the challenges for health care managers. Method At the first stage, the most common criteria and control options for violence against HWs were identified and extracted using a review of previous studies. At the next stage, criteria for selection of control measures were prioritized using the FAHP. Finally, control measures of workplace violence were prioritized using the ARAS‐F method. Results Results of the FAHP indicated that safety and efficiency were the most important criteria. Results of the ARAS‐F also revealed that ‘increasing number of security personnel’ and ‘training staff’ were the best recommendations for controlling violence against HWs. Conclusion Based on expert's opinions, administrative measures are the optimal ways to control violence at health centres; therefore, it is suggested that violence control programmes should be more focused on administrative measures. Implications for Nursing Management These results could assist nursing management to take best strategies for controlling occupational violence based on multi‐criteria decision‐making methods.

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Delphi method has proven an important scientific method since the mid-1960s and is now used to examine future-oriented and complex questions in a wide range of fields. 37 It can be said that it is a systematic method to extract comments from a group of experts on a topic or question 38 or to ask for professional judgments of a heterogeneous expert crowd who make their decisions independently on a particular topic (related to a large geographical scale) using questionnaires. This process is repeated until the consensus threshold is reached 39, 40 Kaufmann and Gupta's fuzzy Delphi method (FDM). The steps of this method were as follows:

Fourier transform infrared spectra of blood samples obtained from healthy women and those affected by breast cancer have been analysed statistically. Several spectral differences were detected in the N-H stretching signals of amides I and II bands. The position of alpha-helix and beta-sheet amide I bands would shift in cancerous blood samples during stage development. Investigating the absorbance bands in the Fourier transform infrared spectra during the different stages of cancer, many changes are clearly observed in the intensity of a single band or the absorbance ratio of signals, indicating the changes that would occur in blood ingredients during cancer stages. These observations imply that the information is useful for diagnostic study of breast cancer and malignant abnormalities by infrared spectroscopy of whole blood samples. Finally, linear discriminant analysis was applied for classification of cancer case and normal case blood samples. The accuracy of the proposed method was 97.9%.

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Background Petrochemical workers are exposed to a variety of airborne toxic compounds which have been associated with increased risk for respiratory outcomes. However, long-term exposure to SO2, NO2, O3, H2S and NH3 in relation to spirometric parameters and self-reported respiratory problems is largely unknown. Methods Airborne concentration levels of SO2, NO2, O3, H2S and NH3 were collected from two fixed stations over a 3-year period in a petrochemical complex. We assessed spirometric parameters and respiratory symptoms in the petrochemical workers (n = 200) and in an unexposed group (n = 200). We calculated β-coefficients (β) and odds ratios (ORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) before and after adjustment for covariates. Results The mean airborne pollution levels were 159 µg/m3 for SO2, 43 µg/m3 for NO2, 66 µg/m3 for O3, 6 µg/m3 for H2S, and 24 µg/m3 for NH3. We found a significant reduction in spirometric parameters among petrochemical workers compared to the unexposed: FEV1 (forced expiratory volume in 1s) (adjusted β -12; 95%CI -16, -7.64), FEV1/ FVC (forced vital capacity) (β -7.26; 95%CI -9.23, -5.28), and PEF (peak expiratory flow) (β -6.61; 95%CI -12, -0.76). Additionally, we observed higher adjusted risks for any respiratory symptom (OR 4.69; 95%CI 1.76, 12), mucus (OR 4.36; 95%CI 1.70, 11) and shortness of breath (OR 15; 4.95, 46) among petrochemical workers compared to the unexposed group. Conclusions Most measured airborne pollution levels were within the ambient recommendation levels. Still, long-term exposure to low level airborne pollutants, reduced FEV1, FEV1/FVC and PEF, and increased respiratory symptoms in Iranian petrochemical workers compared to unexposed controls.

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