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Background and purpose: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) can reduce body control and makes feeling of worthlessness, insecure, negative body image and consequently, makes a degree of despair, pessimism and low self-esteem. This study aimed to determining body esteem components in women with PCOS. Materials and methods: This study was done on 100 women with PCOS who were selected by consecutive sampling in Tehran, 2013. Data were collected by body esteem questionnaire and then analyzed using t student test. P < 0.05 was considered as a statistically significant level. Results: Total mean score and standard deviation (SD) of body esteem in PCOS women was 31.64 ± 3.51 and mean and SD of body esteem components was 2.57 ± 0.55 in sexual attractiveness, 7.54 ± 1.50 in being comfort with body, 11.11 ± 1.99 in own body comparison with healthy body, and 7.85 ± 1.64 in own and others ideas about sexual attractiveness. In case of all components scores and total score, there were no differences between fewer than 30 and 30 and over age's groups. Conclusion: Although it seems total score of body esteem in PCOS women is moderate and there are no differences between two age groups (under 30 and 30 years and more) regarding to body esteem, researches recommend further studies.

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Background and purpose: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic diseases of the nervous system in which the myelin nerve fiber in the brain and spinal cord is destroyed and the causes are still unclear. MS could result in progressive disabilities in young adults with different symptoms and incidence rate. This research aimed at comparing the big five personality factor in MS patients and healthy individuals. Materials and methods: This research was a case-control study which was conducted in east of Mazandaran. The research population included 191 patients with multiple sclerosis and 191 healthy individuals who were the patients’ companions with similar age, sex, marital status and education level with the first group. Personal questionnaire and NEO Personality Inventory-Revised were used and the data was analyzed by independent t-test. Results: The mean of neuroticism personality factor in patients and healthy subjects was 30.81 and 24.12, respectively (P= 0.001). Their means in conscientiousness were 30.9 and 35.93, respectively (P= 0.001). Conclusion: This study revealed that patients suffering from MS had a higher score in neuroticism personality factor and a lower score in conscientiousness compared with healthy subjects.

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Background and purpose: Multiple Sclerosis is a disease related to immune system with unknown factors which is considered one of the most important debilitating neurological diseases in adults particularly in youths in which myelin part of Central Nervous System (CNS) is damaged. This study mainly aims to compare styles of coping with stress in people with Multiple Sclerosisand healthy people in the East of Mazandaran. Materials and methods: in this study performed in case-control method comprised of the age range of 20-40 years, 191 patients with MS and 191 healthy people out of patient's accompaniers from the east of Mazandaran based on age, gender, marital status and education level matched with each other were selected. Endler and Parker's questionnaires of demographic characteristics and styles of coping with stress were used as a tool. Data were analyzed using independent t-test. Results: The mean of problem-focused coping style in patients was 16.86 and the one in healthy people was 15.60 (P>0.05). The mean of emotion-focused coping style in patients was 32.39 and the one in healthy people was 33.15 (P>0.05), and finally the mean of avoidant coping style in patients was 54.05 and the one in healthy people was 32.63 (P<0.01). Conclusion: Results of the study indicated that there was no significant difference between patients with MS in using problem-focused coping styles and emotion-focused compared with healthy people and they use more avoidant coping style.

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Background and purpose: Early maladaptive schemas develop in childhood and result in high vulnerability to mental disorder. The aim of this study was investigating the relationship between early maladaptive schemas and depression in guidance school students in Falavarjan. Materials and methods: In a relational design study, 250 male students from guidance school in Falavarjan were selected using cluster sampling. To collect the data Schema Inventory for Children (2010) and Depression Self-Rating Scale (DSRS_R, Birleson, 1981) were used. Results: The results of Pearson correlation showed significant correlations between some maladaptive schemas such as loneliness, vulnerability, mistrust, defectiveness, failure, unrelated standards, entitlement and depression among 11-13 year-old boys. Furthermore, stepwise regression showed five schemas including loneliness, defectiveness, mistrust/abuse, vulnerability and unrelated standards could predict 38.4% depression on the studied population (p<0/05). Conclusion: This study found that early maladaptive schemas can predict significant rate of depression among adolescents. These findings confirmed cognitive theories of depression. Thus, it is necessary to consider maladaptive schemas in treatment plans for adolescent’s depression.

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Background and purpose: Breast cancer is the most common malignancy and a leading cause of cancer deaths in women throughout the world. Breast cancer is accounted for 16 percent of all cancers. This study was performed to investigate the epidemiology of breast cancer in Mazandaran Province. Materials and methods: This longitudinal descriptive study included all cases with breast cancer recorded in Health Department of Medicine in Mazandaran and Babol University of Medical Sciences between 2009 and 2010. The data was collected from public and private pathology centers which was classified according to the World Health Organization (WHO) International Classification of Diseases for Oncology ICD-O. SPSS ver.18 was used to analyze the data. Results: We found 251 patients with breast cancer in 2009 and 237 cases in 2010. Crude incidence rate of breast cancer among the women in Mazandaran province was 17.45 and 16.32 per thousand in 2009 and 2010, respectively. The ASR rates of breast cancer was 26.6and 24.9 per hundred thousand in the studied periods, respectively. Most cases occurred in women aged 50-54 years (17%, annual rate). The most common type of breast cancer morphology in 2009 and 2010 was infiltrating ductal carcinoma. Conclusion: The results showed similar incidence rate of breast cancer in Mazandaran province to other provinces in Iran. Efficient approaches should be taken for cancer registry systems especially breast cancer. Moreover, an appropriate structure with skilled specialists could have an important role in the discovery and recording of cases.

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Background and purpose: Several studies have identified the role of several risk factors for breast cancer. This study aimed to investigate the performance rate of breast cancer screening methods and its relationship with breast cancer risk factors in women of Mazandaran province, Iran. Materials and methods: In this descriptive analytical study, the sample was 1416 women of over 20 years of Mazandaran province. Questionnaire was completed by interviewers visiting rural and urban households. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistical methods. Results: The performance rate was 14.3% for regular monthly breast self-exam (BSE) and 20.7% for the regular annual clinical breast examination. Among breast cancer risk factors, 12.9% of menarche before 12 years of age, 6.9% of delayed menopause (above 55 years of age), 9.5% of history of benign breast diseases, 3.9% of hormone therapy, 6.1% of positive family history in first-degree relatives, and 10% of positive family history in second-degree relatives were seen. There was a significant correlation between a history of benign breast disease with clinical examination and mammography performance (P < 0.001). Conclusion: Despite the risk factors of breast cancer, the performance rate of breast cancer screening methods among women at high risk for breast cancer was very low and poor.

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Background and purpose: Some studies suggest motor and sensory differences between stuttering and normal subjects. One of these differences could be the difference in oral and facial sensory-motor abilities. Researches have shown that the assessment and treatment of motor and sensory disabilities can play a major role in helping stuttering children. This study aimed to investigate the validity and reliability of the Persian version of Orofacial Abilities Assessment procedure (MAMS) in children who stutter and non-stuttering children. Materials and methods: At first, the Orofacial Assessment Procedure (The Movement, Articulation, Mandibular and Sensory awareness (MAMS)) was translated into Persian and the content and face validity of MAMS was determined. Then 20 children (10 stuttering and 10 non-stuttering) were included in the study. To evaluate the reliability, the test-retest and Cronbach's alpha coefficient methods was used Results: All questions in MAMS had easy translation, and 93% were in ideal level. The ideal quality and content and face validity was achieved thoroughly by making slight changes. Significant correlation was seen in ICC for total score (P<0.002) and in test-retest scores for each parts (P<0.02). In addition, Cronbach's alpha coefficients were calculated for each section and showed the internal reliability was 71.7 to 1. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 71.4 for the total parts was achieved. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that the Persian version of MAMS has an acceptable level of reliability and validity in assessing Children speaking in Persian language.

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The genus Entamoeba contains many species, six of which (Entamoeba histolytica, Entamoeba dispar, Entamoeba moshkovskii, Entamoeba polecki, Entamoeba coli, and Entamoeba hartmanni) reside in the human intestinal lumen. Entamoeba histolytica is the causative agent of amebiasis in humans with a worldwide distribution. Correct detection of E.histolytica is frequently a major concern in diagnostic medical laboratories that also influences treatment procedure. Data was collected through available scientific databases such as Google scholar, Pub Med, IranMedex, ScienceDirect, SID and parasitology text books. Among diagnostic methods, microscopic and serological methods despite their wide application are not efficient. New approaches to the identification of E. histolytica are based on detection of E. histolytica-specific antigen and DNA in stool and other clinical samples. Several molecular diagnostic tests have been developed for the detection and differentiation of E. histolytica, E. dispar, and E. moshkovskii (which share identical morphology) in clinical samples. Application of specific diagnostic methods was recommended to avoid misdiagnosis in individuals infected with other species of Entamoeba such as E. dispar and E. moshkovskii using microscopic examination. Therefore, the integration of new and current accurate diagnostic methods will lead to a better understanding of the amebiasis. The aim of this non-systematic review was to investigate different diagnostic and differential detection methods for E. histolytica, E. dispar, and E. moshkovskii.

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Background and purpose: Milk has an essential role in human health and its proper consumption is one of the indices of healthy nutritional style. This study was designed to assess the contamination of pasteurized milk and dairy products by different pathogenic microbes in Zahedan, Iran.

Materials and methods: In an analytical cross-sectional study, 551 samples including 244 pasteurized milk, 165 pasteurized yogurts, and 142 pasteurized yogurt drinks were randomly obtained during 10 months. They were tested using national standard method.

Results: According to the results, 86.9% and 13.1% of pasteurized milk were found to be acceptable and unacceptable for human consumption, respectively. In this study 81.8% and 95.1% of yogurts and yogurt drinks were acceptable and 18.2% and 4.9% were unacceptable for human consumption, respectively. The main microbial contamination was associated with S. aureus (45.4%). The majority of milk samples unacceptable for human use were observed in summer (23%) and spring (13.3%).

Conclusion: The quality of most of the pasteurized dairy products was found to be good, however, there are still problems in the region with factors predisposing to microbial contamination.

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Background and Purpose: Lipoid Proteinosis (LP) is a rare hereditary progressive disorder caused by a disorder of collagen metabolism. In LP, hyaline deposits in mucous membrane of true vocal folds causes hoarseness. The studies on the laryngeal and voice features of patients with LP are rare. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first research to study acoustic and perceptual voice features in two Iranian children with LP.

Materials and Methods: Two children (siblings) were assessed. The main voice complaint was hoarseness. Voice samples were recorded and acoustically analyzed by Praat. Furthermore, perceptual voice assessment was performed according to the GRBAS scale.

Results: Acoustic measurement represented increase in f0, jitter, and shimmer in both children. Furthermore, mean scores of the GRBAS for all voice parameters were more than 60.

Conclusion: Current study is the first research that describes the voice features of Persian subjects with LP. Comprehensive understanding of the etiology in voice problems helps speech and language pathologists to provide appropriate clinical services considering the nature of pathological condition to clients.

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Background and purpose: There are few treatment options available for treatment of toxoplasmosis and effective drugs have serious toxic effects. In this study, the in vivo and in vitro anti-toxoplasma activities of Heracleum persicum and Foeniculum vulgare fruits essential oils were investigated.
Materials and methods: In vitro, Vero cells were incubated with different concentrations of essential oils or pyrimethamine (positive control) and the cellular viability was determined. Next, Vero cells were infected with T. gondii (RH strain) and treated with agents. Then, the CC₅₀, IC₅₀, and selectivity index (SI) were calculated. Moreover, in vivo, the effect of oils on survival times of Balb/c mice infected with T. gondii were determined.
Results: In vitro results showed that the oils exhibited less cell toxicity than pyrimethamine.
The selective index was 2.94, 6.96, and 3.06 for Heracleum persicum, Foeniculum vulgare, and pyrimethamine, respectively. Also, the infected mice treated with F. vulgare-pyrimethamine showed a better survival rate than others (P<0.05).
Conclusion: The H. persicum and F. vulgare essential oils showed anti-toxoplasmic activity in vitro and in vivo, but, combination therapy with F. vulgare and pyrimethamine showed a better survival time in mice infected with T. gondii. Therefore, F. vulgare may be a useful candidate in treatment of Toxoplasmosis. However, further studies are needed to investigate the fractions of this plant against T. gondii.

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 Background and purpose: Many indicators can be used in evaluating and comparing any software, but, currently there are no indicators to compare software applications that separate tumor tissue from healthy tissue in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain. The aim of this study was to determine appropriate criteria for selecting a proper software for tumor diagnosis in brain MRI.
Materials and methods: A qualitative applied research was designed and performed in 10 stages. Appropriate criteria for selecting the software were determined using Delphi technique and expert opinions (30 people). They were then weighted and prioritized.
Results: In this study, a questionnaire was developed which was completed by Information Technology (IT) specialists and software engineers. We extracted 15 criteria, among which the "possibility of using the results in education" was the most agreed (93%) criterion and the "possibility of using software in medical environments" was the least agreed (47%) criterion. Also, these two criteria had the highest and lowest relative weights (0.1443 and 0.011, respectively).
Conclusion: : According to this study, IT specialists and software engineers believe that current software applications are more suitable for education and research than diagnosis and treatment. Therefore, they will categorize software applications according to their efficiency in research and education.

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Background and purpose: Malaria is one of the infections caused by parasites in the blood. Despite preventive measures and treatments, it is still considered as one of the health problems in some parts of Iran. The aim of this study was to investigate the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with malaria in the population covered by Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences between 2001 and 2020.
Materials and methods: In this descriptive study, all positive cases of malaria registered in the Patient Management Center in Mazandaran Health Department (2001-2020) were included by census. Data were obtained from Health Network and Health Deputy in Mazandaran province. Statistical analysis was performed in SPSS V23.
Results: A total of 649 patients were found, including 591 (91.1%) men. The mean age of patients was 26±10.1 years. The patients mainly aged 20-29years (49.5 per 100,000) and the lowest rate of infection was found in cases of >70 years old (6 per 1000,000). Plasmodium vivax was the most common parasite (96.6%, n=624). Malaria transmission occurred most in spring and malaria cases declined in this period.
Conclusion: Malaria cases showed a decreasing trend during the study period, however, socioeconomic and demographic factors could be of great value in understanding the epidemiology of the disease and predicting the foci eras.

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Background and purpose: Metabolic syndrome (MetS) refers to a combination of metabolic disorders which is considered a set of risk factors for chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. Oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) are one of the most popular and effective methods of preventing pregnancy. The aim of this study is to investigate the relationship between the use of OCPs and MetS in the Tabari cohort population.
Materials and methods: The current cross-sectional study utilized data collected in the enrolment phase of the Tabari cohort study (TCS). In total data of 5979 women aged 35 to 70 years were analyzed. The obtained data were analyzed using Chi-square tests and logistic regression analysis to assess the relationship between the use of OCPs and its duration with the risk of MetS and its components.
Results: The prevalence of MetS among women participated in TCS was 49% (2930 individuals). The frequency of OCPs consumption was 42.9% (2563 individuals). The average duration of OCP use in women with and without MetS was 69.15±67.06 71.46±68.38 months respectively (P=0.388). After adjusting of confounding variables, no statistically significant association was observed between the use of OCPs and MetS and its parameters (except blood pressure). Similarly, the duration of taking these pills was also not significantly associated with MetS and these parameters.
Conclusion: The use of oral contraceptives is not associated with MetS and other parameters, but its use, especially in the long term, can be accompanied by high blood pressure.

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Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) is the cause of toxoplasmosis, an infection with worldwide distribution. Considering the burden of congenital toxoplasmosis, opportunistic toxoplasmosis infection in immunocompromised patients, and the increasing of these patients, regarding the variety of weather conditions and social factors in Iran, evaluation and improvement of the methods of controlling and preventing toxoplasmosis is necessary in the country. The lack of a mandatory national program for the control and prevention of toxoplasmosis, the failure to implement a regular screening program during pregnancy, the lack of a national network for registering positive cases of congenital toxoplasmosis, and the need to improve the quality of educational programs are among the most important challenges in the future. In this regard, the researchers of the Toxoplasmosis Research Center have introduced and proposed new programs for the control and prevention of toxoplasmosis in Iran and presented solutions to the mentioned challenges to be given to the policymakers for the Ministry of Health and the universities of medical sciences in the current policy summary report. To develop a control and prevention program for toxoplasmosis in Iran, the following goals should be considered: prevention of congenital toxoplasmosis, regular screening during pregnancy and follow-up of seronegative cases, secondary prevention of congenital toxoplasmosis based on screening and treatment before the birth of the baby, follow-up of treatment in IgG and IgM positive infants to prevent ocular toxoplasmosis in the future, health education for women in reproductive age, examination of knowledge and awareness of pregnant women about toxoplasma and its transmission routes, prevention of toxoplasmosis in other patients, the establishment of a reference laboratory for toxoplasmosis diagnosis, prevention of infection in animals and disinfection in meat, reduction of environmental pollution and public education

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Background and purpose: The occurrence of medical errors in healthcare centers is highly significant due to the sensitive nature of providing care and saving patients' lives. Failure to report such errors can result in both financial and moral harm to patients and have adverse effects on the healthcare system. Medical errors have significant clinical and economic consequences and can influence mortality rates. Despite the wide range of medical errors in healthcare delivery, the errors committed by medical staff—due to the close care relationship between them and the patient—are among the most complex issues in the management of treatment systems. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the causes of non-reporting of medical errors in hospitals and methods of encouraging the reporting of such errors.
Materials and methods: This qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured, in-depth individual interviews with a conventional content analysis approach. The goal was to identify the factors contributing to the non-reporting of medical errors in 1402 (Iranian calendar year). The study population included doctors, specialists, and providers actively involved in patient safety in the hospital. In other words, individuals with knowledge and valuable experience in this area were interviewed. Data collection was conducted using a semi-structured questionnaire, designed by reviewing the literature and with the assistance of expert professors for the interviews. Sampling was performed purposefully until data saturation was reached. Data saturation was achieved after interviewing 22 experts. After the interviews, items and sub-items were identified through content analysis.
Results: Key factors contributing to the failure to report medical errors were identified in two themes, six categories, and 45 items. The extracted themes included organizational and management factors, as well as legal issues. Organizational and management factors encompassed organizational culture, communication, reporting, and monitoring, while legal factors involved the consequences of reporting and control mechanisms. In total, 38 solutions were proposed to encourage the reporting of medical errors. The experts' suggestions for strategies to promote error reporting were identified under two themes, six categories, and 38 items. The themes included organizational and management factors and legal issues. Organizational and management factors covered organizational culture, the reporting process, monitoring, and communication, while legal factors involved the consequences of reporting and control.
Conclusion: Errors in medical procedures may occur due to the inherent nature and sensitivity of these procedures. However, it is essential that medical staff consider themselves obligated to minimize errors and reduce harm to patients. Studying the causes of non-reporting of medical errors and understanding the underlying reasons are critical for improving patient safety and the quality of healthcare services. This knowledge can assist policymakers and healthcare practitioners in making informed decisions about error reporting and in delivering higher-quality services to the public. Additionally, it is important to train medical teams on the various types of errors and how to appropriately address them.