[Evaluation of the risk factors related to dysfunctional uterine bleeding in peri-menopausal women in Sanandaj]

Dysfunctional uterine bleeding [DUB] is one of the common problems in peri-menopausal women that can affect their physical, emotional and social conditions. In addition DUB is one of the main causes of hysterectomy. The aim of this study was to investigate risk factors associated with DUB in peri-menopausal women in Sanandaj. This case-control study included 62 women with DUB[case group] and 124 women without DUB[control group]. We used a questionnaire consisted of different items which was completed for every subject after clinical interview. Using SPSS software, data analysis was performed by chi-square, Fisher exact test and logistic regression. DUB showed significant relationships with type of delivery [p=0.015] and age [p=0.045]. DUB had no significant relationship with diabetes [p=0.095], hypertension [p=0.917] and type of contraceptive methods [p=0.906]. Analysis by logistic regression revealed that women over 50 years of age and women with history of Cesarean section [C/S] had a respective risk of 2.284 [p=0.021] and 2.493 [p=0.009] times greater to develop DUB than women without these factors. The age over 50 years and C/S was suggested as risk factors which can be related to DUB. Attention to the advantages of vaginal delivery and complications of C/S is necessary and reduction of C/S rate can be effective in decreasing the incidence of DUB

[ effect of assertiveness training on medical students' shyness]

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of an assertiveness training program on medical students' shyness. This study is a semi-experimental one with pretest and post-test. We used convenience sampling method. Our intervention group included 50 second semester medical students of Kurdistan University who participated in assertiveness skills training course for 4 weeks. Control group consisted of second semester students of Kermanshah University who had not passed any course on assertiveness skills training. Cheek and Briggs Shyness Questionnaire was used for evaluation of both groups. For data analysis we used analysis of covariance Experimental group included 19 men and 31 women and control group consisted of 20 men and 30 women. Both groups were similar in regard to the mean scores of the pretest. But the mean scores of the post-test in control and experimental groups showed a significant difference which indicated that life skills training could be beneficial for the students to overcome their shyness significantly [p=0.001]. The results of this study showed that training of assertiveness skills could be helpful to the university students to control their shyness. Short term training of assertiveness skills is recommended for the school and university students

[Determine the inducible resistance phenotype in methicillin resistance staphylococcus aureus and coagulase negative staphylococci]

Macrolide, lincosamide and streptogramin B [MLSB] antimicrobial agents are widely used in the treatment of staphylococcal infection. Clindamycin is the medicine of choice for some staphylococcal infections, particularly skin and soft tissues infections. Erythromycin and clindamycin are two distinct classes of antimicrobial agents which inhibit protein synthesis in bacterial cells. Inducible resistance to clindamycin is not diagnosed using conventional antibiotic susceptibility testing and most of the physicians do not prescribe clindamycin in cases where isolates show resistance to erythromycin. However, not all of the erythromycin resistant strains are resistant to clindamycin. To detect co-resistance to both antibiotics, the inducible test should be performed to determine the potency of clindamycin for treatment. The aim of this study was to detect inducible clindamycin resistant isolates of methicillin resistant isolates of Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase negative staphylococci. The inducible test was performed by disk diffusion, placing an erythromycin disk adjacent to a clindamycin disk on Muller Hinton agar plate. If the isolates were resistant to erythromycin and this resistance was induced to clindamycin an inhibitiom zone shaped like the letter D was produced. In this study all methicillin resistance Staphylococcus aureus and coagulase negative staphylococci were tested for induced resistance. Of 128 isolates of Staphylococci, 6 were D and 1 was D[+]. The inducible test correctly identified the inducible resistance to clindamycin caused by erythromycin. The resistance to clindamycin was not induced by erythromycin in the majority of isolates of staphylococci in our collection of isolates. We recommend the test routinely be used for correct determination of resistance to clindamycin

Anti Hepatitis E Virus Seropositivity in a Group of Blood Donors

Type E hepatitis is caused by an unclassified virus producing acute self-limited hepatitis in different parts of the world. In order to estimate the prevalence of hepatitis E virus seropositivity in Tehran blood donors, a cross' sectional study was performed by the enzyme immunoassay method from 2003 to 2004 in a group of 90 blood donors. We noticed that 7 cases [7.8%] were anti-HEV Ab positive. This figure correlates with the prevalence ratio of endemic parts. There was no association between seropositivity and sex. The commonest age group was 40-49 years. We conclude that Iran can be considered as an endemic area for type E hepatitis [prevalence>5%], and type E hepatitis is more common in Iran than Israel and Turkey, but less common than Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Pakistan; therefore, it should be regarded in the differential diagnosis of acute hepatitis

Characteristics and presenting problems of children referred to a psychiatric clinic in Shiraz, Iran

This paper describes the socio-demographic characteristics, developmental histories and presenting problems of 330 children [189 boys and 141 girls] referred to a child psychiatric clinic attached to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, Shiraz, Iran, over a two year period. The majority of cases were from relatively well-educated, middle class families living in the city of Shiraz. The main problems cited by parents for seeking psychiatric help were neurotic-emotional reactions, speech difficulties, aggressive acting out, habit disorders, sensory-motor deficiencies and mental retardation. Although overall developmental milestones reported for these children did not seem to deviate much from the generally expected norms, there was a relatively higher occurrence of perinatal and early postnatal complications in their reported life histories