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BACKGROUND: Ramsar, a city of Iran located on the coast of the Caspian Sea, has been considered to be enormously important due to its high natural radioactivity levels. People living in High Level Natural Radiation Areas (HLNRAs) have been exposed by several sources, one of which could be foodstuff. However, many studies have been carried out to measure the environmental radioactivity in Ramsar, but no survey has been conducted in all stapled consumed foods yet. This study was dedicated to determine 226Ra activity concentration in the daily diets of Ramsar residents as a probable exposure. METHODS: Approximately 70 different market samples were collected during the four seasons based on the daily consumption patterns of residents which have the highest consumption and their availability in the seasons. All samples, after washing, drying and pretreatment, were analyzed for 226Ra radionuclide determination by α-spectrometry. RESULTS: The mean radioactivity concentration of 226Ra ranged between 7 ± 1 mBq Kg-1 wet weight in meat, and 318 ± 118 mBq Kg-1 for tea dry leaves. The 226Ra activity concentrations in collected samples varied from below the minimum detectable activity up to 530 ± 30 mBq Kg-1. To compare the results with United Nations Scientific Committee on Effects of Atomic Radiation (UNSCEAR) reference values, the 226Ra activity concentrations concluded from the results appear to be higher in milk, chicken and eggs and less in grain products, vegetables, fruits and fish products. These results indicate that no significant 226Ra contamination is present in market foodstuffs and provide reference values for the foodstuffs in Ramsar. CONCLUSIONS: Of the total daily dietary 226Ra exposure from market consuming foodstuffs for adults in Ramsar, the largest percentage was from wheat. The residents consuming wheat and manufacturing wheat products such as bread, pasta, porridge, crackers, biscuits, pancakes, pies, pastries, cakes, cookies, muffins, rolls, doughnuts, breakfast cereals and so on may receive an elevated dose in the diet. In conclusion, with regards to presence of 226Ra in foodstuffs it is necessary to monitor regularly the activity of 226Ra in foodstuffs including market and local foods.

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OBJECTIVES: In this study, we have evaluated the lifetime and past-year prevalence of exposure to physical violence among married women in the city of Tehran and urban and rural areas of Hashtgerd. METHODS: The target population were noninstitutionalized female citizens, aged 15 years or older, who have at least one history of marriage and who resided in the capital city of Tehran or Hashtgerd County from the summer of 2008 to fall of 2010. We used a multistage sampling method. Tehran's District Six, a central district in Tehran, was selected as a representative cluster of all municipal districts in Tehran. A total of fifty blocks were randomly selected from this district, from which 1,000 married women aged 15 years or older were interviewed using a cross-sectional design. Data was gathered face-to-face using a structured questionnaire. The lifetime prevalence, past-year prevalence, and related factors of domestic violence were measured. SPSS version 11.5 was used for the analyses. RESULTS: Figures for lifetime prevalence and past-year prevalence were measured to be 38.7% and 6.6%, respectively. The independent effects of marital status and location and type of residency for women, along with education and smoking habits of their spouses, were statistically significant in multivariate logistic regression analysis. CONCLUSION: Domestic violence is a public health concern in Iran. Based on our findings, we propose that empowering women through education, and improving their ability to find employment and income, along with increasing public awareness of human rights issues through education could lower the prevalence of domestic violence.

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Neurofibromatosis (NF) is divided into two types, NF type 1 and NF type 2. Optic nerve gliomas have a high degree of association with NF type 1. NF 2, less commonly seen, is a complex of cutaneous and deep neural tumors. It is an autosomal dominant familial disorder in which CNS is affected in about 15% of the cases. Bilateral acoustic neuromas are pathognomonic of NF type 2 which may be associated with meningiomas or ependymomas. Typical clinical manifestations of neurofibromatosis are cafe-au-lait spots and multiple cutaneous tumors. There is bone involvement as scoliosis, pseudoarthrosis of long bones, scalloping of vertebral bodies, abnormal rib tubulation and defective ossification of the skull. Extraskeletal manifestations of neurofibromatosis include optic nerve gliomas, pheochromocytoma, aneurysms of cerebral and renal arteries, acoustic neurilemmoma and superficial skin nodular neurofibromas.Here, we intend to present images of several cases of neurofibromatosis with different patterns of body involvement.

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BACKGROUND AND THE PURPOSE OF THE STUDY: The quality of some of the human plasma derived drugs such as coagulation factor VIII and coagulation factor IX which can be used for the treatment of hemophilia A and B, depends on their activity which may be affected by filtration. In this study the quality of plasma with respect to coagulation factors FVII, FVIII, FIX, FV, FXI, Fibrinogen, antithrombin III, anti-plasmin and antitrypsin activities obtained after plasma filtration with CPD (citrate-phosphate-dextrose) using integral filter was evaluated. METHODS: Sixty units of plasma were individually separated from whole blood by centrifugation and immediately filtered by integral filter system. Specific plasma filtration was carried out between 4 and 20 hrs after blood donation. Before filtration, 60 units of non filtered fresh plasmas were kept as control. Coagulation factors were determined by one-stage clotting assay in an automated system. Antithrombin III activity was determined by immunochrom assay in an automated system. Activity of anti-plasmin was determined by Berichrom α(2)-antiplasmin and antitrypsin activity was assayed with human neutrophil elastase. RESULTS: The activity of coagulation factors FVIII, FIX, Fibrinogen, FV, and FXI, were not affected by filtration, in all experiments. Filtration only caused negligible change in FVII activity. Antithrombin III, anti-plasmin and antitrypsin activities were not influenced by filtration. Nonfiltrated and filtrated plasma values were not significantly different (P> 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Plasma filtration dose not result in a measurable impairment of coagulation factors and inhibitors. Although a little changes in FVII activity was observed after filtration, but these filtration-dependent changes apparently have no impact on the therapeutic quality of whole blood- filtered fresh plasma for transfusion.

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This survey was conducted to evaluate coagulation factor VIII:C inhibitors among 102 hemophilia A patients from different cities of Khorasan province in north east of Iran in order to identify and characterize the pattern of inhibitor formation in these patients population. For this purpose, we randomly obtained plasma samples of 102 hemophilia A patients (44 patients with severe, 28 patients with intermediate and 30 patients with mild hemophilia A) and studied them using two tests: the APTT mix and Bethesda test were performed. In the whole group 20 patients (19.6%) factor VIII inhibitors were detected. These were in 11 patients with severe, five patients with intermediate and four patients with mild hemophilia A. None of patients with hemophilia A had previously been studied for the presence of an inhibitor, so there was no existing history of inhibitor evaluation.

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32 monoclonal antibodies reactive with human CD antigens were tested against tamarin peripheral blood lymphocytes, ConA blasts and lymphoblastoid B cell lines derived from tamarin cells. Reagents that cross-react with MHC class I and II, B cells (CD20, -21 and -23), monocytes (CD14) and NK cells (CD16, -56) have been identified. In addition monoclonals that cross-react with T cells (CD2, CD3), the CD4/CD8 subsets of T cells and the IL-2 receptor (CD25) are reported. A monoclonal against the beta chain of LFA-1 (CD18) cross-reacted strongly, but there was only a very poor cross-reaction with a monoclonal against the alpha chain of CD11a. Two monoclonals tested against ICAM-1(CD54) were negative.

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