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Background: Iron deficiency anemia disrupts the concentration of adolescent girls; reduces their academic achievement, productivity, and physical strength, and increases the risk of infection. This research aim was to evaluate the effectiveness of the PRECEDE model nutrition education on iron deficiency anemia among female students of Fasa City, Fars Province, Iran.Methods: This quasi-experimental study was done on 160 students (80 experimental and 80 control groups) who were selected using a random sampling method in Fasa City, Fars Province, Iran, in 2018-2019. The educational intervention included six sessions based PRECEDE model for 45 or 50 min. A scale of this study consisted of two parts; demographic information, and PRECEDE constructs were used to determine the nutritional behaviors status concluding preventing iron deficiency anemia and hemoglobin, hematocrit, and ferritin blood level in two (before and 4 months after intervention) times.Results: In the experimental group of the students the mean age was 13.85 + 1.72 years and in the controlled group was 13.60 + 1.81 years. Moreover, there was no significant difference in the PRECEDE constructs, and nutritional behaviors preventing iron deficiency anemia before the intervention in two groups of study. However, the experimental group showed a significant increase 4 months after the intervention. Also, there was no significant difference in the mean score of hemoglobin, hematocrit, and ferritin blood level between the two groups before the intervention. However, in ferritin level, a significant increase was shown in 4 months after the intervention in the experiential group.Conclusions: Based on results, the nutrition intervention education base on PRECEDE model has a positive effect to improve iron deficiency anemia preventive behaviors in female students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethical codes are instructions that shape ethical behavior and determine which values and beliefs should be accepted. These codes act as a practical guideline in the nursing profession. The present study aimed to compare adherence to ethical codes between the nursing students and working nurses of Valiasr Hospital, affiliated with Fasa University of Medical Sciences in Fars Province, Iran. In this descriptive-analytical study, the data collection tool was nurses' self-reporting questionnaire on adherence to ethical codes devised by Mahdavi Lenji and Ghaedi Heidari, who have also confirmed its validity and reliability. This questionnaire consisted of 3 sections: personal information, ethical codes related to clinical service provision (23 items), and relationship with the treatment team (8 items). A total of 400 individuals (178 nursing students and 222 nurses) were selected through census sampling method. Data were analyzed through descriptive, ANOVA and t-test statistical methods using SPSS 22 software. There was no significant difference between nurses and nursing students in terms of adherence to ethical codes related to clinical service provision, but the latter achieved a significantly higher score in codes on relationship with the treatment team (P = 0.04). Although the score of nursing students was higher than nurses in comparison to the treatment team, they lacked the necessary technical competency to adhere to ethical codes. Therefore, we recommend that nursing instructors and educational managers pay more attention to teaching nursing ethics and supervise their implementation and practicality in clinical environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Depression is fourth leading cause of disease burden in both sexes and it is the first cause of disease burden in women in Iran. Depression in college students is more common than the general population and they are considered as high risk group for internet addiction. Aim: The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between internet addiction and depression in the students in Iran. Materials and Methods: A descriptive-correlative study was carried out in two medical sciences faculties in Fars Province, Iran. The participants were selected through convenient sampling among the students interested in participation. Total 150 questionnaires were distributed out of which 119 questionnaires were returned and used in data analyses. Questionnaires included Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II) and Internet Addiction Scale (IAS). The relationships between variables (among Depression, Internet dependence and duration of using the internet) were examined by using t-test and Pearson's correlation coefficient and analysed by SPSS 20 version. Results: There was a significant correlation between internet addiction and depression (p<0.001; r=0/222). A total of 21% of subjects had mild, 18.5% moderate and 17.6% had severe depression. A total of 9.6% of samples had mild internet addiction. There was a significant correlation between average number of hours of Internet usage and BDI-II and IAS scores of students. Independent sample t-test revealed that there were no significant differences in BDI-II and IAS scores in both sexes and also marriage status of samples. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it can be stated that internet addiction can be considered as a predictor of depression in medical students who are increasingly dealing with the Internet today. Therefore, the planning and attention of the authorities is essential for developing methods to prevent the harm of students who play a major role in the health care of a community such as Positive Psychology Interventions (PIs) which denotes individual/group-based treatment methods that lead to positive emotions and can augment social relationships of individual. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessment of students' ability to cope with a new educational system and Information technology in Islamic Higher education-based setting may provide information with which to develop effective interventions to improve the process of information seeking behavior in the future. This study aims to identify the current status of information seeking behavior's process based on the new educational system and Information technology in Islamic Higher education. The conceptual model which was used in this study included five stages as follows: Access to Information Resources, Using Information Resources, Evaluating Information Resources, Crisis situation, and Research skills. In order to assess validity (content), the views of Knowledge and Information Sciences professors and expert's assessment was used and the questionnaire reliability was obtained between 0.684 and 0.754 by Cronbach alpha. In order to fulfill the aim of the study, 323 Female Students who participated in this study were randomly selected were 215 in Fars and 108 in Bushehr Province holders in 1394-1395 Academic years at Fars and Bushehr Islamic Higher education. Data collection tool in this study was the questionnaire. The Wilcoxon signed-rank test used to analyse data. The results showed that Library in Islamic Higher education, Printing Book, Authority, and learning in the classroom or training at the workshop, are so important elements for Islamic Higher education students. On the other hand there was no significant difference between criteria regarding crisis situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Self-handicapping is an effective defense strategy in an individual's behavior that leads to weak performance in different situations like education. This study aimed to investigate how training problem solving skills affected the rate of self-handicapping among nursing students. Methods: This interventional study was done in Jahrom, Fars province, Iran during 2016–2017. Totally, 90 nursing students were selected among those admitted from 2013 to 2016 using stratified sampling. Then, the students were randomly divided into a control and an intervention group each including 45 participants. Teaching problem solving skills to the intervention group was completed over six sessions each lasting for two hours. The students' rate of self-handicapping was evaluated based on the scores obtained in Jones and Rodwalt's self-management questionnaire before and after the intervention (immediately and one month later). The data were entered into the SPSS statistical software, version 16 and were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, including t-test, chi-square, and repeated measures ANOVA. The significance level was set at 0.05. Results: The findings revealed a significant difference in the intervention group's self-handicapping scores before and after the intervention (p < 0.001). However, no significant change was observed in this regard in the control group (p = 0.575). The results indicated no significant differences between the intervention and control groups concerning the mean score of self-handicapping immediately after the intervention (p = 0.761). However, a significant difference was detected between the two groups in this regard one month after the intervention (p = 0.014). Conclusion: Teaching problem solving skills influenced the students' beliefs and performances positively and led to a decrease in their self-handicapping. Thus, teaching cognitive-behavioral approaches is recommended to be considered among the ten life skills used in curricular design for medical students, including nurses. Trial registration: IRCT 2017011231895 N.Data registered: October 30, 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: One of the most common causes of death worldwide is cardiopulmonary arrest. Firefighters are among the first responders at the scenes of accidents and can, therefore, play a key part in performing basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) for victims who need it. The present study was conducted to compare the effects of simulation training against workshops on the CPR knowledge and skills of firefighters in the south of Iran. Methods: This experimental (Interventional) study was conducted on 60 firefighters of south of Fars province, Iran. The study was undertaken from March to July 2023. Through random allocation, the participants were divided into two groups: simulation-based training (30 members) and traditional workshop training (30 members). The participants' CPR knowledge and practical skills were measured before, immediately after, and three months after intervention. Results: The findings of the study revealed a statistically significant difference between the pretest and posttest CPR knowledge and skill mean scores of the simulation groups as compared to the workshop group (p < 0.001). As measured three months after the intervention, the firefighters' knowledge and skill mean scores were still significantly different from their pretest mean scores (p < 0.001); however, they had declined, which can be attributed to the fact that the study population did not frequently exercise CPR. Conclusion: Based on the findings of the study, even though both methods of education were effective on enhancing the firefighters' CPR knowledge and skill, simulation training had a far greater impact than training in workshops. In view of the decline in the participants' knowledge and skill scores over time, it is recommended that short simulation training courses on CPR should be repeated on a regular basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Head lice infestation (Pediculosis) is one of the most important health challenges particularly in primary school-aged children. It is often present among 6-11-year-old students in various tropical and temperate regions of the world. The aim of this study was to examine epidemiologic indices and comparative analysis of two pyrethroid-based and one non-chemical pediculicide products on head lice treatment of primary school girls in a rural setting of Fars province, south Iran, as part of a randomized controlled assessor blind trial.Methods: Before treatment, infested students were screened using plastic detection combs to find live head lice. Three independent parallel groups, each with about 25 participants (#77) were eventually twice with a week apart treated with either 1% permethrin, 0.2% parasidose (d-phenothrin) or 4% dimeticone lotion preparations. In each case, a questionnaire form was completed on epidemiologic factors. Data were registered after a fortnight from primary scalp treatment and re-inspection on days 2, 6, 9 and 14. Data analyses were performed using Chi-square test with a P-value < 0.05 being taken as statistically significant.Results: From 3728 inspected students, 87 (2.33%) girls were infested with head lice, Pediculus humanus capitis De Geer, 1778. Ten students dropped out pertaining to exclusion criteria. No significant correlation was found between head lice infestation level and hair length, hair style, itching, nationality, age, settlement site and baths; but there was a significant relationship between age and hair style (P = 0.027). The efficacy values on each of the above re-inspection days from each of the three treatments were 81, 74, 70 and 63% for permethrin; 83, 92, 100 and 100% for dimeticone; and 96, 88, 96 and 92% for d-phenothrin; respectively. A quartile difference in efficacy of permethrin relative to dimeticone on day 14 represented the scale of head lice resistance to permethrin treatment. There were significant statistical differences in case re-inspection days 9 (P = 0.008) and 14 (P = 0.003) post treatment. Only two dropout cases, one non-compliant and the other lost before the second-week treatment, from permethrin trial were observed following two applications a week apart.Conclusions: Dimeticone lotion had the fullest efficacy (100%) among all treatments. This high cure rate was attributed to the low level of infestation and the extent of patients' involvement. Parasidose swiftly ameliorated the infested cases by the second day since initial treatment. Female third grade students were the most infested cohort.Trial Registration: Current Controlled Trials- IRCT2016041627408N1 , Dated: 21-08-2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Body image studies confirm a higher level of dissatisfaction among women compared to men, and some evidence shows that ethnicity may have a role in the level of body image fear. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the data of 372 Fars and Turkmen women visiting health care centers in Gonbad, Iran, were collected via convenience sampling and analyzed by SPSS v. 17. The instruments were a demographic checklist and Littleton's Body Image Concern Inventory. Results: The level of fear of body image between Fars (M = 2.022, SD = 0.685) and Turkmen (M = 2.1408, SD = 0.661) ethnicities was not statistically different (P-value = 0.09) based on the t test. Furthermore, age, education level, and internet usage were significantly related to the variable of fear of body image. Conclusion: The role of ethnicity in the fear of body image is not statistically significant and needs further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: One of the most crucial and essential methods for the prevention and management of respiratory infections is for healthcare professionals to take precautions for their own safety. Using Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), the current study looked into effective elements influencing the staff at Kazeroon's Valiasr Hospital's preventive actions against respiratory diseases. Methods: One hundred ninety‐two male and 108 female employees of the Valiasr Hospital in Kazeroon, Iran, participated in this cross‐sectional study, in May 2022. Census data were used as the sample technique. A questionnaire based on the PMT and a questionnaire collecting demographic data served as the data collection method. The study's content validity was confirmed by 10 health education experts, and its reliability was assessed using internal consistency techniques, resulting in a Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.87.The statistical program SPSS 24 was used to examine the data using the independent t test, logistic regression, and Pearson correlation. Results: The average age was 34.11 ± 8.91 for men and 32.77 ± 6.09 for women. The majority of participants were married (73.3%), had university education (76.7%), and earned a monthly income between 10 and 15 million Tomans (75%). Notably, 97.7% of participants had received the COVID‐19 vaccine, and 77.7% had undergone training related to respiratory infections. The most common preventive practices included avoiding touching the eyes, noses, or mouths, wearing appropriate protective gear, and maintaining a safe distance of 1–2 m from others. Analysis of PMT constructs showed that participants had a generally positive perception toward preventive behaviors. Perceived vulnerability (P = 0.02), perceived cost (P = 0.03), and motivation (P = 0.001) were the three analyzed components that had the greatest impact on respiratory infection preventative behavior. Logistic regression revealed that perceived susceptibility, cost, and motivation significantly predicted the prevention of respiratory infections, with a predictive power of 45%. These findings highlight the importance of understanding the factors influencing preventive behaviors among hospital staff, from respiratory infections like COVID‐19. Conclusion: According to the findings, the personnel at Kazeroon's Valiasr Hospital wore gloves, goggles, and other appropriate personal protective equipment. The individuals' decision to wear personal protection equipment was also impacted by perceived susceptibility, cost, and motivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Identifying ethnic and personality facilitation factors in drug use help to better diagnose and treat addiction identifying facilitation factors. It provides timely counseling, and psychological services can be partially preventable for addicts. This study aimed to investigate factors facilitating drug use based on ethnic and personality characteristics of Guilan province using the Cloninger personality system. Materials and Methods: The study population consisted of four subcultures of Guilak, Talesh (Turk), Kord and others called Fars. The sampling method in this study was a mixed-method; the sample size was at least 200 people. The present study used data in the field section of Cloninger's personality and character questionnaire to determine personality components and their relationship. They were used with current norms. This study used in-depth interviews, observation and review of documents (questionnaires) and conventional oral literature on drug use. Results: This study showed that between ethnic facilitation factors (drug and drug counseling, folk beliefs in oral literature, and beliefs about rituals and companionship) and personality traits (nature and character), except the avoidance factor at the significant level of 0.01, there was a significant and positive relationship. Variables of personality traits/"nature and character" and components of perseverance, novelty, reward-dependence, selfdirection, cooperation can predict common beliefs in the propensity to medication and therapy. The personality facilitator variable of "nature and character" and all its components, except for themselves, was able to predict the popular beliefs existing in oral literature. The personality facilitator variable of "nature and character" and the components of novelty, reward-dependence, and cooperation could predict common beliefs about rituals and companionship. Conclusion: Research showed a significant relationship between ethnicity and propensity for drug and drug counseling, popular beliefs in oral literature, and celebration and celebration beliefs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Testicular Self-Examination (TSE) causes earlier diagnosis of Testicular cancer (TC). Hence, all men aged between15 to 35 years should perform TSE every month. This study aims to survey the effect of educational intervention based on health belief model and social support on testicular self-examination in men aged between 15 to 35 years of Fasa City, Fars province, Iran.Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, 200 men (100 in the experimental group and 100 in the control group) in Fasa City, Fars, Iran, were conducted from June 2018 to August 2019. The educational intervention for the experimental group consisted of six training sessions (testicular cancer, its prevalence and types, its risk factors, symptoms, infected areas, diagnosis, side-effects and its severity, understanding about testicular self-examination and its importance, benefits, and barriers of self-examination and correct way of doing TSE were discussed, role of social support). A questionnaire consisting of demographic information, knowledge, HBM construct, and social support was used to measure testicular self-examination before, 3 months after the intervention, and 6 months later. Data were analyzed using SPSS-22 via chi-squared, independent samples t-test, Mann-Whitney, and repeated measures ANOVA at a significance level of 0.5.Results: The mean age of the men was 27.26 ± 3.16 years in the experimental group and 27.39 ± 3.12 years in the control group. Three months after the intervention and 6 months after the intervention, the experimental group showed a significant increase in knowledge, perceived susceptibility, perceived severity, perceived benefits, self-efficacy, cues to action, social support, and testicular self-examination performance compared to the control group.Conclusion: This study showed the effectiveness of the intervention based on the HBM constructs and social support in the adoption of testicular self-examination in 3 and 6 months post-intervention in men aged between 15 to 35 years. Hence, these models can act as a framework for designing and implementing educational interventions for testicular self-examination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Vaccination is one of the most effective ways to manage infectious disease epidemics such as Covid-19. However, the low rates of vaccination in populations at risk including people using illicit substances, hinders the effectiveness of preventive vaccines in reducing transmission. The aim of this study was to investigate the rate of Covid-19 vaccination and its related factors among people who use substances in Tehran, Iran. Methods: Between July and December 2022, 386 people who use substances aged ≥ 18 years old were recruited by convenience street-based sampling in Tehran. The outcome variable in this study was self-reported completion of at least two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine. Logistic regression was used to investigate the factors related to Covid-19 vaccination. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 20 at the 0.05 level of significance. As a measure of risk, 95% Confidence interval (CI) was used. The level of significance was considered at 0.05. Results: Almost three-quarters (n = 286) of the participants reported receiving at least two doses of the Covid-19 vaccine (95% CI, 70.2–79.3). Those participants with high school diplomas were 1.17 times more likely than less educated participants to report having had 2 vaccinations (OR of 1.17, CI 95%: 1.03–1.81). Participants with a higher mean score of having a positive attitude towards Covid-19 vaccination were more likely to have received a vaccination (OR of 1.12, CI 95%: 1.08–1.17). Ethnicity was also an influential variable, people with non-Fars ethnicity were less likely to be vaccinated than those of Fars ethnicity (OR of 0.33, CI 95%: 0.13–0.81). People with higher-than-average monthly income were more likely to report vaccination than those with low monthly incomes (OR of 1.27, CI 95%: 1.09–1.8). Also, participants reporting less access to vaccination centers had a lower chance of reporting having been vaccinated than those who reported high access to vaccination centers (OR of.17, CI 95%:.08-.36). Conclusions: Covid-19 vaccine uptake was found to be relatively high among people using illicit substances in this study. Higher levels of education, Fars ethnicity, higher income levels, having a positive attitude towards vaccination and access to vaccination centers were the most important predictors of Covid-19 vaccination in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite a sharp increase in the use of the waterpipe (WP) has been noted recently in Iran, no information is available for the smoking behavior and topography parameters. The present study is intended to obtain the inhalation and smoking topography parameters for the Iranian WP smokers. The smoking data collected from 122 smoking sessions, including 192 WP smokers in the Iranian Fars province have been used to perform smoking topography assessments. The influence of demographic and smoking parameters on puffing data is obtained. Results have indicated that gender and tobacco type strongly affect puff volume and duration. Women smokers inhale smaller volume of smoke than men and puff duration is significantly increased for regular smokers than occasional smokers. However, the results of the present study have not revealed a major effect of age, residence and setting on the puffing behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Fars province, as one of the most susceptible ecotourism regions of Iran, has paid attention to the establishment of ecotourism residences with the priority of rural women through ecotourism entrepreneurial training in recent years. In this regard, the present study investigates the effective factors on entrepreneurial behavior with Fars rural women ecotourism approach in Iran. The participants of the study were 431 of rural women in Fars and 205 were decided by Cochran formula. It is inferred from the results that step-by-step procedure of changing norms towards the acceptance of rural women entrepreneurs as well as the acceptance of ecotourism culture through the establishment of local and regional institutions and organizations in a context of family support with strong bonds of commitment, solidarity, environmental and infrastructural foundations will lead to a strong desire to constitute ecotourism residence by rural women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies on third language (L3) acquisition have shown that biliteracy has a facilitative effect on L3 writing. By comparing performances of bilinguals and monolinguals in subsequent language (English) writing, this study attempts to find whether being bilingual but not biliterate is of help to L3 writing. To this end, 52 Turk-Fars bilingual and 57 Fars monolingual females participated in the study. Data were collected through the participants' compositions and think-aloud protocols. A series of Mann Whitney U tests were employed to compare the groups' total writing scores and scores in different components of writing. The results of the study revealed that bilinguals performed better than monolinguals in total writing, organization, and mechanics. However, there was no significant difference between the two groups in content, discourse, syntax, and vocabulary of their compositions. This indicates that being bilingual without necessarily being biliterate is of help to L3 writing. Moreover, it was found that English language was the most frequently used medium of thought while writing in English. The findings of this study indicate the need for developing localized bilingual education systems so that bilinguals can take maximum advantage of their background languages in the process of L3 learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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BACKGROUND: Although the main risk factors of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) have been previously identified, there is not yet strong and consistent evidence about the ethnical differences of these risk factors. The aim of this study was to identify and compare the distribution of risk factors of ACS among two ethnic groups in northern Iran. METHODS: This cross-sectional study was done on a total of 250 patients (100 Fars and 150 Turkmen ethnics) with ACS admitted in coronary care units (CCU) of medical centers in Gonbad-e Kavus, a city in the Northeast of Iran. The demographic characteristics, clinical parameters and anthropometric indices of patients in two ethnic groups were recorded. In addition, Beacke’s questionnaire and Cohen's scale were used to evaluate and compare the patients’ level of physical activity and perceived stress, respectively. RESULTS: The mean age of the patients was 60.9±11.9 years and they were mostly males (54.8%) and married (84.8%). Findings showed that the prevalence of myocardial infarction in Fars patients was significantly higher than Turkmens (24% versus 15.3%; P=0.04). In addition, there was a significant difference in terms of the history of using opium (P=0.07) and opium sap (P=0.03)‚ socioeconomic status (P=0.009)‚ the place of residence (P=0.001) and type of health insurance services (P=0.001) between two groups. However, the clinical parameters and anthropometric indices and the level of physical activity and perceived stress were not significantly different between two groups (P>0.05). CONCLUSION: This study showed a significant difference in the prevalence and risk factor of ACS in patients with different ethnicity in northern Iran. This finding points to the importance of paying attention to the ethnicity-based difference in ACS prevalence and risk factors, especially in patients who are at high to intermediate risk for ACS, such as Turkmens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Cervical cancer is considered treatable as long as it is detected early and managed effectively. Pap smear test is a screening tool that plays an important role in the early detection, prevention and can prevent any early cervical cell changes from becoming cancer. This study aims to survey the effect of educational programs based on beliefs, subjective norms, and perceived behavior control on doing the pap-smear test in a sample of Iranian women.Materials and Methods: This experimental interventional study was performed on 300 women admitted to Fasa City, Fars Province, Iran health centers in 2018-2019. A questionnaire consisting of demographic information, knowledge, Health Belief Model, and Theory of Planned Behavior constructs were used to measure on doing of Pap smear test in women before and after 6 months' educational intervention.Results: The results revealed that 6 months after the intervention, 108 women (72%) in the experimental group and only 9 women (6%) in the control group received the Pap smear test.Conclusions: The current research results revealed that education based on the combination of the health Belief model and theory of planned behavior might be promoting participation and an increasing rate of receiving Pap smear tests in women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hygiene has always been one of the most important concern of human beings. The negligence of this crucial issue is regarded as the source of many diseases affecting the society. In Iran, during the Pahlavi epoch, with the establishment of medical institutions, attempts were made to pay attention to sanitary problems, and issues related to women were no exception. During this period, associations were formed to defend women’s rights, including women’s health issues. One of the most important governmental organizations during the era of Pahlavi II was the Women’s Organization of Iran, which focused on women’s educational, health and legal affairs and established various branches throughout the country, one of which was the Fars Women’s Organization. This study, by employing a descriptive-analytical method, was carried out based on the available documents and library resources to examine the activities of the Fars Women’s Organization in the field of health during the years 1966-1979. Research findings suggest that the Fars Women’s Organization tried to improve the conditions of women by forming commissions and designing programs in the field of women’s health and hygiene. However, owing to the lack of due attention given by the government to the issues related to women and the shortage of funding, the activities of Women’s organization and its commissions failed to go beyond sending some annual reports to the headquarter and hence its activities were confined to some superficial issues, most of which were left unfinished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction. Cystic echinococcosis (CE) is a neglected zoonotic disease caused by Echinococcus granulosus with major health and economic burden. The information on how the community members perceive the disease is crucial in order to recommend an effective preventive and control plan. The current study is aimed at finding out knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAP) of surgically operated cases of hydatid cyst in educational hospitals of Shiraz in Fars Province, southern Iran, toward the CE. Methods. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 180 CE patients who underwent surgery due to CE. Using a well-designed questionnaire, a telephone-based survey was carried out to collect the data. The contents of the questionnaire included basic personal information and questions related to the participants' knowledge, attitude, and behavioral patterns toward CE. Univariate and then multivariate linear regression analyses were used to identify factors associated with the KAP. Unstandardized regression coefficients (β) and odds ratios (ORs) and their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were used to quantify the associations between variables and KAP. Results. A total of 180 CE patients with a mean age of 35.64 (±17.59) years were recruited. The mean score of participant's knowledge was 8.7 (SD = 2.8 , range: 0-17), whereas these scores were 1.3 (SD = 0.7 , range 0-2) for attitude and 1.2 (SD = 1.0 , range 0-4) for practice. Findings of the study demonstrated that 20 of the participants (11.1%) had good knowledge towards CE, 82 (45.6%) demonstrated a positive attitude, and 57 (47.5%) without having dogs demonstrated a good practice towards CE (score = 2 / 2), while from 60 dog owners, only 7 (11.6%) participants demonstrated good practice (score 3 and 4/4). Factors that were associated with knowledge were age (OR = − 0.49 , P value = 0.001) and educational level (OR = 0.668 , P value = 0.001), where higher age was associated with lower knowledge and also higher educational levels were associated with higher knowledge regarding hydatid cyst. Regarding attitude, only living location had a significant association with participants' attitude where those who were living in urban areas demonstrating a more positive attitude towards CE (OR = 0.261 , P value = 0.022). The practice of the participants was grouped into dog owners and participants with no dogs, in which among participants who did not own a dog, those living in urban areas demonstrating weaker practice towards CE (OR = − 0.491 , P value>0.001). Moreover, a lack of counseling of patients after the surgery on how to prevent reinfection was noticed. Conclusion. Findings of the study revealed that the CE patients in southern Iran had poor knowledge and attitude toward the disease, and their practice may help in maintaining the disease in the community. Health education is highly needed to increase community awareness and to prevent and control this neglected parasitic infection in the area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most important conditions for the development of medical and pharmacological knowledge in human societies is the availability of drugs. In the past, the most important and widely used types of medications were medicinal herbs. The trade in herbal medicines, imported mainly from India, China, and Southeast Asia, flourished in Fars in the eighth and ninth centuries AH. Examination of the writings of prominent Shirazi physicians and pharmacists, such as Najm al-Din Mahmud ibn Ilyas al-Shirazi, Haji Zain Al-Attar and Muhammad ibn Abdullah Lari, showed that the development of pharmacological knowledge in Fars in the eighth and ninth centuries AH was mainly due to the availability and trade of herbal medicines. The medicine trade was reflected in the poems of Kamal Ghias and Boshaq Atameh Shirazi, the poets of the eighth and ninth centuries AH, as well. This research, based on a descriptive-analytical method and library sources, seeks to find out how the trade of single herbal medicament was in Fars in the eighth and ninth centuries AH and what effects it had on the development of pharmacological knowledge. The findings indicate that the prosperity of the single herbal medicine trade played an important role in the development of the Fars medical school in the mentioned centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dental and oral diseases can have negative impacts on children's quality of life. The aim of this study was to determine the predictors of oral health-related quality of life (OHRQoL) in the children aged 2-5 years old.Materials and Methods: A total number of 288 children aged between 2 and 5 years were selected and stratified by gender from three community health centres located in the city of Jahrom, south of Fars Province, Iran. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire whose validity and reliability was confirmed. The questionnaire was completed by parents/caregivers of the children. A multiple linear regression analysis was performed with quality of life as the dependent variable and, based on covariance structural analysis, evaluated the goodness of fit of the resulting structural equations models.Results: The results showed that predisposing factors with a coefficient of 0.0457 (p = 0.015) and reinforcing factors ones with a coefficient of 0.2748 (p < 0.001) were correlated with the oral health behaviours. Moreover, there was a relationship between such behaviours with a coefficient of 0.1612 (p < 0.001) and oral health status and the given status with a coefficient - 0.9714 was correlated with OHRQoL (p < 0.001). Based on the covariance structural analysis, the resulting model was found to exhibit a reasonable goodness of fit.Conclusion: The predictors of the children's OHRQoL included predisposing, strengthening, oral health behaviours and oral health status. Therefore, planning to enhance supportive family behaviours and to boost predisposing factors including knowledge, attitudes, perceived benefits, and self-efficacy in parents and their oral health behaviours is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Emergence of a new coronavirus causes a serious concern whether this can be stopped at all. The ongoing coronavirus disease created a substantial variation in the fatality rate over the world. The current report brought an explore about the epidemiological characteristics of deceased patients and the fatality rate after the first peak in Fars province which is the fourth most populous and large province in Iran. Of the 3702 confirmed cases with coVID-19, 87 patients passed away and so the fatality rate estimated 2.35. Also, it was derived that male sex, old age and underlying diseases especially diabetes were common characteristics of these victims. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The clean and pro-environmental technologies are one of the crucial instruments to produce healthy food without any chemicals. Recycling the agricultural residues by composting them is a clean and pro-environmental technology. Local rich compost as a clean and pro-environmental technology is the factor which strengthens agricultural soils in terms of organic materials and healthier crops production. The current study aims to analyze farmers' pro-environmental behaviors concerning the adoption of clean technology of local rich compost in Fars province, the south of Iran, in order to protect soil and produce healthy crops. Methodology: The statistical society of the study includes the farmers who produce and adopt the technology of local rich compost in this province. The sample included 130 framers from 30 villages of Fars counties. The study was conducted by multi-stage random sampling and the data were gathered through a survey using questionnaires. Results: Given the results, the most pro-environmental behaviors among the farmers are the environmental activism behavior. Therefore, among the pro-environmental behaviors, they intend to attend extension classes and join the farmers' groups more. The average of chemical fertilizers consumption decreased significantly after adoption of the local rich compost. Conclusion: Based on the study model, "perceived behavioral control", "social and moral norms", as well as "extension education" had a significant effect on the farmers' intent to continue to produce the clean and pro-environmental technologies. The current study presents some recommendations for adoption of the clean and pro-environmental technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to investigate factors affecting knowledge sharing among librarians working in public libraries of Fars Province, Iran. The research uses a survey method. Using stratified random sampling technique, 180 librarians were selected as a sample. The data collection instrument is a questionnaire with an acceptable reliability. Data analysis was accomplished using Lisrel Full Version 8.7. The study findings revealed that education and consultation programs improve librarians' performance. These should be designed based on employees' ability and type of activity. The task-technology fit provides the opportunity to make more use of a technology thus improving the user's performance. Existence of mutual trust between the librarians and their organizations, on the other hand, causes both sides to tend more to make knowledge-sharing. Overall, trust is an important factor in increasing the group performance level. Creation of positive mental thinking in librarians' minds has improved their mentality towards their activities and complexities of their use of knowledge-sharing system, at the same time, increasing job effectiveness and speed of doing duties. Considering the importance of knowledge-sharing as the most fundamental function and the most important challenge of knowledge management, the current work presents a comprehensive casual model for predicting the factors affecting knowledge-sharing in public libraries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Iran boasts internationally important deposits of hydrocarbons. The hydrocarbons can be regarded not only as an exceptional energy resource, but also a geological heritage (geoheritage) resource. A new investigation of the Bangestan carbonate rocks from the Cretaceous age in the Fars Province has permitted to find several unique features and to assign these to six geoheritage types, namely sedimentary, palaeontological, stratigraphical, palaeogeographical, structural, and economic. The most important from these is the economic type that is ranked nationally. The Bangestan geoheritage is valuable for geoscience research, geoeducation, and geotourism, and this geoheritage is a subject of geoconservation. As these activities can bring some socio-economic benefits, this geoheritage has to be considered a true natural resource. Field studies have permitted to emphasize its appropriate manifestation in the Nowdan anticline (an area in the Zagros Mountains near the cities of Shiraz and Kazeroon), which is suggested as a geosite. Hydrocarbon-related industrial tourism and geotourism activities can be coupled for their mutual benefit. The Nowdan anticline geosite should be used for the purposes of tourism, but it requires some simple infrastructure building and involvement in excursion programs coordinated by a local museum or visitor centre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Metabolic syndrome (MetS) prevalence has augmented globally during recent decades. Over the past years, the consumption of ultra‐processed foods (UPFs) has grown significantly worldwide. So, the present research investigated the association between UPFs and MetS in an Iranian sample. This cross‐sectional research was conducted on people (n = 8841) in the Fasa cohort study, Fars province, Iran. The participants' dietary consumption over a year, UPF consumption, and MetS diagnosis were evaluated through a 125‐item modified food frequency questionnaire, the NOVA food group classification, and the Adult Treatment Panel III of the National Cholesterol Education Program, respectively. The association between the quartiles (Q) of UPF intake and the odds of MetS was estimated using the backward LR method of multivariate analysis. In the multivariate model, after adjusting potential confounders, the association between UPF intake and the odds of MetS was significant (Q4: odds ratio (OR = 3.27; 95% confidence interval (CI): 2.76–3.89). Also, the odds of increasing triglycerides (TG), blood pressure, and fasting blood sugar (FBS) and decreasing high‐density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL‐C) were significantly higher in the last quartile compared to the first quartile of UPFs (TG: OR = 1.71; 95% CI: 1.49–1.97, blood pressure: OR = 1.53; 95% CI: 1.30–1.79, FBS: OR = 1.30; 95% CI: 1.10–1.54, and HDL‐C: OR = 1.22; 95% CI: 1.08–1.39). The current research found a relationship between UPF intake and MetS and its components, indicating a diet‐containing UPFs can be related to the occurrence of noncommunicable diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]