علیرضا سجادی

Active films and edible coatings are used to protect, improve quality and extend the shelf life of food products. The aim of this study was to produce an active film based on chitosan containing different concentrations of Barije essential oil (BEO) from 1 to 2% (w/w) and investigation its chemical composition, physicochemical properties, mechanical structure, antioxidant and antimicrobial activity in the produced films. The major components of BEO were identified by using gas chromatography (GC/MS): β-Pinene (55.5%), α-pinene (12.3%), bulnesol (8.3%), guaiol (6.4%), and myrcene (2.6%), respectively. The incorporation of BEO into film increased the thickness and contact angle (CA), but reduced moisture content (MC), water solubility (WS) and water vapor permeability (WVP). Chitosan/BEO films were less resistant to breakage, more flexible and more opaque than the control film. BEO increased the absorption of color in the visible region, which in turn led to increase of the parameter b* but reduced of a* and L* parameters. In the investigation of antimicrobial activity of the films containing essential oil, Staphylococcus aureus was identified as the most sensitive bacterium and Pseudomonas aeruginosa as the most resistant bacterium. The film containing essential oil showed good antioxidant properties, which by increasing the essential oil concentration by up to 2% improved total phenolic content and activity of scavenging free radicals.

Happiness is one of the mental health criteria which is defined as the individuals'' judgment from life desirability. Pregnancy is an experience which causes several physical and psychosocial changes، but can be as the manifests of self-actualization feeling and stabilization of feminine identity، and can increase happiness. This study was performed with aim to determine level of happiness and its related factors during pregnancy. This correlation study was performed on 300 pregnant women who had referred to Mashhad health-medical centers for receiving pregnancy care. They completed the questionnaire of demographic and social characteristics، medical-midwifery history، lifestyle، Oxford happiness and demographic characteristics of NEO-FFI. Data were analyzed by SPSS software (version 16) and using Kruskal Wallis، Mann Whitney، Spearman and Pearson correlation coefficient. Frequency of how level of happiness was 11. 3%، moderate level 72. 5% and high level 16. 2%. Happiness was significantly related to job status (P<0. 01)، exercise (P<0. 001)، recreation (P<0. 05)، duration of religious affords (P<0. 001)، neurosis (P<0. 001) and extroversity (P<0. 001). Considering the importance of positive emotions such as happiness in mental health and its relation with various factors، it is recommended to plan for promoting its related factors during pregnancy.

Happiness is accounted for one of the psychological health criteria, and is considered as one of the six fundamental emotions- in human beings. Labor pain is also considered as one of the exclusive experiences, which demands pregnant women’s ability to cope with it. Happiness may give this potential ability to the pregnant women to apply skillful coping methods to tolerate the labor pain, but there is no registered evidence about this relationship. To determine the relationship between happiness during pregnancy and labor pain coping behaviors. In this correlational study 80 low risk pregnant women, in the 36 – 40 weeks of pregnancy, who have referred to Omolbanin Hospital for prenatal care were selected using convenience sampling. Demographic information and the level of happiness were measured during pregnancy using Oxford Happiness Questionnaire. Labor pain coping behaviors were measured during contractions, and each half an hour from the dilatation of 3–5 cm till delivery using Labor Pain Coping Behaviors Observation Form. Data were analyzed with SPSS version 16 using Kruskal-Wallis, One- way ANOVA, Mann-Whitney tests and Spearman and Pearson correlation coefficients. The frequency of low, medium and high level of happiness was 11.3%, 72.5%, and 16.2% respectively. Also, 16.3% of the pregnant women showed unfavorable, 50% acceptable, and 33.7% favorable labor pain coping behaviors. The results of Spearman’s correlation test revealed that there was a significant relationship between pregnancy happiness and the mean score of labor pain coping behaviors, (p = 0.000, and r = 0.444), i.e. higher levels of happiness during pregnancyis associated with more favorable labor pain coping behaviors. The parturient's behavior during labor indicates her level of emotion. So in parturient’s clinical management, in addition to physiological signs and clinical examinations these two issues should be considered as well.

Maintenance of health and its fair and just promotion in any society is the responsibility and duty of its respective government. Appropriate financial allocations and prudent decisions in the health sector requires the definition of an index that would reveal the loss resulting from early deaths of any cause and originate from disabilities due to nonfatal outcomes. The disability adjusted life years (DALY) index has such a characteristic. Esophageal cancer is the third prevalent cancer of the gastrointestinal tract. In Golestan Province, among the variety of cancers, it is the third leading cause of death and its incidence rate in the province is the highest in the country. In this study we try to compute the burden of this cancer. In this manner, while estimating the importance of this disease in Golestan Province, we aim to pave the way for scientific and effective assessments of this disease and determine an action plan for its containment.In this cross-sectional study, we used Dismod II software that has been designed for cancer modeling in populations. With this software, we computed the burden of cancer for the year 1387 in Golestan Province. The data needed as input for Dismod II included the population of the province, mortality and incidence rates that originated from esophageal cancer, all which were obtained from the 1385 census, Mortality Registry System, Cancer Registry System and expert panel views.Total burden of esophageal cancer according to DALY in Golestan Province during 1387 was 2992/48 years in the total population. Amongst males, it was 1533/65 years and 1408/46 years in females due to years of lost life (YLL). As a result of years lived with disability (YLD), it was 25/54 years in males and 24/84 years in females. The burden of esophageal cancer per 1000 population of Golestan Province equaled 1/76 years for females and 1/88 years for males. The peak age of esophageal cancer burden was in the age groups of 60 to 80 years and above 80 years.The relative high burden of esophageal cancer in Golestan Province compared to other parts of the country is justifiable due to the existence of the highest incidence rate in this province. Therefore, we believe that esophageal cancer should be one of the highest priorities of the health system of the province. However, the final and definitive judgment is contingent upon computations of the burden of other cancers and diseases at the provincial level and its respective rankings.

The incidence rate of Esophageal Squamouse Cell Cancer (ESCC) in eastern part of Golestan province in Iran is among the highest ones in the world. In order to discover the factors interplay in high rate of ESCC incidence, several case-control and cross-sectional studies were established in this area.As a cohort study has priority in detecting risk factors of a disease, a 10-year prospective cohort study was conducted in this area. 68,024 individuals of residents in eastern part of Golestan province in the range of 40-75 year-old were invited to participate in the study. In rural areas, all the eligibled subjects were invited while in Gonbad city; a randomized systematic clustering sampling was conducted based on family numbers. Of 50045 subjects, recruited in the study, 21,241 (42%) and 28,804 (58%) individuals were male and female, respectively. The mean age of participants was 52.12 ± 9.1 years. About 23.9% and 76.1% of participants were residents of Gonbad city and rural areas, respectively. Eastern part of Golestan province has one of the highest incidence rates of ESCC in the world. A 10-year cohort study could lower the incidence rate of ESCC by identifying and controlling the related risk factors.

Our knowledge regarding the epidemiology of pancreatobiliary cancers in Iran is limited. This study presents the first population-based report on pancreatobiliary cancers performed in five provinces of Iran.Materials and Data used in this study were retrieved from population-based cancer registries in five provinces of Iran (Gilan, Mazandaran, Golestan, Ardabil and Kerman) from 1996 to 2000. Crude incidence rate, age standardized incidence rate (ASR) and age specific incidence rate were calculated for each cancer sites using the direct method. Overall ASR of pancreatic cancer in five provinces was 1.18 and 0.84 per 100,000 person-years for men and women, respectively. These values for gallbladder and biliary tract cancers were 0.42 and 0.27 per 100,000 person-years for men and 0.93 and 0.22 per 100,000 person-years for women, respectively. ASR of pancreatobiliary cancer is low in Iran compared to western countries.

Gastric cancer is the most common GI cancer. It has a very high incidence rate in the northeastern Iran.Contrary to western countries and Japan, the incidence of gastric cancer has been increasing in Iran during the past two decades. Helicobacter Pylori infection is the most important risk factor for developing gastric cancer. However, the presence and influence of other environmental and genetic cancer is considered necessary. Poverty, low consumption of fresh fruits and vegetable, high nitrate in the food and heavy smoking are among the most important risk factors. Primary prevention with H. Pylori eradication especially in countries like Iran where a large number of people are infected is still in doubt. Using Pepsinogen as a predictive factor for gastric cancer is still under investigation. Currently, there are several studies assessing the precision of measuring serum Pepsinogen 1 and 2 in relation with mucosal atrophy of gastric body and antrum in Iranian patients. The results of these studies and other prospective investigations can be a big help in identification of gastric cancer risk factors and prediction of its incidence.

Esophageal cancer is the second most common malignancy in Iranian men; it is the third in women. It is killing about 5800 Iranians each year. Squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) is presently the most common type of esophageal cancer accounting for about 90% of all esophageal cancers in Iran. Recent studies in Iran have shown that there is a gradual increase in the incidence of adenocarcinoma of the distal esophagus along with gastric cardia adenocarcinoma. Thirty-five years ago, the age-adjusted incidence rate (ASR) of SCC of esophagus in Gonbad city, Golestan province, Northeast of Iran (›100 per 105 people per year), was found to be one of the highest rates for any single cancer ever reported in the world. Recent studies have shown that the incidence of SCC in Gonbad has declined to less than half of what it was in the past. This decline in the incidence of esophageal SCC is in parallel with improvement in socioeconomic status of people living in this region. According to the recent cancer registry data in Iran, there is still an obvious intra-country variability between the incidence of esophageal cancer in South with an ASR of 3 for men and 2 for women in Kerman and 43 and 36, respectively, in northeastern province of Golestan. The reasons for this very high rate of SCC in northeastern Iran has been the subject of several studies during the last 35 years. According to the results of these studies, the suspected risk factors include low intake of fruits and vegetables, drinking hot tea, consumption of opium products and tobacco, H.pylori infection in stomach, using unhealthy drinking water from cistern and genetic susceptibility. The main suspected mutagens are polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) and N-Nitroso compounds. In order to embark on a primary and secondary prevention of this fatal cancer further prospective studies are presently going on in the northeastern Iran.Golestan cohort study of esophageal cancer with enrollment of 50,000 subjects is now in its follow-up phase. We expect simple and feasible evidence based preventive strategies to be implemented in future from the results of these studies.