نسرین قاسمی

This study set out to compare the effectiveness of multidimensional cognitive- motivational intervention and mindfulness training on academic self-efficacy and achievement goal orientation of female elementary school students. This quasi-experimental research had a pretest-posttest control group design with a one-month follow-up session.  The statistical population of the study comprised all female elementary school students in Nahavand in 2020-21 school year. In order to draw the sample, cluster sampling method was utilized and 45 students were selected and randomly assigned to three groups of 15 individuals (a control and two experimental groups). The first experimental group received Martin's motivational strategies for learning intervention (2008) for six 45-minute sessions and the second experimental group received Burdick's mindfulness intervention (2014) for ten 45-minute sessions. To collect data, Zajacova's Academic Self-Efficacy Questionnaire and Midgley's Achievement Goal Orientation Scale were used. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. Results demonstrated that both interventions were effective in increasing students' academic self-efficacy and achievement goal orientation. In addition, the effect of mindfulness program was significantly higher on academic self-efficacy compared to the cognitive-motivational intervention; however, no difference was observed in achievement goal orientation between the two intervention programs. Finally, the follow-up test showed the stability of the results over time. Hence, it seems that these two interventions can be used to enhance academic self-efficacy and achievement goal orientation of elementary school students.

Background and Objectives :

Marriage is one of the effective factors that can promote mental health and lifestyle and reduce the risk of individual and social disorders. This study aims to prioritize the criteria for partner selection according to the perceptions of female students of Qom University of Medical Sciences (QUMS) in 2017.

This is descriptive-analytical study with a cross-sectional design was conducted in 2017. The study population consists of all single female students of QUMS, of whom 373 were selected by multi-stage sampling method. The instrument was the 22-item Preference Criteria of Spouse Selection Inventory (PCSSI) with acceptable validity and reliability. Data were analyzed in SPSS software, version 20 statistical software using descriptive statistics and Friedman’s test, Chi-square test, t-test, and one-way analysis of variance.

The age range of the participants was 18-38 years, and their semester range was 1-15. The results of Friedman test showed a significant difference between the mean ranks of partner selection criteria. Mental health had the highest priority, while being from the same ethnicity had the lowest priority. There was a significant negative correlation between age and importance of partner selection criteria (P<0.001). In addition, there was a significant difference between students with associate degree and the students with bachelor’s degree, master’s degree, and PhD degree in terms of the importance of partner selection criteria (P<0.001).

Female students of QUMS pay more attention to mental health, responsibility, and chastity criteria in choosing a partner.

von Willebrand disease (VWD) is brought on by hereditary impairments in the von Willebrand factor (VWF). It has been determined that most of the molecular abnormalities are present in exon 28 of the VWF gene qualitative variations. In this regard, investigating mutations in exon 28 of the VWF coding gene can help identify the VWD type and can be used to manage patients by using appropriate strategies.

10 suspected VWD type 2B patients were investigated for the genotype of exon 28. Routine coagulation tests were performed for the patients. Molecular sequencing was also used for the evaluation of mutations in exon 28. Determining the tertiary structure of VWF can aid in understanding its functional residues and interactions. The nsSNVs’ pathogenicity was examined utilizing potent bioinformatics methods. Step-by-step testing of the high-risk mutations was done using SIFT, PolyPhen-2, I-Mutant 2.0, PHD-SNPg, and SNPs&GO. Then, the secondary structure, amino acid conservation, and feature of amino acids were investigated via Protparam, Cofactor, Interprosurf, ConSurf, NetSurfP-2.0, and HOPE.

N1231T, V1229G, V1316M, and P1266Q missense mutations in VWF were detected. 3D structure of VWF predicted and evaluated. Putative conserved domains were identified. P1266Q and V1316M amino acid substitutions are predicted as “Not tolerated substitution” damaging and Disease, while V1229G and N1231T amino acid substitutions are predicted as “tolerated substitution” benign and Neutral.

V1316M and P1266Q amino acid substitutions were determined as high-risk mutations using powerful bioinformatics tools in VWD patients.

Andaki Sayeh(A Little Shadow) is a novel written by Ahmad Bigdeli, which tells the story of the oil struggles of the people of the south during the coup d'etat of August 28, 1943 in a memorable and flashback manner. Because Bigdeley himself had a hand in screenwriting and because of the characteristics of his narratives, this novel has been studied in a descriptive-analytical manner based on Robert McKee's theory of narrative structure.The American theorist Robert McKee believes that all narratives follow a specific and almost identical structure. One of the structures that he enumerates for the narrative is the subplot and in the analysis of this structure, he introduces features such as: open end, multiplicity of hero, passive hero, linear time and conflict. Due to the existence of several narratives in the novel Shadow of the Shadow, after analysis, the characteristics of the subplot match with the novel of Andaki Sayeh; Also, two elements of dialogue and pictorial descriptions have been described due to their role in the narrative and structure of the novel. The achievements of this article, which examines the elements of story structure based on McKee theory and determines the relationships between these elements, looking for these features in a text with Andaki Sayeh, show that a design based on causal relationships gives this text strength and coherence from beginning to end.

There are many factors that lead to progress in the academic environment. Factors such as motivational and environmental characteristics are important, but it is widely assumed that motivation is one of the main elements of progress in the educational environment. One of the important topics in the field of motivation is goal orientation. The theory of goal orientation mainly examines why people choose a specific goal, how they approach the desired goal and engage with the task related to it. One of the dimensions of goal orientation that has been examined in this research is mastery goal orientation, which has a direct relationship with people's learning and performance. Mastery goal orientation is known as a person's unconscious approach to a learning task. In general, the mastery goal orientation directs the academic behavior and is able to explain the relationship between the student's beliefs about academic success and being involved and continuing to complete a task, which has an effective role in the academic progress of students. Self-efficacy is another important factor that is of interest to researchers and administrators in the field of education. Bandura investigated the effects of self-efficacy on academic performance and named this construct as academic self-efficacy. He believes that self-efficacy beliefs play a role in academic success more than ability, knowledge and previous success. Academic self-efficacy emphasizes students' beliefs about their ability to succeed in academic subjects, curricular areas, and self-regulation in learning and study activities. Cognitive-motivational intervention is the process of monitoring, reviewing and directing behavior that reduces aimlessness and inconsistency between motivation and effort and leads a person on the path of effort and achieving efficiency. Studies have shown that teaching self-regulation components in Martin's theory can; affect the level of students' motivation, for example, sustainability in Martin's approach is one of the factors that is known as an effective factor and can lead to more self-efficacy and increase academic motivation in students. Persistence means that a person continues in his work despite the difficulty of the work and the challenges that exist. Due to the fact that training motivated, purposeful and efficient learners is one of the requirements for achieving academic success and the concept of motivation has always been the focus of researchers and education specialists. Therefore, cognitive motivational multidimensional intervention can be useful in the field of education. Considering the importance of this approach, the research question is: Is cognitive motivational multidimensional intervention effective on students' academic self-efficacy and mastery goal orientation?

The present study was a semi-experimental study with a pre-test, post-test and follow-up design with experimental and control groups. The statistical population of the research was all the fifth-grade students of Nahavand primary school, a sample of 30 people (15 in the experimental group and 15 in the control group) was selected through cluster sampling. The research tools included the academic self-efficacy questionnaires of Zajakova et al. (2005) and the goal orientation of Midgley et al. (1998). After the pre-test, the experimental group was trained in cognitive motivational intervention during 9 sessions of 45 minutes, and the control group did not receive any intervention. After the completion of the experimental intervention, the post-test and after one month, the follow-up test was performed. To analyze the data, Mixed analysis of variance was used in SPSS-23 software.

The results showed that cognitive motivational intervention has an effect on academic self-efficacy and mastery goal orientation (p<0.01).

Considering the impact of cognitive motivational intervention on increasing academic self-efficacy and the goal orientation of students' mastery, this method can be used to increase their academic progress. It is important to mention that the data presented in this study is self-reported. Although this method of data collection is a reasonable and defensible method, it would be useful to conduct research that examines similar constructs using data obtained from other sources such as teachers and parents. The current research, like other experimental designs, also had limitations, one of which was the small sample size, which reduces the generalizability of the findings; To solve this limitation, it seems necessary to conduct a study with a larger sample size in order to reach more stable results. Another limitation of this study was not considering the academic progress of the students. Considering the academic progress can affect children's self-efficacy, therefore, the results may have been integrated with the effects of academic progress, which should be cautious in generalizing the results, and it is suggested to control the educational progress and the level of children's motivation in future studies. According to the results of the current research and previous studies, it can be said that the cognitive motivational multidimensional intervention is effective and can be used, but schools are facing problems in the field of implementation, and the implementation of this approach requires planning and policy making in educational programs.

Premature ovarian failure (POF) is the end of ovarian activity before the age of 40, which is associated with low levels of sex hormones and high levels of gonadotropins. Genetic factors play an essential role in POF. BMP15 and its receptor BMPR1B are members of the TGFβ superfamily that are expressed in the ovaries and are involved in folliculogenesis. Any changes in these genes may disrupt them. So, this study aimed to assess 4 SNPs in exon 2 of BMP15 and 2 SNPs in exon 9 of BMPR1B genes as candidate SNPs in infertile Iranian women with POF.

Using the Uniprot database and PCR-SSCP methods, the link between SNPs 443T>C, 468G>A, 538G>A, 598C>T of BMP15, and 945G>A, 1020A>G of BMPR1B gene in 45 women with POF and 45 healthy women with children, without any history of diseases related to folliculogenesis and ovulation were examined as controls. Then, PCR products with mobility shift were sent for sequencing and the results were analyzed with CLC software

The results of gel electrophoresis, SSCP, and sequencing graphs of none of the SNPs, did not show a change in the sequence of the patients compared to the control samples.

According to the key role of BMP15 in folliculogenesis and previous reports; BMP15 may be effective in the occurrence of POF. The absence of SNPs in these POF patients can be due to the small size of the studied samples and their genetic differences.

Qaboosnameh is an educational and ethical book written by Onsor Al-Maali Kikavous, one of Alziar's rulers, in the fifth century for his son Gilanshah. This book has many literary and social values, so that it is considered a collection of pre-Mongol Iranian civilization. The author has used historical and social anecdotes and stories to influence and emphasize his words throughout the book. These stories are told to explain ethical points, and a special context of storytelling can be observed in them. One of the fictional elements that is clearly prominent in Qaboosnameh anecdotes is the narrative element. This research has analyzed the descriptive-analytical form by randomly selecting fifteen anecdotes from Qaboosnameh, the structure of the narrative in this work according to the beginning of the story, story triangle, denouement and complication, etc. In addition to the structure of the plot and how it is formed and its process in the story, two main and effective elements in the narrative such as characterization and perspective have also been explored. According to the results of this research, Onsor Al-Maali has benefited from new storytelling methods in Qaboosnameh anecdotes in addition to expressing moral points consciously and unconsciously.  This factor has increased the impact and intimacy of its stories. Onsor Al-Maali has also made innovations in terms of perspective and has expressed a new perspective by combining several perspectives. In his view, although he is aware of all the events, he refrains from narrating all the events, excessive bias and details, and leaves the decision to the reader.

Determining the level of genetic diversity and relationships among genotypes is foundation for identifying the appropriate parents in different breeding objects. In present study, the genetic diversity of 22 wheat cultivars were tested using 22 pairs of SSR primers. Out of 24 detected alleles, 11 were able to show desirable polymorphism. In average 2.18 alleles per locus were generated, in which differed from 2 to 3 alleles in each locus. The average of 0.573 polymorphism information content were achieved that Xgwm60 for having high content of polymorphism, was the most appropriate marker for studying genetic diversity in this study. Similarity coefficient was formed with Dice similarity matrix and genotypes were classified into 4 groups. Principal component analysis confirms most of genetic diversity feature derived from cluster analysis. Results of current study showed the vast range of genetic diversity among wheat cultivars that illustrating their possible use in breeding programs.

Backgrounds andAim One of the effective strategies for targeting chemotherapy in the treatment of cancer is the use of lipid nano-carriers. In this study, an optimal formulation of niosomal drug containing doxorubicin has been developed to better fight cancer cells.
Material and Niosomal vesicles were prepared using phosphatidylcholine (22%), span60 (52/5%), cholesterol (22/5%) and DSPE-PEG2000 (5%) by thin-film method. Doxorubicin were loaded into the niosomes using inactive loading method. Their physico-chemical features were assayed using Zeta-Sizer, FTIR and SEM, and drug release amount was calculated at 37° C and 44° C. At the end, the toxicity of the nano drug carrier system was measured on the KG-1 cell line of the bone marrow cancer by MTT method. Niosomal vesicles containing Doxorubicin showed the size of 160.37±65.2 nm, 94.18% drug encapsulation efficiency -58.11± 1.24 mV of zeta potential and polydispersity index (PDI) of 0.234±0.02 The prepared niosomal system presented drug controlled release and FTIR investigation showed almost no interaction between nano-carrier containing drug and the drug itself. As well, morphological examination of nano-carriers using SEM microscopy revealed that they have spherical structures. Also, cellular studies showed that drug toxicity was higher in encapsulated conditions compared to non-encapsulated conditions. The results of this study, meanwhile confirming the proper physicochemical characteristics of the system and being Slow-release system indicate that this nano-carrier anionic increases the toxicity of the drug for the KG-1 cell line of the bone marrow, thus, this niosomal nano-carrier can be a suitable carrier for drug delivery to cancer cells.

The quality of oocyte is often considered as a limiting factor for fertility, especially IVF. Some mitochondrial mutations, particularly the 4977-bp deletion increase with the age. Thus, this mutation can serve as a marker for cell aging, which indicates the reduced quality of the oocytes for fertilization. It has been suggested that this can also be investigated in the blood cells of women with IVF failure.

1-Determination of the frequency of 4977-bp deletion in women with IVF failure, 2-Investigation of the relationship between 4977-bp deletion and the age of patients.

Polymerase chain reaction was used to detect the 4977-bp deletion in blood samples of 52 IVF failure women and 52 women who had at least one healthy child. After polymerase chain reaction with deleted and wild-type primers, the products were examined using agarose gel electrophoresis.

48.07% of women with IVF failure and 34.62% of healthy women had a mitochondrial 4977-bp deletion, with p=0.163 and OR: 1.749. Also, in association with the age of these patients and the frequency of 4977-bp mutation, p and OR were obtained 0.163 and 1.749, respectively and frequency of this mutation was higher in patients over 35 yr old compared to other subgroups (Patients ≥35: 57.69).

According to the findings of this study, there is no a significant relationship between the frequency of mitochondrial 4977-bp mutation and failure in IVF

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) is a multifunctional cytokine that regulates different cellular activities related to spermatogenesis. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha receptor 1 (TNFR1) mediates TNF-α activity and polymorphism in TNFR1 could lead to gene dysfunction and male infertility.

The aim of this study is to determine the association of TNFR1 36 A/G polymorphism with the idiopathic azoospermia in Iranian population.

This case-control study included 108 azoospermic and 119 fertile men. This research investigated the frequency of TNFR1 36 A/G polymorphism in cases who were idiopathic azoospermic men referred to Yazd Research and Clinical Center for Infertility, Iran in comparison with controls. polymerase chain reaction- restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method was used to investigate the polymorphism in both case and control groups. PCR fragments were digested by Mspa1I enzyme and products were appeared by gel electrophoresis. The abundance of A→G was calculated in the azoospermic and healthy men.

According to the present study, GG and AG genotypes frequency in the azoospermic men group were higher than the control group (OR= 2.298 (1.2484.229), p=0.007), (OR=1.47 (0.869-2.498, p=0.149). Our findings also showed that G allele frequency in azoospermic men had significant difference compared to the control group (OR=2.302 (1.580-3.355), p

It seems that the GG genotype and G allele have an association with increased risk of non-obstructive azoospermia.

Adolescence is one of the important period in growth and evolution process, Also, eating disorders in adolescences, especially girls is one of the major problems in communities. Therefore, an effective education is of special priority for prevention of eating disorders. The current study was performed with the goal of assessment of the effect of nutrition education on eating disorders attitude in girls high school students.
This non-experimental study with a single group pre- and post-test design, was performed using purposive sampling method on 97 students of the first year of high school, in 2015. Data collection tool was EAT-26 standardized questionnaire, which was completed by the participants using self-report method before and 3 months after the education. Data were analyzed using paired t-test. The significance level was set at p The mean score of abnormal eating attitude decreased from 1.7±0.04 (before education) to 1.4±0.06 (after education). Also, there was a significant statistical difference between the results of before and after education (p=0.0001).
The results of this study revealed that nutrition education has brought about desired changes in the attitude. However, the increase of nutrition awareness and attitude change can gradually lead to behavior change. Therefore, the current study can help the authorities to include a wider range of nutritional education in the curriculum of students in dorder to prevent eating disorder.

Ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome (OHSS) is one of the most important complications of assisted reproduction treatment. Many substances are involved in the regulation of the vascular permeability, which have been concerned to cause OHSS. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has emerged as one of the main angiogenic factors, which could be responsible for increased vascular permeability.

In this study the association of vascular endothelial growth factor -460C/T and  G/C polymorphisms and susceptibility to ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome was evaluated.

In this cross sectional study, VEGF gene polymorphisms were amplified by Polymerase chain reaction- Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism in 75 women with established OHSS (case group) and 85 normoresponder (control group) which received conventional ovarian stimulation regimen.

There was no significant difference in the frequency of -460 C/T polymorphism between cases and controls (p=0.85). The frequency of  G/C polymorphism was significantly higher in the OHSS women (p=0.03, OR=2.44; 95% CI=1.23-4.82).

In women who developed OHSS, VEGF gene polymorphism  could be effective. Two of the polymorphisms -460 C/T and  G/C were reported to be associated with increased VEGF basal promoter activity. However, only  G/C gene polymorphisms were more frequent in cases than controls.

Human leukocyte antigen-E (HLA-E)is a non-classical major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I antigens which expressed on extra villous cytotrophoblast, which interacts with NKG2A, is an inhibitory receptor on natural killer (NK) cells and leading to down regulation of immune response in the maternal-fetal interface and provides maternal immune tolerance of the fetus.

This study was designated to investigate the gene frequencies of E0101 and E0103 in HLA-E gene in Iranian women with recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA).

Amplification Refractory Mutation System (ARMS-PCR) technique was carried out to detect polymorphism in exon 3 of the HLA-E gene in women with RSA and controls (n=200). Differences between groups were analyzed by SPSS19 software using χ2 test.

There was no significant difference in the allele frequencies of the HLA-E polymorphism between RSA and fertile controls but HLA-E 0101/0103 heterozygous genotype was found to be significantly higher in RSA group (p=0.006, OR=1.73), so this genotype might confer susceptibility to RSA.

Our results suggest that HLA-E 0101/0103 heterozygous genotype leads to increase of RSA risk. It seems that by genotyping of HLA-E polymorphism, we can predict the risk of RSA in infertile women.

Paying attention to organizational entrepreneurship and productive employment in organizations in charge of health care is of great importance due to the diversity of activities and health services and the need to improve their quality. Therefore، the present study aimed at investigating the mediating role of psychological empowerment among servant leadership and organizational entrepreneurship among Zahedan medical sciences university staff. 187 staff from Zahedan medical sciences university were selected through simple random sampling. They answered to self-report questionnaires of servant leadership، psychological empowerment، and organizational entrepreneurship. Path analysis by means of LISREL software was used to analyze the data. the findings generally showed that the relationship between servant leadership and organizational entrepreneurship was influenced by the components of psychological empowerment so that servant leadership، through psychological empowerment components، had indirect positive effect on organizational entrepreneurship. Moreover، the results displayed that among components of servant leadership، service and humility had the most indirect effect on organizational entrepreneurship. Based on the study results، university administrators can provide the context for the growth of psychological empowerment components and، in turn، help to increase organizational entrepreneurship by kindness، humility and serving the staff.

Preeclampsia is an important pregnancy disorder with serious maternal and fetal complications which its etiology has not been completely understood yet. Early diagnosis and management of disease could reduce its potential side effects. The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family including VEGF-A is the most potent endothelial growth factor which induces angiogenesis and endothelial cell proliferation and has basic role in vasculogenesis. VEGF and its tyrosine kinase receptors (Flt1 and KDR) are major factors for fetal and placental angiogenic development. Finding mechanisms involved in expression of angiogenic factors may lead to new prognostic and therapeutic points in management of preeclampsia. Recent researches, has shown capability of some anti-angiogenic factors as potential candidate to be used as early predictors for preeclampsia. Soluble fms-like tyrosin kinase-1 (sFlt1) is a truncated splice variant of the membrane-bound VEGF receptor Flt1, that is produced by the placenta and it can bind to angiogenic growth factors and neutraliz, their effects. It is also observed that the ratio of sFlt1 to placental growth factor is valuable as prognostic marker. In this review, VEGF family member’s role in angiogenesis is evaluated as biomarkers to be used for prediction of preeclampsia.

Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) has been defined as two or more miscarriages before 20th week of gestation. It seems that IL-27 may reduce inflammatory responses and affect the survival of the embryo during human pregnancy. IL-27 polymorphisms may influence RPL by altering the levels or the activity of gene product.

We studied for the first time the association of IL-27 -964 A>G single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) with RPL in Iranian women.

A case-controlled study was performed on two groups consisting of 150 healthy women with at least one delivery (control group) and 150 women with two or more primary RPLs history (RPL group). The -964 A>G SNP in IL-27 gene was determined by PCR-RFLP technique. Genotype and allele frequencies were compared using c2 tests between two groups.

There was no difference between the two groups regarding age of women (29±4.4 [control] vs. 30.84±5.2 years [case]). In the RPL group, the genotype frequencies of -964 A>G polymorphism were AG (49.3%), AA (40%), and GG (10.7%), and in the control group, they were AG (43.3%), AA (48.7%), and GG (8%). There was no significant difference between the genotypes of AA, AG, and GG in two groups (p=0.23). As the frequency of allele A was 64.7% in the RPL group and 70.3% in the control group, the difference in frequency of allele A in -964 A>G between two groups was not significant (p=0.19).

Our findings indicate that SNP of -964 A>G in IL-27 gene is not a risk factor for RPL in Iranian women.

The human female reproductive tract (FRT) is constantly deal with the invading pathogens. Recognition of these pathogens is attributed to the family of Toll like receptors (TLR) as a major part of the innate immune system. We and others have previously revealed that TLRs1-6 express in the female reproductive tract. However, more studies should be done to detect TLRs 7-10 in the female reproductive tract, especially in the fallopian tubes.

To examine the expression of TLRs7-10 in human fallopian tube tissue.

Using immunostaining techniques, distribution of TLR7-10 was studied in surgical sections from the uterine tubes, obtained from patients undergoing tubal ligation and hysterectomy for benign gynecological conditions. RT-PCR was used to show the existence of TLR7-10 genes in fallopian tube tissue.

TLR7-10 proteins were detected in the fallopian tube epithelium, although the intensity of staining was not equal in cases. TLR7-10 genes were expressed in human fallopian tube tissue.

This study indicates that TLR7-10 is expressed in fallopian tubes tissues, and may play an important role in microbial recognition, and in host defense against ascending infection.

To investigate the association between thrombophilia and unexplained recurrent miscarriage and to evaluate the efficacy of anticoagulant treatment. In this quasi experimental, we enrolled 520 women, who had a history of recurrent miscarriage. Two hundred fifty two women with unexplained recurrent miscarriage were assigned to receive aspirin (80 mg daily) for two month before pregnancy and after confirmation of a viable pregnancy until 36 weeks of gestation or receive aspirin, as the same, plus heparin (5000 unit twice a day) subcutaneously after confirmation of viable pregnancy until 4 weeks after delivery. Type of medication was chosen for each woman according to number of abortion and age. Live-birth rates did not different significantly among the two study groups. The proportions of women who gave birth to a live normal infant were 74.5% in the group receiving aspirin plus heparin (combination-therapy group) and 79.8% in the aspirin group. Live-birth rates did not different significantly among the two study groups. So, using aspirin or aspirin plus heparin did not change pregnancy rate in these patients. Using aspirin is easier than injecting heparin which should be chosen case by case Using aspirin, heparin, or both in women with unexplained recurrent miscarriage could be useful, because this problem might be initiated by thrombosis in decidual vessels.

Infertility is accompanied by numerous psychological and social problems. Infertile couples are more anxious and emotionally distressed than other fertile people. Previous studies suggested that infertility is more stressful for women than men. The purpose of this study was to determine the status of general health of infertile couples. This cross-sectional study evaluated general health of 150 infertile couples attending to Yazd Research and Clinical Center for Infertility that were selected consequently. The data were gathered by the researchers, based on face to face interview before and after three months of treatment by two questionnaires. The first questionnaire had questions on demographic information and the second one was the General Health Questionnaire-28 (GHQ-28). This questionnaire has four sub- scales areas. All data were transferred directly to SPSS 15 and analyzed. The mean age of women was 28.3 and men were 32.4 years. The scores for all sub- scales of GHQ in women were more than men. There was significant difference between age and general health at physical symptoms scales (p=0.002), anxiety and sleep disorders (p=0.003). The age group 25-29 years had higher scores (more than 7) than other age groups. There was significant difference between the scale of social dysfunction and results of treatment. Our results, similar to the previous studies have revealed negetive social and mental effects of infertility on women is more than men, so there is need that they be educated specially.

Meiotic genes are very important candidates for genes contributing to female and male infertility. Mammalian MutL homologues have dual roles in DNA mismatch repair (MMR) after replication errors and meiotic reciprocal recombination. The MutL homologs, MLH1 and MLH3, are crucial for meiotic reciprocal recombination and human fertility. In this study the functional polymorphisms of MLH3 C2531T was investigated in Iranian women with unexplained infertility.

Investigating the association between a common SNP (single nucleotide polymorphism) C2531T in the MLH3 gene and female infertility.

In total, 105 women with unexplained infertility as case group and 100 women with at least one child and no history of infertility or abortion as controls were recruited for this association study. The MLH3 C2531T polymorphism was tested by tetra-amplification refractory mutation system-PCR (4P-ARMS-PCR) method.

The MLH3 2531C and T alleles frequencies were 43.33% and 56.67% among infertile patients, and 61.5% and 38.5% among normal controls, respectively. In the patient and control subjects the CC (Pro 844 Pro) genotype frequency of MLH3 C2531T was 4.76% and 25%, the CT (Pro 844 Leu) genotype was 77.15% and 73%, and the TT (Leu 844 Leu) genotype was 19% and 2%, respectively (p=0.0001).

The presence of the polymorphic allele T leads to an increased risk of 2.09 times (OR=2.09, 95% CI=1.38-3.16; p=0.0001) for developing infertility in relation to the control group. Therefore, our data suggest that the MLH3 C2531T polymorphism can be associated with the risk of unexplained infertility in Iranian women.