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Background: Access to reliable and credible health information improves individuals' personal care level in crises, such as the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID- 19) pandemic. It subsequently results in enhancing the community's health and reducing the health system's costs. Objectives: This study aimed to investigate the COVID- 19 related information seeking behaviour demonstrated by citizens in Isfahan, Iran. Methods: This research was conducted in 2020 and employed a qualitative approach using conventional content analysis. The research population was selected from almost different social classes of people in Iran using purposive sampling. The saturation point was reached at 24 semi- structured interviews. The data's soundness was confirmed based on the criteria of credibility, confirmability, dependability and transferability proposed by Guba and Lincoln. Results: The findings revealed five subcategories and 25 codes within the information seeking behaviour. The subcategories included attitude towards the COVID- 19 crisis, information needs, information resources, information validation and information seeking barriers. Conclusion: People seek information from various resources to update their knowledge and become more prepared in the face of COVID- 19. The findings can be used to develop policies on informing and preventing the dissemination of false information in crises, such as the COVID- 19 crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Misinformation refers to unclear information from unreliable resources, and it is a common phenomenon of society; it can even constitute a part of family and social conversations due to the relative damages. Misinformation dissemination under the circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic can be considered a cause of health-related anxieties and severe harm to the countries. The present study aims to explain factors related to the dissemination and acceptance of coronavirus misinformation in Iran. Material and Methods: This qualitative study was carried out through content analysis in the year 2020. The population included Iranian experts in Information and Communication Sciences, among whom 19 experts were selected through the purposive sampling method. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed through Continuous Thematic Analysis. Such criteria authenticated data trustworthiness as credibility, confirmability, dependability, and transferability proposed by Guba and Lincoln. Findings: Based on the experiences of participants, six major categories and 18 subcategories were identified regarding the major theme. The major categories included the official news and informing system, misinformation nature, users, media, misinformation source, and social determinants. Conclusion: Concurrent with the Covid-19 outbreak, a sort of information tsunami occurs. Unavoidably, a significant amount of misinformation regarding the various aspects of the virus, such as its origin, transmission methods, control, and treatment, are published. In many cases, the spreading information is not checked and verified in terms of accuracy and authenticity. The spread and acceptance of Covid-19 related misinformation happen under the impact of various factors. Being familiar with these factors will boost the culture of health and pave the path toward establishing evidence-based information public awareness schemes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Low-density parity-check (LDPC) codes are playing more and more important role in digital broadcasting standards due to their excellent error correction performance. In this paper, we study the combination of LDPC codes over GF(q) with q-ary modulations for bandwidth efficient transmission over AWGN channel and consider the design of the codes. Specifically, we develop the concept of quasi-regular codes, and propose an improved Monte Carlo method to optimize the quasi-regular codes. To justify the performance of our proposed scheme, simulation results are presented and analysed. Index Terms--Bandwidth efficient transmission, LDPC codes, Monte Carlo method, q-ary modulations.

Block turbo codes with trellis-based decoding are proposed for use in cell-based satellite communication. Shortened Reed--Muller (RM) codes are used as the component codes because their minimal trellis is known. Simulation results for RM turbo codes and shortened RM turbo codes are presented over additive white Gaussian noise and Rayleigh fading channels. The performance of the shortened codes with different shortening patterns are shown. In some cases, the codes have the unequal error protection property, useful in asynchronous transfer mode cell formatting. In order to test the suitability of the proposed coding scheme from a practical point of view, the effect of channel impairments, including channel signal-to-noise ratio mismatch and carrier phase offset, are investigated. Index Terms--Asynchronous transfer mode (ATM), Reed--Muller (RM) codes, trellis-based iterative decoding, turbo codes, unequal error protection (UEP).

Patients with serious diseases need to have further access to reliable information regarding how to take care of themselves against COVID-19. This study endeavored to elucidate COVID-19 information needs and information-seeking behaviors of cardiovascular patients hospitalized in the hospitals of Isfahan, Iran. This qualitative study was conducted using content analysis in 2020. The population was 17 cardiovascular patients referred to the Shahid Chamran Hospital of Isfahan, who were selected using the purposive sampling method. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed through continuous thematic analysis. The findings showed four categories and ten sub-categories as follows: information needs (general information regarding COVID-19, prevention methods, and treatment methods), information resources (reliable information resources and unreliable information resources), information validation (using formal and informal resources), and information-seeking barriers (media-related, political, economical, and COVID-19-related barriers). Cardiovascular patients are in serious need of awareness-raising concerning COVID-19 to take care of themselves. This study's results could help health education policy-makers of Iran pinpoint the information needs of high-risk patients and provide these patients access to reliable information while preventing damages due to misinformation regarding the COVID-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Advanced Television Systems Committee (ATSC) has issued ATSC 3.0 as the standard for the next-generation of Digital Terrestrial Television (DTT) broadcasting. ATSC 3.0 introduces several new features including Layered Division Multiplexing (LDM) that is a form of Non-Orthogonal Multiple Access (NOMA). ATSC 3.0 supports the legacy Single Frequency Networks (SFN), where the Guard Interval (GI) is considered to overcome the multipath as well as the asynchronous reception from different transmitters. Considering the huge distances between the DTT broadcasters, the GI overhead could be comparable to the data size, making the control/data ratio unfavorable. This paper proposes the association of Coordinated MultiPoint (CoMP) in SFN with NOMA-LDM. A novel formation of the channel matrix is provided that jointly includes the asynchronous channel’s cross correlations for further joint detection of the signals at the receiver. The purpose is to enhance the coverage and spectral efficiency while avoiding hectic guard intervals or directional antennas. The capacity region is derived in an information theoretic framework based on exploiting the asynchronous channels’ memory and correlation. We show that the spectral efficiency can exceed that of the non-coordinating schemes, provided that the proper receiver is equipped with the proposed channel matrix formation. Our extensive simulations validate that our proposed association of CoMP-SFN with NOMA-LDM provides a considerable boost in the coverage and channel reliability, while increasing the spectral and power efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Numerous questions are generated for physicians during patient care. Facilitators and barriers affect the physicians' clinical information‐seeking behaviour. While most health studies have focused on barriers, few have dealt with facilitators. Objective: This review aimed to identify facilitators in physicians' information‐seeking behaviour to help respond to clinical questions raised during patient care. Methods: A narrative review was conducted, and 9 databases were searched. Selection criteria included original articles in the context of patient care and full‐text articles published in the English language from 2002 to 2019. The articles were selected and analysed by group discussions. Results: Analysis of studies disclosed personal, technical and organisational facilitators including 26 themes. Internet utilisation and information searching skills, more available time, personal interests and knowing preferred sites or textbooks were among the personal factors. The most common technical factors included providing navigation support, and ease of searching and finding needed information. The most commonly reported factors at the organisational level are closeness to Internet facility and access during the consultation. Conclusion: Information systems designers, health service managers and librarians may need to work together to provide systems and settings that encourage doctors to seek information to answer their clinical questions during patient care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Obsession with the physique and appearance is a by-product of consumer societies. As such, fitness and slimming have now become major concerns of Iranian females. This study endeavors to elaborate on information-seeking behaviors among female students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences concerning fitness. This study conducted in 2018, employs a qualitative approach using conventional content analysis. The research population includes female students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, 16 of whom were selected with use of purposive sampling. Data were collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews and their trustworthiness was confirmed by the criteria of 'credibility', 'confirmability', 'dependability', and 'transferability' proposed by Guba and Lincoln. Results reveal four sub-categories and nineteen codes on information-seeking behavior. Sub-categories and codes including information-seeking motivations (achieving physical health, physical appearance, social acceptability, self-confidence, family and friends' pressure) information resources (electronic information resources, social media, printed information resources, doctors and nutritionists, family and friends, traditional & Islamic medicine, radio and TV), information validation (asking the doctors and specialists, matching the information with scientific references, consulting with friends and relatives) and obstacles to seeking information (lack of time, high costs, distrust, access limitation). by increasing the students' informational and media literacy, providing authentic and low-cost online resources of information and specialized TV programs, the damages rooted in using invalid information resources concerning fitness can be substantially diminished. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents Developing Capacity around Knowledge Translation. Topics discussed include the burden of mental illness is having an increasingly significant impact on health globally with the cost estimated to be $2.5 trillion in 2010 and by 2030; and Identifying effective tools and mechanisms for knowledge transfer, the impact of context on knowledge acquisition, and determining and evaluating the effects of knowledge transfer are challenging.

Background: Nomophobia, a state of socio-psychological illness, refers to a fear of lack of access to mobile phone, which is thought to be a modern age disorder that causes negative health risks and harmful psychological effects. This study aimed to determine the relationship between the smartphone use and nomophobia disorder among university students. Methods: The study utilized a cross-sectional method in which 320 students were selected via cluster sampling. Data collection tools included a nomophobia and smartphones use questionnaires. Data were analyzed using SPSS 22 software in two sections: descriptive statistics and inferential statistics. Results: The incidence rate of nomophobia among the students was moderate (3.1), and 73% of the students were moderate smartphone users. Nomophobia had a significant relationship with gender, age group, and level of education; and the frequency of using smartphones had a significant relationship with age group and level of education. There was a positive correlation coefficient between nomophobia and the frequency of using smartphones. The mobile phone use predicted nomophobia with a beta coefficient of 0.402 (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Given the incidence rate of nomophobia disorder was moderate, it is necessary to make preventive decisions and plan educational programs in this regard for the health of university students. Alternative actions are recommended for the treatment in low rate of nomophobia, but drug therapy should be used in more advanced stages; therefore, it is suggested that more attention to be paid to students' free time and entertainments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With the recent spread of virtual learning programs in universities, especially in the field of medical sciences, libraries play a crucial role to support these programs. This study aimed at investigating the skills required by librarians to support virtual learning programs in Isfahan University and Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This was an applied survey study. The population of the study includes all librarians working in Isfahan University and Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. A sample of 89 librarians was selected by stratified random sampling. Data were collected by a researcher-made questionnaire, the validity of which was confirmed by specialists in the fields of librarianship and information sciences and virtual learning, and its reliability was determined to be 0.92, using Cronbach's Alpha. The questionnaire consisted of 51 items designed to evaluate the librarians' virtual learning skills using Likert scale. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the findings. Results: The findings of this study revealed that librarians had low level of skills with respect to the online reference services, and familiarity with virtual learning environment. They also showed low and average level of skills with respect to their general information technology, communication skills, ability to teach electronic information literacy and ability to create access to electronic resources. The results revealed no significant difference between the librarians of the two universities, or between male and female librarians. However, librarians with educational background in librarianship and information sciences were significantly more skillful and competent than their colleagues. Conclusion: Despite the crucial role of libraries in supporting virtual learning programs, the librarians in Isfahan University and Isfahan University of Medical Sciences had low-level skills to play such an important role. Therefore, it is essential to provide on-the-job virtual training courses for librarians to improve their job performance and the quality of library services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we investigate the effects of antenna directivity and antenna orientation on fading correlation and, therefore, the channel capacity in multiple-input-multiple-output communication systems by means of a spherical simulation model. The correlation is caused by the mutual interaction of the scattering environment and antenna elements. To study the effect of antenna directivity and orientations on the correlation and channel capacity in a more realistic environment, we extend the "one-ring" model to a spherical scattering environment, which is appropriate for narrowband 3-D Rayleigh fading. In our model, scatterers around a subscriber unit are distributed over a sphere centered on the antenna array in the subscriber unit. Antenna directivity is included in a precise way, and the antenna array can be placed in any orientation. Any type of antenna can be studied in the model. Through simulation, we find that directive antenna elements in linear broadside arrays make the channel capacity more strongly directive than when antenna elements are isotropic. Moreover, different antenna patterns and orientations have different outage capacities depending on the interaction of antenna directivities and the incident waves, which shows that the antenna pattern and orientation affect the channel capacity to some extent. In the uniformly scatter-rich environment, the microstrip antenna array can have 10% higher outage capacity than that of the dipole antenna array. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We propose a tree-structured variable-length random binning scheme for lossless source coding. The existing source coding schemes based on turbo codes, low-density parity check codes, and repeat accumulate codes can be regarded as practical implementations of this random binning scheme. For sufficiently large data blocks, we show that the proposed scheme asymptotically achieves the entropy limit. We also derive the distribution of the compression rate achieved by the tree-structured random binning scheme. Comparing this distribution with the distribution obtained using a library of random binning schemes, we show that a nested code can achieve rates close to a library of codes but with much lower encoding/decoding complexity. With lossless turbo source coding being one of the most powerful source compression techniques, we investigate its performance relative to the proposed tree-structured random binning scheme. Our numerical results show that the compression rate achieved by lossless turbo source coding is far from the tree-structured random binning bound. In that, we suggest improvements to enable short-block-length turbo source codes to achieve compression rates close to the tree-structured random binning bound [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Presents a method for data detection of M-ary phase shift keying in the presence of unknown carrier phase and additive white Gaussian noise. Rate of phase change; Communication system model; Computational complexity; Key equation; Performance.

In this paper, error-control coding is used with a six-port direct-digital QPSK receiver [1] in an AWGN channel. The direct-conversion wideband six-port millimeter wave receiver proposed herein meets the needs of MMIC mass-market wireless communications. Convolutional code and Turbo code are used as the channel codes for the first time in this type of receiver. The BER results for the convolutional code, turbo code, and the uncoded system in the six-port receiver, are presented at a bit rate of 1 Mbps. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Microwave Opt Technol Lett 36: 465–467, 2003; Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI 10.1002/mop.10791 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: To report the study protocol, methodology and latest enrollment data of a large epidemiological multi-central eye cohort named PERSIAN Eye Cohort Study (PECS), originating from the ongoing PERSIAN Cohort Study, to investigate the distribution of ophthalmic disorders in different regions and ethnicities of Iran, and determine their associations with various exposures of ophthalmic and non-ophthalmic nature. Methods: A central committee designed the study and equipped six chosen centers (Khameneh, Some'e Sara, Hoveizeh, Yazd, Rafsanjan and Zahedan). A focal point in each center conducted the study under close supervision of the central committee. Results: This ongoing study was launched in 2014. Out of 65,580 eligible participants of the PERSIAN Cohort, 48,618 individuals aged 35-70 have been enrolled in the PECS (response rate: 74.13%) until June 2021. Slit lamp and fundus photography were performed for 28,702 (59.03%) and 27,437 (56.43%) individuals, respectively. Conclusion: This large epidemiological multi-central eye cohort can improve our epidemiological knowledge of the prevalent ophthalmic disorders in different regions and ethnicities of Iran, and determine their associations with various exposures of ophthalmic and non-ophthalmic nature. This will be very useful for future planned nationwide and global interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Exploring clinical information-seeking behaviour (CISB) and its associated factors contributes to its theoretical advancement and offers a valuable framework for addressing physicians' information needs. This study delved into the dimensions, interactions, strategies and determinants of CISB among physicians at the point of care., Design: A grounded theory study was developed based on Strauss and Corbin's approach. Data were collected by semistructured interviews and then analysed through open, axial and selective coding., Setting: The study was conducted at academic centres affiliated with Isfahan University of Medical Sciences., Participants: This investigation involved recruiting 21 specialists and subspecialists from the academic centres., Results: The findings revealed that physicians' CISB encompassed multiple dimensions when addressing clinical inquiries. Seven principal themes emerged from the analysis: 'clinical information needs', 'clinical question characteristics', 'clinical information resources', 'information usability', 'factors influencing information seeking', 'action/interaction encountering clinical questions' and 'consequences of CISB'. The core category identified in this study was 'focused attention'., Conclusions: The theoretical explanation demonstrated that the CISB process was interactive and dynamic. Various stimuli, including causal, contextual and intervening conditions, guide physicians in adopting information-seeking strategies and focusing on resolving clinical challenges. However, insufficient stimuli may hinder physicians' engagement in CISB. Understanding CISB helps managers, policy-makers, clinical librarians and information system designers optimally implement several interventions, such as suitable training methods, reviewing monitoring and evaluating information systems, improving clinical decision support systems, electronic medical records and electronic health records, as well as monitoring and evaluating these systems. Such measures facilitate focused attention on clinical issues and promote CISB among physicians., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2024. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Introduction: Diabetes is one of the most common metabolic disorders in the world and because of high prevalence and incidence rate, it is a serious challenge posed to the health system in Iran. Despite extensive knowledge of the desirable care for these patients, evidence suggests that the quality of care provided to these patients is not desirable., Objective: The aim is to develop a training program to enhance the preparation of health professionals for evidence utilization in providing comprehensive health cares to patients with diabetes., Materials and Methods: This is an exploratory mixed-method study using consecutive qualitative-quantitative methods that will be conducted in three phases using the approach proposed by Werner and DeSimone to design the program. In the first phase, a qualitative study will be conducted for context assessment and identification of the requirements to enhance evidence utilization taking into account the overall knowledge translation process using semi-structured interviews with policymakers and health professionals. In the second phase, a training program will be designed based on the data extracted from the first phase, experts' opinions, and review of the literature. In the third phase, the training program will be implemented, and its effectiveness on the readiness of multidisciplinary health professionals for evidence utilization will be evaluated., Conclusion: The results of this study will provide a better understanding of how to identify and incorporate contextual factors and the real needs of health-care professionals and develop a program tailored to improving their readiness to use evidence. It can subsequently lead to providing quality care to patients with diabetes., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2021 Journal of Education and Health Promotion.)

Background: International research collaboration (IRC) is known as one of the important indicators of productivity, efficiency, and validity of universities in the world. In other words, IRC is necessary for the scientific trade-off between researchers in international scientific societies. The study aimed to address the experiences of an academic researcher about factors related to IRC., Materials and Methods: The present study was conducted using a qualitative approach and conventional content analysis method. The participants consisted of 19 experienced faculty members and researchers from Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, who were selected based on the purposive and snowball sampling techniques. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and were analyzed using the content analysis technique. Guba and Lincoln's evaluative criteria, including credibility, confirmability, dependability, and transferability, were applied to evaluate the trustworthiness of the study., Results: According to the research findings, factors of "personal skills," "personality," "professional position," and "scientific activities" under the category of personal factors; "rules and regulations" and "equipment and facilities" under the organizational factors; and "domestic policies" and "foreign policies" were identified under the government factors category., Conclusion: Research collaborations are influenced by individual, intra-academic, and extra-academic factors; thus, research policymakers can help further to enhance the quantity and quality of scientific output and promote the university's placing in international rankings through providing conditions that enable international interactions., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2020 Journal of Education and Health Promotion.)

Background: One of the most important responsibilities of today's university libraries is supporting research activities. The present research is aimed at explaining the librarians' competencies in providing research services for researchers of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences., Materials and Methods: This study was performed in 2018 with a qualitative approach and conventional content analysis. The participants were 18 faculty members, students, and librarians selected by purposive sampling. Data collection was done by 18 semi-structured interviews. Continuous data analysis was performed by conventional content analysis., Results: According to the participants' experiences, two major categories were recognized, including "general competencies" and "specialized competencies." The general competencies category included three subcategories of communication skill, professional ethics, and basic abilities. The specialized competencies category included six subcategories of information resource retrieval and evaluation, using research software, research assistance, intellectual property literacy, scientific publication literacy, scientometrics, and altmetrics., Conclusion: According to the participants' experiences, university librarians need specialized competencies in addition to basic and transdisciplinary abilities. It is suggested for research managers and policymakers to plan for empowering librarians regarding the results of the present study., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest., (Copyright: © 2020 Journal of Education and Health Promotion.)

Background and Aim: One of the methods that help students in learning critical thinking and decision-making skills is storytelling. Story helps the students to place themselves in the same situation as the main protagonist and try different ways and finally select and implement the best possible method. The goal of this study is to investigate the effect of storytelling on hopefulness of students, age 8-11 in Isfahan's 2 nd educational district., Methods: This is an applied, quasi-experimental study. The study population comprised of 34 randomly selected students attending one of the schools in Isfahan's 2 nd educational district. The data gathering tool was the standard Kazdin hopefulness scale (α = 0.72) and data were gathered before and after 8 storytelling sessions for the intervention group. The gathered data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical (paired and independent t -test) with the help of SPSS Version 18 software., Results: The study's findings showed a significant difference in the average hopefulness score of students in study group in pre- and posttest ( P = 0.04). Furthermore, independent t -test results showed a significant difference in hopefulness score of intervention and control ( P = 0.001). The average hopefulness score of the control group after storytelling sessions was higher than that of the intervention and control., Conclusion: The results show the effectiveness of storytelling as a method for improving hopefulness in students., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest.

Background and Objective: Maintaining and improving the health situation of children requires them to become more aware about personal hygiene through proper education. Based on several studies, teachings provided through informal methods are fully understandable for children. Therefore, the goal of this study is to compare the effects of creative drama and storytelling education methods on increasing the awareness of children regarding personal hygiene., Methods: This is an applied study conducted using semiempirical method in two groups. The study population consisted of 85 children participating in 4 th center for Institute for the Intellectual Development of Children and Young Adults in Isfahan, 40 of which were randomly selected and placed in storytelling and creative drama groups with 20 members each. The data gathering tool was a questionnaire created by the researchers whose content validity was confirmed by health education experts. The gathered information were analyzed using both descriptive (average and standard deviation) and analytical (independent t -test and paired t -test) statistical methods., Results: The findings showed that there was a meaningful difference between the awareness score of both groups before and after intervention. The average awareness score of storytelling group was increased from 50.69 to 86.83 while the average score of creative drama group was increased from 57.37 to 85.09. Furthermore, according to paired t -test results, there was no significant difference between average scores of storytelling and creative drama groups., Conclusions: The results of the current study showed that although both storytelling and creative drama methods are effective in increasing the awareness of children regarding personal hygiene, there is no significant difference between the two methods., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest.

Background: Information-seeking anxiety is a feeling caused by abundance of information or failure to proper interpret the information that can adversely affect the ability of individuals for seeking information and meeting their information needs. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate information-seeking anxiety, factors causing it, and methods for addressing and reducing this type of anxiety. The purpose of this study was to evaluate information-seeking anxiety in postgraduate students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences., Materials and Methods: This study has been conducted using survey method. A total of 265 postgraduate students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences were selected with the help of stratified random sampling. Data collection tool was a questionnaire designed for this purpose. The gathered data was analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics., Results: The results indicated that the topic selection factor played a more prominent role in creating information seeking anxiety compared to other factors. Apart from students of school of medicine, information seeking anxiety was below average among the students. In addition, there was a significant difference between information seeking anxiety in students from different departments. Finally, female students had higher information seeking anxiety compared to male students., Conclusion: Although information seeking anxiety among students was lower than average in most cases, further reduction of anxiety could be achieved by facilitating access to information resources and library information services and increasing the quality of students' information literacy through training courses tailored to each discipline are necessary., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest.

Background: The ability to access, analyze, evaluate, and convey information in various forms of media including print and nonprint requires media literacy, but the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic information and services needed for appropriate decisions regarding health, considered an important element in a woman's ability to participate in health promotion and prevention activities for herself and her children, is needed to a level of health literacy. The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between media literacy and health literacy among pregnant women in health centers in Isfahan., Materials and Methods: This study used a descriptive correlation study. Data collection tools include Shahin media literacy and functional health literacy in adults' questionnaires. The population include pregnant women in health centers of Isfahan (4080 people). Ten out of the 351 health centers in Isfahan were selected as cluster. Data were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics., Results: Media literacy of respondents in the five dimensions was significantly lower than average 61.5% of pregnant women have inadequate health literacy, 18.8% had marginal health literacy, and only 19.7% of them have had adequate health literacy. There was a significant positive relationship between media literacy and health literacy among pregnant women., Conclusion: This study showed that the majority of pregnant women covered by health centers had limited health literacy and media literacy. Since one of the basic requirements for the utilization of health information is needed for adequate media literacy, promotion of media literacy is necessary for the respondents., Competing Interests: There are no conflicts of interest.

Introduction: Internet addiction is a typical use of the internet that causes the psychological, social, educational, or occupational problems for the people. Students need the internet more than other people due to their educational or research needs. The rate and type of the internet use may affect their information-seeking behavior too. This study aims to investigate the effect of the internet addiction on the information-seeking behavior of the postgraduate students., Methods: This applied study that uses the correlation method. The research population composed of 1149 postgraduate students of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, of which 284 were selected using the stratified random sampling as the sample. Yang's internet addiction questionnaire and the researcher-developed questionnaire of the information-seeking behavior were used as the data collection instruments. Instrument validity was confirmed by the specialists of librarianship and medical sciences and its reliability was confirmed using the Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.86). Research data were analyzed using the descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (independent-t tests, Pearson correlation coefficient, and variance analysis)., Results: Based on the findings, there was no sign of internet addiction among the 86.6% of the students. However, 13% of the students were exposed to the internet addiction and only 0.4% of internet addiction was observed among the students. There was no significant difference between the information-seeking behavior of the male and female respondents. There was no sign of the internet addiction in any dimension of the information-seeking behavior of the students., Conclusion: This study showed that there is no relationship between the information-seeking behavior of the students and the age and the rate of the internet use. Promoting the network infrastructures and increasing the internet speed as well as facilitating the use of electronic resources should be prioritized by the officials.

Introduction: Today, the websites of college and university libraries play an important role in providing the necessary services for clients. These websites not only allow the users to access different collections of library resources, but also provide them with the necessary guidance in order to use the information. The goal of this study is the quality evaluation of the college library websites in Iranian Medical Universities based on the Stover model., Material and Methods: This study uses an analytical survey method and is an applied study. The data gathering tool is the standard checklist provided by Stover, which was modified by the researchers for this study. The statistical population is the college library websites of the Iranian Medical Universities (146 websites) and census method was used for investigation. The data gathering method was a direct access to each website and filling of the checklist was based on the researchers' observations. Descriptive and analytical statistics (Analysis of Variance (ANOVA)) were used for data analysis with the help of the SPSS software., Findings: The findings showed that in the dimension of the quality of contents, the highest average belonged to type one universities (46.2%) and the lowest average belonged to type three universities (24.8%). In the search and research capabilities, the highest average belonged to type one universities (48.2%) and the lowest average belonged to type three universities. In the dimension of facilities provided for the users, type one universities again had the highest average (37.2%), while type three universities had the lowest average (15%). In general the library websites of type one universities had the highest quality (44.2%), while type three universities had the lowest quality (21.1%). Also the library websites of the College of Rehabilitation and the College of Paramedics, of the Shiraz University of Medical Science, had the highest quality scores., Discussion: The results showed that there was a meaningful difference between the quality of the college library websites and the university types, resulting in college libraries of type one universities having the highest average score and the college libraries of type three universities having the lowest score.

Background: Patients, as one of the most prominent groups requiring health-based information, encounter numerous problems in order to obtain these pieces of information and apply them. The aim of this study was to determine the information-seeking behavior of cardiovascular patients who were hospitalized in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences hospitals., Materials and Methods: This is a survey research. The population consisted of all patients with cardiovascular disease who were hospitalized in the hospitals of Isfahan University of Medical Sciences during 2012. According to the statistics, the number of patients was 6000. The sample size was determined based on the formula of Cochran; 400 patients were randomly selected. Data were collected by researcher-made questionnaire. Two-level descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used for analysis., Results: The data showed that the awareness of the probability to recover and finding appropriate medical care centers were the most significant informational needs. The practitioners, television, and radio were used more than the other informational resources. Lack of familiarity to medical terminologies and unaccountability of medical staff were the major obstacles faced by the patients to obtain information. The results also showed that there was no significant relationship between the patients' gender and information-seeking behavior, whereas there was a significant relationship between the demographic features (age, education, place of residence) and information-seeking behavior., Conclusion: Giving information about health to the patients can help them to control their disease. Appropriate methods and ways should be used based on patients' willingness. Despite the variety of information resources, patients expressed medical staff as the best source for getting health information. Information-seeking behavior of the patients was found to be influenced by different demographic and environmental factors.

Background: Nowadays, no student can ever pursue the ends of his studies unless he makes use of his information literacy skills. To become lifelong learners, they do need these skills. Information literacy is a set of information needed for searching, retrieval, evaluating, and making best use of information. This study uncovers the relationship between information literacy and academic performance among students at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences., Materials and Methods: This is a practical study using a survey method. All MA students in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences make the statistical population for this study, according to the sample size determined by using Cochran formula 265 samples that were selected by stratified random sampling. Data collection was through information literacy questionnaires designed by Davarpanah and Siamak, verified by Library and Information Sciences experts; and finally, gave a Cronbach's alpha of 0.83. To determine academic performance, the average scores of the students in previous semesters were considered., Results: The information literacy of all other students was significantly higher than medium except for students at Nursing and Nutrition faculties. The students of Management and Information Sciences faculty had the highest level of information literacy and students of nutrition faculty were attributed with the least level. There was no significant difference between male and female students' information literacy. We also found out that there was a significant positive relationship between information literacy and students' academic performance in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences., Conclusion: Information literacy is one of the most important factors that leads to educational success. As there is a significant positive relationship between information literacy and students' academic performance, we should necessarily provide them with relative skills dealing with information literacy to improve their academic performance.