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This article examines and explains the sociology of urban resilience among the residents of the coastal cities of Mazandaran province. Resilience should be learned by all sections of the society so that they can show high resilience in difficult situations. The research method, survey and statistical population include people aged 15 and older living in the coastal cities of Mazandaran province. The sampling method is a multi-stage cluster. First, a complete framework of the cities of the province was prepared. Then the coastal cities of the province were determined from the east to the far west of the province and in the next step all the coastal cities were numbered and then five coastal cities of Babolsar, Mahmudabad, Noor, Nowshahr and Ramsar were selected. According to Cochran's formula, the sample size is 384 people. The data collection tool is a standard and researcher-made questionnaire. The method of data analysis is Pearson, Spearman correlation coefficient, mean comparison, path analysis and regression analysis. The measurement tool used face validity and has the required reliability because the value of Cronbach's alpha coefficient in all variables was greater than 0.70. The findings showed that among the dimensions of resilience, trust in individual instincts has the highest average of 3.20 and the perception of individual competence has the lowest average of 3.07. The average resilience is average and equal to 3.14. The results of the correlation test showed that there is a significant positive and direct relationship between urban resilience and the amount of health-oriented lifestyle and social support. That is, the more the amount of health-oriented lifestyle and social support among the residents of the coastal cities of Mazandaran increases, the more urban resilience will increase. The value of the multiple correlation coefficients is equal to 0.484, which indicates a low correlation coefficient. The coefficient of determination shows that the set of independent variables explain 23.5% of the changes in the dependent variable of urban resilience. The health-oriented lifestyle variable and its dimensions have a greater effect on urban resilience. In order to increase urban resilience, it is necessary to increase and decrease the amount of health-oriented lifestyle as well as social support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studying air pollution distribution and factors is crucial for control. The research focused on analyzing air pollution distribution and its correlation with climatic variables in Mazandaran Province from 2018 to 2022 using Remote Sensing. Air pollution distribution analyzed with TROPOMI sensor in Google Earth Engine system. Air pollution change point analyzed with Petit's homogeneity test. Additionally, Pearson's correlation test was utilized to assess the correlation among variables. Spatial analysis of air pollution showed that the highest amount of air pollution in the period of 2018-2022 was in the east of Mazandaran and at altitudes of 0-500 m. The test results showed that the concentrations of CO, O3, and SO2 gases had a significant downward trend in some months. However, the average NO2 gas in October 2020 has been significant at the level of 5%. The seasonal air pollution concentration with NO2 gas is higher in winter and autumn. The highest concentration of O3 is in winter and spring. However, the highest concentration of SO2 is related to winter and autumn. The number of sunshine hours with a correlation coefficient between 0.5 and 0.8 has been the most effective climate component on air pollution. Meteorological factors impact temporal-spatial dispersion directly, indirectly.

Objective(s): Health tourism is a branch of the tourism industry that is of interest to many countries of the world due to its high demand and good income. Therefore, considering the importance of health tourism and the existing potential in Mazandaran province, this study was conducted with the aim of identifying and analyzing the factors affecting the development of the health tourism industry in Mazandaran province. Methods: The present study was conducted using a qualitative method with a content analysis approach. For this purpose, 17 health tourism industry experts and health tourists were selected using the purposeful sampling method. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The interviews were conducted until we reached a point of theoretical data saturation. Results: The findings showed that the health tourism industry in Mazandaran province is affected by structural, process and contextual factors. The structural factors included issues related to infrastructures, potentials/attractions, institutional factors, and expert human resources for health tourism destination. The process factor included issues related to drivers of health tourism, provision of health services and destination situational factors. The contextual-field factor included issues related to sociocultural contexts, potentials and attractiveness of tourism, and economic capacity. Conclusion: Despite the importance of services related to health tourism and considering the increasing demand of this industry, travelers who travel to Mazandaran province need a variety of services, and the need to pay attention to quality service development in tourism destinations is evident. Therefore, the provision of other essentials for health tourists such as infrastructure, destination attractions, financial capacities, sociocultural conditions, human resources, situational factors are the requirements for the development of this industry.

Extended Abstract Background: One of the important effects of global warming is the increase in extreme atmospheric phenomena, the most important of which are sudden changes in temperature, excessive heat, abnormal cold, heavy rains and floods, drought, and dust caused by the drying up of wetlands. Changes in climatic components due to climate change have impacted the intensity and frequency of extreme rainfall events and, subsequently affecting society and the natural environment. Therefore, examining the future modifications of different precipitation indices is more necessary to implement management plans, especially for Iran, which needs progress in climate modeling studies aiming at improving knowledge about climate change and its effects on the whole country. In this study, changes in the trend and breaking point of rainfall-based indices were studied using the CMIP6 series model under three optimistic, medium, and pessimistic scenarios in Mazandaran province for two periods: the near future (2021-2060) and the far future (2061-2100). Methods: In this research, the spatiotemporal trend and breaking point of the precipitation in Mazandaran province (15 stations) were investigated in the future period from the precipitation data of SSP scenarios (126, 245, and 585) in the two 2021-2060 and 2061-2100 periods. Using the R-Climdex software in the R software environment, the precipitation limit indices were determined for different scenarios and periods. Then, the trend and breaking point were examined using the Mann-Kendall, Sen, and Pettitt tests. Precipitation indexes were defined by an expert group under the supervision of the World Meteorological Organization as limit indexes and climate change indexes. After receiving the output of models and their micro scaling, data were grouped in the future period based on three scenarios in all studied stations. The daily rainfall indexes were extracted using R programming developed by Zhang and Yang at the Canadian Meteorological Service Climatic Research Branch. Therefore, 11 and 16 indices out of 27 existing indexes were related to precipitation and temperature, respectively. Results: Under the optimistic scenario (SSP126), the indexes of the number of consecutive wet days, days with heavy rain, and very wet days in the eastern half of the province will increase significantly. Based on the pessimistic scenario (SSP585), the profile of wet days and the annual amount of rainfall will decrease in different areas of the province. In terms of the occurrence of the breaking point, the daily intensity of precipitation and wet days will have a breaking point in the order of increasing in the 2060s, rising in 2061, and decreasing in 2051 in the eastern half of the region only in the pessimistic scenario of the profile of consecutive wet days. Under the other scenarios, however, no sudden changes will be observed in the data series. According to the median scenario, there will be no changes in precipitation indexes regionally, and only the daily intensity index of precipitation will increase in a limited number of coastal stations in the near future. Under a pessimistic scenario, however, changes in limit indexes will often be reduced so that the index of the number of wet days (with 1 mm rainfall) will decrease in the near future in most parts of the province with high intensity. The annual amount of rainfall on wet days in coastal and western regions, as well as two indexes of the number of days with heavy and very heavy rain, will decrease in the high stations of the western areas. However, the risk of flooding events may be reduced in the near future, and the probability of widespread droughts increases due to the reduction of wetness profiles in pessimistic conditions. In the distant future, precipitation indexes will not change significantly, and only the number of days with heavy rainfall will decrease in the high areas of the eastern province. In terms of sudden changes, there will be no sudden change or significant breaking points in the data series of all the precipitation indexes until 2100 by moving toward an optimistic and median scenario. Moving toward a pessimistic scenario, there will be an incremental change point for indexing the number of consecutive days at a few provincial stations for the 2070-2060s. The daily intensity of precipitation and the number of wet days (with 1 mm precipitation) will also experience a sudden incremental change in 2061 and a decrease in 2051 in the eastern half of the province, indicating a sudden increase in the intensity of downpours and a reduction of the number of days with low rainfall. Conclusion: According to the results, it can be concluded that the study of the occurrence of severe meteorological events, including rainfall, as one of the main issues in the field of water resources, agriculture, and natural hazards in Mazandaran province, is necessary for long-term planning in various fields. Knowledge of the future perspective of extreme rainfall events can be used in soil, water, and agriculture management planning, especially in the economic development plans of the province.

This research is a part of the studies that have been carried out in line with a research plan in Tajen river since 2020-2021. Sampling was done in 7 study stations, including 1) Sari diversion dam, 2) Mahfroz Mehaleh 3) Panbeh Chole 4) Soteh 5) Farah Abad 6) after dam outlet 7) river estuary. The purpose of this research is to investigate the identification, distribution and diversity of fish species and their abundance in different sampling stations. A total of 2,454 fish were examined, belonging to 15 families, 25 genera and 28 species were identified, which include the families Acipenseridae, Atherinidae, Clupeidae, Cobitida, Cyprinidae, Gastrosteidae, Gobiidae, Leuciscidae, Mugilidae, Poecillidae, Percidae, Petromyzonida, Xenocyprididae, Acheilognathidae and Syngnathidae. The largest diversity of species belongs to the Leuciscidae. In this research, the species diversity increased from the upstream to the downstream of the river. According to the Brillion, s index (BI), the lowest BI was in station 3 with 1.415 and the highest in station 7 with 2.989. There was a significant difference in terms of BI in different stations (P<0.05). The average Brillion and Shannon indices obtained in the upstream of the rubber dam were much lower than the downstream of the rubber dam, which shows the effects of the dams on fish communities. The results of this research showed that the diversion dam and the rubber dam as one of the physical and man-made factors have been able to affect the diversity of fish species upstream and downstream of the river, so river restoration is necessary in order to restore anadromous fish stocks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Avian leukosis virus is a contagious oncogenic virus that can infect various bird species. This virus is economically important in the poultry industry. The aim of this study was to identify molecular strains of leukosis virus circulating in duck farms in Mazandaran province. Freshly dead birds were necropsied and samples of tumor tissues were processed for molecular detection of avian tumorigenic viruses using polymerase chain reaction (PCR). At necropsy, diffuse and sometimes nodular enlargement of the internal organs and subscapular hemorrhage in the liver and spleen was noted. All three studied flocks were positive for infection with serogroup J of leukosis virus, while all samples were negative for involvement with reticuloendotheliosis and Marek’s disease viruses. Since leukosis is a serious threat to the poultry industry and currently does not have a vaccine or medicine, it is recommended to carry out periodic monitoring and analysis for the circulating strains of virus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective(s): Health tourism is a branch of the tourism industry that is of interest to many countries of the world due to its high demand and good income. Therefore, considering the importance of health tourism and the existing potential in Mazandaran province, this study was conducted with the aim of identifying and analyzing the factors affecting the development of the health tourism industry in Mazandaran province. Methods: The present study was conducted using a qualitative method with a content analysis approach. For this purpose, 17 health tourism industry experts and health tourists were selected using the purposeful sampling method. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. The interviews were conducted until we reached a point of theoretical data saturation. Results: The findings showed that the health tourism industry in Mazandaran province is affected by structural, process and contextual factors. The structural factors included issues related to infrastructures, potentials/attractions, institutional factors, and expert human resources for health tourism destination. The process factor included issues related to drivers of health tourism, provision of health services and destination situational factors. The contextual-field factor included issues related to sociocultural contexts, potentials and attractiveness of tourism, and economic capacity. Conclusion: Despite the importance of services related to health tourism and considering the increasing demand of this industry, travelers who travel to Mazandaran province need a variety of services, and the need to pay attention to quality service development in tourism destinations is evident. Therefore, the provision of other essentials for health tourists such as infrastructure, destination attractions, financial capacities, sociocultural conditions, human resources, situational factors are the requirements for the development of this industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate Change has revealed the necessity of attention to the issue of water in different fields such as architecture. Water use management in arid and semi - arid climates of Iran has long been considered by the scientific and executive community of the country, but these considerations are not considered in humid regions, especially the Caspian Sea. This lack of attention to the subject of water in the studies of Rural Architecture in the area of Mazandaran is under conditions that the structures of buildings are shaped by water. The purpose of this paper is to analyze feasibility of developing rainwater harvesting systems in rural housing of Mazandaran province according to the compatibility in three dimensions of social, physical and institutional. This paper is an applied and quantitative research. the data were classified into three groups: physical, social and technical. This paper is an applied and quantitative research. The data were classified into three groups of physical, social and technical. Quantitative data analysis was done by Delphi method and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test by SPSS.24 software. The study area is the villages of Mazandaran province (Parsi, Shaneshar, Diva, Kabarakla, Kotna and Varki villages) which are divided into three groups of "mountainous", "foothill" and "plain". The results show that participation in the development of rainwater harvesting in mountain and foothill regions of the province is close to each other, but in plain villages, social adjustment is lower than average. In the physical dimension, the adaptation of rural architecture is above average and this consistency in all three types of villages is almost close to each other. the results show that participation in the development of rainwater harvesting in mountain and foothill regions of the province is close to each other, but in plain villages, social adjustment is lower than average. In the physical dimension, the adaptation of rural architecture is above average and this consistency in all three types of villages is almost close to each other. Therefore, the physical structure and architecture of rural housing of Mazandaran have the potential to develop rainwater harvesting systems; But in the institutional dimension, Rural Management capacities are more than average and can prevent the development of rainwater harvesting systems in the villages of Mazandaran.

Background and purpose: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic nosocomial pathogen, which is resistant to different groups of antibiotics. Infections caused by this organism due to antibiotic resistance may ultimately cause high mortality. The ability of this microorganism to produce pathogenic factors such as alginate, proteases, pyocyanin, rhamnolipid, phospholipase C, the presence of pili, and the ability to form biofilm and colonization have made this bacterium one of the most important pathogens. Considering that alginate is one of the important pathogenic factors of this microorganism which mainly algA, algC, and algD genes encode enzymes necessary for the leading biosynthesis pathway of alginate-GDP-mannuronic acid. Therefore, in the current study, we investigated the frequency of the algD gene in P. aeruginosa isolated from patients hospitalized in Mazandaran hospitals using specific primers by PCR method. Materials and methods: According to the results of past studies and using the sample size formula to calculate the prevalence and considering the maximum error of 0.05, the confidence level of 0.95, the ratio of 0.97, and the sample size of the unlimited population was estimated to be 100 isolates. Clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa were collected from different laboratories of Mazandaran educational hospitals. After collecting the clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa and definitively identifying the bacteria by performing routine biochemical tests, the antibiotic resistance pattern of the isolates was checked with Agar Diffusion Disk. In the next step, we extracted the DNA of P aeruginosa strains by alkaline lysis method by adding sodium dodecyl sulfate and NaOH. Finally, a PCR test was performed using the specific primer of the algD gene. Then, the PCR product was evaluated using a UV Transilluminator device. Data were analyzed using SPSS software. Results: 100 isolates of P. aeruginosa were isolated from 100 hospitalized patients. These isolates were collected from five medical educational hospitals of Mazandaran province, which were as follows: Imam Khomeini Hospital in Sari (40 isolates), Razi Hospital in Qaemshahr (22 isolates), Bo Ali Sina Hospital in Sari (17 isolates), Zare Psychiatric and Burn hospital in Sari (11 isolates), and Fatemeh Zahra heart hospital in Sari (10 isolates). Most of the clinical isolates of P. aeruginosa in the present study were obtained from sputum samples (37/100) and in second place from urine samples (26/100) of patients. 98 isolates had the algD gene. 26% of isolates were resistant to Piperacillin, 39% of isolates to Aztreonam, 27% of isolates to Ceftazidime, 31% of isolates to Imipenem, 39% to Tobramycin and 41% to Ciprofloxacin. All clinical isolates resistant to studied antibiotics carried the algD gene. Only two isolates of the sensitive strains of this organism in each group of antibiotics lacked the desired gene. Conclusion: The results of the present study show that the algD gene is present in most of the clinical isolates of the P. aeruginosa strain obtained from medical education centers in Mazandaran. On the other hand, the high prevalence of this organism and the high resistance to antibiotics and multiple drugs observed in the current study and previous studies have turned the treatment of infections caused by P. aeruginosa into a serious and complex problem. Finally, considering that the algD gene plays a significant role in the formation of biofilm and antibiotic resistance, the results of the current study also confirm this finding.

Background and purpose: Access to primary healthcare services, considering equity and equality in the health system, is a right of the global community. To provide primary health services, the rural family physician program was implemented at the beginning of 2005 to achieve universal health coverage in rural areas and small cities (with a population of less than 20,000). The specific goals of this program included the implementation of the referral system, increasing the responsiveness of the health market, increasing people’s access to health services, reducing unnecessary costs in the health market, and increasing service coverage. After approximately 7 years of implementation of this program, the urban family physician program started in Mazandaran and Fars province as a pilot project. The urban family physician program started in the Mazandaran province in 2012 as the first level of providing health services. In line with the better implementation of this program and considering the wide range of expected programs and activities, it is essential to entrust the appropriate activities with the time of the service providers. This study was conducted to assess the expected duration of activities assigned to the family physician. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 15 urban family physician centers (6 government and 9 private centers) in Golugah, Behshahr, Neka, Ghaemshahr, Noor, and Chalus cities of Mazandaran province. Out of 15 cities with more than 20,000 people participating in this program in Mazandaran province, the six cities mentioned above were randomly selected, and 15 urban family doctors were randomly selected from the existing list. Finally, the target groups were included in the study for convenience sampling. To collect the data, checklists compiled based on care packages corresponding to 8 groups of service recipients (elderly (11 services), middle-aged (7 services), youth (13 services), teenagers (24 services), under 5 years old (6 services), mana (15 services), mothers (3 services), and non-target visit) were used. For each service recipient group, at least three individuals were examined. Central and dispersion indices were used to describe the data. Results: The results of measuring the time of providing service to 297 people (including 90 under 5 years old, 30 people receiving Mana services, 30 people from each of the groups of mothers, teenagers, young people, middle-aged, elderly, and 27 people from non-target visit) showed that the median and mean expected time for providing daily service by an urban family physician to the covered population is 2 h and 52 min and 3 h and 23 min, respectively. The estimated time was different in the groups receiving the service, the highest time of which was related to the visit of the non-target service group with median and mean of 84.17 and 87.20 min, respectively, and the lowest time was related to Mana services with a median and mean of 3.40 and 4.34 min, respectively. Conclusion: Urban family physicians have enough time to provide daily services, and therefore it seems that the health system has not assigned them more than their daily time capacity.

Background and purpose: Access to primary healthcare services, considering equity and equality in the health system, is a right of the global community. To provide primary health services, the rural family physician program was implemented at the beginning of 2005 to achieve universal health coverage in rural areas and small cities (with a population of less than 20,000). The specific goals of this program included the implementation of the referral system, increasing the responsiveness of the health market, increasing people’s access to health services, reducing unnecessary costs in the health market, and increasing service coverage. After approximately 7 years of implementation of this program, the urban family physician program started in Mazandaran and Fars province as a pilot project. The urban family physician program started in the Mazandaran province in 2012 as the first level of providing health services. In line with the better implementation of this program and considering the wide range of expected programs and activities, it is essential to entrust the appropriate activities with the time of the service providers. This study was conducted to assess the expected duration of activities assigned to the family physician. Materials and methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 15 urban family physician centers (6 government and 9 private centers) in Golugah, Behshahr, Neka, Ghaemshahr, Noor, and Chalus cities of Mazandaran province. Out of 15 cities with more than 20,000 people participating in this program in Mazandaran province, the six cities mentioned above were randomly selected, and 15 urban family doctors were randomly selected from the existing list. Finally, the target groups were included in the study for convenience sampling. To collect the data, checklists compiled based on care packages corresponding to 8 groups of service recipients (elderly (11 services), middle-aged (7 services), youth (13 services), teenagers (24 services), under 5 years old (6 services), mana (15 services), mothers (3 services), and non-target visit) were used. For each service recipient group, at least three individuals were examined. Central and dispersion indices were used to describe the data. Results: The results of measuring the time of providing service to 297 people (including 90 under 5 years old, 30 people receiving Mana services, 30 people from each of the groups of mothers, teenagers, young people, middle-aged, elderly, and 27 people from non-target visit) showed that the median and mean expected time for providing daily service by an urban family physician to the covered population is 2 h and 52 min and 3 h and 23 min, respectively. The estimated time was different in the groups receiving the service, the highest time of which was related to the visit of the non-target service group with median and mean of 84.17 and 87.20 min, respectively, and the lowest time was related to Mana services with a median and mean of 3.40 and 4.34 min, respectively. Conclusion: Urban family physicians have enough time to provide daily services, and therefore it seems that the health system has not assigned them more than their daily time capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prehistoric investigations in the southeastern region of the Caspian Sea commenced more than a century ago, resulting in the identification of several prominent archaeological sites, notably the caves of Kamarband, Hotu, Komishan, and Altappeh. These caves have become well-known for their rich archaeological deposits, spanning from approximately 16,000 years ago in the Mesolithic period to the Historic period. Hotu Cave, situated on a cliff along the northern slope of the Alborz mountain range, gained significant attention following its initial excavation in the 1950s by Carleton S. Coon. Excavations conducted over two field seasons lasting nine weeks each revealed valuable insights into the region's prehistoric occupation. In 2021, a team led by Hasan Fazeli from the University of Tehran undertook the re-excavation of Hotu Cave, unearthing 124 archaeological contexts spanning from the Mesolithic to the Historic period. Among the notable findings were 1,539 chipped stone artifacts, predominantly crafted from locally sourced Behshahr chert. The chipped stone assemblage from Hotu Cave exhibits distinctive characteristics indicative of different periods, including pressure removal technique evident in blade-lets and sickle trapezoids dating back to the Neolithic period, alongside ubiquitous scrapers and notched-denticulated tools found across all layers. Technological shifts within the chipped stone assemblage, observed during the recent excavations, reflect changes in subsistence patterns inferred from archaeozoological research on animal remains. However, the interpretation of these technological and subsistence changes is nuanced, as it remains unclear whether they occurred locally and gradually or resulted from external influences, such as demographic movements or the diffusion of ideas from neighboring regions. The chronological gap between the Mesolithic and Neolithic periods complicates the determination of the precise mechanisms driving these transformations solely based on material evidence from Hotu Cave. Further interdisciplinary research integrating archaeological, chronological, and environmental data is warranted to elucidate the dynamics of cultural change in this region during the transition from the Mesolithic to the Neolithic period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: One of the important effects of global warming is the increase in extreme atmospheric phenomena, the most important of which are sudden changes in temperature, excessive heat, abnormal cold, heavy rains and floods, drought, and dust caused by the drying up of wetlands. Change s in climatic components due to climate change have impacted the intensity and frequency of extreme rainfall events and, subsequently affecting society and the natural environment. Therefore, examining the future modifications of different precipitation indices is more necessary to implement management plans, especially for Iran, which needs progress in climate modeling studies aiming at improving knowledge about climate change and its effects on the whole country. In this study, changes in the trend and breaking point of rainfall -based indices were studied using the CMIP6 series model under three optimistic, medium, and pessimistic scenarios in Mazandaran province for two periods: the near future (2021-2060) and the far future (2061-2100). Methods: In this research, the spatiotemporal trend and breaking point of the precipitation in Mazandaran province (15 stations) were investigate d in the future period from the precipitation data of SSP scenarios (126, 245, and 585) in the two 2021-2060 and 2061-2100 periods. Using the R-Climdex software in the R software environment, the precipitation limit indices were determined for different scenarios and periods. Then, the trend and breaking point were examined using the Mann -Kendall, Sen, and Pettitt tests. Precipitation indexes were defined by an expert group under the supervision of the World Meteorological Organization as limit indexes and climate change indexes. After receiving the output of models and their micro scaling, data were grouped in the future period based on three scenarios in all studied stations. The daily rainfall indexes were extracted using R programming developed by Zhang and Yang at the Canadian Meteorological Service Climatic Research Branch. Therefore, 11 and 16 indices out of 27 existing indexes were related to precipitation and temperature, respectively. Results: Under the optimistic scenario (SSP126), the indexes of the number of consecutive wet days, days with heavy rain, and very wet days in the eastern half of the province will increase significantly. Based on the pessimistic scenario (SSP585), the profile of wet days and the annual amount of rainfall will decrease in different areas of the province. In terms of the occurrence of the breaking point, the daily intensity of precipitation and wet days will have a breaking point in the order of increasing in the 2060s, rising in 2061, and decreasing in 2051 in the eastern half of the region only in the pessimistic scenario of the profile of consecutive wet days. Under the other scenarios, however, no sudden changes will be observed in the data series. According to the median scenario, there will be no changes in precipitation indexes regionally, and only the daily intensity index of precipitation will increase in a limited number of coastal stations in the near future. Under a pessimistic scenario, however, changes in limit indexes will often be reduced so that the index of the number of wet days (with 1 mm rainfall) will decrease in the near future in most parts of the province with high intensity. The annual amount of rainfall on wet days in coastal and western regions, as well as two indexes of the number of days with heavy and very heavy rain, will decrease in the high stations of the western areas. However, the risk of flooding events may be reduced in the near future, and the probability of widespread droughts increases due to the reduction of wetness profiles in pessimistic condition s. In the distant future, precipitation indexes will not change significantly, and only the number of days with heavy rainfall will decrease in the high areas of the eastern province. In terms of sudden changes, there will be no sudden change or significant breaking point s in the data series of all the precipitation indexes until 2100 by moving toward an optimistic and median scenario. Moving toward a pessimistic scenario, there will be an incremental change point for indexing the number of consecutive days at a few provincial stations for the 2070-2060s. The daily intensity of precipitation and the number of wet days (with 1 mm precipitation) will also experience a sudden incremental change in 2061 and a decrease in 2051 in the eastern half of the province, indicating a sudden increase in the intensity of downpours and a reduction of the number of days with low rainfall. Conclusion: According to the results, it can be concluded that the study of the occurrence of severe meteorological events, including rainfall, as one of the main issues in the field of water resources, agriculture, and natural hazards in Mazandaran province, is necessary for long -term planning in various fields. Knowledge of the future perspective of extreme rainfall events can be used in soil, water, and agriculture management planning, especially in the economic development plans of the province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The evaluation of rangelands needs some studies about the physical effects and climatic factors on the changes of rangelands during different years. Evaluating changes in crown cover, plant composition, production rate, status, capacity and trend of rangelands during different years is very important. beneficiaries are often faced with unpredictable climate and natural condition changings, which rangelands of this group of experimental farmers is necessary for sustainable management and ecological health. The goals of this research are to investigate the understanding of climate change from the point of view of farmers in Rineh, Polour, Kangarchal and Poshtkoh regions in Mazandaran province. And its effect is on the beneficiary’s efforts and it will provide suggestions to reduce the effect of climate change and increase production of rangelands. In this regard, some questions were formulated and asked to the local users through a questionnaire, and SPSS software was used to determine users' opinions and compare their views in four sites. Also, four index including plants, herbal production, rangeland’s ecosystem (situation, soil and wild life), livestock and grazing systems, herd management and livelihood system were evaluated in four sites. The results of the average comparison showed that a large number of operators, about 41.7% believe that climate change which has occurred in these sites are happened in recent years. Also, the reduction of snowfall, the production of rangelands, the number of livestock shows that 37.7% of the respondents agree with the increases of immigration. For this purpose, in order to reduce the negative effects of climate changes are essential for a comprehensive education, proper planning and providing financial services and implementing plans for the proper use of water resources to deal with climate changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expectation is one of the most important themes of strange songs. These songs include important themes of human life, work and suffering, and at the same time, they have a long-standing connection with love and enamored of love. Popular literature is a science for recognizing people's conventions and beliefs, which includes myth, beliefs, tales, and songs. Folk songs are considered an important part of oral literature due to the protection of the cultural-national identity and the transmission of the feelings and opinions of our ancestors. In Mazandarani's poems, there are themes such as hidden expectation, which is rooted in the culture and daily life of the people of this country, but it has not been addressed so far. This research, with a descriptive-analytical method, aims to investigate the concept of expectation in Mazandaran popular literature couplets. By studying more than 1000 couplets of Mazandarani, 310 couplets, i.e. about 31%, have been seen within the expectation. Based on the library and field research findings, it can be said that songs with the concept of waiting in general, and waiting for the lover to return in particular have the highest frequency. Besides, the lover waits for spring to come and the flowers to bloom in order to see the lover, however, the lover waits for the return of the beloved from military service, while the family members wait for their loved ones to return to the city and the country. Finally, the hardworking farmer waits for the harvest and also the end of grief. In such a context, stories, the suffering of exile and reaching peace and freedom have a special place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Climate Change has revealed the necessity of attention to the issue of water in different fields such as architecture. Water use management in arid and semi-arid climates of Iran has long been considered by the scientific and executive community of the country, but these considerations are not considered in humid regions, especially the Caspian Sea. This lack of attention to the subject of water in the studies of Rural Architecture in the area of Mazandaran is under conditions that the structures of buildings are shaped by water. The purpose of this paper is to analyze feasibility of developing rainwater harvesting systems in rural housing of Mazandaran province according to the compatibility in three dimensions of social, physical and institutional. This paper is an applied and quantitative research. the data were classified into three groups: physical, social and technical. Method: This paper is an applied and quantitative research. The data were classified into three groups of physical, social and technical. Quantitative data analysis was done by Delphi method and Kolmogorov-Smirnov test by SPSS.24 software. The study area is the villages of Mazandaran province (Parsi, Shaneshar, Diva, Kabarakla, Kotna and Varki villages) which are divided into three groups of "mountainous", "foothill" and "plain". Results: The results show that participation in the development of rainwater harvesting in mountain and foothill regions of the province is close to each other, but in plain villages, social adjustment is lower than average. In the physical dimension, the adaptation of rural architecture is above average and this consistency in all three types of villages is almost close to each other. the results show that participation in the development of rainwater harvesting in mountain and foothill regions of the province is close to each other, but in plain villages, social adjustment is lower than average. Conclusions: In the physical dimension, the adaptation of rural architecture is above average and this consistency in all three types of villages is almost close to each other. Therefore, the physical structure and architecture of rural housing of Mazandaran have the potential to develop rainwater harvesting systems; But in the institutional dimension, Rural Management capacities are more than average and can prevent the development of rainwater harvesting systems in the villages of Mazandaran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose: According to the World Bank report, air pollution is the fourth leading risk factor for death in the world, and one in ten deaths is attributed to air pollution. Sand and dust storms tend to occur in arid and semi-arid regions, and this phenomenon affects human health, agricultural land, industry, infrastructure and the transportation sector. In this report, the situation of air pollution caused by dust storms was studied storm in the city of Sari in September 2023 Materials and methods: In a descriptive cross -sectional study, the concentration of airborne particles in the city of Sari was measured at7 different points in the city using the Dust Monitor device. The concentration of total suspended particles (TSP), particulate matter less than 10 micrometers (PM10), particulate matter less than 2.5 micrometers (PM2.5) and particulate matter less than 1 micrometers (PM1) were measured. Results: The results of this study showed that the highest concentrations of TSP, PM10 and PM2.5 were measured at the Baghban clinic station (Tuba) which was equal to 179, 88 and 55 µg/m3 respectively. Also, the Air Quality Index (AQI) of Sari city was 149 (unhealthy for sensitive groups) on September 11. Conclusion: The phenomenon of sand and dust storms (SDS) rarely occurs in the northern provinces of Iran, based on reports from abroad and caused by the occurrence of this phenomenon in the Qara-Qom desert in Turkmenistan. Therefore, it is of great importance for Mazandaran province, which is one of the most densely populated regions in the country, to continuously monitor the air quality index and install and equip fixed air pollution monitoring stations.

Background and purpose: Time series models based on machine learning, including artificial neural network, perform better than classical methods. This study was performed to compare the use of a multi-layered perceptron neural network with weighted regression in determining the geographical pattern of brucellosis in Mazandaran province, Iran (2009-2018) on 3,732 patients. Materials and methods: The study type is ecological and existing data, which is registered. Multilayer perceptron neural network was used to model and predict disease occurrence, and the results were compared with weighted regression. The root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute percentage error (MAPE) were used to compare the models. All analyses were performed using SPSS software (version 26) and Microsoft Excel 2016. Results: The age-standardized rate of disease incidence was 13.2 per 100,000. The highest incidence rate (17.2) was in 2012 and the lowest (10.6) in 2014. Galugah city (35.0) and Qaemshahr and Fereydunkenar cities (3.0) had the highest and lowest incidence rates. The independent variables studied included male gender, rural residence, age over 55 years, contact with dairy products, being a homemaker, rancher and associated with livestock jobs, contact with livestock, and livestock vaccination on the standard incidence of brucellosis in both artificial neural network and weighted regression (other than variable over 55 years) models were effective. Conclusion: The predictive power of the model in the multi-layered perceptron neural network was higher than the weighted regression.

Background and purpose: Young and college students are susceptible to risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome due to living conditions. In micronutrient studies, low levels of magnesium and zinc in women have been shown to be associated with metabolic syndrome. The present study aimed to investigate the relationship between the consumption of different food groups and the components of metabolic syndrome, as well as to investigate the relationship between zinc and serum magnesium levels and the average intake of food groups among female students living in the dormitories of Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. Materials and methods: In this descriptive study, 80 female students in the age range (18-25 years) participated. Metabolic syndrome indices, including anthropometric indices, lipid profile, fasting blood sugar, zinc, and serum magnesium were examined. Food intake information was obtained through food frequency questionnaire and 24-hour food recall. Results: In this research, magnesium and zinc levels were in the normal range, and no significant relationship was observed between these two elements and metabolic syndrome indices. The prevalence of metabolic syndrome with at least three simultaneous indices was seen in three patients (3.7%). Vitamin D and vitamin E intakes were at the lowest ratio compared to DRI. Only one indicator of metabolic syndrome, HDL cholesterol, in 100% of people was less than 50 mg/dl. Conclusion: Due to the nutritional boundaries that exist in dormitories for college students, appropriate planning is needed to supplement support in this group of society to prevent the long-term consequences of nutrient shortages and its future potential health hazards.

Background and purpose: Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) is one of the viral hemorrhagic fevers caused by Nairovirus group. Epidemiological investigation and clinical symptoms of the disease in each region can help to identify disease-prone foci and early diagnosis of the disease in epidemic cases. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the clinical, epidemiological, and laboratory symptoms of patients with CCHF in Mazandaran province in 2014-2018. Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional epidemiological survey, 135 patients with proven CCHF in Mazandaran province were enrolled in a census manner. The clinical, epidemiological, and laboratory findings in these patients were determined. Results: In this study, 23% were younger than 30 years of age and 80.7% were men. In hospitalized patients, 33.3% had high risk jobs linked to the disease and 39.3% had livestock exposure. The patients were most affected in spring (45.9%) and summer (42.2%) and less during fall (5.9%), and winter (5.9%). Clinical manifestations, including fever, rash, abdominal pain, bleeding, epistaxis, headache, musculoskeletal pain, cough, and menorrhagia were observed in 88.1%, 11.1%, 23%, 28.9%, 7.4%, 52.6%, 69.7%, 0%, and 0% of the infected subjects, respectively. Thrombocytopenia were seen in 51.9% of the patients and about other laboratory results there were no any specific findings in 29.6%. According to laboratory findings, LFT raise, anemia, leukopenia, leukocytosis, LTF raise plus anemia, and LFT raise plus leukopenia were seen in 13.3%, 5.2%, 27.4%, 9.6%, 3.7%, and 11.1%, respectively. Conclusion: According to the present study, although the clinical, epidemiological, and laboratory findings in CCHF cases in Mazandaran province are similar to other studies worldwide, so, the regular analysis of CCHF patients is highly recommended.

Azolla (Azolla spp.: Salviniaceae) is an aquatic fern that was introduced to the northern region of Iran with the aim of increasing the fertility of paddy fields, but due to suitable climatic conditions and the absence of natural enemies it became a problem in rice production and a destructive factor in aquatic ecosystems. In recent years, the biological control agent of this weed, Azolla weevil Stenopelmus rufinasus Gyllenhal (Curculionidae), was introduced in northern region of Iran. In this study, geographical distribution and seasonal population density of S. rufinasus in northern Iran were investigated through regular monthly sampling. The results showed that the time required to complete one generation in semi-field conditions is about two weeks. Both larvae and adults feed on Azolla. Azolla weevil is well distributed and established in the north regions of Iran and by feeding on Azolla, it has reduced its population in wetlands, permanent ponds and paddy fields. Comparing the population density of the weevil in three regions of Guilan province, indicated that the highest number of total density (667 insect in 1 kg Azolla) and adult (363 adults in 1 kg Azolla) belong to the central region of the province, while the density of larvae (397 larvae in 1 kg Azolla) in the eastern region of the province was higher than other regions. In the survey of the density in different cities, the highest density of total (2690 adults and larvae in 1 kg Azolla) and adult insects (2022 adults in 1 kg Azolla) was observed in Shaft city and the highest density of larvae (1920 larvae in 1 kg Azolla) was observed in the Rudbane of Lahijan. Based on the obtained results, the population density of the weevil is higher in spring and winter, which is not far from the mind considering the climatic conditions of the region and the sensitivity of Azolla to heat and low humidity. Based on the findings of this survey, the weevil has spread and settled well in the northern regions

During a faunistic survey of the jumping plant-lice in the Mazandaran province of Iran in the summer 2022, Rhinocola aceris (L. 1758) was collected on Acer sp. (Sapindales, Sapindaceae), which is newly recorded from Iran. This is also the first record of the genus Rhinocola Förster for the country.

Simultaneous with the entrance of the Box Tree Moth (BTM), Cydalima perspectalis to Iran and its report from northern regions of the country, researchers began to explore the pest with its management approach before a further infestation occurs. Accordingly, the current research was carried out to study the effectiveness of some pesticides, belonging to the biological, IGR, and botanical pesticide groups under laboratory and field conditions. Based on the results, among 12 examined pesticides, the efficacy of 2 Bacillus thuringiensis- based microbial pesticides, those produced by CBC and Problete Co. were confirmed under both experimental conditions. Moreover, Lufenuron (EC 5%) (Match®), which belongs to the IGR group, has also been successful in controlling this pest. Accordingly, using the mentioned insecticides is recommended to control the Box Tree Moth.

Ticks are parasitic and bloodthirsty arthropods. Different species of ticks are important carriers of animal and human pathogens. Accurate identification and diagnosis as well as their continuous monitoring can be effective in reducing animal diseases, especially in the transmission of some protozoa. As an efficient tool in morphological studies and accurate identification of ticks electron microscopy is very useful. In the present study, using this tool, accurate identification of ticks collected from Khuzestan and Mazandaran regions in 4 consecutive seasons has been done. From a total of 6954 ticks collected from the body surface of cattle, sheep and goats in the two mentioned provinces, 13 species were detected. They include: Rhipicephalus turanicus, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, Rhipicephalus (boophilus) annulatus, Rhipicephalus bursa. Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum, Hyalomma asiaticum asiaticum Hyalomma excavatum, Hyalomma marginatum, Dermacentor marginatus, Haemaphysalis parva, Haemaphysalis punctate, Haemaphysalis inermis and ixodes ricinus. Based on the results, Factors such as temperature and sampling season are directly related to the isolated ticks. The results of the present study showed that the frequency ratio of Rhipicephalus ticks in different seasons in Khuzestan and Mazandaran provinces has followed a relatively similar pattern. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Floods are among the hazards that affect millions of people around the world every year. The northern region of Iran has also faced numerous floods in recent decades and has caused a lot of damage to urban and rural areas. The northern regions of Iran have also experienced numerous floods in recent decades and have caused extensive damage to urban and rural areas. This study aimed to prepare a map of flood-prone areas by fuzzy method and to validate various maps downstream of the Neka River catchment in eastern Mazandaran. After the flood of 2019, the location of the areas that were affected by the flood was recorded in points. Data were randomly divided into two parts: training and validation 70% and 30%. Based on 70% of the observational data, fuzzy relationships of different information layers were determined, including elevation, slope, distance from the river, precipitation, lithology, and land use. After fuzzification of layers, using 9 different fuzzy operators, the layers overlapped and flood hazard maps were obtained. The validity of the resulting maps was performed using 30% of flooded points and the same number of non-flooded points by ROC method and Cohen's Kappa index. The results showed that operators of fuzzy Gamma 0.9, 0.8, and 0.7, had the highest accuracy of respectively. According to the map of the fuzzy Gamma 0.9, 15.7% of the area is in the very high and high class and 30% of rural and urban areas of the catchment are in these danger zones.

Background and purpose: The knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of healthcare workers are important to reduce the transmission and burden of dengue. There is no standard tool to assess KAP of healthcare workers about dengue in Mazandaran Province, Iran, so this study was conducted to design and assess the validity and reliability of a questionnaire in Persian assessing KAP of healthcare workers about these mosquito-borne viral disease. Materials and methods: In this descriptive analytical study, a preliminary questionnaire containing 81 questions was designed after reviewing articles and interviews with experts. To determine the validity of the scale, quantitative-qualitative face and content validity were measured, and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to assess the reliability. Results: In the study of face validity and qualitative content, experts' opinions were applied to the items as minor changes. The Impact Score (IS) of all items were higher than 1.5 (1.5-5) which provided supports for items importance. Content validity, based on the Lawshe table, optimal value of content validity ratio (CVR), and content validity index (CVI) were 0.6 and higher than 0.8, respectively. All items except one that was removed, obtained the desired score and were retained in the scale. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.79 which showed that all items had an acceptable correlation. Conclusion: This study provided a reliable and valid tool in Persian to assess KAP of healthcare workers about dengue in Mazandaran Province, north of Iran and can be used for measuring dengue KAP by Iranian researchers.

Background and purpose: A drug brochure or Patient Package Insert (PPI) is a sheet of paper in drug package that provides necessary information for effective and afe use of drugs. PPIs are among the main sources of drug information for general public, so, they should be clear and comprehensible. The purpose of this study was to assess the attitudes of pharmacists about PPIs in Iranian drug packages. Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study, 203 pharmacists working in pharmacies affiliated with Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences were selected via random sampling. The attitudes of pharmacists about drug brochures in Iranian drug packages were assessed using a researcher-made questionnaire. Content validity of the scale was confirmed and its reliability was confirmed by calculating Cronbach's alpha in Excel 2013. Results: In this study, 76.5% of pharmacists believed that physicians rarely ask about the contents of PPIs. Also, only 7% of pharmacists reported mistakes in PPIs to pharmaceutical technicians and experts. Findings showed that 69.8% found that the information in Iranian PPIs do not have a considerable effect on enhancing their knowledge. Conclusion: According to this study, pharmacists believed that the PPIs were not helpful in terms of size and font of contents, enhancing pharmacists’ knowledge and caused more fear about drugs’ side effects. Therefore, appropriate measures should be taken by food and drug administration when preparing PPIs to improve the contents of PPIs.

Introduction Urban spaces, especially in historic areas, have undergone a transformation as a result of de-semantic processes and new formulations of declined urban areas. The process has led to a decline in the quality and transformation of the inhabitants’ everyday life in these areas. Since cinematic spaces best reflect the nature of everyday urban life, looking at urban spaces through the lens of the movies may be an approach that enables a new way of encounter with space and history. The relationship between cinematic spaces and urban spaces will help to understand the contrast between urban development and the everyday life of the residents of urban areas from a human point of view, an aspect that has often been neglected by other approaches to urban studies. This relationship, which originates from the emergence of the movies at the heart of the modern urban society and continues to this day, was also manifested in Iran from 1930. In fact, the production of the first moving pictures coincided with major urban developments in the historical center of Tehran. On the other hand, many urban spaces in these areas have gradually been emptied of their original functions and meanings over time, and they have assumed a representative, false function instead. The loss of connection and continuity between the historic area and other parts of the city has led to the transformation of urban spaces into something other than the environment containing the flow of everyday urban life. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to identify and classify urban themes and the dominant patterns of everyday urban life in Tehran’s historical center through visual data and narratives in Iranian movies. Theoretical Framework In order to elaborate on the theoretical framework, it is necessary to explain the notions of space, representation, and everyday life, and this will not be possible without referring to Henri Lefebvre. Lefebvre considers space to be threedimensional, related to society, time, and history. In the book Production of Space, he presents three formulations of the concept of space by stating that urban spaces are created through the dialectical interaction of three modes of production. The first mode is the tangible, material dimension of spatial experience (real space), the second is the representation of space (mental space) as a concept that is built by existing discourses and conventional ideologies, and the third rural landscape, and combination of urban and rural boundaries. This causes many more issues in the physical and spatial subsystem of the planning environment and also has negative effects on spatial development processes. Methodology The purpose of this study is to investigate the causes of sprawling by planning subsystems and to analyze the consequences of sprawling and achieve the underlying, causal, and continuity conditions in the city-region under study. This applied descriptive-analytical survey adopts a library-documentary method of data collection. Result and Discussion In the first part, the experts were provided with a questionnaire on the variables affecting sprawling extracted from studies around the world using purposive sampling, and the results were then analyzed using the fuzzy Delphi method. In the second part, structured interviews were made with the experts in the grounded theory system using the MAXQDA software, and they were then reviewed, analyzed, and coded. To investigate the causes of sprawling, 38 variables on 6 factors were provided to 25 experts who were selected based on purposive sampling. We used semi-structured interviews with 34 participants in the study area in order to analyze the consequences of sprawling, studied the spatial consequences of sprawling in the city-region, and specified 249 initial codes and 28 focal codes. Then, we formulated with the technique of continuous comparison the underlying conditions of development and economic structure change, the causal conditions of the inefficiency of the management and supervision system, the conditions to continue the transformation of the local community and destroy the natural structure, the consequences of change in the physical and spatial structure of the extraction area, and the grounded theory of the consequences of sprawling. Conclusion The most common causes of sprawling in the study area include per capita household income, land and housing trade, and land prices. In the analysis of the consequences of sprawling, we explained the background conditions for economic development and restructuring, the causal conditions of the inefficiency of the management and supervision system, the conditions of continuity including the transformation of the indigenous community and the destruction of the natural structure, and the consequences of physical and spatial restructuring of the region. To interrupt the process of formation and reduce the negative effects of sprawling, proposals were made on attempts to regulate and reform the decision making structure, apply economic policies and adjust the market, slow down the accelerated process of destruction of the natural environment, improve the structure of regional planning (draft a codified, updated land use plan, apply detailed policies and ones to avoid promotion of land speculation, avoid provision of construction and building permits for peri-urban lands in the study area, partition natural lands and prioritize future developments in low-value lands, adopt approaches to endogenous development, development in brown lands, and intermediate development, and achieve a sustainable local society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction The central city-region of Mazandaran Province, including the cities of Sari, Qaemshahr, Babol, and Amol, contains more than 53% of the population in only 30% of its area. Based on the set of issues that the spatial patterns of sprawling have brought about in the central city-region of Mazandaran Province, a research gap seems to be there in the presentation of a conceptual model of the relations governing the causes of sprawling and the consequences in this city-region. This research attempts to take an effective step in that regard. Theoretical Framework There are two perspectives on the issue of sprawling: spatial and non-spatial. From the spatial point of view, issues such as land use changes, housing and land demands, transportation and infrastructure development, and inefficient land development have been raised, which directly or indirectly affect the causes and consequences of sprawling. From the non-spatial point of view, on the other hand, socio-demographic, economic, environmental, and management and supervisory system issues are discussed, the impacts of which on the causes and consequences of sprawling cannot be ignored. In line with the diversity in the spatial patterns of this type of growth in the urban and regional space, the causes of occurrence and the consequences arising from the spatial patterns of sprawling are different, an issue that is controversial due to the dynamic nature of the phenomenon. If sprawling is accompanied by poor control and supervision, there will be many negative consequences such as development inefficiency, extensive change in land use, destruction and waste of natural lands, excessive growth, increase in land and housing prices, formation and prosperity of temporary residence and second housing patterns, unplanned formation of residential centers, spatial imbalance, change in peri-urban and rural landscape, and combination of urban and rural boundaries. This causes many more issues in the physical and spatial subsystem of the planning environment and also has negative effects on spatial development processes. Methodology The purpose of this study is to investigate the causes of sprawling by planning subsystems and to analyze the consequences of sprawling and achieve the underlying, causal, and continuity conditions in the city-region under study. This applied descriptive-analytical survey adopts a library-documentary method of data collection. Result and Discussion In the first part, the experts were provided with a questionnaire on the variables affecting sprawling extracted from studies around the world using purposive sampling, and the results were then analyzed using the fuzzy Delphi method. In the second part, structured interviews were made with the experts in the grounded theory system using the MAXQDA software, and they were then reviewed, analyzed, and coded. To investigate the causes of sprawling, 38 variables on 6 factors were provided to 25 experts who were selected based on purposive sampling. We used semi-structured interviews with 34 participants in the study area in order to analyze the consequences of sprawling, studied the spatial consequences of sprawling in the city-region, and specified 249 initial codes and 28 focal codes. Then, we formulated with the technique of continuous comparison the underlying conditions of development and economic structure change, the causal conditions of the inefficiency of the management and supervision system, the conditions to continue the transformation of the local community and destroy the natural structure, the consequences of change in the physical and spatial structure of the extraction area, and the grounded theory of the consequences of sprawling. Conclusion The most common causes of sprawling in the study area include per capita household income, land and housing trade, and land prices. In the analysis of the consequences of sprawling, we explained the background conditions for economic development and restructuring, the causal conditions of the inefficiency of the management and supervision system, the conditions of continuity including the transformation of the indigenous community and the destruction of the natural structure, and the consequences of physical and spatial restructuring of the region. To interrupt the process of formation and reduce the negative effects of sprawling, proposals were made on attempts to regulate and reform the decisionmaking structure, apply economic policies and adjust the market, slow down the accelerated process of destruction of the natural environment, improve the structure of regional planning (draft a codified, updated land use plan, apply detailed policies and ones to avoid promotion of land speculation, avoid provision of construction and building permits for peri-urban lands in the study area, partition natural lands and prioritize future developments in low-value lands, adopt approaches to endogenous development, development in brown lands, and intermediate development, and achieve a sustainable local society [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Various environmental factors including altitude and soil properties affect the growth and production of plants in natural ecosystems. Sweet violet (Viola odoratata L.) is a gramineous and perennial plant of the Violaceae family and grows as a wildflower in the mountainous areas of northern Iran and some other regions of the country. This study was performed to compare the phytochemical properties and antioxidant activity of Viola odoratata L. shoot and root extracts in nine habitats of Mazandaran province in March 2020. To investigate the analysis, leaf, flower and root organs of the plant in the flowering stage were collected from nine habitats of Mazandaran province along with soil samples of these areas in March 2018. After collecting the root and shoot samples at the florescence stage and preparing methanolic extract through ultrasonic method, the phenolic and flavonoid contents were determined by Folin-Ciocalteu and aluminum chloride colorimetric methods, respectively, the antioxidant activities were assayed by Diphenyl Picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), and the anthocyanin contents of flowers were measured by Wagner method. According to the findings, phenolic contents of the flowers and leaves decreased and increased, respectively with increasing height, and percentage antioxidant activities of the flowers increased while the amount of flavonoids was not affected by the habitat altitude. Analysis of soil properties revealed that the anthocyanin contents of flowers increased under the effect of deficient absorbable phosphorus in habitat 3 (Firoozjah Babol) and habitat 6 (Mohammadabad Behshahr). Also in the study of secondary metabolites, Sweet violets in habitat 7 had 67.95% and 86.18% antioxidant activities in flowers and roots, respectively; leaf and root phenol contents of 142.32 mg/g and 55.21 mg/g, respectively, and 6.52 μmol/g flower anthocyanin, so it can be selected as the superior region, and samples from this region can be used as gene banks in sexual and asexual reproduction.

Introduction There are several carbonate-hosted Pb–Zn (F–Ba) deposits in the central Alborz zone hosted by upper part of Elika Formation. From an economic point of view, the most important deposits discovered to date are Sheshroudbar, Pachi Miana, Kamarposht and Era. It makes the central Alborz zone as one of the most important Pb–Zn (F–Ba) districts in Iran. In this district, Elika Formation is restricted by NE–SW-trending reverse faults, and thrusted over the Shemshak Formation. The main orebodies occurred in open spaces which formed due to angles between normal and reverse faults in the carbonate rocks of Elika Formation (Tabasi, 1997). Some of these deposits have been studied, and various models such as syn-diagenesis to epigenetic are presented for ore genesis (Alirezaei, 1989; Gorjizad, 1996; Rastad and Shariatmadar, 2002; Rajabi et al., 2013; Vahabzadeh et al., 2014; Nabiloo et al., 2018). Sarcheleshk is an abandoned mine of Pb–Zn (F–Ba) mineralization in the central Alborz zone. Except for small-scale geological maps of the area, i.e., 1:100,000 geological map of Pol-e-Sefid (Vahdati Daneshmand and Karimi, 2004) and Semnan (Nabavi, 1988), previous studies of Pb–Zn (F–Ba) mineralization at Sarcheleshk was limited and include Mohammadi Lisehroudi (2019). In this contribution, we provide the first detailed geological, mineralogical and geochemical studies in the Sarcheleshk deposit to reveal more details of the type and genetic model of ore formation. Materials and methods Detailed field work has been carried out at different scales in the Sarcheleshk area. A total of 60 samples were collected from various parts of orebodies, host carbonate and mafic igneous rocks. The samples prepared for thin (n=32) and polished-thin (n=12) sections in the laboratory of University of Zanjan, Zanjan, Iran. Representative 8 samples from the ore zone, 1 sample from barren dolomitic limestone and 3 samples from mafic igneous rocks, were analyzed for major, trace and rare earth elements using XRF and ICP–MS in the Zarazma Analytical Laboratories, Tehran, Iran. Discussion and conclusion The Sarcheleshk Pb–Zn (F–Ba) deposit is located 20 km southwest of Pol-e-Sefid, Mazandaran province. The most important rock units exposed in this area include early to middle Triassic dolomitic limestone (Elika Fm.), late Triassic gypsum, dolomitic limestone and marl (Paland Fm.), late Triassic mafic igneous rocks, late Triassic to early Jurassic shale, siltstone and sandstone (Shemshak Fm.), middle Jurassic ammonite-bearing marl, calcareous marl and marly limestone (Dalichay Fm.), late Jurassic cherty limestone and dolomitic limestone (Lar Fm.), and early Eocene Alveolina–Nummulitic limestone (Ziarat Fm.). Mineralization at Sarcheleshk occurs as strata-bound orebodies hosted by dolomitic limestone of Elika Formation, and controlled structurally by faults, fractures and dissolution collapse breccias. The ore veins have a varying width from 0.5 to 1.5 m. Detailed field geology and petrographic studies indicate that wall-rock alterations developed at the Sarcheleshk deposit include dolomitization, silicification, and calcitization. The ores at Sarcheleshk are dominated by galena, sphalerite, pyrite, fluorite, and barite, with lesser, chalcopyrite, and tetrahedrite, all of which are hosted by a dolomite, calcite, and quartz gangue assemblage. The ore minerals show vein-veinlets, open space filling, brecciated, rhythmic, disseminated, replacement, and relict textures. The mineralization process at Sarcheleshk can be divided into three stages. Stage 1 is diagenesis stage represented by rhythmic texture of fluorite, galena, sphalerite, and calcite bands. Stage 2 (epigenetic stage), volumetrically most important, is marked by fluorite-sphalerite-galena-pyrite-chalcopyrite, barite-pyrite and barite-calcite, and late stage calcite veins and veinlets. Stage 3 is the supergene mineral assemblages consisting of smithsonite, cerussite, chalcocite, covellite, azurite, and goethite. The ore samples and mafic igneous rocks show different Chondrite-normalized trace and REE patterns, indicating that they are genetically unconnected. It is declined syn-sedimentary and/or hydrothermal igneous origins for the Sarcheleshk deposit, and specify that basinal brines may have played a role in Pb–Zn (F–Ba) mineralization at Sarcheleshk deposit. Our data suggests that Sarcheleshk deposit is a F–Ba-rich MVT deposit and is comparable with other Pb–Zn (F–Ba) deposits of central Alborz zone.

The purpose of the present study was to assess the concentration of Cd, As, Cu, and Zn metals in water and sediments of rivers in the west of Mazandaran province, Iran. The number of water and sediment samples was 36 taken from four stations from April 2019 to March 2020 and analyzed with three replicates. Mean values of total environmental factors at the four stations during winter and summer seasons were as T=11.21-16.46 °C, salinity=3.58-6.47 g/l, pH=5.42-5.92, TDS=3.52-6.25 g/l, electrical conductivity=6.27-11.12 µmho/cm, nitrite=0.01-0.03 mg/l, and nitrate=1.37-3 mg/l respectively. The quality of environmental factors was found within the normal range for water quality in Iran for different types of land use: agricultural, industrial, recreational, and hot-and cold-water fish farming. Mean values of total adsorption of cadmium, arsenic, copper, and zinc were 0.25, 0.77, 11.44, and 11.02 mg/l respectively in water samples, and 0.2, 3.83, 20.91, and 59.27 µg/g in sediment samples. The adsorption of all metals was higher at the beginning of the cultivation season compared with the non-cultivation season both in water and sediment samples. Safarood river was the most polluted of all rivers. The concentration of metals was higher than the permissible limit in water, but lower in sediments (except for copper and arsenic) in all four rivers.

Background and purpose: World condition has changed since the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged and its rapid spread affected people’s social and sports life. In this study, we aimed at investigating the incidence of sports injuries in Mazandaran province, Iran and the effects of COVID- 19 pandemic on frequency of sports injuries. We also studied the relationship between sports injuries and age, gender, sports specialties and severity of injury. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, information of all/injured athletes registered in Mazandaran Sport Medicine Center between 2018 and 2020 were analyzed in SPSS V23. In order to investigate the relationship between injured limb and age, gender, sports specialty, injured side, and surgery, Chi-square test was applied. Results: The numbers of registered athletes were 51.56, 50.59 and 16.45 per 10,000 population in the province and injured athletes included 6.90, 6.62, and 5.73 per 10,000 registered ones in 2018-2020, respectively. The majority of athletes were men. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate of injury was high in soccer (9.09 per 10,000 registered athletes), knee injuries increased to 40.8%, and surgery was performed in 23.3% of all injuries. Significant relationship was found between injured limb and age (P˂0.05) and sport specialty (P˂0.001) during the years studied. Conclusion: Reduction in number of registered athletes and no considerable change in sports injuries indicate a decrease in recreational athletes after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, prohibition of indoor sports activities can be the reason for increase in men injuries, especially football players. Also, professional athletes experienced serious and more knee injuries

Background and purpose: Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) are major human ectoparasites. Before planning and implementation of any control measures against bed bugs in prisons, it is essential to determine the infestation rate. Materials and methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed to determine the prevalence of bed bug infestation in prisons in Mazandaran Province, 2015-2017. A standard checklist was prepared based on the health log of the prisons and was used to collect information on prevalence of bed bugs. Data were analyzed using SPSS V20. Results: The highest rate of infestation (68%) was observed in general ward and the lowest was seen in women's ward (1.23%). Highest infestations were reported at nights (88%) and the highest numbers of bed bugs were collected in metal beds (31%). During three years, there were no reports of bed bugs and their bites in prison 6. The average prevalence was constant in prison 1, while it was descending in prisons 2, 3, 5, and 9 and ascending in prisons 4 and 8. Conclusion: High prevalence of bed bugs in most of the prisons in Mazandaran province could probably be due to their entry into the prisons, re-infestation, and also difficulties in their control. Therefore, continuous monitoring of infestation, monitoring and prevention of bed bugs gaining entry into prisons, revising control measures with collaboration between experts from the Ministry of Health and prison health services are essential to plan for successful bed bug control interventions.

Background and purpose: A drug brochure or Patient Package Insert (PPI) is a sheet of paper in drug package that provides necessary information for effective and afe use of drugs. PPIs are among the main sources of drug information for general public, so, they should be clear and comprehensible. The purpose of this study was to assess the attitudes of pharmacists about PPIs in Iranian drug packages. Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional study, 203 pharmacists working in pharmacies affiliated with Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences were selected via random sampling. The attitudes of pharmacists about drug brochures in Iranian drug packages were assessed using a researchermade questionnaire. Content validity of the scale was confirmed and its reliability was confirmed by calculating Cronbach's alpha in Excel 2013. Results: In this study, 76.5% of pharmacists believed that physicians rarely ask about the contents of PPIs. Also, only 7% of pharmacists reported mistakes in PPIs to pharmaceutical technicians and experts. Findings showed that 69.8% found that the information in Iranian PPIs do not have a considerable effect on enhancing their knowledge. Conclusion: According to this study, pharmacists believed that the PPIs were not helpful in terms of size and font of contents, enhancing pharmacists’ knowledge and caused more fear about drugs’ side effects. Therefore, appropriate measures should be taken by food and drug administration when preparing PPIs to improve the contents of PPIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and purpose: The knowledge, attitude, and practice (KAP) of healthcare workers are important to reduce the transmission and burden of dengue. There is no standard tool to assess KAP of healthcare workers about dengue in Mazandaran Province, Iran, so this study was conducted to design and assess the validity and reliability of a questionnaire in Persian assessing KAP of healthcare workers about these mosquito-borne viral disease. Materials and methods: In this descriptive analytical study, a preliminary questionnaire containing 81 questions was designed after reviewing articles and interviews with experts. To determine the validity of the scale, quantitative-qualitative face and content validity were measured, and Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to assess the reliability. Results: In the study of face validity and qualitative content, experts' opinions were applied to the items as minor changes. The Impact Score (IS) of all items were higher than 1.5 (1.5-5) which provided supports for items importance. Content validity, based on the Lawshe table, optimal value of content validity ratio (CVR), and content validity index (CVI) were 0.6 and higher than 0.8, respectively. All items except one that was removed, obtained the desired score and were retained in the scale. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was 0.79 which showed that all items had an acceptable correlation. Conclusion: This study provided a reliable and valid tool in Persian to assess KAP of healthcare workers about dengue in Mazandaran Province, north of Iran and can be used for measuring dengue KAP by Iranian researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Condition is one of the important factors in the evaluation of rangeland ecosystems, through which appropriate solutions can be provided in the management and operation of rangeland. The purpose of this study was to compare the condition and management of rangeland before and after replacing the soil condition assessment method in the soil factor of the four -factor method in order to determine the most appropriate method of range condition. Range condition assessment was performed for both conditions in Poshtkuh rangelands of Mazandaran, and then the condition and methods of range management and their management and improvement projects were proposed and compared with each other. The results of range condition assessment before replacing the soil condition assessment method in soil factor showed that rangelands had poor and very poor condition with a negative trend and artificial range management method and rehabilitation programs such as pit-seeding and seeding were proposed. The results of range condition assessment after replacing the soil condition assessment method in the soil factor showed that the range condition was in the fair and poor condition class, for which natural and artificial range management methods were proposed, respectively. For natural range management practices, rotational-deferment and rotational-rest grazing systems were suggested based on range condition score, and improvement plans of artificial range management practice have not changed and are the same as the previous method. The results of comparing the statistical analysis by means of comparative test (T-test) showed that the mean scores of soil factor and condition before and after the change were 5.833 and 12.203 for soil and 21.983 and 28.353 for condition, respectively. Therefore, the soil factor and range condition scores after adjustment showed an increase of 6.37 compared to before. Also, the test results showed that there was a significant difference between the mean soil factor score before and after replacement in the 95% confidence interval, but there was no significant difference between the average range condition score, which may be due to the constant score of other four -factor method. According to the obtained results, the changed four-factor method of soil factor compared to the unchanged four-factor method has shown the condition of the rangeland as a higher class. The general conclusion is that the application of the changed fourfactor method of soil factor, due to the number and variety of soil indices, the quantitative aspect of indices and their direct or indirect impact on the characteristics of rangeland ecosystem, can provide a wide range of information about rangeland soil function. Therefore, it can be used as a method based on quantitative-qualitative evaluation to identify the functional and structural characteristics of ecosystems. This method, despite, leads to accurate determination of range condition, range management practices and improvement programs. But, compared to the existing methods, a lot of time and costs is spent and it can be justified considering he importance of achieving proper management of rangeland ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ornithobacterium rhinotracheale (ORT) is an economically important bacterial pathogen of poultry worldwide. The aim of the present study was conducted to isolation, detection and determination of antibiotic sensitivity of ORT isolates in commercial poultry flocks with respiratory signs in Mazandaran province, northern Iran. Tracheal swab samples were taken from 60 different flocks, after cultivation on a selective medium, suspected colonies were subjected to biochemical and molecular identification of ORT. Then, confirmed isolates were aimed to antibiotic resistance assay. A total of 13 isolates, including seven isolates from broiler flocks (19.44%) and six isolates from broiler breeder flocks (33.33%) were obtained. All ORT isolates that were positive by culture were also detected to be positive by the PCR. The most resistance rates among all ORT isolates were obtained for ampicillin, erythromycin, ceftriaxone, and penicillin (100%). The majority of ORT isolates were susceptible to furazolidone. According to the results, the isolates showed different antibiotic resistance profiles, and most of the strains proved multiresistant. This can indicate the circulation of various multidrug resistant strains among poultry farms in northern Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The present study deals with the maturity model in Mazandaran university libraries at maturity levels. The purpose of this study was to determine the maturity level of university libraries in Mazandaran province in order to enhance the maturity levels and express the status quo and propose a maturity model compatible with the requirements of academic libraries. Method: The present study is of applied type. Using the qualitative approach of digital library texts and maturity model, quantitative analysis was used to determine the maturity level of university libraries in Mazandaran province. The study population consisted of 10 experts and 210 experts and librarians who completed and returned questionnaires by e-mail and in person. The data were analyzed by SPSS software and confirmatory factor analysis. Structural equation modeling was performed using Smart PLS software. Findings: According to the findings and review of codes and ranking of research indicators, the code of hardware and software systems is in the first place, which indicates the importance of hardware and software systems and the necessary conditions in the maturity of academic libraries. Information systems, users and data quality, collection and organization, management, Internet and network, organization and employees are the next most important priorities, respectively. Conclusions: In fact, the maturity level of university libraries in Mazandaran province is at level 2 and they a re relatively far from reaching the ideal level (level 5)

Introduction: Paddy farming has been reported as one of the most important causes of non-fatal injuries and occupational accidents among farmers. The ignorance of the health of farmers can cause harm to farmers and lead to disability. As a result, these health consequences can result in less exploitation and economic growth in households. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the general health status of paddy field workers in Mazandaran province, Iran. Materials & Methods: This cross-sectional descriptive study evaluated 384 paddy farmers in Mazandaran province, Iran, who were selected using stratified random sampling. The required data were collected using the standard questionnaire of GHQ-28 with four domains of somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction, and symptoms of depression. The obtained data were then analyzed using SPSS software (version 25) through Spearman, Kendall, Mann-Whitney, and Kruskal-Wallis tests. Findings: The highest number of participants in this study was in the age group of 50-59 years with a mean age of 46.9 years. According to the results, the total general health score was obtained at 64.3% for the subjects. Moreover, the scores of four areas of general health were determined at 91.1% (depression symptoms), 73.4% (social dysfunction), 48.7% (anxiety symptoms and insomnia), and 47.1% (somatic symptoms) in descending order. Discussions & Conclusions: The general health of the studied population was not in a good range. In addition, the most observed disorder in the general health of paddy farmers was related to the symptoms of depression, followed by somatic symptoms.

Background and purpose: Control of bedbugs (Cimex lectularius) as important human pests often fails in places where people live in aggregation such as prisons. The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of various methods of bedbug control in prisons in Mazandaran province, Iran. Materials and methods: In this descriptive-analytical study performed in 2018, routine control methods of bedbugs including spraying, environmental management, fogging, and flame and combinations of two methods were compared. Data analyses were carried out using two methods. In first method, the number of bites before the control program along with that of four monitoring periods (15 days interval) after the interventions normalized with the population of the prison was analyzed. In second method, we analyzed the data from four monitoring phases after the control operation without considering the population of prisons. Results: Environmental management plus flame were the pair of control intervention with highest impact on bedbug population in prisons. Based on first method of analysis, there was a significant difference in number of individuals bitten between various control methods in all prisons (P0.05). Conclusion: Environmental sanitation of prison wards plus flame was found to have the greatest impact on bedbug population over a period of one month. Where it is not possible to use flame, combined methods, including spraying-environmental sanitation or fogging-environmental sanitation can be used as effective alternatives in reducing bedbug population in prisons.

Background and purpose: World condition has changed since the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emerged and its rapid spread affected people’s social and sports life. In this study, we aimed at investigating the incidence of sports injuries in Mazandaran province, Iran and the effects of COVID- 19 pandemic on frequency of sports injuries. We also studied the relationship between sports injuries and age, gender, sports specialties and severity of injury. Materials and Methods: In this descriptive-analytical study, information of all/injured athletes registered in Mazandaran Sport Medicine Center between 2018 and 2020 were analyzed in SPSS V23. In order to investigate the relationship between injured limb and age, gender, sports specialty, injured side, and surgery, Chi-square test was applied. Results: The numbers of registered athletes were 51.56, 50.59 and 16.45 per 10,000 population in the province and injured athletes included 6.90, 6.62, and 5.73 per 10,000 registered ones in 2018- 2020, respectively. The majority of athletes were men. After the COVID-19 pandemic, the rate of injury was high in soccer (9.09 per 10,000 registered athletes), knee injuries increased to 40.8%, and surgery was performed in 23.3% of all injuries. Significant relationship was found between injured limb and age (P˂0.05) and sport specialty (P˂0.001) during the years studied. Conclusion: Reduction in number of registered athletes and no considerable change in sports injuries indicate a decrease in recreational athletes after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, prohibition of indoor sports activities can be the reason for increase in men injuries, especially football players. Also, professional athletes experienced serious and more knee injuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To evaluate the effect of biofertilizer and sulfur on yield and morphophysiological traits of three wheat genotypes. A split plot factorial design experiment based on completely randomized block design with four replications was performed at Gharakhail and Baykola research stations of Mazandaran province in 2014-2015. The wheat genotypes were Gonbad, Ehsan and Tirgan; the sulfur treatments consisted of levels of zero, 250 and 500 kg.ha-1 (along with Tiobacillu ssp < /em>) and biofertilizer of zero and two l.ha-1 (via treating seeds). The traits studied were plant height, leaf area index, number of fertile spikes, seed yield, plant fresh and dry weights, and protein percentage of seeds. Results showed that Flawheat biofertilizer had significant effect on leaf area index, plant dry weight, number of fertile spike and seed yied, and application of two liters of biofertilizer improved the traits under study. The highest plant height (117.7 cm) was observed in Tirgan cultivar by using 2 kg.ha-1 of flawheat biofertilizer and 250 kg.ha-1 of sulfur. In all three cultivars of Gonbad, Ehsan and Tirgan, consumption of 2 l.ha-1 of flawheat and 250 kg.ha-1 of sulfur increased wheat dry weight compared to the control. Tirgan cultivar with 5298 kg.ha-1 produced highest seed yield by using two liters of Flawheat and 250 kg of sulfur per hectare. Based on the results obtained, it can be concluded that Tirgan among the three cultivars studied in the central and eastern regions of Mazandaran province, produced higest seed yield by using of 250 kg.ha-1 of sulfur and the application of two liters per hectare of Flawheat.

Background and purpose: Bed bugs (Cimex lectularius) are major human ectoparasites. Before planning and implementation of any control measures against bed bugs in prisons, it is essential to determine the infestation rate. Materials and methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed to determine the prevalence of bed bug infestation in prisons in Mazandaran Province, 2015-2017. A standard checklist was prepared based on the health log of the prisons and was used to collect information on prevalence of bed bugs. Data were analyzed using SPSS V20. Results: The highest rate of infestation (68%) was observed in general ward and the lowest was seen in women's ward (1.23%). Highest infestations were reported at nights (88%) and the highest numbers of bed bugs were collected in metal beds (31%). During three years, there were no reports of bed bugs and their bites in prison 6. The average prevalence was constant in prison 1, while it was descending in prisons 2, 3, 5, and 9 and ascending in prisons 4 and 8. Conclusion: High prevalence of bed bugs in most of the prisons in Mazandaran province could probably be due to their entry into the prisons, re-infestation, and also difficulties in their control. Therefore, continuous monitoring of infestation, monitoring and prevention of bed bugs gaining entry into prisons, revising control measures with collaboration between experts from the Ministry of Health and prison health services are essential to plan for successful bed bug control interventions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and purpose: Infestation with body lice results in a condition called pediculosis. Lice infestation is one of the most common parasitic infections having a considerable hygienic importance. Epidemiological studies can determine the status of infestation and its relationship with environmental factors. Adequate humidity and high population density have provided a suitable environment for the increase of lice population in Mazandaran Province, Iran. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the prevalence of pediculosis in Mazandaran Province, Iran, from 2012 to 2020. Methods: This descriptive-analytical study investigated the information regarding the frequency of pediculosis and the population of Mazandaran Province, Iran, collected from the health network of Mazandaran Province, Iran, from 2012 to 2020. Subsequently, the data were analyzed separately considering gender, age, and location using Poisson regression test. Results: According to the results, there were 243,487 cases of pediculosis from 2012 to 2020 in Mazandaran Province, Iran. The highest level of infection was observed in 2015 (1.61%). Moreover, Pediculosis was 5.6 times more common in females than males (P

Abstract The Pieridae family includes the most familiar butterflies also known as Cabbage-White and Grass Yellow. They have a long stable status of the species in this family. A faunistic study on the Pieridae family was carried out in the West of Mazandaran province, Northern Iran. A total of 7 species of the family (5 genera) were collected. These species were: Pieris brassicae (Linnaeus, 1758), Pieris (napi) pseudorapae (Verity, 1908), Pieris rapae (Linnaeus, 1758), Aporia crataegi (Linnaeus, 1758), Pontia (daplidice) edusa (Linnaeus, 1758; Fabricius, 1777), Colias crocea (Fourcroy, 1758), and Gonepteryx rhamni (Linnaeus, 1758). For these species, illustrations of adults’ upper wing and lower wing morphology and their male genitalia are given.

Environmental factors are the most important factors affecting morphological traits and expression of chemical synthesizing genes. Wild primrose has compounds such as calicillin, benzabolol, quinolone, thymol and is traditionally used to treat gastrointestinal and infectious wounds. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of differences in elevation level in Mazandaran province (Azni area with a height of 1035 meters and the Kasoot area with a height of 481 meters) on the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of wild primrose. The studied phytochemical traits included total phenol content, total flavonoid, antioxidant capacity of samples using DPPH as well as chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and total chlorophyll content. Also, morphological traits including leaf length, leaf width, root length, pedicel length, petiole length, and number of leaf were measured at the site of plant growth. Results showed that with increasing altitude in Azni site, leaf area, leaf width, petiole length, and pedicel length decreased compared to Kasoot region. But the plants in Azni region had longer roots and more leaves. On the other hand, the plants in Azni had higher leaf and flower flavonoid contents and their total phenol contents were more than those in Kasoot area. But considering the antioxidants and photosynthetic pigments, plants in Kasoot had significantly higher contents. In general, morphological traits decreased with increasing altitude while biochemical properties such as phenol and flavonoids increased.

Introduction Trace elements including As, Sb, Bi, Ga, Ge, In, Hg, Cd, Tl, Se and REEs have special applications in various industries due to their physical and chemical properties. Ore deposits of these metals have not occurred in the Earth's crust, and these elements are mainly hosted in sulfide minerals of Cu, Pb and Zn (Hall and Heyl, 1968; Song and Tan, 1996; Ye et al., 2011; George et al., 2015). Elika Formation (middle Triassic) in central Alborz is host of several carbonate rock-hosted fluorite deposits such as Kamarposht, Pachi-Miana, Shashroodbar and Era (Alirezaee, 1989; Rastad and Shariatmadar, 2001; Rajabi et al., 2013; Vahabzadeh et al., 2014; Zabihitabar and Shafiei, 2014; Mehraban et al. 2016; Nabiloo et al. 2017). Despite previous valuable studies in these deposits, the value of the presence of trace elements in the galena of these deposits has not yet been documented. Materials and methods For the current research study, sampling from 3 flourite mines including Kamarposht, Pachi-Miana and Era was carried out to collect 26 pure galena grains separated from various fluorite ore-types. The samples were analyzed for trace elements at the ICP-MS at Act Labs Ltd., Canada. Results The highest concentrations of trace elements in galena samples were obtained for Sb (with mean 692 ppm and maximum concentration of 2531 ppm) and Ag (with a mean of 24.28 ppm and a maximum concentration of 2531 ppm). The lowest values were obtained for Bi (mean 0.04 ppm), Se (average 1.89 ppm) and Ga (mean 0.9 ppm) and Tl (mean 0.3 ppm). Hg (0.06 – 10 ppm), Cd (1.14 – 23 ppm) and As (0.1 – 36 ppm) exhibited a wide range of concentrations. The comparison of the trace elements concentration in the studied galena samples with those of the MVT, SEDEX, Irish-type deposits shows that the concentrations of Sb, Tl, Hg, Se and Cu in the studied galena are close to the values for MVT deposits, whereas the studied galena samples are much poorer in Ag, Bi, Cd and As than those of the MVT deposits. There is meaningful relationship between concentrations of some trace elements such as Tl– Ag (r=0.82), Tl– Cu (r=0.71), Ag–Sb (r=0.66), Cu– Ag, Ag – As, Cu– As, Sb– Cu, Hg – Zn, As – Sb, Hg – Cd, Zn – Cu (0.3 < r < 0.6). Discussion Our data revealed that galena samples are relatively rich in Sb (up to 2581 ppm with an average ~ 620 ppm) and Ag (up to 70 ppm with an average ~ 30 ppm), whereas they are poor in other trace elements. Inter-element relationships in galena show strong correlation between Sb – Ag (r≥0.65) and moderate correlation between Ag – As, Ag –Cu as well as Hg –Zn (0.4