Epidemiology of neonatal congenital hypothyroidism during 2011-2017

Introduction: Neonatal hypothyroidism is a condition of treatable thyroid deficiency that can lead to severe retardation if not diagnosed on time or inappropriately treated. The present study is an epidemiologic study of neonatal congenital hypothyroidism in Lordegan during 2012-2018. Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical study was performed to evaluate the epidemiological characteristics of congenital hypothyroidism. The data were entered into SPSS version 20 software and analyzed by statistical tests, Chi square, ANOVA, T-Test, Pearson Correlation and Spearman Correlation at 0.05 Level. Results: The analysis of 7-years data showed that from the screening of 39332 newborns, 335 were identified as definitive patients, 159 males, 176 females, 275 rural (82.1%) and 169 neonates with a history of family marriage (50.4%). There was a significant relationship between neonatal birth weight and congenital hypothyroidism (P = 0.000). There was a significant relationship between type of delivery and hypothyroidism (P = 0.000). In the treated children, there was a direct relationship between the age of onset of treatment and their TSH level, which was statistically significant (P = 0.013). Conclusion: Due to the high prevalence of congenital hypothyroidism in Lordegan, it is necessary to study further the factors affecting the incidence of congenital hypothyroidism as well as educate pregnant women and timely screening for this disease. keywords: Congenital Hypothyroidism, Epidemiology, Neonata

The discovery of an in situ Neanderthal remain in the Bawa Yawan Rockshelter, West-Central Zagros Mountains, Kermanshah.

Neanderthal extinction has been a matter of debate for many years. New discoveries, better chronologies and genomic evidence have done much to clarify some of the issues. This evidence suggests that Neanderthals became extinct around 40,000-37,000 years before present (BP), after a period of coexistence with Homo sapiens of several millennia, involving biological and cultural interactions between the two groups. However, the bulk of this evidence relates to Western Eurasia, and recent work in Central Asia and Siberia has shown that there is considerable local variation. Southwestern Asia, despite having a number of significant Neanderthal remains, has not played a major part in the debate over extinction. Here we report a Neanderthal deciduous canine from the site of Bawa Yawan in the West-Central Zagros Mountains of Iran. The tooth is associated with Zagros Mousterian lithics, and its context is preliminary dated to between ~43,600 and ~41,500 years ago

Designing a tool for measuring determinants of eye self-care and evaluating its psychometric properties

Background: Eye care is crucial for maintaining healthy vision. This study aimed to design a determinants assessment instrument related to eye self-care in the student community and evaluate its psychometric properties. Materials and Methods: The present mixed-method cross-sectional study was conducted in two sections using Creswell and Plano Clark methods for instrument development. The study was conducted in Isfahan, Iran, in 2021. The first section (textual analysis and qualitative research) explained and developed the instrument's fundamental items. This section included in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 21 students and eight experts. In the second, the psychometric properties of the designed instrument have been evaluated. Twenty students assessed the instrument's qualitative and quantitative face validity. The instrument's content was measured by computing the content validity ratio and content validity index. In addition, exploratory factor analysis (performed on 251 students) was used to establish construct validity. Internal and test–retest reliability was determined using Cronbach's alpha and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC), respectively. Results: During face and content validity assessment, a 39-item questionnaire was finalized. Exploratory factor analysis led to the extraction of seven factors, including “perceived self-efficacy and self-regulation,” “outcome expectation,” “perceived barriers,” “motivation,” “perceived susceptibility,” “normative beliefs,” and “perceived severity.” The seven extracted factors explained 48.6% of the total variance. Cronbach's alpha was obtained to be 0.780, indicating good internal consistency, and the ICC for the total score of the questionnaire was 0.892 (95% confidence interval: 0.822–0.944), indicating excellent test–retest reliability. Conclusion: Our developed questionnaire was a valid and reliable instrument for assessing eye care determinants among students, a vulnerable population afflicted with eye defects and disorders