European Medicine and Physicians in Safavid Iran

Simultaneous with the establishment of the Safavid dynasty, due to the developments in the global and regional relations, the ground was prepared for the expansion of Iran and Europe relations. The main reasons for this were the propagation of Christianity, the presence of the Ottoman government as a common enemy of Iran and Europe, as well as commercial interests. These relations reached their peak during the reign of Shah Abbas I., encouraging various groups of Europeans, such as religious missionaries, businessmen, ambassadors, political delegations, tourists, etc. to come to Iran.Physicians were seen in all the mentioned groups, especially in religious missionaries. So, owing to their presence, medical knowledge of European was introduced to Iranians. The first acquaintance with medical profession of European was obtained at the same time as the presence of the Portuguese in the Persian Gulf. Syphilis, which was first entered Iran from Europe in the late ninth century and was called smallpox, led European medicine to entering Iran.The researchers of the present study, based on the reports related to the presence and activity of European physicians in Iran, travelogues and historical and research books, have used a descriptive-analytical method to examine the medical status and European physicians in Safavid Iran

Mean length of utterance (MLU) in typically-developing 2.5-5.5 year-old Persian-speaking children in Iran

Introduction: Mean length of utterance in morphemes (MLU) is widely used as a general index of language development in pre-school children. Because of insufficient data on Persian language development in Iran, this study examined the MLU of Persian-speaking children and its relation to their in an attempt to help improving clinical decision making. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 171 typically-developing children 2.5-5.5 years of age who were recruited from nursery settings of Isfahan, Iran. The sample was selected using a mixed method of sampling and divided into six age groups. After an informal conversation with each child to gauge whether the child appeared to be typically developing in terms of language and cognitive levels, speech therapists played with and tape-recorded them. Each child's MLU was calculated for 75 complete and intelligible utterances longer than one word. The mean and standard deviation of MLU were computed for each age group within six-month intervals. The correlation between age and MLU was also investigated. Results: The children’s mean MLU increased between 37-42 and 43-48 months and also between 43-48 and 49-54 months of age. The increase in MLU from the first age group onward was statistically significant. The correlation between age in months and MLU in morphemes was significant, r(171) = 0.47, P < 0.005. Conclusion: The average MLU of the children in this study-and similar studies of Persian-speaking children is much higher than that reported for English-speaking children, and the correlation with age lower; mainly because of morpho-syntactic differences between languages. Age sensitivity of MLU in Persian, however, indicates its capability as a developmental scale for monitoring syntax development in Persian-speaking children which needs to be deeply investigated in relation to Persian language-specific features, either. Keywords: Mean length of utterance, Syntax development, Language development, Pre-school children, Speech therap