Formaldehyde is used traditionally for fixing the cadaver, and vaporized during dissection and practical studying on cadaver. This study was designed to determine the histopathologic and morphometric changes of rat kidney while all of the experiments were exposed to formaldehyde for 18 weeks. 28 male albino Wistar rats were divided into the following three experimental groups (E1: 2hrs/d, 2d/w; E2: 2hrs/d, 4d/w; E3: 4hrs/d, 4d/w) and one control group (C). when the exposure period was expired the animals were anaesthetized with chloroform. After cervical dislocation, the abdomen was dissected and the kidneys were taken. The kidney specimens were sectioned and stained with Haematoxylin and Eosin technique for histologic and morphometric study. Data were obtained from an Olympus light microscope and the analyzed with spss (version 11.5) and ANOVA test. In all histopathology sections of groups E1, E2 and E3, these similar changes were seen: mild glumerolar congestion, focal congestion, and vacuolar degeneration of tubular cells. There were no evidences of inflammatory cells infiltration or fibrotic changes of interstitial tissue. Only mild, non-specific congestion was seen in cortical vessels. Also there were not any abnormalities in the staining of nucleus and cytoplasm. According to Morphometric study, Mean

SUMMARY: Cephalometry or measurement of human head is used in identification, forensic medicine, plastic surgery, orthodontics, archeology and examine the differences between races and ethnicities.This descriptive investigation was undertaken on 198 young Turkman males to determine the cephalic index and head phenotype among them in Gorgan, North of Iran. In this study cephalic index was determined by classic cephalometric method. Mean and standard deviation of cephalic index was 80.4 ± 4. Based on the cephalic index, the head shape of 42.4% of individuals were brachycephalic, 7.6% hyperbrachycephalic, 40.9% mesocephalic and 8.1% dolicocephalic.This research showed that Turkman individuals have typical brachycephalic phenotype. In comparison to other studies, we can conclude that the ethnic factor has an effective role on head phenotype in North of Iran.

Background: Flour fortification with folic acid is one of the main strategies for improving folate status in women of childbearing age. No interventional trial on the efficacy of folic acid fortification has been conducted so far in Iran. Objectives: To study the effects of flour fortification with folic acid on any reduction in neural tube defects (NTDs) and folate status of women of childbearing age. Methods: In a longitudinal hospital-based study, 13,361 postpartum women were studied after admission for childbirth before and after fortification. In addition, two cross-sectional surveys were conducted before (2006) and after flour fortification (2008). The cluster sampling method was used and 580 women, 15–49 years old, were studied as a representative sample of Golestan province in the north of Iran. Fasting blood samples were collected to measure serum vitamin B₁₂, folate and plasma homocysteine. Sociodemographic data, health characteristics and dietary intake were determined. Results: The mean daily intakes of folate from natural food before and after flour fortification were 198.3 and 200.8 µg/day, respectively. The total folate intake increased significantly from 198.3 to 413.7 µg/day after fortification (p < 0.001). Folate intake increased by an average of 226 µg/day from fortified bread. The mean serum folate level increased from 13.6 to 18.1 nmol/l; folate deficiency decreased from 14.3 to 2.3% (p < 0.001). The incidence rate of NTDs declined by 31% (p < 0.01) in the post-fortification period (2.19 per 1,000 births; December 2007 to December 2008) compared to the pre-fortification period (3.16 per 1,000 births; September 2006 to July 2007). Conclusions: Implementation of mandatory flour fortification with folic acid can lead to a significant increase in serum folate and a significant decrease in NTDs.

BackgroundMorphometric measurements of the corpus callosum (CC) are important to have normative values according to sex, age and race/ethnicity.ObjectivesThis study was done to measure the size of CC and to identify its gender- and age-related differences in the North of Iran.Patients and MethodsThe size of CC on midsagittal section was measured in 100 (45 males, 55 females) normal subjects using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) admitted to the Kowsar MRI center in Gorgan–Northern Iran.Longitudinal and vertical dimensions of the CC, longitudinal and vertical lengths of the brain and the length of genu and splenium were measured. Data were analyzed by student’s unpaired t test, ANOVA and regression analysis.ResultsThe anteroposterior length and vertical dimension of the CC, the length of genu and splenium were larger in males than in females, but these differences were not significant. The anteroposterior and vertical lengths of the brain were significantly larger in males than in females (P < 0.05). The length of CC increased with age and regression equations for predicting age were derived from the length of the CC. There was also a positive significant correlation between the anteroposterior length of the CC and the length of the brain and vertical dimension of the CC.ConclusionsThis study showed that various CC parameters vary with the values documented in the Caucasian, Indian and Japanese population.

It is natural that there is close relationship between cranial capacity, and the size of brain, several studies have estimated the cranial capacity which indirectly reflects the brain volume in different countries. In the present study cranial capacity has been estimated in Turkmans and native Fars17-20 years old groups in North of Iran.This study was carried out on 808 normal 17-20 years old (male 398, female 410) in Turkman and native Fars groups in South-East of Caspian Sea border (North of IRAN). By using linear dimensions of the head.The mean and SD of cranial capacity in Turkmans males and females were 1420.6±85 ml and 1227.2±120 ml, respectively. The mean and SD of cranial capacity in native Fars male and females were 1369±142ml, 1215.8±125ml, respectively, this difference was significant (P<0.05).This investigation was shown that the cranial capacity is higher in male than female, also racial factor can affect on cranial capacity.