Journal of

 Background and Aim: Today, many families either have pets or work in animal husbandry units. It is very important to investigate the mental outcomes of animal care and also to study their keepers’ personality traits. This study aims to perform a comparative examination of owners’ mental health and character specifications or those of animal husbandry units’ personnel.

 Materials and Methods: In this descriptive study, about 500 people were selected through available sampling technique. They had contact with animals or worked in a husbandry unit in the suburbs of Tehran. After referring to the veterinary clinic of Tehran University, they were studied using a general health questionnaire and an international personality question bank. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software as well as multivariate and follow-up tests.

Results: The results of the present study show that all general mental health sub-scales except for anxiety are different in these groups. However, no difference was observed regarding responsibility and extroversion. Meanwhile, the adaptability of dog owners was lower than that of sheep owners moreover, cattlemen were more irritable than sheep owners.

Conclusion : In sum, the mental health of pet owners of the present study is at a lower level compared to that of those in other countries. It seems that the difference is due to religious and cultural differences existing between the two.

Background and Aim: Having a preparedness program for earthquake in hospital, with regard to its function for victims of accidents, is very important. The main objective of this study was evaluation of effective factors on the rate of preparedness of Tehran University of Medical Sciences’ teaching hospitals, to deal with earthquake danger of earthquake .

Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional analytical survey was performed in the follow ing hospitals: Sina, Farabi, Roozbeh, and Razi. Data was collected by checklists and questionnaire. Data analysis was performed using statistical software (SPSS19) and Pearson correlation , ANOVA, t-test statistical tests.

Results: The most and the least preparedness against earthquake was in disaster management and construction mitigation plan fields respectively. Relationship between the field of hospital curriculums with construction mitigation plan (p= 0/045 and r=0/644) and hospital environmental health action plan (p=0/048 and r=0/636), was significant.

Conclusion : Average of Hospitals preparation against earthquake was evaluated in an intermediate level (51.81percent). Due to the significant relationship between education and other fields that are listed above it is suggested that in addition to short-term training programs, non-structural retrofitting of hospitals should be considered as a priority.

 Background and Aim: Cream is a rich dairy product with the pH close to neutral and limited preservation capability. Cream is suitable and rich for microbial growth. In the past few decades, there was a great concern in contamination of food products.

 Salmonella and Yersinia species are two important pathogens causing food poisoning and human gastroenteritis. The aim of the present study is to investigate the quality of traditional cream for bacterial contamination.

 Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional study. In total, 100 unpasteurized cream samples were collected from 5 regions in Tehran. The Salmonella was enriched in Selenite-F broth, and Yersinia in phosphate buffer in two weeks in cold condition according to CDC, and then were inoculated in MacConky and CIN agar for 24 hours. The suspected colonies were examined for phenotype and their identification was confirmed by API-20 E.

 Results:  In general, 29% of tested cream samples were contaminated with at least one kind of bacteria, 3% with Yersinia (1strain Y.enterocolitica, 1 Y.intermedia, 1 frederiksenii), and 2% with Salmonella paratyphi B. The other bacteria like Escheichia coli, Enteobacter, klebsiella, and Citobacter were also isolated. Five samples were contaminated with two kinds of bacteria.

 Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that more quality control should be applied on the cream produced in the city of Tehran by health control office for food products. 

 Background and Aim: Along with the constant increase in world population and consequently, the growing need to provide cellulose, as the most abundant organic substance in nature to produce cellulose products, concerns regarding the possible contamination of these products might cause skin, and genital and urinary infections. The aim of this study is to determine the possible microbial contamination of these products supplied in the city of Tehran.

 Materials and Methods: This is a descriptive study on 200 samples of unexpired cellulose products including napkins, nappies, sanitary napkin, and cardboard boxes to carry sweets. Fifty samples were obtained in the city of Tehran during six months from September 2011 to February 2012. Microbial contamination was investigated according to the procedure proposed by the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran.

 Results: The results obtained indicate that 18 samples (9%) exceeded the level allowed for aerobic bacteria and molds in one gram of specimens. Besides, 16 samples (8%) were contaminated with at least one of the following bacteria: Streptococcus Group D, Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli. A total of 34 samples (17%) could not be consumed. The least and the most contaminated products were sanitary napkins (0.5%) and cardboard boxes to carry sweets (5%), respectively.

 Conclusion: The presence of pathogenic bacteria in cellulose products that could cause skin, and genital and urinary tract infections asks for more control over such sanitary products.