مجله پزشکی قانونی
سال بیست و نهم شماره 3 (پیاپی 107، پاییز 1402)

Contextual factors comprise physical, mental or belief-based characteristics that are apparent in a person inherently, hereditarily or temporarily, such as old age, disability, illness, etc.; these factors, along with external factors, might play a role or accelerate in commission of felony. These factors have not been included under the rules relating the multiplicity of causes, which the Islamic Penal Code (2012) illustrates. This ambiguity has led the courts to allocate a part of the result to the victim in accumulation of contextual factors and negligence/recklessness of the perpetrator according to the expertise comments of medical commissions and medical boards. In common law, according to the Thin Skull Rule, which provides the offender must take his victim as he find him, no impact shall be considered for the contextual factors in the chain of causation. Therefore, the perpetrator shall be held responsible for his acts. Even though in intentional murder/battery the contextual factors have no effect, the challenge arises in manslaughter or unintentional battery. According to Paragraph (c) of the Article 290, Islamic Penal Code and thereof Note 2, if the perpetrator, knowing and paying attention to the status of the victim, commits an action that typically leads to death or bodily harm, the felony is intentional. Otherwise, if the conduct occurs unaware, negligently or recklessly and a contextual factor intensifies or accelerates the result, the perpetrator is fully responsible. In case of overlap of contextual factors and external causes, if causal connection between the behavior and the result is established, the result will be fully assigned to the perpetrator if he acts negligently/recklessly. Apportioning a share of the result to contextual factors holds no legal basis. Clearly, if the harmful result has been caused by some contextual or usual and predictable factors, the perpetrator, even being faultful, will not be held responsible due to the lack of causation.

The pineal gland is a small, pinecone-shaped endocrine gland that participates in the biological rhythm regulation of vertebrates. Tumors of the pineal region account for approximately 3–11% of pediatric brain neoplasms. The present study aimed to determine the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients with tumors in the pineal region.

This research was a cross-sectional descriptive study that was conducted in 2023. 20 people with pineal tumor were identified who had referred to the hospitals of Isfahan city, Iran (Al-Zahra, Kashani and Imam Hossein) during the last 8 years. Data were collected by checklist and described and analyzed in SPSS version 22 software.

Ten of patients were males and The mean age of the patients at the time of surgery was 19.25 years (range: 16.0 to 66.0 years). Histologically, GCT and PPT comprised 45 % and 25% of pineal region neoplasms. The median tumor size was 24 mm. The rates of radiotherapy administration were 60%. older age, and lack of radiotherapy use were prognostic factors that negatively influence survival. The lowest survival rate was observed in the first year, but as the number of years of life increased, so did the survival rate.

Given that patients with tumors in the pineal region are predominantly in the young age group, and young individuals represent the productive workforce in any society, it is imperative to implement appropriate measures and strategies to enhance these patients' long-term well-being. Implementing these measures and strategies will ultimately improve the overall quality of life for these patients over the years.

The outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) led to significant changes in people’s social behavior and lifestyle. Significant changes brought about by the pandemic included the routine disinfection of hands and surfaces using ethanol, the widespread use of masks, the avoidance of crowded places, and a shift towards remote work. Consequently, an increase in drug poisoning, particularly ethanol, was reported during the pandemic. The present study aimed to compare the frequency and types of drug poisoning before and after the onset of the pandemic in hospitals located in the southwest of Iran.

This cross-sectional study was conducted in educational hospitals located in Abadan and Khoramshahr, Iran. Data from 488 patients who were hospitalized due to drug poisoning during the specified time periods were collected. Descriptive statistics, along with Chi-square test and Fisher’s test, were utilized for data analysis.

The findings revealed that prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the frequency of alcohol and neuropsychiatric drug poisoning was 5% and 34%, respectively. However, these figures rose to 12.2% and 37.8% in the period following the onset of COVID-19. In the period following the onset of COVID-19, poisoning with neuropsychiatric drugs was observed to have the highest frequency across all ages and both sexes.

The current findings suggest that the lifestyle changes brought about by the COVID-19 outbreak have contributed to an increase in drug poisoning across all ages and both sexes. Therefore, it is recommended to promote the rational use of drugs, particularly in special circumstances, such as pandemics.

The neonatal period has a decisive role to play in the long term health of humans. To reduce the number of neonatal readmissions, due to reduced duration of early postnatal hospitalization for neonates, it is now considered that rate and cause should be evaluated as well as associated risk factors. That is why, from 2019 to 2021, this study will examine the rate and cause of readmissions for premature babies in Shahid Mostafa Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, Iran.

Health records of healthy infants born during the year 2019 through 2021 and readmitted to a neonatal unit 30 days after birth were examined in this cross-sectional study at Shahid Mostafa Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, Iran. Inputs and analyses of retrieved data were done within the SPSS version 21 software.

From totally 4951 neonates born during 3 years, 252 neonates (5.08%) were readmitted during first month of life. Jaundice (71%) and potential sepsis (16.3%) were most common causes of neonatal readmission. There's a big relationship between them. neonatal gender (P=0.010), gestational age (P=0.001), birth weight (P=0.019) and feeding type (P=0.001) with hospital readmission. The relationship between neonatal age and the cause of neonatal readmission is significant, P=0.001).

Readmissions occur in a number of neonates. In the first week of life, jaundice and feeding problems are usually the cause of neonatal readmission, and infections are a major cause of readmission after the first week. The risk factors for the readmission of newborns are male gender, lower birth weight and a gestation period not exceeding 37 weeks. While breastfeeding protects against these risks, maternal age is also an important factor.

The issue of domestic violence, especially violence against women, is a significant concern within family dynamics. This topic has drawn the attention of mental health professionals due to its profound impact on the mental well-being of those involved. The current study aimed to explore the impact of life skills training, grounded in the acceptance and commitment approach, on the burnout and mental rumination experienced by women subjected to violence.

In this quasi-experimental study, utilizing a pretest-posttest control group design, the target population comprised all married women who had experienced violence and sought help from family counseling centers in Rafsanjan, Iran, between March 2022 and October 2022. Using a convenience sampling method, 30 couples were randomly divided into two groups (each consisting of 15 individuals), based on several questionnaires, including Haj-Yahia’s Violence Against Women Questionnaire (1999), Pines’ Marital Burnout Questionnaire (1996), and Mental Rumination Questionnaire by Ghorbani et al. (2008). A control group was also selected, consisting of 15 individuals. The experimental group underwent 10 sessions of life skills training based on the acceptance and commitment approach. During this period, the control group did not receive any form of training. The participants were assessed using specific instruments both before and after the training sessions. Data were analyzed using the analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) test in SPSS Version 22.

The results indicated that life skills training, grounded in the commitment and acceptance approach, had a beneficial impact on reducing marital burnout (F=7.21, P=0.01) and mental rumination (F=4.07, P=0.03). The intervention’s effectiveness, as indicated by the effect size, was found to be 0.47 for the burnout variable and 0.38 for the mental rumination variable.

The implementation of life skills training, based on the acceptance and commitment approach, plays a pivotal role in reducing marital burnout and mental rumination in women who have experienced violence. Given its effectiveness, it can be recommended as a potent educational method.

Methanol is a toxic alcohol that can cause metabolic acidosis, blindness, central nervous system disorders, coma, or even death. Therefore, this study has been conducted with the aim of epidemiological investigation of deaths caused by the consumption of this dangerous substance, so that with the results of the analysis, the necessary plans can be made to reduce the death rate and the costs caused by it.

In this descriptive-cross-sectional study, the demographic and epidemiological information of 1768 deaths of methanol consumption, whose corpses were referred to legal medicine between 2019 and 2021, were analyzed using SPSS 19 software.

Most of the deaths caused by methanol consumption are related to male people, with low education level, self-employed and in Tehran, Fars and East Azerbaijan provinces.

In order to reduce deaths caused by methanol consumption, some preventive strategies such as promoting public awareness through providing educational programs especially to high-risk groups and seriously preventing the production of illegal alcoholic beverages are recommended.