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Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM), classified as a grade IV glioma by the World Health Organization (WHO), is a prevalent and notably aggressive form of brain tumor derived from glial cells. It stands as one of the most severe forms of primary brain cancer in humans. The median survival time of GBM patients is only 12–15 months, making it the most lethal type of brain tumor. Every year, about 200,000 people worldwide succumb to this disease. GBM is also highly heterogeneous, meaning that its characteristics and behavior vary widely among different patients. This leads to different outcomes and survival times for each individual. Predicting the survival of GBM patients accurately can have multiple benefits. It can enable optimal and personalized treatment planning based on the patient's condition and prognosis. It can also support the patients and their families to cope with the possible outcomes and make informed decisions about their care and quality of life. Furthermore, it can assist the researchers and scientists to discover the most relevant biomarkers, features, and mechanisms of the disease and to design more effective and personalized therapies. Artificial intelligence methods, such as machine learning and deep learning, have been widely applied to survival prediction in various fields, such as breast cancer, lung cancer, gastric cancer, cervical cancer, liver cancer, prostate cancer, and covid 19. This systematic review summarizes the current state-of-the-art methods for predicting glioblastoma survival using different types of input data, such as clinical features, molecular markers, imaging features, radiomics features, omics data or a combination of them. Following PRISMA guidelines, we searched databases from 2015 to 2024, reviewing 107 articles meeting our criteria. We analyzed the data sources, methods, performance metrics and outcomes of the studies. We found that random forest was the most popular method, and a combination of radiomics and clinical data was the most common input data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nowadays, power system protection is increasingly important because of the growing number of customers and the pressing need for timely fault resolution and relay operations. This paper addresses the non‐linear nature of the objective function in the optimal coordination of directional overcurrent relays (DOCRs) by employing a quadratic Taylor series expansion around an operating point, converting the problem into a quadratically constrained quadratic programming problem, ensuring a global optimal solution with increased computational efficiency. Additionally, the quadratic constraints are converted into second‐order cone constraints for compatibility with the CPLEX solver. Using the least square method, the operating point values are determined and further fine‐tuned using iterations with the DOCR operation times. The IEEE 3‐bus, IEEE 8‐bus, and IEEE 14‐bus test systems are used to test the method, which shows higher improvement rates in reducing DOCR operation times and enhancing cooperation than conventional and metaheuristic methods. The simulation results verify the numerical superiority of the method in optimizing the protection system's efficiency while obtaining rapid and accurate solutions. The proposed method was tested on IEEE 3‐bus, 8‐bus, and 14‐bus systems, optimizing relay operating times to 0.87, 2.96, and 7.05 s, respectively, demonstrating the method's efficiency over conventional approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protecting DC microgrids (DCMGs) from faults is critical due to the rapid current changes that occur in milliseconds. However, ensuring fast and accurate protection in DCMGs is more challenging than in AC systems. This study proposes a novel protection algorithm using traveling waves (TWs) for fault detection and localization. The high‐order synchrosqueezing transform (FSSTH) is applied to precisely identify TWs at the relay location. FSSTH offers a sharp time–frequency representation, enhancing the accuracy and speed of fault detection. This method can accurately detect transient phenomena like TWs in DCMGs, even with noise and variable fault resistance. By using the spectral envelope with FSSTH, ridges in time–frequency representations are extracted, improving fault diagnosis. The approach differentiates external from internal faults and recognizes fault direction by assessing TW polarity. Testing on two different DCMGs showed this algorithm's high efficiency and accuracy, with fault location errors ranging from 1 to 50 meters in low‐voltage and 13 to 64 meters in medium‐voltage DCMGs, even under challenging conditions like high resistance (up to 500 Ω) and low signal‐to‐noise ratio (5 dB). These results demonstrate the method's superior accuracy and robustness compared to existing techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the basic strategies to strengthen the sustainable livelihood of local communities against environmental crises, including climate change, is to increase the resilience of these communities against disruption and chaos created in ecological systems. therefore The present research was conducted with the goal of gardeners' sustainable livelihood resilience model to climate change in Hamadan province. The research method was descriptive-correlational and causal-relational. The statistical population included the gardeners of Hamedan province (N=53785). The sample size was 380 people using the Krejcie and Morgan table, and the stage sampling method was used. In this research, the situation of sustainable livelihood resilience model of gardeners in Hamedan province in the face of climate change was analyzed by using questionnaire tool and using statistical software SPSS22 and SMART PLS3 and the reliability and validity of the model were confirmed according to the calculated indicators. In total, based on the average of 3.22 out of 5 (sd=1.01), it can be concluded that the livelihood resilience of gardeners in the face of climate change in Hamedan province is evaluated at an average level. The results of Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) indicate that environmental norms (β=0.691) and adaptation capacity with climate fluctuations (β=0.606) have a positive and significant effect on the resilience of sustainable livelihoods, the environmental attitude variable It has a positive and significant effect on environmental beliefs (β=0.617), place attachment has a positive and significant effect on adaptation capacity (β=0.610) and the environmental attitude of gardeners in the face of climate change (β=0.567). Also, based on the results, the variable of environmental awareness has a positive and significant effect on adaptation capacity with climate fluctuations (β=0.536) and the variable of environmental beliefs also has a positive and significant effect on environmental norms in the face of climate change (β=0.667). In total, based on the findings, 0.72 of the changes in the dependent variable of sustainable livelihood resilience are directly or indirectly explained by the independent variables of environmental attitude, environmental awareness, environmental beliefs, environmental norms, place attachment and adaptation capacity. The results of this research can be useful and practical for decision-makers in the field of agriculture, especially horticulture, from the point of view of environmental psychology. The findings of this research can be used for policy making and planning and decision-making in order to develop resilience and stabilize the livelihood of gardeners in Hamedan province in the face of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study presents a new method based on three types of deep learning-based models (DLM) for estimation of water parameters. The DLM models were recurrent neural networks (RNN), long short-term memory (LSTM), and bidirectional long short-term memory (BiLSTM). The study areas were the Colorado River basin in the United States and the Mighan Wetland in Iran. The electrical conductivity (EC), dissolved oxygen (DO), total dissolved solids (TDS), chloride ions (Cl), and river flow rate (debi) were simulated by the DLM models. The Wilson score (WS) uncertainty analysis results for Colorado modelling showed that LSTMdebi, RNNDO, and RNNEC were the best models in simulating due to having the lowest errors (Mean ei equal to 0.36, −1.50, and −0.59), respectively. Finally, the highest value of the R2 index, 0.998, was achieved by the LSTM model in modelling the debi parameter, and 0.996 in EC modelling, in the Mighan Wetland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Low back pain (LBP) is a prevalent musculoskeletal disorder with a wide range of etiologies, ranging from self-limiting conditions to life-threatening diseases. Various modalities are available for the diagnosis and management of patients with LBP. However, many of these health services, known as low-value care (LVC), are unnecessary and impose undue financial costs on patients and health systems. The present study aimed to explore the perceptions of service providers regarding the facilitators and barriers to reducing LVC in the management of LBP in Iran. Methods: This qualitative descriptive study interviewed a total of 20 participants, including neurosurgeons, physiatrists, orthopedists, and physiotherapists, who were selected through purposive and snowball sampling strategies. The collected data were analyzed using the thematic content analysis approach. Results: Thirty-nine sub-themes, with 183 citations, were identified as barriers, and 31 sub-themes, with 120 citations, were defined as facilitators. Facilitators and barriers to reducing LVC for LBP, according to the interviewees, were categorized into five themes, including: (1) individual provider characteristics; (2) individual patient characteristics; (3) social context; (4) organizational context; and (5) economic and political context. The ten most commonly cited barriers included unrealistic tariffs, provider-induced demand, patient distrust, insufficient time allocation, a lack of insurance coverage, a lack of a comprehensive referral system, a lack of teamwork, cultural challenges, a lack of awareness, and defensive medicine. Barriers such as adherence to clinical guidelines, improving the referral system, improving the cultural status of patients, and facilitators such as strengthening teamwork, developing an appropriate provider-patient relationship, improving the cultural status of the public, motivating the patients, considering an individualized approach, establishing a desirable payment mechanism, and raising the medical tariffs were most repeatedly stated by participants. Conclusion: This study has pointed out a great number of barriers and facilitators that shape the provision of LVC in the management of LBP in Iran. Therefore, it is essential for relevant stakeholders to consider these findings in order to de-implement LVC interventions in the process of LBP management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The present study was conducted to provide an upto-date understanding of clinical applications in balance capability, as well as delivering a review of pieces of literature on Virtual Reality (VR) on balance control in stroke survivors. Methods: Databases including PubMed, Cochrane Library, and Pedro were searched for published papers from 2010 to 2020 with the terms "Game-based rehabilitation", "balance training", "virtual reality", "stroke", "neurorehabilitation", and "virtual environment". We evaluated the effect of VR on balance improvement after a stroke. Results: 33 articles describing results following the use of VR on balance in patients with stroke that met our inclusion criteria were found. Among these studies, two studies described the results in acute, eight in subacute, twenty-two in chronic stroke patients, and one study included both chronic and subacute stroke patients. The results indicated that balance can be improved with VR. Conclusion: The results of this study strengthen the idea that VR training has the potential to become an effective adjacent to routine rehabilitation treatments for improving balance status post-stroke. However, conducting a randomized control trial that incorporates all three stroke phases with an appropriate study setting is necessary to achieve an integrated clinical protocol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A screen-printed electrode (SPE) modified with the flower-like nanostructures of zinc oxide doped with terbium for forming FL-NS Tb3+/ZnO/SPE-modified electrode (electrochemical sensor) was provided for effective and rapid detection of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) and trimethoprim (TMP). Therefore, structure, composition, as well as the impact of process variables of the modified electrode, electrochemical response features of SMX and TMP, sensitivity of both simultaneous detections, and scan rate were examined in this research. According to the examinations, synergy of Tb and ZnO resulted in the promotion of the electrochemical reaction of SMX and TMP. Moreover, the difference in their oxidation peak potential was < 220 mV. In addition, the modified electrode linearly ranged from 0.001 to 900.0 μM, with the detection limit of 0.14 nM and 0.23 nM (S/N = 5) for SMX and TMP, respectively. Finally, it was found that this new FL-NS Tb3+/ZnO/SPE-modified electrode enjoys a broader smaller detection limits, linear range, and very good stability and reproducibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present research was conducted with the purpose of applying the theory of planned behavior in explaining the environmental behavior of the villagers in Ilam province about protection of the oak forests in South Zagros. The statistical population of the research consists of all the villagers of Ilam province settled in the South Zagros region (N=5512). Sample size using the table of Bartlett et al. (2001), 416 people were determined and stratified random method with proportional assignment (according to the city of activity) was used for sampling. In this research, the status of the environmental behavior pattern of the villagers of Ilam province in the protection of the oak forests of South Zagros region was analyzed using SPSS22 and SMART PLS3 statistical software. And according to the calculated indicators, the reliability and validity of the model was confirmed. The results of the structural equation modeling approach indicate that attitude variables (β=0.745), mental norms (β=0.638) and perceived behavioral control of the villagers of Ilam province (β=0.589), influence It has a positive and significant effect on their intention to carry out the environmental behavior of protecting the mentioned forests. Also, based on the results, perceived behavioral control (β=0.602), intention (β=0.711), time perspective (β=0.653) and spatial attachment of the villagers of Ilam province towards the protection of oak forests of South Zagros (β=0. 473), have a positive and significant effect on their environmental behavior in the protection of said forests. In general, based on the findings, it can be seen that the theory of planned behavior through the variable of the intention of the villagers of Ilam province to carry out the environmental behavior of protecting the oak forests can respectively account for 52 and 61% of the changes in the variables of the intention and behavior of the rural households towards the protection of To predict the oak forests of South Zagros basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: One of the most common complaints following a stroke is loss of balance, which affects around half of all stroke patients. Nevertheless, there is no general physiotherapy method that proved to be more effective in improving post-stroke balance. This study aimed to investigate literature regarding the use of aquatic dual-task exercises for improving balance ability post-stroke. Methods: A literature search was performed with the help of Cochrane Library, PubMed, and Embase databases to select the studies related to aquatic dual-task training on balance improvement in stroke patients. The inclusion criteria were full-text published articles in English, studies that included patients above the age of 18 years with diagnosed stroke, which investigated any form of aquatic exercise therapy with a dual-task aimed at improving post-stroke balance control while comparing pre-intervention and post-intervention outcome measures. Results: With the help of given keywords, 573 articles were found initially. After excluding articles for various reasons, three articles were finally included in the review. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it can be concluded that aquatic dual-task training has a positive impact on the balance improvement of stroke patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Knowledge-based companies have been considered as the engine of economic development of developing countries. But these companies have not grown significantly in western Iran. The present quantitative research was conducted with the aim of presenting a model of effective factors on the development of agricultural knowledge-based companies in western Iran in a descriptivecorrelative manner. The statistical population of the study consisted of experts from 45 agricultural knowledge-based companies in the west of the country, numbering 276 people,. The value of the multiple determination coefficient for the main structural equation 0.79, which indicates that the independent external variables of the research, including educational-research, economic, politicallegal, managerial, ideals and participatory factors, have been able to achieve about 0.79 of Predict changes in the development of agricultural knowledge-based companies. The political-legal factor had the first priority and the managerial, participatory, educational-research, economic and ideal factors had the second to sixth ranks, respectively. It is necessary for all organizations in charge of growth and development of agricultural knowledge-based companies to pay serious and fundamental attention to the identified indicators and components. Have agricultural knowledgebased companies in research for development and progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qualitative analysis of water resources is one of the most widely used topics in water resources research today. Researchers use various analysis methods of water parameters to achieve the desired goals in this field. This research uses artificial intelligence (AI), learning machine (LM), data mining, and mathematical techniques to simulate water behavior and estimate its parametric changes. The proposed model used in this study was a Self-adaptive Extreme learning machine (SAELM) to estimate hydrogeological parameters of the Meghan wetland located in Markazi province in Iran. In addition, SAELM simulation results were compared to Least square support vector machine (LSSVM), Multiple linear regression (MLR), and Adaptive Neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) models. The simulated parameters were Electrical Conductivity (EC), Total Dissolved Solids (TDS), Groundwater Level (GWL), and salinity. This information was related to sampling for 175 months in the study area. Finally, after simulation operation, four models were introduced as superior models. Mentioned exceptional models were SAELM in GWL modeling, SAELM in modeling the EC, MLR in salinity simulation, and LSSVM in the simulation of TDS parameters. Moreover, by five approaches, the models' performance was evaluated. Suggested strategies were performance evaluation by statistical indicators, Wilson score method uncertainty analysis (WSMUA), response & correlation plots, discrepancy ratio charts, and distribution error diagrams. Based on statistical indicators, the SAELMGWL model was the most accurate model with RMSE, MAPE, and R2 indices equal to 0.1496, 0.0043, and 0.9933, respectively. The ANFIS model had the worst results in simulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the past few decades, many social factors and climate change in particular have had adverse effects on nomadic livelihoods in Iran. Drought, heat waves, floods and cold spells are impediments to a sustainable development for nomads. So far, previous adaptation strategies have not sufficiently proved effective in improving their livelihood. The present study aimed at designing a development model for organizing nomads of the Zagros region. The grounded theory methodology was applied to construct the hypothesis through inductive qualitative data. We used questionnaires, focus groups and in-depth interviews to survey the opinions of experts and managers about optimum ways to organize and develop Iranian nomadic communities. Researchers analyzed the data using open, axial and selective coding to discover the main concepts. The samples were selected through the "snowball effect sampling method" in which sampling continued until a theoretical saturation was reached. To recognize concepts and categories, line by line analysis was used in open coding. The present study revealed how various aspects of nomadic livelihood can affect managerial efforts to organize and develop nomadic life in the region. These effective aspects were categorized into three main groups: causal, interfering and background. Also, the results introduced a comprehensive adaptation strategy model based on grounded theory which covered many aspects of the nomadic livelihood. Our results suggested that this approach is more likely to ensure the sustainability of environmental resources, social justice and improvements in economic indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent technical advances in Wide-Area Measurement Systems (WAMS) have made it possible to use a combination of measured signals from remote locations to design centralized control. However, the transmission delay of remote signals and changes in the power system operating point are significant issues in the operation of the Wide-Area Damping Controller (WADC). Regarding issues and uncertainties in the power system, mixed 𝐻2/𝐻∞ synthesis has been proposed for wide-area robust controller design. In this paper, an adaptive wide-area robust controller for Thyristor Controlled Series Capacitors (TCSC) is presented to improve the inter-area oscillation damping in multi-machine power systems in which the time-varying delays in feedback signal time are taken into account. So, an Adaptive Delay Compensator (ADC) is used to compensate for the delay of receiving remote signals. Despite the nonlinearity of the power system, the changes in the operating point, and the presence of time-varying delays, the proposed scheme shows robust performance in damping the low-frequency oscillations. The efficiency of the proposed control system in the presence of TCSC is shown through simulation results that show its superiority over the conventional control system. The simulation of the paper is carried out on the Four-Machine Two-Area test system and 10-machine, 39-bus New England power system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to design a model to reduce agricultural work injury among orchardists in Ilam Province, Iran. This was a qualitative research study that used grounded theory to analyze data. The study included 25 specialists, managers, and experts of horticulture in Ilam Province who were selected through purposive sampling. Field observations and interviews in the form of focus groups were used for collecting data. The results were extracted from the research data through the coding process (open, axial, and selective) in the form of concepts, subcategories, and categories using MAXqda12. The paradigm model included causal, contextual and intervening conditions, strategy, and consequences. The results indicated that several causal conditions can affect work injury in agriculture. These were identified as vulnerability level, personal characteristics of orchardists, subsistence level, general health, climatic conditions, and academic qualifications. Contextual conditions also included categories like trends, occupational safety and health principles, infrastructure, government support, and government incentives. Meanwhile, intervening conditions were identified as structural, educational-research factors, economic criteria, regulation and development of marketing horticultural and greenhouse products, type of exploitation system, and orchardists' motivation. Finally, reducing agricultural work injuries among orchardists involved the multi-faceted identification of various aspects of production and education, along with technical, operational, executive, and supervisory management strategies. Reducing the number of agricultural work injuries among orchardists would lead to regional, economic, individual, and social benefits. The results helped researchers to identify what areas to address and mitigate safety issues of horticultural activities in Ilam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The notion of a coherent system allows us to formalize how the random lifetime of the system is connected to the random lifetimes of its components. These connections are also generators of new pliant distributions, being those of various mixes of minimum and maximum of random variables. In this paper, a new four-parameter lifetime probability distribution is introduced by using the notion of a coherent system. Its structural properties are assessed and evaluated, including the analytical study of its main functions, stochastic dominance results, moments, and moment generating function. The proposed distribution, in particular, is proving to be efficient at fitting data with slight negative skewness and platykurtic as well as leptokurtic nature. This is illustrated by the analysis of three relevant real-life data sets, two in reliability and another in production, exhibiting the significance of the introduced model in comparison to various well-known models in statistical literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to investigate the role of urban agriculture in sustainable urban development in Tehran, Iran. The statistical population comprised all residents who had carried out urban agricultural activity of some sort in Tehran. The method was primarily based on a questionnaire to which urban farmers responded. The results showed that different dimensions of urban agriculture had different factor loads. These were the social dimension, the economic dimension, the spatial dimension, the environmental dimension, and the mental dimension which had great impacts on the conduct of urban agriculture. The greatest impact of urban agriculture on sustainable development was 'concern for citizen health'. The results of the goodness-of-fit indexes showed that the model provided an excellent fit for the data. Finally, the relationship between urban agriculture and sustainable urban development was statistically confirmed. The scale of values for each subset corresponded with each other and thus confirmed a possible relationship between the importance of the five dimensions in relation to each other and in relation to sustainable development. This research offers a new insight into the specifications of the Tehrani population and how they shape an interplay of mechanisms in discussion that ultimately result in data and results. In conclusion, the urban agriculture has a certain degree of positive impact on sustainable urban development as well as the quality of ecological environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In natural resource management, different stakeholders and actors can be involved as major components. These can include the social network of users benefiting from natural resources. Therefore, the need for an evaluation of the human community that comes into relation with natural resources and social relations is inevitable. The present study aimed to portray current scopes of management in the Zagros forests based on social monitoring and estimations of relationships between local actors. The research uses a method of social network analysis as an efficient tool for evaluating these relationships. Links were found between information exchange and participation in the social network of local actors, and, accordingly, the quantitative and mathematical indicators of network analysis were evaluated among all actors in the Zagros forests. The level of cohesion and social capital in the social network of local stakeholders in this region were estimated as "weak" to "moderate," and the sustainability of the network was "moderate." Based on the Quadratic Assignment Procedure (QAP index), a high coefficient was obtained in describing the level of correlation between the two networks of information exchange and participation among the actors in the region. The results can be used in line with principled policies in managing forest resources of the Zagros region for planning, decision-making, and sustainability. Based on the results, there is potential for an increase in social control in the target groups and adherence to local traditions in the sustainable management of forest resources among actors. This can be achieved by strengthening social trust. The scientific contribution of this research mainly fills gaps in the current knowledge of Iran's administrative bodies which are responsible for sending and receiving information about forest management. The focus is largely descriptive and each organization is given attributes to its values of in-degree and out-degree centrality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This research has been done with the aim of designing a sustainable livelihood model with the cooperative village approach using the grounded theory method. The present study is a qualitative research. The study sample includes 30 experts, managers and experts in the field of cooperation throughout the country who were purposefully selected. Field observations and in-depth interviews in the form of focus groups were used to collect data. The results were extracted from the research data in the coding process (open, axial and selective) in the form of concepts, subcategories and categories using MAXqda12 software. The paradigm model includes conditions (causal, contextual, and intervening), strategy, and outcome. Research findings indicate that climate vulnerability, social vulnerability and economic vulnerability were identified as causal conditions; trends, government support and infrastructure strengthening were identified as background conditions; and financing, market development, market control, and government support as intervening conditions affecting the creation of sustainable livelihoods with the rural cooperative approach. The results show that coping strategies and compromise strategies as strategies for achieving sustainable livelihoods have consequences such as cooperatives, sustainable development, productivity, employment, strengthening social capital and smart agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suppose that a system is subject to independent random shocks over discrete time periods, with the shocks occurring each period with a probability of p, and suppose that k 1 and k 2 (1 ≤ k 1 < k 2) are two critical levels. Assume that the occurrence of a shock run of length l (k 1 ≤ l < k 2) causes a partial failure, leading to a decrease in the efficiency of the system, and that a complete failure will happen when a shock run of length k 2 occurs. The occurrence of shocks under the mentioned conditions makes a multi-state system, which leads to the full active working and the partially working, with their distributions being under study here. In addition, the present study discusses the mean of full active working and that of the partially working and obtains the joint distribution for the number of partial failures and the failure time of the system. There will also be a discussion of the mean failure time of the system and some of its properties under different conditions of occurrence or nonoccurrence of partial failures. Finally, the present study examines the mean failure time of the system in a different scheme in which, erosion can also cause failure of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a novel method is proposed to monitor the power system voltage stability using Support Vector Machine (SVM) by implementing real-time data received from the Wide Area Measurement System (WAMS). In this study, the effects of the protection schemes on the voltage magnitude of the buses are considered while they have not been investigated in previous researches. Considering overcurrent protection for transmission lines not only resolves some drawbacks of the previous studies but also brings the case study system closer to the realities of actual systems. Online monitoring of system stability is performed by prediction of the Voltage Stability Index (VSI) and carried out by using Support Vector Regression (SVR). Due to the direct effect of appropriate SVR parameters on the prediction quality, the optimum value is chosen for learning machine hyperparameters using Differential Evolution (DE) algorithm. The obtained simulation results demonstrate high accuracy, effectiveness, and optimal performance of the proposed technique in comparison with Back-Propagation Neural Network (BPNN) and Adaptive Neuro-Fuzzy Inference System (ANFIS) approaches. The presented method is carried out on the 39 bus New England system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban agriculture can provide food security that is essential to sustainable development goals. Citizen education plays a vital role in urban agriculture formation. The present study examined the effectiveness of urban agriculture education courses in the three levels of the Kirkpatrick model and estimated a structural equation model to obtain the direct effects of the studied factors. This study consisted of citizens (N = 80) who participated in the urban agricultural education courses in flowering centers of the 2nd district of Tehran, Iran. According to the results, 55, 46.25 and 48.75% of the respondents evaluated the education courses as "good" in the reaction, learning, and behavior levels, respectively. In addition, 58% of participants believed these courses had a great impact on their understanding of urban agriculture. Attending education courses was well explained by the three levels of the Kirkpatrick model (P < 0.001). The result of all calculated goodness-of-fit indexes (chi-square [P > 0.05], RMSEA = 0.02, SRMR = 0.065, NFI = 0.91, CFI = 0.92, and GFI = 0.90) showed the model provided an excellent fit for the data. There is limited information about urban agriculture among the citizens. According to the results the training courses can increase the citizen's knowledge on urban agriculture which improve food security and urban environmental management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the mixed δ-shock models for the multi-state systems is generalized to a model for which the system switches to a lower partially working state as soon as the occurrence of each interarrival time between two successive shocks lying in [ δ 1 , δ 2 ]. The system fails in three ways: first, k out of interarrival times between two successive shocks are in [ δ 1 , δ 2 ] , second, upon the occurrence of each interarrival time between two successive shocks less than δ1 and third upon the occurrence of each shock with magnitude bigger than the other critical threshold γ. The survival functions of the system's lifetime, the time used by the system in a perfectly functioning state, and the total time used by the system in partially working states are derived under the proposed model. The first two moments are also calculated. A simulation study is conducted to illustrate the behavior of the survival functions of the system's lifetime. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shock models and multi-state systems have both been studied in the reliability literature. Suppose a system experiences shocks that occur randomly and their occurrence causes a change in the system performance. Suppose these shocks occur randomly over discrete time periods, and δ 1 and δ 2 are two critical thresholds. The system's efficiency decreases when the time interval between two consecutive shocks falls between [ δ 1 , δ 2) and the system fails when the time interval is less than δ 1 . In this article, the failure time of such a system is studied under two cases. In the first case, the system's failure only depends on the time interval falling below δ 1 whereas in the second case, the failure of the system can also occur due to decreasing of system's efficiency. We derive explicit expressions for the distribution and the mean time to failure of the system under the two above mentioned cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we study an (n - k + 1)-out-of-n system by adopting their components to be statistically independent though nonidentically distributed. By assuming that at least m components at a fixed time have failed while the system is still working, we obtain the mixture representation of survival function for a quantity called the conditional inactivity time of failed components in the system. Moreover, this quantity for (n - k + 1)-out-of-n system, in one sample with respect to k and m and in two samples, are stochastically compared. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the most prevalent form of peripheral neuropathy. There are various treatments for carpal tunnel. Objectives: In this study, we evaluated the effect of electroacupuncture and exercise on pinch and grip strength and wrist range of motion in patients with mild to moderate CTS. Methods: Sixty patients with carpal tunnel syndrome were evaluated in this study, only five of whom were male. In this study, patients were divided into three groups. The control group consisted of 20 patients who only used splints in the second group, in addition to splints, special exercises were administered, and the third group, electroacupuncture, and brace were prescribed for 12 sessions of 40- minute duration. study time was 6 weeks. The parameters of pinch force, grip force, ROM (flexion and extension) were evaluated at baseline and after the treatment. Results: In this study, 55 women and 5 men with an average age of 49.23 ± 8.96 were enrolled. At the final follow up, significant improvements in all parameters were found in third groups (P < 0.05), except flexion of the wrist in the control group (P = 0.098). Our findings indicate that exercise therapy had more effect on ROM of flexion than acupuncture and acupuncture had more effect on pinching than exercise therapy but the effect sizes were weak. Also, the efficacy of splint alone was less than intervention groups in all parameters. Conclusions: Results of this study demonstrated that adding exercise or acupuncture to nocturnal splinting, the functional improvement is more in patients with mild to moderate carpal tunnel syndrome and these interventions could be adopted in the management of these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the major concerns of Third World countries is environment and human health protection. Excessive use of chemical inputs in farming endangers the environment and human health. Farming healthy or organic crops is considered as a solution to this problem. In this regard, the present quantitative research aims to design a model to promote healthy crop farming among Kermanshah province farmers. By reviewing of the literature of research and using the extended model of planned behavior, the research variables were identified and by applying slight changes and adding the contextual factors for it, it was selected as conceptual model of research. Descriptive-correlational design was used to validate the variables of healthy crop farming. A total number of 400 beneficiaries in Kermanshah province were selected by multi-stage proportional sampling method in seven cities. The data collection period was from 2017 to 2018. Validity of the researcher-made questionnaire was confirmed by a panel of experts and a measurement model confirmed Validity and reliability of the questions. Data analysis in descriptive statistics section was performed using Spss 23 and Smartpls 3 software. Results of structural equations confirmed the effect of contextual factors, attitude, perceived behavior control, and moral norm in healthy crop farming promotion. Also, using multigroup Analysis by Smart PLS software, demographic factors as moderator constructs were investigated in the path between intent and healthy cropping behavior. The results showed that: Path between intention and behavior was moderated by gender, education, and participation in the extension classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the advent of online real estate database companies like Zillow, Trulia and Redfin, the problem of automatic estimation of market values for houses has received considerable attention. Several real estate websites provide such estimates using a proprietary formula. Although these estimates are often close to the actual sale prices, in some cases they are highly inaccurate. One of the key factors that affects the value of a house is its interior and exterior appearance, which is not considered in calculating automatic value estimates. In this paper, we evaluate the impact of visual characteristics of a house on its market value. Using deep convolutional neural networks on a large dataset of photos of home interiors and exteriors, we develop a method for estimating the luxury level of real estate photos. We also develop a novel framework for automated value assessment using the above photos in addition to home characteristics including size, offered price and number of bedrooms. Finally, by applying our proposed method for price estimation to a new dataset of real estate photos and metadata, we show that it outperforms Zillow’s estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Background: Paddy cultivation of rice requires substantial physical strength, perseverance and manual labor. During the manual harvesting of paddy rice in Iran, laborers are exposed to several work-related physical risks. Paddy cultivation has been reported as one of the most important causes of nonfatal occupational injuries and accidents among farmers. With the aim of identifying which parts of the musculoskeletal structure are mostly affected as a result of working on paddy rice fields, the present study aimed to investigate the potential risk factors for musculoskeletal problems in paddy field workers in Mazandaran Province, Iran. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional, analytical study was conducted among paddy field workers via multistage sampling in 2019. Prior to the interviews based on the Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, the participants were briefed about the objectives of the research and their consent was obtained for voluntary participation. Through interviews, data were collected on demographics, agricultural utilization systems, use of paddy tractors, frequency of tiller and tractor use, injuries sustained during the daytime, and outcomes of injuries by paddy field working. Responses were obtained from 384 workers using structured interviews. The respondents were asked to describe problems and pain in their neck, shoulders, elbows, wrists and hands, upper back, hip and lower back. Logistic regression models were used to identify potential risk factors for musculoskeletal problems in specific body regions. Results: The most commonly reported ailments were back pain (n = 29; 7.6%), cardiovascular disease (n = 25, 6.5%) and hypertension (n = 22, 5.7%). The results of logistic regression analysis indicated that the odds of back and shoulder injuries was higher among workers who used tillers and combine harvesters (2.85 and 1.66), transplanting machine (3.68), and those who did not use safe footwear (7). Knee injury risk was higher among those who cultivated rice manually (odds ratio [OR] = 1.35) and who used safety footwear (OR = 1.93), but was lower among those who used tractors (OR = 0.53). There was a small increase in the risk of knee injury with age (OR = 1.03). Confirming earlier works, musculoskeletal problems were found to be highly prevalent among rice workers. Conclusion: Disorders in certain body regions could be explained by specific individual and work-related factors. While the prevalence of work-related injury was high, mostly due to ignorance and disregard for personal convenience of the workers, the findings call for improvements in mechanization and division of labor time and force. Another highlight is that social worth is not given sufficiently to the health of paddy field workers. These should be worked on in future research to find ways of allocating machinery and worth to the workers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a parallel system consisting of a finite number of identical components with independent lifetimes having a common distribution function is considered, when the failure time of the system is restricted to a finite interval (double regularly checking). Under these conditions, the mean past lifetime (MPL) of the system is presented and some of its properties are derived. It is shown that the underlying distribution function can be recovered from the proposed MPL. Then, a consistent estimator for MPL is presented and some of its properties are studied. This estimator also could be used for the single monitoring case or ordinary MPL. Finally, some properties of the MPL of a parallel system with nonidentical components are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the study of the reliability of technical systems, k-out-of- n systems play an important role. In the present paper, we consider a ( n − k + 1)- out-of- n system consisting of n identical components such that the lifetimes of components are independent and have a common distribution function F. It is assumed that the number of monitoring is l and the total number of failures of the components at time t i is m i, i = 1, . . . , l − 1. Also at time t l( t1 < . . . < t l) the system have failed or the system is still working. Under these conditions, the mean past lifetime, the mean residual lifetime of system and their properties are investigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present article, we consider a parallel system consisting of n identical components, such that the lifetimes of components are independent and have a common distribution function F. It is assumed that the total number of failures of the components at time t1 is m and at time t2 (t1 < t2), all components of the system have failed or the system is still working. Under these conditions, we are interested in the study of the mean past lifetime (MPL) of the components and the mean residual lifetime (MRL) of the system. Several properties of the MPL and MRL are studied and several properties of those are derived. It is also shown that the underlying distribution function F can be recovered from the proposed MPL and a characterization of the exponential distribution is given based on MRL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Formulas presented for the calculation of do not have a closed form; they are in the form of recursive or complex formulas. Here an attempt is made to present a simple formula in which it is only necessary to compute the numerical coefficients in a recursive form, and the coefficients in turn follow a simple pattern (almost similar to Pascal's Triangle). Although the pattern for calculating numerical coefficients based on forming a table is easy, non-recursive formulas are presented to determine the numerical coefficients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]