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Electrical faults caused by power escaping electric systems can lead to power outages, equipment damage, and fires. Faults sometimes occur when birds perched on power structures are electrocuted. Distribution power lines supported by concrete and steel pylons are particularly fault-prone because small separations between conductors and grounded components allow even small birds to inadvertently create faults while being electrocuted. Most conservation solutions focus on covering energized wires and components to prevent contact by birds and, although usually effective when installed correctly, covers can sometimes be dislodged thus becoming ineffective. Glass Flake Epoxy (GFE) is a non-conductive thermoset plastic that can adhere to steel crossarms and not be dislodged. We hypothesized that GFE-coated crossarms might reduce faults (proxies for avian electrocutions), and we conducted laboratory and field trials to evaluate that hypothesis. In the laboratory, we found a 2000 micrometer (μm)-thick layer of GFE coating that created a dielectric strength of 12.30 ± 0.21 kV, which was sufficient to prevent the formation of a phase-to-ground fault on up to 20 kV distribution lines. This should allow birds to perch on metal crossarms without being electrocuted. In field trials, we substituted 24% of a 20 kV distribution pylon’s crossarms with GFE-treated crossarms and found that doing so correlated with a 28% decrease in faults. Although we did not measure avian electrocutions directly, our findings suggest GFE coatings may offer a novel method of reducing avian electrocutions on power lines.

Purpose – This study aims to identify the financial attributes of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as safe havens, hedges or diversifiers against traditional (stock indices, foreign exchange, gold and government bonds) and digital (Bitcoin and Ethereum) assets. Design/methodology/approach – The quantile via moments was utilized, and the data spanned from 20 September 2021 to 31 January 2022. The authors incorporated feasible generalized least squares (FGLS) and difference-generalized method of moments (diff-GMM) as the robustness check. Findings – Overall, NFTs offer strongly safe havens, hedging and diversifier attributes against cryptocurrencies, while weak properties for traditional assets. The specific findings are: (1) Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC) serves as a strong hedge for Bitcoin during market rise; (2) Mutant Ape Yacht Club (MAYC) serves as a strong safe haven against Bitcoin during market bull; (3) Crypto punk (CP) provides strong safe havens properties for gold during market turmoil while serving as a strong hedge against gold and Bitcoin on average and (4) the three blue-chip NFTs are powered by Ethereum blockchain, thus serving as a diversifier against Ethereum. Practical implications – Bitcoin investors are suggested to include NFTs in their investment portfolio to mitigate the losses when Bitcoin falls. Meanwhile, the inclusion of crypto punk is advised for risk-averse investors who invest in gold. NFTs are powered by the Ethereum blockchain, indicating co-movement among them and thus, serve as diversifiers. Policymakers and regulators are suggested to watch closely over NFTs' great development and restructure the existing policies and thus, stabilization of asset markets can be achieved. Originality/value – The originality aspects are: (1) focusing on the three blue-chip NFTs (i.e. BAYC, MAYC and CP) that are categorized as the largest NFTs by floor market capitalization; (2) testing the NFT attributes (safe havens, hedges or diversifiers) against traditional and digital assets, a.k.a., cryptocurrencies and (3) panel setting on 14 countries with the highest NFT users.

Abstract Background Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a rare neurodegenerative disease characterized by the accumulation of aggregated tau proteins in astrocytes, neurons, and oligodendrocytes. Previous genome-wide association studies for PSP were based on genotype array, therefore, were inadequate for the analysis of rare variants as well as larger mutations, such as small insertions/deletions (indels) and structural variants (SVs). Method In this study, we performed whole genome sequencing (WGS) and conducted association analysis for single nucleotide variants (SNVs), indels, and SVs, in a cohort of 1,718 cases and 2,944 controls of European ancestry. Of the 1,718 PSP individuals, 1,441 were autopsy-confirmed and 277 were clinically diagnosed. Results Our analysis of common SNVs and indels confirmed known genetic loci at MAPT, MOBP, STX6, SLCO1A2, DUSP10, and SP1, and further uncovered novel signals in APOE, FCHO1/MAP1S, KIF13A, TRIM24, TNXB, and ELOVL1. Notably, in contrast to Alzheimer’s disease (AD), we observed the APOE ε2 allele to be the risk allele in PSP. Analysis of rare SNVs and indels identified significant association in ZNF592 and further gene network analysis identified a module of neuronal genes dysregulated in PSP. Moreover, seven common SVs associated with PSP were observed in the H1/H2 haplotype region (17q21.31) and other loci, including IGH, PCMT1, CYP2A13, and SMCP. In the H1/H2 haplotype region, there is a burden of rare deletions and duplications (P = 6.73 × 10–3) in PSP. Conclusions Through WGS, we significantly enhanced our understanding of the genetic basis of PSP, providing new targets for exploring disease mechanisms and therapeutic interventions.

Abstract Background Intravenous lidocaine has shown promise as an effective analgesic in various clinical settings, but its utility for pain management in emergency departments, especially for bone fractures, remains relatively understudied. Objective This study compared intravenous lidocaine to pethidine for femoral bone fracture pain management. Methods This double-blind, randomized, controlled clinical trial was conducted in the emergency department of AJA University of Medical Sciences affiliated hospitals. Patients aged 18–70 years-old with femoral bone fracture and experiencing severe pain, defined as a numerical rating scale (NRS) of pain ≥ 7, were included in the study. One group received intravenous pethidine (25 mg), while the other group received intravenous lidocaine (3 mg/kg, not exceeding 200 mg), infused with 250 ml saline over 20 min. Pain levels were evaluated before treatment administration (0 min) and at 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, and 60 min after treatment administration using the NRS. Results Seventy-two patients were enrolled in the study. Demographic characteristics and pain scores were similar between the two groups. The mean pain scores upon arrival for the lidocaine and pethidine groups were 8.50 ± 1 and 8.0 ± 1, respectively; after one hour, they were 4.0 ± 1 and 4.0 ± 1, respectively. While there was a statistically significant reduction in pain in both groups after one hour, there were no clinically or statistically significant differences between the two groups (p = 0.262). Pethidine had a higher incidence of adverse events, though not statistically significant. Additionally, females required more rescue analgesics. Conclusion The administration of intravenous lidocaine is beneficial for managing pain in femoral bone fractures, suggesting that lidocaine could be a potent alternative to opioids. Trial Registration IRCT20231213060355N1 ( https://irct.behdasht.gov.ir/trial/74624 ) (30/12/2023).

Abstract The main focus of this study is the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 through virus-laden aerosols in enclosed spaces that utilize ceiling fans. The impact of an air circulation of ceiling fans on virus transmission is not clear. Computational modeling is employed to investigate aerosol transmission within an enclosed space that features ceiling fans. The aerosol concentration is modeled using a transport equation, and the probability of infection distribution across individuals’ breathing zones is assessed. The particle removal efficiency for two ceiling fan speeds of 10 and 35 rad/s is calculated to evaluate the effect of the ceiling fan’s shear flows on the spread of breathing aerosols. The simulated breathing aerosol considers various environmental situations, including thermal gradients, thermally active surface interaction, and deformability. The results indicate that increasing the ceiling fan speed within an enclosed space causes the aerosol cloud to circulate within the room rather than exiting it. Therefore, ceiling fans may not effectively suppress breathing aerosols and could increase transmissibility. Understanding aerosol behavior is essential in reducing the risk of SARS-CoV-2 transmission in enclosed spaces.

Nanorobots, also known as nanobots, are promising medical structures with significant potential for revolutionizing medical treatments and preventing their onset. Nanorobotics shows promise for diagnosing, treating, and regenerating age-related diseases. These tiny machines can repair cellular damage, deliver drugs, stimulate tissue regeneration, and monitor treatments. However, their application in controlling cellular aging is in its early stages, requiring more research to fully understand their potential and address safety concerns. Despite this, the benefits of nanorobots in age-related disease management justify further investigation. This narrative review article provides an overview of recent developments in nanorobotics, specifically focusing on its medical applications. PubMed and Google Scholar were utilized to conduct a comprehensive search using relevant keywords including "nanorobots", "cellular aging", "drug delivery systems", "cellular repair", "therapeutics", and "diagnosis". Only articles published between 2005-2023 were selected to support the arguments with up-to-date evidence. The extracted information includes nanorobot design, fabrication methods, applications, and key findings. A quality assessment was performed, and the data were categorized thematically to identify patterns and trends. The article concludes with an examination of the current state and future prospects of nanorobotics in different fields. Our research showed that nanorobots have significant potential in the diagnosis, treatment, and regenerative medicine of age-related diseases. They can detect and repair cellular damage caused by aging, targeting DNA damage and cellular protein misfolding. Nanorobots can also deliver drugs directly to affected areas, reducing side effects. Furthermore, they stimulate tissue regeneration and the growth of new blood vessels by delivering growth factors. Nanorobots can also monitor treatment effectiveness by measuring drug concentration in tumor cells. However, there are concerns about their safety in long-term use that require further research. Overall, nanorobots present an innovative approach to addressing cellular changes in aging, but more research is needed to understand their full potential and address safety concerns. The use of nanorobots in treating cellular aging has opened new possibilities in diagnosing and treating age-related diseases and it is a rapidly evolving field with the potential to revolutionize age-related disease treatment and improve the quality of life globally.

Extended Abstract Background: Salinity is one of the major abiotic stresses and the most limiting factor in agricultural production worldwide, affecting the growth, development, and final yields of crops. Rapeseed is one of the most important sources of oilseeds in the world, and its seeds contain more than 40% of oil. Moreover, the meal obtained from oil extraction has more than 35% protein, hence it currently ranks third among oil crops in the world after soybean and oil palm, making it necessary to identify the genotypes that tolerate salinity stress. The development and improvement of rapeseed cultivars with salinity tolerance and acclimation offer promising prospects for improving sustainable production in this area. Therefore, the current study aimed to investigate the responses of rapeseed genotypes to salinity stress through analyses of agronomic and biochemical traits. Methods: The genetic diversity between rapeseed lines in terms of agronomic, morphological, and physiological traits in saline soils was investigated in an experiment based on a randomized complete block design with 17 autumn rapeseed genotypes with three replicates in the research farm of East-Azarbaijan Agricultural and Natural Resources Research and Education Center. The measured traits were plant height, the number of fertile pods, number of seeds per pod, pod length, pod area, plant growth rate, 1000-seed weight (TSW), seed yield, oil content, and oil yield. The relationships between yield, yield components, and morphological traits were explored using the analysis of variance (ANOVA), comparison of averages, correlation analysis, cluster analysis, and biplot to understand the relative importance of traits affecting the yield of the studied genotypes. Results: The studied genotypes were significantly different from each other in pod length, pod area, number of fertile pods, number of seeds per pod, plant growth rate, seed oil percentage, plant height, TSW, grain yield, and oil yield. However, there were no significant differences between the studied genotypes in terms of harvest index and number of actual pods to potential pods. According to the mean comparisons, genotypes 5, 11, and 15 can be introduced as salinity-tolerant lines, and genotypes 2, 4, 6, 9, and 12 can be considered salinity-sensitive lines. According to the other traits, genotype 11 produced a high pod length, number of fertile pods, oil percentage, and oil yield, genotype 5 had a high growth rate and oil percentage, and genotype 15 presented a high height and number of fertile pods. According to the cluster analysis, the second and third groups contained tolerant and susceptible genotypes, respectively. The genotypes in the second group had the highest percentage of positive deviation from the overall mean for grain yield, plant height, harvest index, seed oil percentage, pod length, pod area, and number of fertile pods. Based on the biplot analysis, Karaj 8 and 14 genotypes had a strong relationship with the number of fertile pods, number of seeds per pod, pod length, pod area, and plant growth rate. Based on the obtained results, the plant height, TSW, seed yield, and oil content traits were closely correlated with Karaj 5, 7, 11, 10, and 15 genotypes. Based on the results of correlation analysis, the correlation coefficient of seed yield was positive and significant for three traits, i.e., plant height, oil percentage, and number of fertile pods, and the highest correlation coefficient (r = 0.879) was obtained for seed yield with seed oil percentage. Positive and significant correlations were measured for the number of seeds in pods with pod length (r = 0.699), pod area (r = 0.555), number of fertile pods (r = 0.678), and number of actual pods. Therefore, genotypes characterized by longer and more abundant pods play a crucial role in improving seed quantity, a key component of grain yield in saline environments. Consequently, the size and number of pods per plant serve as indicators of high-yield potential under such conditions. Based on the results of the principal component analysis (PCA), the first and second components had the highest relative variances, accounting for 44.66% and 31.22% of the total variance, respectively. Together, these two components accounted for 75.88% of the total variance. Factor loadings showed that traits such as number of fertile pods, seed yield, oil yield, and seed oil content had the highest factor loadings in the first component. Similarly, the plant growth rate had the highest factor load in the second component among all the studied traits. Cluster analysis divided the genotypes into four groups, and its dendrogram showed that all the studied genotypes were divided into four separate groups based on all the measured traits. The first group comprised three Karaj 1, 13, and 16 genotypes, the fourth group (like the first group) contained three Karaj 5, 11, and 15 genotypes, and the third group had five genotypes, namely Karaj 3, 7, 8, 10, and 14. The remaining genotypes were assigned to the second group. Conclusion: The results of the present study demonstrate acceptable genetic diversity among rapeseed genotypes in terms of the evaluated traits in saline lands. This shows the importance and the possibility of using these genetic resources to achieve promising and superior genotypes in breeding programs.

Abstract Aloe barbadensis is a drought-tolerant perennial medicinal plant with both nutritional and cosmetic uses. Drought is one of the main abiotic stresses limiting plant growth and development. However, the use of drought-resistant plants combined with beneficial soil micro-organisms could improve the effectiveness of biological methods to mitigate drought damage. This research aims to evaluate the effects of Funneliformis mosseae (MF), plant growth-promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) (including Pseudomonas putida and Pantoea agglomerans), and their co-inoculation on the macronutrient status, antioxidant enzyme activities, and other morphophysiological traits of A. barbadensis under four irrigation regimes [25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of water requirement (WR)]. Three harvests were conducted, revealing that inoculation enhanced the survival rate and shoot fresh weight (SFW) compared to the control plants. However, at 25% WR, the SFW was reduced by 43% more than the control. across all harvests, while the PGPR + MF treatment showed increases of more than 19%, 11%, and 17% compared to the control, MF, and PGPR treatments, respectively. The results also showed that A. barbadensis exhibited innate drought tolerance up to a 50% WR level by enhancing physiological defenses, such as antioxidant enzyme activity. Inoculation increased the macronutrient status of the plant at all levels of irrigation regimes especially under severe drought conditions. The highest levels of nitrogen (N) (16.24 mg g−1 DW) and phosphorus (P) (11.29 mg g−1 DW) were observed in the PGPR + MF treatment at 100% WR. The maximum relative water content under MF inoculation and 75% WR (98.24%) (98.24%) was reached. PGPR + MF treatment alleviated drought-induced osmotic stress, as indicated by reduced antioxidant enzyme activities and electrolyte leakage. However, P. putida and P. agglomerans strains alone or in combination with F. mosseae increased plant yield, macronutrient uptake and antioxidant enzyme activity. This study underscores the potential of these PGPR and MF strains as invaluable biological tools for the cultivation of A. barbadensis in regions with severe drought stress.

Due to the vital importance of the lungs, lung-related diseases and their control are very important. Severe inflammatory responses mediated by immune cells were among the leading causes of lung tissue pathology and damage during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, uncontrolled immune cell responses can lead to lung tissue damage in other infectious and non-infectious diseases. It is essential to control immune responses in a way that leads to homeostasis. Immunosuppressive drugs only suppress inflammatory responses and do not affect the homeostasis of reactions. The therapeutic application of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), in addition to restoring immune homeostasis, can promote the regeneration of lung tissue through the production of growth factors and differentiation into lung-related cells. However, the communication between MSCs and immune cells after treatment of pulmonary diseases is essential, and investigating this can help develop a clinical perspective. Different studies in the clinical phase showed that MSCs can reverse fibrosis, increase regeneration, promote airway remodeling, and reduce damage to lung tissue. The proliferation and differentiation potential of MSCs is one of the mechanisms of their therapeutic effects. Furthermore, they can secrete exosomes that affect the function of lung cells and immune cells and change their function. Another important mechanism is that MSCs reduce harmful inflammatory responses through communication with innate and adaptive immune cells, which leads to a shift of the immune system toward regulatory and hemostatic responses.

Abstract Aim The present study aimed to assess professional autonomy among clinical nurses and identify its predictors using a native and contemporary tool, which is in line with the recent advancement in nursing professionalism in Iran. Design The study used an analytical cross‐sectional design. Methods A total of 1601 nurses working in medical centres nationwide under the Ministry of Health participated in the study. The research instrument consisted of two parts, including individual and organizational characteristics and a questionnaire on clinical nurses' professional autonomy. Data analysis involved descriptive and inferential statistics as well as multiple logistic regression analysis using SPSS software. Results The results indicated that the total professional autonomy score among clinical nurses was 75.86 ± 12.03, with the majority (n = 1262, 78.9%) reporting high professional autonomy. Multiple logistic regression analysis revealed that nurses with 5–15 years of experience had 1.82 times higher odds (95% confidence interval: 2.47–1.35) of having high professional autonomy compared to those with less than 5 years of experience. Similarly, nurses with over 15 years of experience had 2.25 times higher odds (95% confidence interval: 1.56–3.26). Head nurses had 4.56 times higher odds (95% confidence interval: 2.60–7.99) of having high professional autonomy compared to clinical nurses. Conclusion Educational interventions to enhance the professional autonomy of less experienced nurses, with more experienced nurses serving as role models, are recommended. Additionally, measures such as supporting nurses, providing effective communication training and empowering nurses are essential to promote professional mutual respect among nurses. No Patient or Public Contribution This study explored professional autonomy in clinical nurses in Iran. No patient or public contribution was investigated.

Background: Teaching and professional development is one of the vital components in the educational process. The present study aimed to design a mentoring model to train newly recruited teachers to improve their quality of life and mental health. Methods: This explanatory and sequential study was conducted in the education organization of Gilan province in two qualitative and quantitative sections. In the qualitative section of the exploratory method, semi-structured interviews were conducted using purposeful sampling. Teachers with more than 20 years of experience, retired, clerics with more than 20 years of experience, senior managers, and newly recruited teachers were included in the study. Sampling continued until reaching a theoretical saturation (23 people). The statistical population in the quantitative stage included 265 people selected by stratified sampling. In the quantitative section, confirmatory factor analysis and LISREL software were used. Results: The thematic analysis method was used to analyze the interviews and qualitative results were designed as a thematic network, a global theme, 8 organizing themes, and 43 basic themes. The organizing themes included the human elements of mentoring, educational, Islamic, structural, social, research, and mental health. In this section, the fit indices indicate the validity of an effective communication model with a mentoring approach, which was associated with improving teachers' quality of life and mental health. Conclusion: Human elements of mentoring, educational, structural, social, and research are crucial in mentoring newly recruited teachers. Thus, executives and relevant respondents should focus exclusively on implementing the research model.

Background: Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a pulmonary vascular disease characterized by elevated pulmonary vascular pressure. Long-term PH, irrespective of its etiology, leads to increased right ventricular (RV) pressure, RV hypertrophy, and ultimately, RV failure. Main body: Research indicates that RV failure secondary to hypertrophy remains the primary cause of mortality in pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH). However, the impact of PH on RV structure and function under increased overload remains incompletely understood. Several mechanisms have been proposed, including extracellular remodeling, RV hypertrophy, metabolic disturbances, inflammation, apoptosis, autophagy, endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition, neurohormonal dysregulation, capillary rarefaction, and ischemia. Conclusions: Studies have demonstrated the significant role of oxidative stress in the development of RV failure. Understanding the interplay among these mechanisms is crucial for the prevention and management of RV failure in patients with PH.

Background and Aim: Gastric carcinoma (GC) is one of the most common human cancers. Many genes have been analyzed in an attempt to better understand the process of gastric carcinogenesis, however, the underlying mechanism of gastric carcinogenesis is still poorly understood. Dermatopontin (DPT) is an extracellular matrix protein, which regulates multiple physiological processes. The present study aimed to evaluate DPT gene expression in GC. Materials and Methods: Biopsies of 50 surgically-excised GC tissue specimens and corresponding adjacent normal tissues were examined by real-time PCR. Then, using a bioinformatics analysis we determined DPT gene expression in two different cohorts of GC patients. To determine the effect of DPT expression levels on survival outcome, a Kaplan–Meier analysis was performed. For a comprehensive analysis, DPT gene expression was evaluated in 16 different cancers. Results: RT-PCR demonstrated that DPT gene expression was decreased in gastric cancer tissues, compared to that in the normal stomach tissues. Mean DPT expression value was significantly lower in different stages of GC. Further, survival analysis revealed that the mRNA expression of DPT is positively correlated with overall survival of GC patients. A relationship was found between DPT expression and primary size of tumor. Pan-cancer analysis in 16 tumor types showed that DPT expression was lower in tumor tissue than in the adjacent normal tissue. Conclusion: These findings suggested that the decrease in DPT gene expression in gastric tissue may play an important role in gastric carcinogenesis.

Over recent decades, there has been a documented rise in natural organic matter (NOM) levels in surface waters globally, adversely affecting drinking water treatment processes. This study is focused on employing adsorption techniques to explore the removal of proteinaceous NOM from an aqueous solution. A chitosan/polyacrylamide (chitosan/PAM) hydrogel was synthesized through a multi-step procedure involving chitosan and acrylamide solutions preparation, polymerization initiation, mixing, gelation, purification, and drying. The Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) techniques were employed to characterize the synthesized chitosan/PAM hydrogel, examining its structural and morphological features. Adsorption experiments were conducted to assess performance of chitosan/PAM hydrogel adsorbent for the removal of bovine serum albumin (BSA) from aqueous solutions. Various physical parameters including temperature, time, pH, initial BSA concentration, and adsorbent dosage were examined in batch experiments. The adsorption capacity of chitosan/PAM hydrogel for BSA and removal percent of BSA was found 617 mg/g and 77.2 % at 6 h under optimum conditions (T= 25ºC and pH=7) with kinetic studies indicating a best fit with the pseudo-1st-order model. Isotherm studies demonstrated that the Temkin isotherm model best fitted with experimental BSA adsorption data (R2 > 0.99). The findings underscore the efficacy of the developed adsorbent in efficiently removing natural proteins. Furthermore, the experimental results indicate that the adsorption capacity of the chitosan/PAM hydrogel augmented with rising temperature and initial BSA concentration.

The toponyms used to name a large area in ​​the western half of Iran, from the fall of the Sassanids to the rise of the Safavids, experienced many changes in the social and political-administrative arena, and were reflected in different ways in the writings produced at this point. In Islamic historiography, these toponyms were also used alternately, and historians used them to address the geographical area they were considering. The main question of the upcoming research is how the names Jebal, Qohestan and Iraq-e Ajam appeared in various historians' writings and how they were used. The research approach of this article is based on thick description. The research findings indicate that in the opinion of Islamic historians, Jebal (approximately) was used as a common toponym for a wide area in ​​the western half of Iran in the third century. Gradually and without having a specific definition and limitation, it became popular in all kinds of historical writings and replaced the ancient toponyms of the region such as Mah and Pahle, but in the next century, due to the political developments in the region and the importance of some cities such as Ray and Isfahan, the city became central to the attitude of many Historians prevailed and did not allow Jebal to spread as a common toponym. Also, the name Qohestan, which was the Persian translation of Jebal, became popular in Persian writings at this time and added to the confusion. In the sixth century, the toponym of Iraq-e Ajam, gradually made its way in the writings of historians; But due to the flourishing of general historiography in the 8th and 9th centuries of Hijri, which were provided based on the sources of the third to the sixth century of Hijri, the toponyms of Jebal and Qohestan, while they were almost forgotten in the social and political-administrative arena, also came to life in the writings of Persian historians. They continued, of course, the historians of Egypt and the Levant were largely left out of this mess.

Aim and Background: Research has shown that stuttering has a negative impact on a person's overall vitality and emotional, social, and psychological health, potentially leading to a reduction in the quality of life of adults who stutter; So, the present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effect of cognitive behavioral therapy based on mindfulness on social anxiety, self-efficacy and quality of life of adults with stuttering with a psycholinguistic approach. Methods and Materials: The research method was semi-experimental with a pre-test-post-test design with a control group. The statistical population of the study included all adult men with stuttering who referred to psychological clinics in Mashhad in 1402. Among these people, 30 people were selected by available sampling and according to the entry and exit criteria. In addition, they were randomly divided into two experimental and control groups (15 people in each group). participants in the pre-test and post-test stages of social anxiety scales; World Health Organization quality of life short form; They completed the self-efficacy questionnaire. The experimental group received the cognitive behavioral therapy program based on mindfulness in 8 sessions of 90 minutes, and the control group was subjected to regular daily training. Data analysis was done using SPSS-24 software and multivariate analysis of covariance test, following statistical assumptions. Findings: The results showed that training based on cognitive behavioral therapy based on mindfulness is significantly effective on social anxiety, self-efficacy and quality of life of adults with stuttering (P

Introduction: Vesiculobullous disorders are a group of autoimmune diseases manifesting as chronic ulcers in the oral cavity. Ocular involvement may accompany oral ulcers and cause various problems for patients. This review summarizes the data regarding ocular involvement in patients with oral vesiculobullous. Methods: Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed/MEDLINE, and Embase electronic databases were searched according to related keywords. Finally, 58 articles were included, all of which were case reports or series. Characteristics such as the age and sex of patients, location and type of oral lesion, type of ophthalmic injury, the interval between oral and ocular lesion, and treatment of oral and ocular disorders were summarized in tables. Results: Eye involvement was 1.6 times more prevalent in women, and most patients were between 30 and 60 years old (67.4 %). Pemphigus vulgaris accounted for almost half of the cases (48.4 %), though lichen planus is more prevalent in the general population. The most frequently affected oral site was the buccal mucosa (17.5 %), and oral ulcers usually presented as erythema, erosion, or inflammation (22.7 %). Conjunctivitis was the most common type of eye involvement (18.4 %), and ophthalmic lesions regularly appeared 12–60 months after the development of oral lesions (30.1 %). Blindness was reported in only one case. Corticosteroids and immunosuppressives were the most frequent oral and ocular lesion therapies. Conclusion: Considering the serious burdens of any ocular injury, monitoring the ocular health of patients with oral vesiculobullous diseases is highly recommended in high-risk cases, especially middle-aged women with oral pemphigus vulgaris.

This study investigated the effect of various layer arrangements and their impact on the properties of laminated veneer lumber (LVL). Seven different layer arrangements (CCCCCCC, DDDDDDD, PPPPPPP, CDDDDDC, CPPPPPC, CDDCDDC, CPPCPPC, CDCDCDC, CPCPCPC, CCDDDCC, CCPPPCC, CCDCDCC, and CCPCPCC) were used in the manufacturing of the LVL, with each arrangement represented by a combination of the three wood species: hornbeam (C), paulownia (P), and poplar (D). The veneers were bonded with a polyurethane adhesive and pressed under 1 MPa pressure. The physical and mechanical properties of the laminated veneer lumber, including modulus of rupture, modulus of elasticity, block shear, delamination, and swelling, were measured under both dry and cyclic conditions (boil and dry). The modulus of rupture and modulus of elasticity of the LVLs increased when the proportion of hornbeam in the lamination increased. In the cyclic boil-dry condition, the laminated veneer lumbers with the configurations CPCPCPC and CDCDCDC showed the best structural performance. Furthermore, the study found that when one or two upper layers of poplar and paulownia were replaced with hornbeam layers, cracks were observed in the laminated veneer lumber samples. However, when the layers of poplar and paulownia were replaced with hornbeam alternately, no cracks were observed after saturating the laminated veneer lumber with water. The utilization of an alternating arrangement of poplar and paulownia layers with hornbeam in LVL can be used as an effective and cost-efficient approach for enhancing and reinforcing the LVL performance.

Background. Clinical environments create unpredictable conditions that affect the professional excellence of learners. This study aimed to explore and elucidate the lived experiences of clinical lecturers in creating a supportive learning environment necessary for developing the professional identity of medical students. Methods. To conduct this qualitative study, a conventional content analysis approach was adopted. The data were collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with clinical instructors and students of medical sciences, which continued until data saturation was reached. Four criteria of credibility, confirmability, dependability, and transferability were adopted to maintain the study's trustworthiness, and MAXQDA 10 software was used for data management. The interviews were analyzed employing the content analysis method. Results. Three themes were extracted and listed under the headings of "Clinical Professor as an architect of a learning environment", "creating a supportive atmosphere", and "a holistic view of the education process and students' needs" based on the results from the interview analyses. Conclusion. Clinical educators may pay special attention to the students' needs and provide them with appropriate learning opportunities to shape their professional identity, show their respect for professional values by creating a supportive atmosphere, concentrate their attention on different human dimensions, and show their respect for the principles of conduct and professional obligations. Clinical educators, as professional advisors and role models, may have also helped the students improve their metacognitive skills and enhance their professional competence.

Abstract The cGAS-STING pathway plays a crucial role in anti-tumoral responses by activating inflammation and reprogramming the tumour microenvironment. Upon activation, STING traffics from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to Golgi, allowing signalling complex assembly and induction of interferon and inflammatory cytokines. Here we report that cGAMP stimulation leads to a transient decline in ER cholesterol levels, mediated by Sterol O-Acyltransferase 1-dependent cholesterol esterification. This facilitates ER membrane curvature and STING trafficking to Golgi. Notably, we identify two cholesterol-binding motifs in STING and confirm their contribution to ER-retention of STING. Consequently, depletion of intracellular cholesterol levels enhances STING pathway activation upon cGAMP stimulation. In a preclinical tumour model, intratumorally administered cholesterol depletion therapy potentiated STING-dependent anti-tumoral responses, which, in combination with anti-PD-1 antibodies, promoted tumour remission. Collectively, we demonstrate that ER cholesterol sets a threshold for STING signalling through cholesterol-binding motifs in STING and we propose that this could be exploited for cancer immunotherapy.

Abstract Mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSCs) are used in many studies due to their therapeutic potential, including their differentiative ability and immunomodulatory properties. These cells perform their therapeutic functions by using various mechanisms, such as the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines, growth factors, direct cell-to-cell contact, extracellular vesicles (EVs) production, and mitochondrial transfer. However, mechanisms related to immune checkpoints (ICPs) and their effect on the immunomodulatory ability of MSCs are less discussed. The main function of ICPs is to prevent the initiation of unwanted responses and to regulate the immune system responses to maintain the homeostasis of these responses. ICPs are produced by various types of immune system regulatory cells, and defects in their expression and function may be associated with excessive responses that can ultimately lead to autoimmunity. Also, by expressing different types of ICPs and their ligands (ICPLs), tumor cells prevent the formation and durability of immune responses, which leads to tumors' immune escape. ICPs and ICPLs can be produced by MSCs and affect immune cell responses both through their secretion into the microenvironment or direct cell-to-cell interaction. Pre-treatment of MSCs in inflammatory conditions leads to an increase in their therapeutic potential. In addition to the effect that inflammatory environments have on the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines by MSCs, they can increase the expression of various types of ICPLs. In this review, we discuss different types of ICPLs and ICPs expressed by MSCs and their effect on their immunomodulatory and therapeutic potential.

Purpose – This study aims to identify the ability of gold and cryptocurrency (Cryptocurrency Uncertainty Index (UCRY) Price) as safe haven assets (SHA) for stocks and bonds in both conventional (i.e. stock indices and government bonds) and Islamic markets (i.e. Islamic stock indices and Islamic bonds (IB)). Design/methodology/approach – The authors employed the nonadditive panel quantile regression model by Powell (2016). It measured the safe haven characteristics of gold and UCRY Price for stock indices, government bonds, Islamic stocks, and IB under gold circumstances and level of cryptocurrency uncertainty, respectively. The period spanned from 11 March 2020 to 31 December 2021. Findings – This study discovered three findings, including: (1) gold is a strong safe haven for stocks and bonds in conventional and Islamic markets under bearish conditions; (2) UCRY Price is a strong safe haven for conventional stocks and bonds but only a weak safe haven for Islamic stocks under high crypto uncertainty; and (3) gold offers a safe haven in both emerging and developed countries, while UCRY Price provides a better safe haven in developed than in emerging countries. Practical implications – Gold always wins big for safe haven properties during unstable economy. It can also win over investors who consider shariah compliant products. Therefore, it should be included in an investor's portfolio. Meanwhile, cryptocurrencies are more common for developed countries. Thus, the governments and regulators of emerging countries need to provide more guidance around cryptocurrency so that the societies have better literacy. On top of that, the investors can consider crypto to mitigate risks but with limited safe haven functions. Originality/value – The originality aspects of this study include: (1) four chosen assets from conventional and Islamic markets altogether (i.e. stock indices, government bonds, Islamic stock indices and IB); (2) indicator countries selected based on the most used and owned cryptocurrencies for the SHA study; and (3) the utilization of UCRY Price as a crypto indicator and a further examination of the SHA study toward four financial assets.

This study investigated the effect of various layer arrangements and their impact on the properties of laminated veneer lumber (LVL). Seven different layer arrangements (CCCCCCC, DDDDDDD, PPPPPPP, CDDDDDC, CPPPPPC, CDDCDDC, CPPCPPC, CDCDCDC, CPCPCPC, CCDDDCC, CCPPPCC, CCDCDCC, and CCPCPCC) were used in the manufacturing of the LVL, with each arrangement represented by a combination of the three wood species: hornbeam (C), paulownia (P), and poplar (D). The veneers were bonded with a polyurethane adhesive and pressed under 1 MPa pressure. The physical and mechanical properties of the laminated veneer lumber, including modulus of rupture, modulus of elasticity, block shear, delamination, and swelling, were measured under both dry and cyclic conditions (boil and dry). The modulus of rupture and modulus of elasticity of the LVLs increased when the proportion of hornbeam in the lamination increased. In the cyclic boil-dry condition, the laminated veneer lumbers with the configurations CPCPCPC and CDCDCDC showed the best structural performance. Furthermore, the study found that when one or two upper layers of poplar and paulownia were replaced with hornbeam layers, cracks were observed in the laminated veneer lumber samples. However, when the layers of poplar and paulownia were replaced with hornbeam alternately, no cracks were observed after saturating the laminated veneer lumber with water. The utilization of an alternating arrangement of poplar and paulownia layers with hornbeam in LVL can be used as an effective and cost-efficient approach for enhancing and reinforcing the LVL performance.

We aimed to assess the impact of hospital characteristics on the outcomes of detected possible brain-dead donors, in our organ procurement network in Iran. Data was collected through twice-daily calls with 57 hospitals’ intensive care units and emergency departments over 1 year. The donation team got involved when there was suspicion of brain death before the hospital officially declared it. The data was categorized by hospital size, presence of neurosurgery/trauma departments, ownership, and referral site. Out of 813 possible donors, 315 were declared brain dead, and 203 were eligible for donation. After conducting family interviews (consent rate: 62.2%), 102 eligible donors became actual donors (conversion rate: 50.2%). While hospital ownership and the presence of trauma/neurosurgery care did not affect donation, early referral from the emergency department had a positive effect. Therefore, we strongly recommend prioritizing possible donor identification in emergency rooms and involving the organ donation team as early as possible. The use of twice-daily calls for donor identification likely contributed to the consistency in donation rates across hospitals, as this approach involves the donation team earlier and mitigates the impact of hospital characteristics. Early detection of possible donors from the emergency department is crucial in improving donation rates.

The main concerns for agricultural production nowadays are excessive crop cultivation, water scarcity, and poor soil quality. It is possible to amend agronomic soil with activated biochar (BC) to achieve high water-fertilizer availability and Camelina crop production under rainfed conditions by using an efficient and environmentally safe technology. A split plot experiment was arranged on a randomized complete block design with nine treatments and three replications. The main and second factors were supplementary irrigation (SI) and BC, respectively, with SI comprising of no irrigation (control), irrigation at the flowering stage and seed-filling stage, while BC included control (BC0), 5 (BC5), and 10 (BC10) t ha−1. The number of lateral branches and seeds in the silique, seed yield (2751.8 kg ha−1), 1000-seed weight (1.16 g) and oil yield (991.50 kg ha−1) were highest in response to irrigation at the flowering stage and the application of BC10. The gas chromatography analysis showed that the highest amount of unsaturated fatty acids (oleic, linoleic, linolenic, eicosadienoic and palmitic acids) was obtained in response to BC10 and irrigation at the seed-filling stage. Finally, the results showed that BC10 and the application of SI at the flowering stage increased the seed and oil yield, and unsaturated fatty acid content in Camelina. This study demonstrates that BC amendments can improve plant performance and preserve the environment, with significant implications for the alleviation of drought and sustainable Camelina production in arid regions. The study provides a practical way to produce Camelina in rainfed areas, which can benefit farmers economically.

Introduction: A sialolith is a salivary stone usually presenting with swelling and pain in the affected salivary gland, most commonly the submandibular gland. There have been speculations about the association between this condition and other systemic diseases, especially those forming stones, such as nephrolithiasis and cholelithiasis. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to summarize the studies assessing the relationship between cholelithiasis and sialolithiasis. Methods: PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and Embase electronic databases were searched according to the keywords related to both disorders without any publication date or language restriction. Case-control and cohort studies evaluating the relationship between salivary and biliary stones were considered eligible. Quality assessment was performed following Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) for quality assessment of case-control studies. All meta and statistical analyses were performed with Comprehensive Meta-Analysis software. Results: Two studies fully complied with the defined eligibility criteria and were included, both of which were case-control studies using national-scale databases. In both surveys, the prevalence of previous gallstones in patients with sialolithiasis was compared to that of a control group. Though one of the studies found that there is no relationship between sialolithiasis and cholelithiasis, the meta-analysis revealed that previous cholelithiasis is significantly more prevalent among patients with sialolithiasis (P = 0.000), with an odds ratio of 2.04. Conclusion: It seems that cholelithiasis is significantly associated with an increase in salivary stone formation. Therefore, a thorough salivary examination in all patients declaring current or past cholelithiasis is recommended. However, more studies, especially prospective cohorts, are needed to make firmer conclusions.

These days, extracting information from remote sensing data has a great impact on various aspects of our lives, such as infrastructure and urban planning, transportation and traffic management, forecasting and tracking natural disasters, searching for mineral resources, monitoring environmental changes, and numerous other fields. One crucial application is extracting accurate road information from aerial images, which has many practical applications ranging from our daily lives to long-term planning for transportation systems to autonomous vehicles. Deep learning models have shown great promise in image-processing tasks, specifically in accurately detecting and extracting roads from aerial images. In this study, various techniques were employed to achieve the desired performance. The model is a UNet assisted with attention blocks in the decoder part and trained with a patched, rotated, and augmented dataset that has been extracted from the DeepGlobe dataset. The preprocessing of the dataset included image and mask patching, rotation, exclusion of background-only images, and excluding images with very little road surface. Both patching and background exclusion in preprocessing as hard attention and attention blocks in the model as soft attention were deployed in order to tackle the inherently biased nature of the dataset. This combination of different techniques empowers the proposed model for superior remote sensing image segmentation performance with an accuracy level of 98.33%. In addition to achieve better performance by the model, another objective is to find the issues that cause the model's performance degradation on some image samples. Therefore, a comprehensive analysis of metrics, with a focus on precision and recall as proper metrics for biased dataset analysis, was conducted to identify potential shortcomings in the model or the dataset, and based on the result, several proposals for future work and further investigations were formulated.

Abstract Lentils are a significant source of plant protein and are cultivated across Asia, Europe, and North Africa. Plants are subjected to various environmental stresses, which can hinder growth, yield, and productivity. 5-aminolevulinic acid (ALA) is a compound that acts as a precursor in the biosynthesis of tetrapyrroles and can increase plant tolerance to different abiotic stressors. However, the effects of exogenously applied ALA on lentil growth, yield, and physiological parameters under rain-fed and supplemental irrigation conditions are not well-known. In this study, a split plot experiment was conducted to investigate the impact of ALA foliar application and supplemental irrigation on lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.). The experiment was designed based on a randomized complete block with three replications. The main plot included four levels of supplemental irrigation [(supplementary irrigation in the flowering and early seed-filling stages, supplementary irrigation in the flowering stage, supplementary irrigation in the early seed-filling along with rain-fed conditions (no irrigation)]. The subplot considered foliar application of ALA at varying levels [(0 (control), 50 and 100 ppm)]. The results showed that water regimes and foliar spray with ALA significantly (P ˂ 0.01) affected plant height, number of pods per plant, pod weight, number of seeds per pod and weight of 1000 seeds, biological yield, seed yield, and harvest index. The highest total chlorophyll content was observed in plants that were subjected to supplementary irrigation in flowering and early seed filling stages and foliar sprayed with 100 ppm ALA. The study also found that exogenous ALA improved drought tolerance in lentil plants under rain-fed conditions mainly by regulating antioxidant enzymes, which ultimately protected the cellular membranes against overproduction of H2O2. Furthermore, ALA application increased total carbohydrate contents at all supplemental irrigation levels, but the rate was higher in complementary irrigation conditions during flowering and early seed-filling stages. Malondialdehyde (MDA), H2O2, and proline contents were increased in field-grown plants under rain-fed conditions without exogenous ALA application. In conclusion, this study sheds light on the effects of ALA foliar spray and supplemental irrigation on lentil growth, yield, and physiological parameters. The findings suggest that exogenous ALA can improve plant tolerance to various abiotic stressors and enhance plant growth, yield, and physiological parameters.

The issue of women's political participation in developing countries is a complex phenomenon and is related to the dynamics and development of political systems. The purpose of this research is to understand and analyze the situation of women's political participation, which was done with qualitative methodology and Grounded theory method. For this purpose, in-depth and semi-structured interviews were conducted with seventeen women living in Tehran who were selected by purposeful sampling and a combination of snowball strategies and maximum changes. After data analysis, 85 primary codes, seven core categories, and one core category were extracted through the data coding system: Causal conditions (economic issues and challenges, egalitarian governance), background conditions (unequal political structure and patriarchal challenges), intervening conditions (personal-spiritual factors), strategies (merits and creating a platform for prosperity), and consequences (active political activism of women and rejection of passivity) political). Also, "women's political participation; Meaningful and multifaceted action" was counted as the core category and finally the paradigm model extracted from the data was established. The findings indicate that women are active actors and activists in political participation and take actions based on political issues; An action of the type of participation that identifies the obstacles and facilitating factors can open the way for their active political participation as effective citizens in the field of politics.

Abstract Among the metals contaminants, cadmium (Cd) is one of the most toxic elements in cultivated soils, causing loss of yield and productivity in plants. Recently, nanomaterials have been shown to mitigate the negative consequences of environmental stresses in different plants. However, little is known about foliar application of titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) to alleviate Cd stress in medicinal plants, and their dual interactions on essential oil production. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of foliar-applied TiO2 NPs on growth, Cd uptake, chlorophyll fluorescence, photosynthetic pigments, malondialdehyde (MDA) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) contents, total phenols, anthocyanins, flavonoids, antioxidant enzymes (SOD, CAT and POD) activity and essential oil content of Mentha piperita L. (peppermint) under Cd stress. For this purpose, plants were grown in Cd-contaminated (0, 20, 40, and 60 mg L−1) soil, and different concentrations of TiO2 NPs (0, 75, and 150 mg L−1) were foliar sprayed at three times after full establishment until the beginning of flowering. Exposure to TiO2 NPs significantly (P

Recently, the demand for organ transplantation has promptly increased due to the enhanced incidence of body organ failure, the increasing efficiency of transplantation, and the improvement in post-transplant outcomes. However, due to a lack of suitable organs for transplantation to fulfill current demand, significant organ shortage problems have emerged. Developing efficient technologies in combination with tissue engineering (TE) has opened new ways of producing engineered tissue substitutes. The use of natural nanoparticles (NPs) such as nanocellulose (NC) and nano-lignin should be used as suitable candidates in TE due to their desirable properties. Many studies have used these components to form scaffolds and three-dimensional (3D) cultures of cells derived from different tissues for tissue repair.Interestingly, these natural NPs can afford scaffolds a degree of control over their characteristics, such as modifying their mechanical strength and distributing bioactive compounds in a controlled manner. These bionanomaterials are produced from various sources and are highly compatible with human-derived cells as they are derived from natural components. In this review, we discuss some new studies in this field. This review summarizes the scaffolds based on NC, counting nanocrystalline cellulose and nanofibrillated cellulose. Also, the efficient approaches that can extract cellulose with high purity and increased safety are discussed. We concentrate on the most recent research on the use of NC-based scaffolds for the restoration, enhancement, or replacement of injured organs and tissues, such as cartilage, skin, arteries, brain, and bone. Finally, we suggest the experiments and promises of NC-based TE scaffolds.

Guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba L.), a summer legume, is becoming increasingly important as an industrial crop due to its high gum and viscosity content. This study investigated the effects of methyl jasmonate (MeJA), chitosan (CH), and their combination on the growth, yield, and quality of guar under irrigation regimes. A greenhouse experiment was conducted using a factorial design to evaluate the effect of foliar spraying with MeJA (5, 25, and 50 µM), CH (100, 150, and 200 mg/L), their combination (25 µM MeJA + 150 mg/L CH), and control on two commercial guar varieties (RGC-986 and BR-2017) under different irrigation regimes (100%, 70%, and 40% field capacity). The results showed that the exogenous application of MeJA and CH, individually and in combination, significantly enhanced various morphological traits and yield components in guar, including plant height, pod characteristics, seed yield, and root development. Additionally, the combination treatments improved seed quality parameters, such as gum percentage and viscosity content. Leaf analysis revealed increased levels of total phenolic content, total flavonoid, and anthocyanin contents. The BR-2017 variety showed superior performance in most morphological and qualitative traits, demonstrating greater resistance to irrigation regimes. It maintained yield and quality characteristics under water-deficit conditions, particularly when treated with 25 µM MeJA and 150 mg/L CH. The highest gum percentage (33.67%) and viscosity (4768.5 cP) were observed in the RGC-986 variety, along with enhanced levels of secondary metabolites. This study provides new insights into how MeJA, CH, and their combination can improve the yield and quality of guar under water deficit stress conditions. The results suggest that the use of these elicitors, especially in combination, represents an innovative strategy for improving guar production and quality, with potential variety-specific responses to water-deficit stress.

Background: Interleukin-18 (IL-18) is recognized for its pro-inflammatory properties and plays a central role in the progression of rheumatoid arthritis (RA). The specific single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), rs1946518 (-607C>A) and rs187238 (-137G>C), that are found in the IL-18 promoter region can potentially impact the expression of the IL-18 gene. This study aimed to investigate the correlation between these two polymorphisms and RA in the Iranian population. Materials and Methods: In this study, we conducted a case–control analysis with a total of 275 subjects consisting of 135 patients with RA and 140 controls. The high-resolution melting (HRM) method, performed through real-time polymerase chain reaction, was utilized for genotyping these polymorphisms. Results: Regarding the rs1946518 polymorphism, the frequency of AA and CA genotypes and allele A was significantly greater in the control group compared to the RA group (AA vs CC; OR: 0.42; 95%CI [0.198-0.872], CA vs CC; OR: 0.57; 95%CI [0.324-1.001], A vs C; OR: 0.58; 95%CI [0.401-0.836] (P < 0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the frequency of genotypes and allele frequencies between the control and patient groups in terms of the rs187238 polymorphism (P > 0.05). The level of both the C-reactive protein (CRP) and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was notably elevated in the patient group with CC genotype in rs1946518 (P < 0.05). Conclusion: In the rs1946518 polymorphism, the AA and AC genotypes and the A allele demonstrated protective effects in RA. Besides, the CC genotype was associated with some laboratory characteristics in the RA group.

Ziziphora clinopodioides L. is a valuable medicinal and aromatic plant; however, its special requirements for proper growth and enhanced secondary metabolite composition have limited its production and availability. The lack of appropriate fertilizer dosage recommendations is one of these limiting factors for ex situ conservation and large-scale cultivation. This study investigated the effects of nitrogen (N) fertilization on Z. clinopodioides in both open field and unheated greenhouse conditions. The determined research factor was N dosage (0, 40, 80, and 120 kg N ha−1 in the field) and (0, 200, 400, and 600 mg N pot−1 in the greenhouse). It was found that Z. clinopodioides plants could grow successfully outside their natural habitat with sufficient N fertilization yielding a satisfactory amount of metabolites per plantation area. Specifically, among the tested dosages, the 120 kg N ha−1 (which showed no significant difference from 80 kg N ha−1) and 400 mg N pot−1 fertilizers increased the aboveground dry and fresh biomass, essential oil (EO) content, and yield. Nitrogen fertilization showed a direct correlation with menthone, neo-menthol, menthol, pulegone, E-ocimenone, and spathulenol, but a negative correlation with α-pinene, β-pinene, limonene, 1,8-cineol, trans-pulegol, and iso-menthone. This study is the first to evaluate the effects of N fertilization on the genus Ziziphora. The results indicate that utilizing N fertilizer at a moderate rate (80 kg N ha−1 in the field and 400 mg N pot−1 in the greenhouse) can improve the agronomic traits and EO of Z. clinopodioides.

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a chronic inflammatory process in the airways that results in airflow obstruction. It is mainly linked to cigarette smoke exposure. Th17 cells have a role in the pathogenesis of COPD by secreting pro-inflammatory cytokines, which cause hyperinflammation and progression of the disease.This study aimed to assess the potential therapeutic effects of nanocurcumin on the Th17 cell frequency and its responses in moderate and severe COPD patients. This study included 20 patients with severe COPD hospitalized in an intensive care unit (ICU) and 20 patients with moderate COPD. Th17 cell frequency, Th17-related factors gene expression (RAR-related orphan receptor t (RORγt), IL-17, IL-21, IL-23, and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor), and serum levels of Th17-related cytokines were assessed before and after treatment in both placebo and nanocurcumin-treated groups using flow cytometry, real-time PCR, and ELISA, respectively.According to our findings, in moderate and severe nanocurcumin-treated COPD patients, there was a substantial reduction in the frequency of Th17 cells, mRNA expression, and cytokines secretion level of Th17-related factors compared to the placebo group. Furthermore, after treatment, the metrics mentioned above were considerably lower in the nanocurcumin-treated group compared to before treatment.Nanocurcumin has been shown to decrease the number of Th17 cells and their related inflammatory cytokines in moderate and severe COPD patients. As a result, it might be used as an immune-modulatory agent to alleviate the patient's inflammatory state.

Lymphoid organs are the main structural components of the immune system. In the current research, the mixture of poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA), polycaprolactone (PCL), and M13 phage or its RGD-modified form was used in the construction of a fibrillar scaffold using the electrospinning method. The constructs were transplanted intra-abdominally and examined for the formation of lymphoid-like tissues at different time intervals. The confocal and scanning electron microscopy demonstrate that M13 phage-containing scaffolds provide a suitable environment for lymph node-isolated fibroblasts. Morphological analysis demonstrate the formation of lymph node-like tissues in the M13 phage-containing scaffolds after transplantation. Histological analysis confirm both blood and lymph angiogenesis in the implanted construct and migration of inflammatory cells to the M13 phage-containing scaffolds. In addition, flow cytometry and immunohistochemistry analysis showed the homing and compartmentalization of dendritic cells (DCs), B and T lymphocytes within the PLGA/PCL/M13 phage-RGD based scaffolds and similar to what is seen in the mouse lymphoid tissues. It seems that the application of M13 phage could improve the generation of functional lymphoid tissues in the electrospun scaffolds and could be used for lymphoid tissue regeneration.

Background: Surgeon visual estimation of shoulder range of motion (ROM) is commonplace in the outpatient office setting and routinely reported in clinical research, but the reliability and accuracy of this practice remain unclear. The purpose of this study is to establish the reliability and accuracy of remote visual estimation of shoulder ROM in healthy volunteers and symptomatic patients among a large group of shoulder surgeons. Our hypothesis is that remote visual estimation would be reliable and accurate compared with the digital goniometer method. Methods: Fifty shoulder surgeon members of the PacWest Shoulder and Elbow Society independently determined the active shoulder forward flexion (FF), internal rotation at 90° abduction (IR90), external rotation at 90° abduction, external rotation at the side , and maximal spinal level reached with internal rotation (IRspine) through visual estimation of video recordings taken from 10 healthy volunteers and 10 symptomatic patients. Variations in measurements were quantified using the interobserver reliability through calculation of the intraclass correlation coefficient. Accuracy was determined through comparison with digital goniometer measurements obtained with an on-screen protractor application using Bland–Altman mean differences and 95% limits of agreement. Results: The interobserver reliability among examiners showed moderate to excellent correlation, with intraclass correlation coefficient ranging from 0.768 to 0.928 for the healthy volunteers and 0.739 to 0.878 for the symptomatic patients. Accuracy was limited, with upper limits of agreement exceeding the established minimal clinically important differences (MCIDs) for FF (20° vs. MCID of 14°) and IR90 (25° vs. 18°) in the healthy volunteers and for FF (33° vs. 16°), external rotation at 90° abduction (21° vs. 18°), and IR90 (31° vs. 20°) in the symptomatic patients. Conclusion: Despite generally high intersurgeon reliability in the visual estimation of shoulder ROM, there was questionable accuracy when compared to digital goniometer measurements,with measurement errors often exceeding established MCID values. Given the potential implications for the clinical response to treatment and the significance of research findings, the adoption of validated instruments to measure ROM and the standardization of examination procedures should be considered.

Background: Brachial plexus block (BPB) has been accepted as a reliable alternative for general anesthesia in upper limb surgeries. Adding adjuvant drugs like dexmedetomidine and sufentanil has been shown to have clinical and pharmacologic advantages. In this randomized parallel clinical trial, we aim to compare the effects of these two adjuvants for bupivacaine in BPB. Methods: In this double-blinded study, by using computer-assisted block randomization, 40 patients ranged from 20 to 65 years old and scheduled for elective upper limb surgeries were assigned to two equal study groups (n = 20), receiving 1 mL of 5 ..g.mL-1 sufentanil (group S) or 1 mL of 100 ..g.mL-1 dexmedetomidine (group D) in adjunction to 30 mL of 0.5% bupivacaine for supraclavicular BPB under the guidance of ultrasonography. Characteristics of local anesthesia and postoperative analgesia were evaluated (n = 40). Results: The duration of blocks significantly improved in group S (sensory: estimated median difference (EMD) [95%CI] = 100.0 [70.0...130.0], p < 0.001; motor: EMD [95%CI] = 120.0 [100.0...130.0], p < 0.001). Group S also had significantly longer postoperative analgesia and lower opioid consumption within 24 hours after the surgery (EMD [95%CI] = 4.0 [3.0...7.0], p < 0.001; EMD [95%CI] = -5.0 [-5.0...-5.0], p < 0.001; respectively). None of the patients showed adverse effects concerning vital signs, nausea, or vomiting. Conclusion: Our study showed that during ultrasound-guided supraclavicular BPB, sufentanil is a fairly better choice than dexmedetomidine as an adjuvant for bupivacaine and can provide preferable sensory and motor blocks. No significant side effects were seen in either of the study groups.

The rural development plan and progress of rural systems are designed to promote sustainable development of rural settlements through spatial organization of rural systems in the form of local and regional networks, emphasizing rural-urban relationships and encouraging local governance through community participation. Additionally, it aims to strengthen the effective social and economic relationships of settlement units within the system. This plan, with a focus on activating the production cycle in rural spaces and creating employment and entrepreneurship opportunities, can facilitate the path to overcoming the crisis of rural development. This article employs a descriptive-analytical method to analyze the effective drivers on the implementation of the rural development plan and progress of rural systems in the central and Dotapeh districts of Khodabandeh County. Data collection was conducted through library and field studies, with a statistical population of 93,939 residents in the Dotapeh and central districts. Due to the specialized nature of the topic, a sample of 30 experts was selected using the snowball sampling method. The TODIM model and the least squares method within the DPSIR model were used for data analysis with the help of Excel and Smart PLS software. The research findings indicate that the "driving force" factor, with a score of 0.637, had a greater impact on the implementation of the rural development plan and progress of the rural systems in the central and Dotapeh districts of Khodabandeh County than other components. Furthermore, in order to achieve a more effective implementation of the rural development plan and progress of the rural systems, the following structures were found to have the greatest impact: P1. Organizing jobs related to the function and capacity of villages and the county (0.809); D2. Support from the Islamic Revolution Housing Foundation (0.782); S1. Attention to cluster economic and production capacities in the zoning of the system (0.778); and P3. The possibility of pursuing violations and laziness through decision-making institutions (provincial and governorate) (0.778). Finally, in order to achieve the goals of the rural development plan and progress of the rural systems, it is necessary to provide credit facilities through monitoring by the facilitation office, hold rural festivals, strengthen direct communication between facilitators and entrepreneurs, strengthen local organizations, and review the services provided by rural system offices.

Background: Appearance quality, which means the perception of each person about their body image and the level of satisfaction with this situation, is one of the important issues in the field of cosmetic surgery, and if it is not fulfilled, it leads to a complaint and a case is raised in the forensic medical commissions of the province. Objectives: This study was aimed to investigate the sociological improvement of appearance quality in cosmetic surgery victims in forensic medical commissions of Tehran province. Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 276 cosmetic surgery victims whom medical malpractice was confirmed twice in 2018 and 2019 by the Forensic Medical Commissions of Tehran Province were included. A researcher-made questionnaire generated from a qualitative study on 24 individuals was used to assess the appearance quality in terms of satisfaction with appearance and life. Results: The majority of participants were in the 28-37 years age group (43.1%). The mean score of satisfaction with appearance was 11.18±3.60, and the mean score of satisfaction with life was 17.41±6.68. In total, the mean appearance quality was 28.59±8.67. There was a significant relationship between appearance quality and cosmetic surgery complaints (P

Abstract Background The present study aimed to design and determine the psychometric properties of a short-form questionnaire to investigate the domestic elder abuse. Methods This study consisted of two phases: in phase 1 we employed a modified Delphi approach with 18 participants. Consequently, content and face validity, and item analysis were applied. In Phase 2 we evaluated structural validity and convergent validity. Reliability was assessed by looking at internal consistency, stability, and absolute reliability. Results The findings led to the development of a 27-items short form of domestic elder abuse in four domains that jointly accounted for 74.14% of the variance observed. The short form showed high internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.93) and significantly correlated (r = 0.91; p

Purchase intention helps entrepreneurs to decide where the geographic market is and how to segment the customers where the products and services are sold on social commerce media. The aim of this studyto be able to find out empirically about the influence of attitude, ease of use, perceived usefulness, on purchase intention through social commerce media which is moderated by gender and ageThis research was conducted in early July - late July 2023. The data collection process was carried out by distributing questionnaires online in the form of Google forms. This research was conducted on 125 Tiktok social media users in Indonesia. The data obtained was analyzed usingmethodPartial Squares Structural Equation Modeling(PLS-SEM). The results of this research show that attitude has a positive and significant effect on purchase intention. Next, ease of use has a positive and significant effect on purchase intention. Then, perceived usefulness has a positive and insignificant effect on purchase intention. Furthermore, young age has no influence on the relationship between ease of use and purchase intention. Next, women have no influence on perceived usefulness and it is not significant on purchase intention.

Introduction: Induction of a protective immune response against Leishmania major requires the activation of both TH1 and CD8+ T lymphocytes. Because L. major is an intra-phagosomal parasite, its antigens do not have access to MHC-I. The present study aimed to evaluate the effect of cysteine peptidase A (CPA)/cysteine peptidase B (CPB) conjugated to α-AL2O3 on autophagy induction in L. major infected macrophages and subsequent activation of cytotoxic CD8+ T lymphocytes. Methods: Recombinant CPA and CPB of L. major were produced in expression vectors and purified. Aldehyde functionalized α-AL2O3 were conjugated to hydrazine-modified CPA/CPB by a chemical bond was confirmed by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The High efficient internalization of α-AL2O3 conjugated CPA/CPB to macrophages was confirmed using a fluorescence microscope and flowcytometry. Induction of the acidic autophagosome and LC3 conversion in macrophages was determined by acridine orange (AO) staining and western blot. Autophagy-activated macrophages were used for CD8+ T cell priming. Cytotoxic activity of the primed CD8+ T cell against L. major infected macrophages was measured using apoptosis assay. Results: α-AL2O3 conjugated CPA/CPB enhances macrophages antigen uptake and increases acidic vacuole formation and LC-3I to LC-3II conversion. Co-culture of autophagy-activated macrophages with CD8+ T cells augmented CD8+ T cells priming and proliferation more than in other study groups. These primed CD8+ T cells induce significant apoptotic death of L. major infected macrophages compared with non-primed CD8+ T cells. Conclusion: α-AL2O3 nanoparticles enhance the cross-presentation of L. major antigens to CD8+ T cells by inducing autophagy. This finding supports the positive role of autophagy and encourages the use of α-AL2O3 in vaccine design.

The study aims to pictured out the mediating roles of purchase intention on service quality and application quality to purchase decision. The study objective is the shopee application users with at least 1 year of experience using the application. The study collected 140 respondents. Smart-PLS will be used to run the data. The study signified service quality and application quality have a positive and significant influence on purchase intention. Service quality and application quality have a positive and significant influence directly and indirectly on purchase decision. Lastly, Purchase Intention play a mediating role from service quality and application quality on purchase decision.

Contractors play an integral role in construction projects, and their qualifications directly impact various aspects of a project’s success. The unbiased selection of contractors is a challenge in the construction industry worldwide, particularly in public projects where impartiality in the final selection is essential. Numerous factors must be considered when evaluating contractors, making the selection process challenging for the human brain. This paper introduces and compares two methods for assessing contractor prequalification by applying the fuzzy theory. The idea is to facilitate using human judgments in a mathematical system for decision-making with regard to selecting contractors. The method is based on identifying a fuzzy weight for the selection criteria using the Buckley method. Fuzzy TOPSIS and Fuzzy SAW methods are then used for the qualification ranking of the contractors. The proposed models are assessed using a case study. A sensitivity analysis was also conducted to compare the two models. The introduced method is expected to improve the quality of the qualification-based selection of contractors and prevent possible losses from hiring unsuitable contractors.

Every organization typically comprises various internal components, including regional branches, operations centers/field offices, major transportation hubs, and operational units, among others, housing a population susceptible to disaster impacts. Moreover, organizations often possess resources such as staff, various vehicles, and medical facilities, which can mitigate human casualties and address needs across affected areas. However, despite the importance of managing disasters within organizational networks, there remains a research gap in the development of mathematical models for such scenarios, specifically incorporating operations centers/field offices and external stakeholders as relief centers. Addressing this gap, this study examines an optimization model for both before and after disaster planning in a humanitarian supply chain and logistical framework within an organization. The affected areas are defined as regional branches, operational units, major transportation hubs, operations centers/field offices, external stakeholders, and medical facilities. A mixed-integer nonlinear model is formulated to minimize overall costs, considering factors such as penalty costs for untreated injuries and demand, delays in rescue and relief item distribution operations, and waiting costs for the injured in emergency medical vehicles and air ambulances. The model is implemented using GAMS software 47.1.0 for various test problems across different scales, with the Grasshopper Optimization Algorithm proposed for larger-scale scenarios. Numerical examples are provided to show the effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed model and to validate the metaheuristic approach. Sensitivity analysis is conducted to assess the model’s performance under different conditions, and key managerial insights and implications are discussed.

Background. Gastric Cancer (GC) is a common gastrointestinal tumor, and its incidence is increasing. The pathogenesis of GC is very complex and remains unclear. Recent basic studies of GC have focused on gene expression dysregulation. Accumulating evidence has demonstrated that thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) is abnormally expressed in a variety of malignant tumors but it is obscure in GC. This study aimed to compare the expression of the TXNIP gene in cancerous and adjacent tissue of gastric cancer and evaluate its clinical significance in the prognosis and survival analysis of gastric cancer patients. Methods. A total of 50 tumor tissues and marginal non-tumor control tissues were obtained from GC patients. Also, TXNIP gene expression levels were evaluated by real-time PCR. Meanwhile, bioinformatic approaches were used to evaluate TXNIP expression in two different cohorts of GC patients. A data mining study was also performed to determine the prognostic role of TXNIP expression in the overall survival of GC. Furthermore, a pan-cancer analysis of TXNIP expression was performed using TCGA data. Results. The TXNIP gene was down-regulated in tumor samples with a fold change of 0.33, and the same results were repeated in bioinformatics analysis. Decreased expression of TXNIP was significantly associated with metastasis, poor differentiation, and drug abuse. Our results provided evidence that TXNIP gene expression level is positively correlated with the overall survival of GC patients. Pan-cancer analysis of TCGA data revealed down-regulated TXNIP in a variety of malignant tumors. Conclusion. This study established low TXNIP expression as a prognostic biomarker in GC. It also revealed that the decrease in TXNIP expression likely favors metastatic GC. Practical Implications. Evaluation of TXNIP expression is informative in the prognosis of GC patients.

To effectively teach the complex concept of thermodynamics, appropriate and innovative teaching methods are needed to ensure a correct and in-depth understanding. This study aims to evaluate the application of the Problem-Based Learning (PBL) model in teaching thermodynamics to enhance students' comprehension of concepts and argumentation skills. The research utilized a quasi-experimental design with a pretest-posttest non-equivalent control group. Of the 50 participants, two distinct groups were formed through purposive sampling. A total of 27 participants underwent PBL instruction, while the remaining 23 participants received conventional learning instructions. The results revealed that students who were taught thermodynamics using the PBL model exhibited significant improvement in both conceptual understanding and argumentation skills compared to the control group. These participants displayed high engagement in tackling thermodynamic problems. PBL taught them how to argue comprehensively, emphasizing the cultivation of 'how to think' rather than just 'what to think' in addressing thermodynamic challenges. Based on these findings, this study recommends that physics educators consider incorporating PBL as a teaching strategy to bolster students' conceptual understanding and argumentation skills in thermodynamics.