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Background: Acute liver injury (ALI) is a critical and fatal disorder associated with excessive oxidative stress and inflammation, ultimately leading to the death of hepatocytes. Myricetin is a bioflavonoid in some berries, including blueberries and strawberries, with anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and anti-apoptotic properties. Objective: In the current research, the hepatoprotective potential of myricetin was studied in the LPS/D-GalN model of ALI in C57BL/6 mice. Methods: For inducing liver injury, D-GalN (400 mg/kg) and LPS (50 g/kg) were injected via intraperitoneal route and myricetin was orally administered (25 or 100 mg/kg/day) for two days before inducing injury. Functional indices of liver dysfunction along with hepatic apoptotic, autophagic, oxidative stress and inflammatory factors were measured. Results: Myricetin (100 mg/kg) reduced the fatality rate of animals and pathological liver changes and suitably lowered serum levels of total bilirubin, 8-OH-dG, ALT, AST and ALP in addition to decreasing apoptotic, oxidative and inflammatory factors, NOX, NLRP3, caspase 3, MPO and enhancing some antioxidants. Besides, myricetin improved the hepatic level and activity of sirtuin 1 and reversed inappropriate alterations of autophagic parameters, including LC3 II, Beclin 1, and P62. The beneficial effects of myricetin were attenuated after co-treatment with the autophagy inhibitor 3- methyladenine. Conclusion: This study indicates the hepatoprotective potential of myricetin that can be ascribed to its down-regulation of oxidative, apoptotic, and inflammatory factors and upregulation of antioxidants besides its partial regulation of sirtuin 1 and autophagic pathway.

The current paper examines the effects of zinc oxide nanostructure configurations, as photo-anode formations of organic solar cells, on the performance of power conversion. To this end, some experiments were conducted during which a near band edge emission red shift of ~ 0.11 eV from nanoparticles to vertically oriented nano-rods was observed. This bandgap narrowing promotes transferring of photo-excited electrons towards the conduction band of photo-anode. A ~ 48% decrease in the deep level emission intensity revealed a smaller non-radiative waves emission due to lower level of crystal disorder. Using vertically oriented zinc oxide nanorods as photo-anodes, the photovoltaic efficiency of the organic solar cell improved considerably. The nano-rod-structured photo-anodes showed a 0.22 V rise in the open-circuit voltage, from 0.76 to 0.98 V, and a 2.08 times increment in the overall conversion performance, compared to the zinc oxide nanoparticle-structured photo-anodes. This superior performance is attributed to a greater chance of charge recombination and light-trapping in the cells, more efficient light absorption, and high level of crystallinity that grants easier electron mobility for vertically oriented zinc oxide nanorods. Moreover, a lower charge-transfer resistance (0.85 Ω) was achieved due to better electro-catalytic action for oxygen reduction for vertical nanorods compared to the other two zinc oxide configurations (1.62 Ω and 4.06 Ω). This boosted the cell performance by increasing the short-circuit current density (JSC). The fabricated solar cell may contribute to sustainable and environmentally friendly electricity generation process through reducing the consumption of non-renewable energy sources.

This paper presents an effective reliability assessment technique for the cyber-physical generation systems (CPGS)s. The assessment technique incorporates cybersecurity issues in smart grids considering non-normal random variables with nonlinear dependencies. A Bayesian attack graph is adopted for vulnerability analysis of CPGS and model the probabilistic nature of attack paths. In addition, the meantime-to-compromise is modeled at the operation level instead of the component level, which leads to more accurate results in terms of loss of load expectation and expected energy not supplied. Further, a hybrid approximate-analytical method is presented to assess the capacity outage probability table in power systems. The proposed method overcomes the Sequential Monte Carlo simulation (SMCS) drawbacks and demonstrates the effects of cyber-attack and wind farm correlations on generation capacity adequacy assessment. The proposed method is implemented on the modified IEEE Reliability Test System. A comparison with SMCS demonstrates the efficiency and accuracy of the proposed method.

ABSTRACTGun violence is a serious issue in many countries across the globe. It has been shown that there is an elevated risk for a further shooting nearby within a short time span of a shooting incident, so-called near-repeat patterning. The present study presents new evidence on near-repeat patterning in Sweden, with a focus on neighbourhoods which the police have labelled as ‘vulnerable’ – deprived neighbourhoods where criminal networks have a large impact on local communities. Such neighbourhoods tend to have open drug markets, and to have high levels of gun violence. The present paper analyses the association of open drug markets and vulnerable neighbourhoods with gun violence and near-repeat patterning of gun violence in two Swedish cities. Our findings suggest that gun violence is strongly concentrated on open drug markets in vulnerable neighbourhoods, and that those locations in addition exhibit high risks for repeat shootings after an initial shooting event. We propose that the police can use this knowledge to improve practices to prevent or disrupt gun violence.

Catalytic activity of nanomaterials under applied electromagnetic field is a green method which is based on change in spin orientation of nanocatalyst. However, interaction of magnetic and dielectric nanocatalysts with electromagnetic field is not well understood. Here, we propose a kinetic model utilizing electromagnetic field effect on activation energy. This field causes weakening of the bond of the reactant molecules and reduction in activation energy of nanocatalysts. The underlying mechanism is singlet to triplet conversion with the change in spin orientation of gases and nanocatalysts at ambient condition. The results show that saturation magnetization and net spin of Fe3O4nanocatalysts are higher than ZnO nanocatalyst by 6,764 and 56 times, respectively. Hence, 36.60% reduction in activation energy and 9.70% increase in rate constant for Fe3O4results in 566.87% increment in urea yield. These findings will pave the way for a new insight on electromagnetic application for industrial chemical reaction.

Middle East is a diverse and developing exotic animal market. Undergraduate, postgraduate, and continuing professional development (CPD) education are noticeably absent except in few countries. Avian species are the most commonly kept due to traditional falconry or aviculture. Small mammal and reptile pet numbers are increasing. Endangered wildlife is still illegally kept and trafficked. Common diseases are similar to other continents related heavily with poor diet and husbandry due to uneducated, financially restrained, and prejudiced owners. There is a significant lack of board-certified specialists, teaching facilities, or dedicated private practitioners who thirst for CPD. Clinical research is absent except falcons.

The purpose of this study was to compare copying styles between cancer patients and healthy people. The statistical population of this study consisted of all patients who had referred to Laleh Hospital as well as Breast Cancer Research Center. Among them, 80 patients were selected by convenience sampling. Healthy people were selected by random sampling method and the groups were matched in age and education level with each other. The Coping Strategies Questionnaire (CSQ) of Lazarus and Folkman was used and the collected data was introduced to SPSS and was analyzed by descriptive statistical methods as well as ANOVA analysis. The results of this study showed that cancer patients mostly use emotion-focused coping strategies compared with healthy people and they generally use the subscales of confrontive coping, escape-avoidance and seeking social support while they hardly use the subscales of self-controlling, accepting responsibility, planful problem solving and positive reappraisal.

The present research aims to compare coping styles in MS patients and healthy subjects. The statistical population of this research includes all the patients referred to Sina Hospital and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Community. Among them, eighty patients were selected through convenience sampling method. The healthy subjects were selected through simple random sampling method. They were matched with the other group in terms of age, level of education, and gender. Here, Lazarus and Folkman's Ways of Coping Questionnaire (WCQ) was used. After administrating the questionnaires, the data were inserted into SPSS software. The analysis of the data was performed using descriptive statistical methods and the One-Way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results of the research showed that MS patients mostly used problem-focused strategies. They also use escape and avoidance subscales, social support, plan-full problem solving and self-controlling more and use confrontation coping subscales less than the healthy subjects do.

The aim of the present study is to predict marital satisfaction based on spiritual intelligence. The statistical population of the study consisted of all couples who referred to [family] counseling centers of Tehran in 2012. A sample of 240 individuals (120 women and 120 men) was selected from among this population in counseling centers of Tehran using random multistage sampling method. Additionally, stepwise multivariate regression was used to examine research hypotheses. The results indicated that, while relying on the inner core of spiritual intelligence, the element of spiritual life had the largest contribution to the prediction of the criterion variable and explained 35.2% of the marital satisfaction variance. Adding the element of “perception of and communication with the origins of the universe” to the equation increased the explanation coefficient to 37.1%. In addition, the results showed that the elements of spiritual intelligence among women and men explain marital satisfaction differently. Therefore, it is recommended that family therapists also consider the role of religious beliefs as an important factor in both the incidence of marital conflicts and solving them.

The behavior of regular wavy surfaces in contact is important for the study of rough surface contact, and therefore has applications to the prediction of friction, wear, surface fatigue, and electrical and thermal contact resistance. This work characterizes the average surface separation between a sinusoidal surface and a flat rigid surface as a function of the average contact pressure or load using the finite element method (FEM). The FEM results also agree well with the limiting spherical based solutions at low contact pressures and the other asymptotic solution at high contact pressures. Empirical fits are provided that can approximately predict the average surface separation for both elastic and elastic–plastic sinusoidal contacts over a wide range of material properties. Contact stiffness can also be predicted from surface separation results.

This work presents the role of organoclay type (hydrophilic C30B vs hydrophobic C15A) and feeding mode (sequential vs. simultaneous) on a model ternary blend system poly (methyl methacrylate)/polystyrene/polypropylene (PMMA/PS/PP, 80/05/15). The rheological and thermal properties of these nanocomposites are linked to their morphology, which is mainly controlled by the preparation method and the nature of the organoclays. Using oscillatory shear rheology and dynamic mechanical analyses, both organoclays were shown to be mainly localized in the PMMA matrix. However, the more polar C30B showed a greater affinity toward the matrix. Studying the morphology using electron microscopy revealed that at 1 wt% of the organoclays, the original core-shell morphology of the blend was retained regardless of the feeding sequence. At 3 wt% of the organoclays, however, the core-shell morphology was only retained in the case of C30B-based nanocomposites prepared using sequential feeding mode. In the other cases, the increased solid-like behavior of the PS phase prevented the formation of a shell. Overall, it was shown that the feeding sequence and the affinity of organoclays towards different blend components determined their localization and therefore the eventual morphology of the nanocomposite.

This study aims to predict marital satisfaction based on positive and negative perfectionism. Therefore, 123 people (67 men and 56 women) were selected as the study samples from all the counseling centers located in the city of Tehran through multi-stage random sampling method. The study methodology was correlation. Participants in the study were tested using Hill Perfectionism Inventory and Enrich Marital Satisfaction Scale. The multiple regression method was used for statistical analysis. The results obtained from this study indicated that there is a positive correlation between positive perfectionism and marital satisfaction and a negative correlation between negative perfectionism and marital satisfaction.

Background: Serum biochemical and hematologic parameters are important in the management of game species in Iran, such as Persian squirrels. Objective: The purpose of this study was to establish baseline serum chemistry and hematology values in Persian squirrels (Sciurus anomalus) and describe blood cell morphology and the electrophoretic pattern of hemoglobin. Methods: Blood samples were collected from 30 Persian squirrels (Sciurus anomalus) maintained in captivity in the Tehran Zoo. Blood was placed into EDTA and serum clot tubes and analyzed using standard manual hematology and biochemical techniques. Hemoglobin electrophoresis was done on cellulose acetate paper strips. Results: Minimum, maximum, and median values were obtained for 11 hematologic and 12 serum chemistry parameters. Hypersegmented neutrophils were observed frequently. We did not find basophils or band neutrophils. Hemoglobin electophoresis resulted in a band slightly anodal to that of human hemoglobin A. Conclusion: Biochemical and hematologic values in Persian squirrels were comparable to those of related species, and may be used as a standard profile for healthy Persian squirrels kept in captivity.