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Introduction: The prevalence of cardiovascular diseases increases with age in women, especially at menopause. Metabolic syndrome is one of the important factors that cause heart disease. Therefore, the importance screening of people at risk of this syndrome, especially with cheap tests, led to the introduction of new cardio metabolic indicators such as AIP, TyG and WWI. Also, due to the importance of healthy eating and physical activity in preventing metabolic syndrome, more emphasis should be placed on their use.Methods In this cross-sectional study, the number of 4732 women participating in the Hoveyzeh cohort study, after considering the entry and exit criteria, were placed into three groups: pre-menopausal (n = 736), menopausal (n = 396) and post-menopausal (n = 917).Results The prevalence of metabolic syndrome was 43.3%, 55.6%, and 62.8% in pre menopause, menopause, and post menopause, respectively. The prevalence of hypertension (50.2%), dyslipidemia (61.2%), diabetes (37.7%) and abdominal obesity according to the Iranian definition (75.9%) was higher after menopause than before menopause. Cardiovascular disease had the highest prevalence after menopause (23%). The WWI index had the highest OR among the indices with a value of 2.94 and 1.93 in menopause and after menopause, respectively. (P Conclusion Menopause leads to an increase in the prevalence of metabolic syndrome. The indices of AIP, TyG index, WWI and physical activity increase in women after menopause compared to before menopause. TyG-INDEX ،WWI ،HEI-2015 healthy eating index in this study did not show significant differences between groups after multi-regression analysis.

Water networks play an important role in complex multi-faceted water governance regimes in which the involvement of various actors could potentially lead to coherent policies. Identifying the collaborating actors and their interaction is essential for the establishment of joint water decision-making. Hence, the present study was aimed at distinguishing entities involved in water governance in Zayandeh-Rud basin, which is known as an endorheic basin in Iran. From an analytical perspective, it also tries to describe and analyze the collaborative pattern of knowledge and information exchange in the basin. Using semi-structured interview protocols, the social network data was gathered from 14 water governance-related organizations, ranging from governmental to non-governmental organizations. Identifying water governance in this basin resulted in an understanding of how human and non-human actors contribute in the practice of supply, delivery, use, and outflow processes. Moreover, considering the power relations and densities of actors' involvement in supply, delivery, use and outflow processes the integrity and coherence of the network power relations were analyzed. The power analysis findings demonstrated how the dominant role of governmental bodies and weak contribution of the private organizations and civil society resulted in up-down decision-making (on the actor component). The coherence criterion (density index) results revealed that water governance network is more coherent among the state actors within the national and extra-basin level (on the scope component). Based on the findings on the dimension component, most attention was focused on the political, administrative and economic dimensions. According to the local experience of water governance gained in this basin, practical ideas would be developed to promote water-governance in the context of transitional countries of the Middle-East.

It is known that a sequence Pi_i of permutations is quasirandom if and only if the pattern density of every 4-point permutation in Pi_i converges to 1/24. We show that there is a set S of 4-point permutations such that the sum of the pattern densities of the permutations from S in the permutations Pi_i converges to |S|/24 if and only if the sequence is quasirandom. Moreover, we are able to completely characterize the sets S with this property. In particular, there are exactly ten such sets, the smallest of which has cardinality eight., Appendices 1-5 are contained in the ancillary pdf file available on arXiv for download

Cold stress is a major environmental constraint that limits nut productivity worldwide. Late spring frost is identified as a yield-reducing factor in Persian walnut production as well. Despite significant improvements in cold and freezing tolerance methods, orchardists have not taken advantage of these recommended protection methods. This study examined determinants of walnut orchardists’ frost-protection behavior, using the extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) as a conceptual framework. Based on TPB assumptions, frost-protection behavior is mediated by a series of constructs. The purpose of this research was to examine the role of TPB variables (extended by orchard-system profile) in meeting the necessities of performing active and passive methods of frost protection. A total of 91 orchardists completed a baseline questionnaire that included the TPB constructs. The present investigation was carried out in the major walnut growing site of Sepidan County, western Fars Province, Iran. The results from the hierarchical multiple regression showed that the behavioral attitude, perceived behavioral control (PBC), intention, orchard-system profile, and interaction of orchard-system features and PBC were significant predictors of frost-protection behavior in the prospective sample. Results of the present study provided evidence that the extended TPB is a useful framework for understanding orchardists’ frost-protection behavior.

Background: Pulmonary tuberculosis ( TB) is one of the problems in diagnosis and management of patients with pneumonia and pleural effusion. Bronchoscopy and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) can help us in the differential diagnosis. Tumor markers are substances that are produced by cancer or other cells of the body in response to diseases. These substances can be found in the blood, urine, or body fluids, for example in bronchoalveolar lavage of some patients with pulmonary diseases. CEA is a tumor marker that can help us for diagnosis and monitoring of peripheral lung cancer. ADA has been shown to rise in the BAL of patients with TB. Because the sputum smear negative TB patients have been a diagnostic challenge for health professionals this study was designed to determine the diagnostic value of ADA & CEA & PCR in BAL fluid and then compare the relationship of these markers with sputum and clinical finding in diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis. Material and Method: A cross sectional study conducted in Shahrekord Hajar hospital where 100 patients were enrolled in our study (62 females, 38 males). These patients were admitted to hospital and bronchoscopy with BAL was performed, then fluid was analysed for ADA, CEA, PCR and sputum smear for TB. Result: From 100 patients who were evaluated in this study 9 patients had TB, 39 patients had pneumonia, 11 patients had primary lung malignancy, 9 patients had metastases to lung and 8 patients had bronchitis. In Patients with TB the level of ADA was not significantly elevated in BAL. ADA increased significantly in patients with pneumonia (P: 0/95). In patients with metastases to lung and primary lung cancer and a combination of both groups compared to other patients without malignancy there was no relationship between CEA. PCR was positive in TB and other patients, but significantly increased in TB. (p=0/021) Discussion: Although it was thought that CEA may be elevated in BAL of patients with malignancy and ADA in tuberculosis we did not find a correlation in these patients. This study showed that ADA and CEA levels in BAL fluid does not help us in diagnosis of TB or cancer. It may have afalse positive in pneumonia, COPD and other diseases, but PCR for TB may assist in TB diagnosis but not alone.

Exploring the lived-experiences of community farmers will contribute to the perspective of land issues and help formulate and plan sustainable land management. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the lived-experiences of farmers regarding land-use and management in northern Iran, which is facing land degradation and land grabbing problems. For this purpose, a phenomenological approach was undertaken to show how the past and present process of land-use and management practices is made. In this research, key farmers who had land utilization experiences, feeling the land laws, land changes and land issues in the past in land risk areas were selected using key informants sampling. The gathered data of interviews were analyzed according to Colaizzi method. Fifty-five important statements and 11 themes were extracted from participants’ experiences (PE) in three periods: pre-land reform period and on the threshold of it in Iran, post-land reform until Islamic revolution and after the revolution till now. The lived-experience of participants showed that pre-land reform period in Iran was known for its hierarchical structure to "owner-peasant" contexts of the land-use and management in the study area. The importance of forest and river as the origin of arable land and physical-spatial structure of rural settlements is undeniable. Post-land reform PE indicated that the land reform enforcement was a factor of change in the land-use and management practices that led to ownership problems. Participants’ experiences regarding land changes after the Islamic revolution till now expressed that despite the new inhibitor rules regarding land management practices, farmers are likely to bring about land-use changes. Recommendations and implications for land management policy are offered to reduce the land degradation and land grabbing.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the importance of academic courses on agricultural entrepreneurship. Design/methodology/approach Modified global entrepreneurship and development index (GEDI) was used to determine entrepreneurial dimensions among 19 graduated students of agricultural colleges resided in Iran. Fuzzy analytical hierarchy process was applied to understand agricultural graduates’ preferences on effectiveness of university courses (core, free elective and restricted elective). Findings Results suggested the importance of professional restricted elective courses to provide students with necessary skills. These courses were successful in providing a context for entrepreneurial profile. Research limitations/implications Innate talent or acquired skills were always the place of debate on entrepreneurial development. The paper builds on the premise that entrepreneurs are made through education and continuing reconstruction of experience, further research is required as the field develops in experience and complexity. Practical implications The paper provides strategies to effectively modify practical route in higher education to enhance entrepreneurial orientation among students. Originality/value The paper is innovative at a conceptual level in modifying GEDI elements in individual-level variables based on GEDI configuration theory. This approach is particularly useful in addressing the bottleneck problems of entrepreneurship profile and focusses on the information interpreted at weights of the individual-level data.

Komlos conjectured in 1981 that among all graphs with minimum degree at least $d$, the complete graph $K_{d+1}$ minimises the number of Hamiltonian subsets, where a subset of vertices is Hamiltonian if it contains a spanning cycle. We prove this conjecture when $d$ is sufficiently large. In fact we prove a stronger result: for large $d$, any graph $G$ with average degree at least $d$ contains almost twice as many Hamiltonian subsets as $K_{d+1}$, unless $G$ is isomorphic to $K_{d+1}$ or a certain other graph which we specify.

Alon, Balogh, Keevash, and Sudakov proved that the $(k-1)$-partite Turan graph maximizes the number of distinct $r$-edge-colorings with no monochromatic $K_k$ for all fixed $k$ and $r=2,3$, among all $n$-vertex graphs. In this paper, we determine this function asymptotically for $r=2$ among $n$-vertex graphs with a sublinear independence number. Somewhat surprisingly, unlike Alon, Balog, Keevash, and Sudakov's result, the extremal construction from Ramsey--Turan theory, as a natural candidate, does not maximize the number of distinct edge-colorings with no monochromatic cliques among all graphs with a sublinear independence number, even in the 2-colored case. In the second problem, we determine the maximum number of triangles asymptotically in an $n$-vertex $K_k$-free graph $G$ with $\alpha(G)=o(n)$. The extremal graphs have a similar structure to the extremal graphs for the classical Ramsey--Turan problem, i.e., when the number of edges is maximized.

This series of preventative dental care community health educational materialsare openly licensed to encourage community reuse including adaptation. Oral diseases continue to disproportionately affect immigrant communities. There is a clear need for a culturally appropriate tool to enhance oral health literacy of recent immigrants. The objectives of this collaborative initiative were to develop an oral health educational tool and ensure its cultural appropriateness for newcomers. For more information or to explore collaboration opportunities for using this work for community dental education, please feel welcome to contact Dr. Maryam Amin at sharifzd@ualberta.ca.

The classical Corr adi-Hajnal theorem claims that every n-vertex graph G with (G) 2n=3 contains a triangle factor, when 3jn. In this paper we asymptotically determine the minimum degree condition necessary to guarantee a triangle factor in graphs with sublinear independence number. In particular, we show that if G is an n-vertex graph with (G) = o(n) and (G) (1=2 + o(1))n, then G has a triangle factor and this is asymptotically best possible. Furthermore, it is shown for every r that if every linear size vertex set of a graph G spans quadratic many edges, and (G) (1=2 +o(1))n, then G has a Kr-factor for n suciently large. We also propose many related open problems whose solutions could show a relationship with RamseyTur an theory. Additionally, we also consider a fractional variant of the Corr adi-Hajnal Theorem, settling a conjecture of Balogh-Kemkes-Lee-Young. Let t2 (0; 1) and w : E(Kn)! [0; 1]. We call a triangle in Kn heavy if the sum of the weights on its edges is more than 3t. We prove that if 3jn and w is such that for every vertex v the sum of w(e)

In 1987, Kolaitis, Promel and Rothschild proved that, for every fixed r∈N, almost every n-vertex Kr+1-free graph is r-partite. In this paper we extend this result to all functions r = r(n) with r ≤ (logn)1/4. The proof combines a new (close to sharp) supersaturation version of the Erdős-Simonovits stability theorem, the hypergraph container method, and a counting technique developed by Balogh, Bollobas and Simonovits.

Cameron and Erdős [P. Cameron and P. Erdős, Notes on sum-free and related sets, Combin. Probab.Comput., 8, (1999), 95–107] asked whether the number of maximal sum-free sets in { 1 , … , n } is much smaller than the number of sum-free sets. In the same paper they gave a lower bound of 2 ⌊ n / 4 ⌋ for the number of maximal sum-free sets. We prove the following: For each 1 ≤ i ≤ 4 , there is a constant C i such that, given any n ≡ i mod 4 , { 1 , … , n } contains ( C i + o ( 1 ) ) 2 n / 4 maximal sum-free sets. Our proof makes use of container and removal lemmas of Green [B. Green, The Cameron-Erdős conjecture, Bull. London Math. Soc., 36, (2004), 769–778; B. Green, A Szemeredi-type regularity lemma in abelian groups, with applications, Geom. Funct. Anal., 15, (2005), 340–376], a structural result of Deshouillers, Freiman, Sos and Temkin [J. Deshouillers, G. Freiman, V. Sos and M. Temkin, On the structure of sumfree sets II, Asterisque, 258, (1999), 149–161] and a recent bound on the number of subsets of integers with small sumset by Green and Morris [B. Green, R. Morris, Counting sets with small sumset and applications, Combinatorica, to appear].

A spanning tree with no vertices of degree two is called a homeomorphically irreducible spanning tree (or a HIST) of a graph. In Furuya and Tsuchiya (2003), the sets of forbidden subgraphs that imply the existence of a HIST in a connected graph of sufficiently large order were characterized. In this paper, we focus on characterizing connected P 5 -free graphs which have a HIST. As applications of our main result, we also characterize forbidden pairs that imply the existence of a HIST.

Komlos conjectured in 1981 that among all graphs with minimum degree at least d, the complete graph K d + 1 minimises the number of Hamiltonian subsets, where a subset of vertices is Hamiltonian if it contains a spanning cycle. We prove this conjecture when d is sufficiently large. In fact we prove a stronger result: for large d, any graph G with average degree at least d contains almost twice as many Hamiltonian subsets as K d + 1 , unless G is isomorphic to K d + 1 or a certain other graph which we specify.

Given a graph $F$, let $s_t(F)$ be the number of subdivisions of $F$, each with a different vertex set, which one can guarantee in a graph $G$ in which every edge lies in at least $t$ copies of $F$. In 1990, Tuza asked for which graphs $F$ and large $t$, one has that $s_t(F)$ is exponential in a power of $t$. We show that, somewhat surprisingly, the only such $F$ are complete graphs, and for every $F$ which is not complete, $s_t(F)$ is polynomial in $t$. Further, for a natural strengthening of the local condition above, we also characterise those $F$ for which $s_t(F)$ is exponential in a power of $t$., Comment: 7 pages, to appear in Combinatorics, Probability and Computing

A method is introduced to estimate nitrogen partitioning in the structure of nanocrystalline-amorphous alloys, based on X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetry, and differential scanning calorimetery. The technique quantitatively determines the contribution of crystal interstitial sites, crystalline defects, and amorphous phase to nitrogen incorporation. Typically, the method shows that in Fe–18Cr–8Mn–2.5N alloy synthesized by mechanical alloying, about 4, 21 and 75 percent of nitrogen is distributed among the crystal interstitial sites, defects, and amorphous phase, respectively.

Particles of commercially pure Al are successfully consolidated at 200 °C by a novel method named equal channel angular pressing-forward extrusion (ECAP–FE). Using this method, both ECAP and forward extrusion processes are carried out subsequently in a single tool. The extrusion process exerts a back pressure for ECAP process which prevents surface cracking and improves microstructure and mechanical properties of the produced material. The improvement is related to the shear deformation induced during ECAP and the increase in self-diffusion coefficient of Al due to the exerted back pressure.

Some results about the level sets of Busemann functions are obtained for spacetimes, and in a special case (cosmological spacetime). These results will be used to prove the conjecture stated by R. Bartnik in [B], under some special conditions. In this paper we employ some results of Galloway, Horta and Eschenburg.

This chapter employed an interdisciplinary attempt to investigate agricultural climate information use, linking sociology of translation (actor-network theory) and actor analysis premises in a qualitative research design. The research method used case study approaches and purposively selected a sample consisting of wheat growers of the Fars province of Iran, who are known as contact farmers. Concepts from Actor-Network Theory (ANT) have been found to provide a useful perspective on the description and analysis of the cases. The data were analyzed using a combination of an Actor-Network Theory (ANT) framework and the Dynamic Actor-Network Analysis (DANA) model. The findings revealed socio political (farmers' awareness, motivation, and trust) and information processing factors (accuracy of information, access to information, and correspondence of information to farmers' condition) as the key elements in facilitating climate information use in farming practices.

In the present study, aluminum particles are consolidated successfully by forward extrusion-equal channel angular pressing, referred as FE-ECAP process, at 200 °C. In this method, two processes of forward extrusion (FE) and equal channel angular pressing (ECAP) occur subsequently in a single die. For comparison, the powders are also consolidated by conventional extrusion process, at the same conditions as FE-ECAP process. The consolidated material shows a fine grain structure with excellent mechanical properties relative to those obtained by conventional extrusion process. Advantages of this method can be expressed as: the possibility of performing two processes in a single die and producing long bar samples with full density from particles.

The main goal of this paper is to study the Hyers-Ulam-Rassias stability of the following Euler-Lagrange type additive functional equation: ∑ j = 1 m f ( − r j x j + ∑ 1 ≤ i ≤ m , i ≠ j r i x i ) + 2 ∑ i = 1 m r i f ( x i ) = m f ( ∑ i = 1 m r i x i ) , where r 1 , … , r m ∈ R , ∑ i = k m r k ≠ 0 , and r i , r j ≠ 0 for some 1 ≤ i < j ≤ m , in non-Archimedean Banach spaces. MSC:39B22, 39B52, 46S10.

We generalize the well-known Baker’s super-stability result for exponential mappings with values in the field of complex numbers to the case of an arbitrary Hilbert space with the Hadamard product. Then, we will prove an even more general result of this type. 2000 MSC: primary: 39B72, secondary: 46E40.

Identifying the factors that affect domestic water demand and consumption is very important in management of available regional water resources. In this study, relationships between water consumption and rural household activities are determined by comparing a snapshot of water consumption with rural household behavior of low, medium and high water consumers. In addition, the factors affecting water consumption in rural households are also determined. The data for this study were collected from a survey of 653 rural households in 33 villages of Ramjerd area, Fars Province, in southern Iran, using a simple random sampling technique. The daily water consumption data for a 5-year period (1999-2004) were used. Results of the study revealed that the daily average water consumption for the area was found to be 121.7 l per person per capita per day (Lpcd) (SD = 59.2). Water consumption was also found to be significantly correlated with explanatory variables such as "household size" and "age of household's head". Finally, the results of discriminant function analysis showed that in rural households, garden size, greenhouse size, and garden watering times per month with tap treated water are associated with water consumption.