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Introduction: To apply a comprehensive evidence-based approach to stuttering, there is a need for an instrument examining the totality of this disorder. Yaruss and Quesal (2006) published the “Overall Assessment of the Speaker’s Experience of Stuttering” (OASES) questionnaire to achieve this aim. OASES-A can be used for documenting multiple treatment outcomes of individuals with stuttering who are older than 18 years. The aim of this study was to determine the validity and reliability of Farsi version of OASES-A questionnaire. Materials and Methods: Face validity, internal consistency and reliability of OASES-A were evaluated thorough conducting a pilot study in which a semi-structural interview arranged for 10 people who stutter (PWS). 50 PWS were then asked to complete modified OASES-A and S-24 scale to determine concurrent validity. Finally, in order to determine test-retest reliability of Farsi version of OASES-A questionnaire, 5 stuttering people completed the form 2 times within a 7-to-10-day interval. Results: Cronbach's alpha coefficient, which was calculated for entire 4 parts of the Farsi version of OASES, was 82 to 97, implying that the Farsi version of OASES-A questionnaire had a good concurrent validity, internal consistency and reliability. Finally it was shown that all the items of the questionnaire have an appropriate validity and reliability. Conclusion: Results of the present study indicate that the validity and reliability of Farsi version of OASES are compatible with the original English version. Keywords: OASES-A, Stuttering, Validity, Reliability, Outcome measurement, Adulthood stuttering

In this paper we consider the non-preemptive variant of a multi-mode resource constrained project scheduling problem (MRCPSP) with mode identity, in which a set of project activities is partitioned into disjoint subsets while all activities forming one subset have to be processed in the same mode. We present a depth-first branch and bound algorithm for the resource constrained project scheduling problem with mode identity. The proposed algorithm is extended with some bounding rules to reduce the size of branch and bound tree. Finally, some test problems are solved and their computational results are reported.

A full investigation into the features extracted from voice signals of people with and without Parkinson’s disease was performed. A total of 31 people with and without the disease participated in the data collection phase. Their voice signals were recorded and processed. The relevant features were then extracted. A variety of feature selection methods have been utilized resulting in a good performance for the diagnosis of Parkinson. These features were fed to different classifiers so as to be let them decide whether the subjects have the disease or not. Three different classifiers were used in order to bring about a valid classification performance on the given data. The classification performances were compared with one another and showed that the best performance obtained using the KNN classifier with a correct rate of 0.9382. This result reveals that the use of proposed feature selection method results in a desirable precision for the diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease (PD). The performances were assessed from different points of view, providing different aspects of the diagnosis, from which the physicians are able to choose one with higher accuracy in the diagnosis.

Background: Wound infection is a frequent and severe complication in burn patients accounting for a high number of mortalities. There are some reports comparing swab and biopsy cultures of wounds of various etiologies or chronic wounds.Objectives: The aim of the study was to evaluate burn wound infection by different bacteriologic methods of surface swab and tissue biopsy culture and see if they can predict the outcome.Methods: Aprospective study was conducted in Shahid Motahari Burn Center,Tehran ,on patients suffering from burns with more than 20% of TBSAadmitted in 2001-2002. Wound swab and biopsy specimens were collected within the second week.Patients were followed to the point of their discharge or death.Results: Bacterial growth was reported in 100% of swabs, in 89.3% of the biopsies in differential culture media,and in 18.7% of the biopsies in selective culture media.These different cultures had similar pathogen reports. Of the 75 studied patients,78.7% died. The frequency rates of positive tissue cultures and bacterial load were not different between the dead and those who survived.Conclusion: Bacteriologic methods do not have enough predictive value to assess clinical outcome.

Background:Rehabilitation of facial paralysis is one of the greatest challenges faced by reconstructive surgeons today. The traditional method for treatment of patients with facial palsy is the two-stage free gracilis flap which has a long latency period of between the two stages of surgery.Methods: In this paper, we prospectively compared the results of the one-stage gracilis flap method with the two -stage technique.Results:Out of 41 patients with facial palsy refered to Hazrat-e-Fatemeh Hospital 31 were selected from whom 22 underwent two- stage and 9 one-stage method treatment. The two groups were identical according to age,sex,intensity of illness, duration, and chronicity of illness. Mean duration of follow up was 37 months. There was no significant relation between the two groups regarding the symmetry of face in repose, smiling, whistling and nasolabial folds. Frequency of complications was equal in both groups. The postoperative surgeons and patients' satisfaction were equal in both groups. There was no significant difference between the mean excursion of muscle flap in one-stage (9.8 mm) and two-stage groups (8.9 mm). The ratio of contraction of the affected side compared to the normal side was similar in both groups. The mean time of the initial contraction of the muscle flap in the one-stage group (5.5 months) had a significant difference (P=0.001) with the two-stage one (6.5 months).The study revealed a highly significant difference (P=0.0001) between the mean waiting period from the first operation to the beginning of muscle contraction in one-stage(5.5 months)and two-stage groups(17.1 months).Conclusion:It seems that the results and complication of the two methods are the same,but the one-stage method requires less time for facial reanimation,and is costeffective because it saves time and decreases hospitalization costs.

Developmental stuttering is a common disorder of speech dissiliency that is characterized by excessive repetitions of sounds, syllables, and monosyllabic words, as well as sound prolongations and complete blockages of the vocal tract. About 60 million people are affected and it is more common between the age of 3 and 6, when children begin forming sentences and connecting thoughts verbally. There are three types of stuttering known as developmental stuttering, neurogenic stuttering, and psychogenic stuttering. The exact pathophysiology of developmental stuttering is unknown; however, various family and twin studies have repeatedly implicated heredity as a major factor in the etiology of stuttering. It is clear that the genetic influence is not in the form of an exact single gene effect such as autosomal recessive, autosomal dominant, or x-linked in all families; however, in all of the inheritance forms it is influenced by sex with higher occurrence in males than females at a ratio of 4:1 in older children and adults. Recently special genetic locus has been determined on several autosomal chromosomes related to developmental stuttering. In this report, the proband is a 20-year-old boy was referred to our clinic for premarriage genetic counseling; he has been affected since 3 years and now is under cure. three generation study of his family show 13 individuals are affected by stuttering. For the first it occurred in the proband′s grandfather and after this time about all of affected cases has been seen in consanguineous marriages. Therefore, the genetical inheritance of stuttering is crystal clear in this family and autosomal recessive inheritance pattern is proposed. Totally in such families with repeated occur of stuttering, we cannot account it as a multifactorial disorder.

Background: Flash floods can cause significant damage if people perceive them as low risk. Media plays a crucial role in improving risk perception. This study aims to survey the perceptions of residents in Yazd, Iran, about the performance of local TV during the flash flood in 2022. Materials and Methods: This is a qualitative study using a content analysis method that was conducted on 22 residents (14 males and 8 females) who had a history of watching local TV programs during the 2022 flash flood in Yazd City. They were selected by purposive sampling method until data saturation. The data was collected through a semi-structured face-to-face interview using open-ended questions about the news received from local TV regarding the flash flood in the city. Qualitative data analysis was done using Colaizzi's seven-step method. Results: Data analysis led to the emergence of one main concept (information quality), five themes (time of broadcasting news, content of programs, trust in the media, and ability to increase social sensitivity), 12 sub-themes, and 48 codes. Conclusion: The effectiveness of local TV during the flash flood in Yazd is low due to incorrect weather predictions, insufficient risk emphasis, lack of prime-time broadcasts, generic messaging, and absence of news headlines. Addressing these issues can enhance people's perceived sensitivity and response to flood warnings from the local TV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]