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Aim of study: To select the appropriate model for body weight gain (BWG) traits in different ages and estimation of additive and non-additive genetic variances based on the best model, of a crossbred population of quail. Area of study: Zabol, Iran Materials and methods: Four strains of Japanese quail, including Italian Speckled, Tuxedo, Pharaoh, and A&M Texas, were used to create a crossbred population in a partial diallel design over 4 generations. BWG traits were calculated as the average growth performance of the bird in a 5-day period from hatch to 45 days of age. Analyses were performed using the Bayesian method by fitting 24 models including the additive and non-additive genetic effects. The deviance information criteria (DIC) was used for the selection of an appropriate model for each trait. Main results: Based on DIC, the maternal genetic, maternal permanent environmental, dominance and epistasis effects had a significant contribution to the best model for BWG traits before 25 days of age, whereas these effects were not significant on BWG traits at the end of ages. With the best model, direct heritability of BWG traits in different ages ranged from 0.037 (BWG15-20) to 0.199 (BWG5-10). The maternal genetic and maternal permanent environmental as a proportion of phenotypic variance was less than 10% and 5%, respectively. The ratio of dominance and epistasis variance was in the range of 0.016-0.019, and 0.016-0.019, respectively. Research highlights: Non- additive genetic effects are important for the early BWG traits and must be included in the evaluation models to have accurate estimates.

Objectives: This study aims to assess the value of FLT-PET as a non-invasive tool to differentiate between patients with ET and Pre-PMF. This study is a pilot study to have a proof of concept only. Methods: This is a prospective, interventional study where a total of 12 patients were included. Each patient underwent FLT PET imaging as well as bone marrow examination (gold standard). In addition, semi-quantitative (SUVmax and SUVmean) measurements of FLT uptake in the liver, spleen, and Lspine, SUVmean, as well as the Total Lesion Glycolysis (TLG) of the Lspine were performed. Results from the two patient cohorts were compared using = Kruskal-Wallis statistical test. A P -value of .05). In contrast, TLG measurements in the LSpine were statistically different ( P = .013), and therefore, compared to gold standard bone marrow results, TLG can separate ET and Pre-PMF patients. Conclusion: This study is a proof of concept about the potential to discriminate between ET and pre-PMF patients in a non-invasive way. TLG of the LSpine in FLT PET images is a potential quantitative parameter to distinguish between ET and pre-PMF patients.

< p>This study investigates the prevalence of a number of major issues and concepts in the field of language teaching in the related research literature and reports published from 1968 to 2018. The purpose was to give a taste of the changes that came about in language teachers'' concerns over these years. The researcher first selected a large number of high-profile terms in language teaching by browsing through the tables of contents and indexes of language teaching textbooks. He, then, shortlisted these terms subjectively or in informal consultation with language teaching experts. Then, the abstracts available from nine language teaching journals published from 1968 to 2018 were collected and assigned to four-time spans: 1968-1990, 1991-2000, 2001-2010, and 2011-2018. The abstracts were processed for frequency tagged words and n-grams, which produced two lists for each span. Using these lists, the incidence of the target terms in the four-time spans was established. The study presents normalized and comparable statistics about the frequency of occurrence of the target language teaching ideas in the research literature of the four-time spans and refers to examples of insights and messages which can be drawn from these data.

Objective: The production of β-lactamase enzymes such as AmpC β-lactamases and extended-spectrum β-lactamases (ESBLs) is among the main mechanisms for resistance to expanded-spectrum cephalosporins. The present study was conducted to investigate the prevalence and molecular epidemiology of plasmid-mediated AmpC beta (β)-lactamase in ESBL co-producing Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Klebsiella spp. (Klebsiella pneumoniae and Klebsiella oxytoca) clinical isolates in the northeast of Iran. Methods: A total of 602 E. coli and Klebsiella spp. clinical isolates were collected from three hospitals in Mashhad (northeast of Iran). A combination disk test (CDT) was performed for the phenotypic detection of ESBLs. Screening for the detection of AmpC β-lactamases was performed by a susceptibility test to a cefoxitin disc among ESBL producing isolates. A confirmatory test for AmpC β-lactamases was performed using the Mast® D68C test. Identification of plasmid-mediated AmpC cluster genes was done by multiplex polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results: Among 336 ESBL-producing strains, 230 (68.4%) isolates were resistant to cefoxitin. Results of the Mast® D68C test showed that 30% (69/230) of cefoxitin-resistant isolates simultaneously exhibited ESBL and AmpC activity and 22% (51/230) of isolates probably showed multi-drug resistant (MDR) phenotype. Results of multiplex PCR among ESBL-positive isolates showed that, 16.7% (56/336) of isolates were positive for plasmid-borneampC cluster genes, and CMY (38%) was the most frequent genotype of plasmid mediated AmpC. Conclusion: Findings of the study revealed that an increase in the prevalence of ESBL and AmpC co-producer in E. coli and Klebsiella spp. strains may become an important public health issue. Therefore, there is a vital need for surveillance of spread of these clinical isolates.

Background: Several studies have investigated the factors of infidelity and the creation of extramarital relationships and marital adjustment of couples. But research comparing addiction to marital love and marital adjustment in married couples with and without extramarital relationships has been neglected. Objective: The purpose of this study was to compare marital addiction and marital adjustment in married couples with and without extramarital relationships.. Method: The research design was causal-comparative. The statistical population of the present study included all married men and women referring to Isfahan consultation centers in the spring of 2018 from whom 58 men and 50 women with extramarital relationships and 49 men and 59 women without extramarital relationship were selected as the research samples through convenient method. In order to collect data, Love Addiction Questionnaire (Paybody, 2005) and Extramarital Adjustment Questionnaire (Spiner, 1976) were used. Independent sample t-test was used in order to analyze the data. Results: The results of the analysis showed that two married groups with extramarital relationships and without extramarital relationships are significantly different from each other in the variables of marital adjustment and love addiction (P

The present study aimed to examine the mediating role of anger feeling on the relationship between attachment pathologies and depression. It was designed as a correlational research performed with a descriptive method. The research population included all depressed individuals at age range of 18-65 referred to psychology clinics in Isfahan city. Seventy five depressed patients (45 women, 30 men) selected by purposive sampling method among those who satisfied the research inclusion and exclusion criteria. Participants were asked to complete Adult Attachment Inventory, Novaco Anger Scale, and Depression Anxiety Stress Scale. The results indicated that the hypothesized model had a good fit with the observed data. The correlations between insecure attachment styles, anger feeling, and depression were significantly positive. Based on the results of path analysis, anger feeling played a significant mediating role on the relationship between attachment insecurity and depression. According to the results of the present study, it can be concluded that insecure attachment styles and anger feeling can predict severity of depression symptoms. Considering attachment pathologies and anger feeling may have an important clinical role in the processes of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of depression

Introduction: It has been reported that doxorubicin can cause liver damage; however, exercise and crocin consumption can improve antioxidant defense.The aim of the present study was to investigate the antioxidant effect of continuous training with crocin consumption on the liver tissue of doxorubicin-poisoned rats. Methods: In this experimental study, 40 rats were selected and divided into five groups of eight subjects, including: 1)unhealthy control(Dox), 2) crocin consumption, 3) continuous training, and 4) continuous training with crocin consumption and 5) healthy control( salin). For eight weeks, groups 1 to 4 received 2 mg / kg of doxorubicin peritoneally seven times each Friday throughout the study period. Groups 1 and 4 received 10 mg / kg of crocin peritoneally per day, and groups 3 and 4 performed five sessions of continuous training per week and group 5 only injected by normal salin 0.9%. Results: Doxorubicin induction had a significant effect on decreasing SOD and CAT as well as increasing MDA ; continuous training and crocin consumption had a significant effect on increasing SOD and CAT in doxorubicin-poisoned rats P˂(0.05), however, continuous training along with crocin consumption had no interactive effect on increasing SOD and CAT in doxorubicin-poisoned rats P˃(0.05); continuous training and crocin consumption had a significant effect on decreasing MDA in doxorubicin-poisoned rats. Also, continuous training along with crocin consumption had interactive effect on decreasing MDA in the liver tissue of doxorubicin-poisoned rats P˂ (0.05). Conclusion: It seems that continuous training along with crocin consumption has an interactive effect on decreasing MDA in the liver tissue of doxorubicin-poisoned rats, however it has no interactive effect on increasing SOD and CAT.

This paper aims to study the mechanical behavior of rocks subjected to different mechanical loading conditions using the Cohesive Crack Model (CCM) and Grain-Based Model (GBM) in the Distinct Element Method (DEM) simulations. In the GBM-DEM, the Voronoi tessellation scheme is used, and intact materials are simulated as a collection of structural units (particles/blocks) bonded together at their contact areas. Implementing the CCM revealed a nonlinear behavior of grain interfaces under various loading modes. Numerical simulation of a tension-compression and direct shear test was conducted to verify that the CCM was implemented correctly. The simulated numerical curves were consistent to the results of theoretical calculations, indicating that the model incorporated into GBM-DEM could simulate more realistically similar to the micro-cracking mechanisms. Finally, CCM was used to simulate the uniaxial and biaxial compression tests under the Universal Distinct Element Code (UDEC). The results of the models were in a good agreement with the relevant responses of the rock under different loading conditions, verifying the applicability of the CCM.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of theater therapy on self-control, social and adaptive performance and dependence on computer games of game-dependent students, which was conducted in a quasi-experimental design. The statistical population consisted of all students studying in the first year of high school in Isfahan in the academic in 2018-2019, who obtained more than 50 marks from Farhadi (2017) researcher-made computer game addiction researcher-made questionnaire. Out of 150 people from the mentioned community, 30 people were purposefully selected and randomly divided into two groups of 15 people. Participants in both groups completed Tangney self-control questionnaire (2004), Price et all Social Performance Scale (2002) and Farhadi Computer Game Addiction Questionnaire (2017). Theatrical therapy sessions were held in 8 90-minute group sessions per week for the experimental group; But the participants in the control group did not receive any intervention until the end of the follow-up phase. After completing the training course and also 3 months after the post-test, both groups were re-assessed. Analysis of variance with repeated measures and SPSS 24 software were used to analyze the data. The results showed that theater therapy increased the level of self-control and adaptive social performance in students and reduced computer game addiction in this group and the results were stable in the quarterly follow-up period (p

Abstract In this research, the adsorption capacity of the Ziziphora plant ash collected from the village of Kib, Jurm township of Badakhshan province of Afghanistan country were studied on the removal of methylene blue from aqueous solutions. At first, the adsorbent was prepared in its natural form and then turned into powder. The powder obtained by the furnace is turned into ash at 500 °C. Natural adsorbent Ziziphora plant ash were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In this study, investigated the effects of various factors such as pH, contact time, initial dye of concentration, dose of adsorbent, ionic strength and temperature. Then, the thermodynamic parameters of the adsorption process such as ∆H^°, ∆S^° and ∆G^° were calculated. Thermodynamic investigations showed that the adsorption of methylene blue dye increased by increasing the temperature on the natural adsorbent of the Ziziphora plant ash and that indicating the adsorption process was endothermic. The kinetic adsorption conditions were investigated with first and second order kinetic models and the results showed that the methylene blue absorption process were followed to the second-order kinetics model. The isotherm of the adsorption process were studied using Langmuir, Freundlich, Tamkin and Dobbin-Radskvich models. The results of the experiments showed that the adsorption process followed by Langmuir model with a maximum adsorption capacity (59.1 mg.g-1). Keywords: Removal, Methylene blue, Isotherm, Ziziphora plant ash

Background: Internet addiction is a phenomenon which damages the students’ social, communicative, cognitive, psychological and emotional processes of the students. This study seeks to investigate whether cognitive-behavioral group therapy will improve emotional self-awareness and problem solving ability of students with internet addiction in secondary school. Aims: The present study was conducted with the aim of investigating the effectiveness of group cognitive-behavioral therapy on emotional self-awareness and problem-solving skill of secondary high school students with internet addiction. Method: The research method was quasi-experimental with pretest, posttest, control group and 45-day follow-up. The statistical population included all secondary high school students with internet addiction who were 40 students owning the criteria of entering the study and were purposefully selected and randomly replaced into experimental and control groups. The applied instruments in the study included internet addiction questionnaire (Yang, 1996), emotional self-awareness questionnaire (Grant, et.al, 2002) and problem-solving questionnaire (Hepner, 1988). The experimental group received group cognitive-behavioral therapeutic intervention in nine ninety-minute sessions during two-and-a-half months once a week while the control group didn’t receive them. Then the students in both groups took the posttest. The follow-up stage was administered after 45 days. The data analysis of the study was done mixed ANOVA method. Results: The results showed that group cognitive-behavioral therapy has significant effect on emotional self-awareness and problem-solving skill of the students with internet addiction at the posttest and follow-up stages (p

Background: Disturbance in human relationships has significant negative effects on the quality of life of couples and their children. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of narrative couple therapy (NCT) and emotionally focused therapy (EFT) for couples on quality of life of individuals. Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental study with pretest and posttest, and the statistical sample consisted of 45 insociable patients referred to Aftab Mehr and Rahe Eshgh counseling centers in Isfahan City, Iran. They were randomly divided to three equal groups, who received treatment in 5 sessions. Subjects were evaluated using Busby Quality of Life Questionnaire. Data were analyzed using chi-square, covariance analysis, Bonferroni post hoc, and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests via SPSS software. Chi-square was used test to compare sex distribution and educational level among three groups, one-way ANOVA to compare the mean age of the three groups, and covariance analysis and Bonferroni post hoc test to assess the effect of therapeutic intervention on improving marital quality. Findings: The highest increase in marital quality of life was in the NCT group, and then in the EFT group. In control group, the decrease in the quality of life in the posttest was not significant compared to the pretest. Conclusion: NCT and EFT interventions has significant effect on marital quality of life compared to the control group.

Carcass yield of meat-type quails is strongly correlated with the weight of the birds at slaughter (slaughter weight [SW]; body weight at 45 D of age). Moreover, prediction of superior animals for SW at the earlier stages of the rearing period is favorable for producers. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to predict and optimize SW of Japanese quails based on their early growth performances, sex, and egg weight as predictors through artificial neural network (ANN) modeling. To construct the ANN model a feed-forward multilayer perceptron neural network structure was used. Moreover, sensitivity analysis was used to arrange the predictors in the ANN model(s) according to their predictive importance too. In addition, the optimization process was conducted to determine the optimum values for the input variables to yield maximum SW. The best-fitted network on input data to predict SW in Japanese quails was determined with 7 neurons in the input layer, 11 neurons in the hidden layer, and one neuron in the output layer. The coefficient of determination (R2) was 0.9404, 0.9359, and 0.9223 for training, validation, and testing phases, respectively. For the corresponding phases, SEM were also 51.8854, 52.2764, and 55.2572, respectively. According to sensitivity analysis, the most important input variable for prediction of SW was body weight at 20 D of age (BW20), whereas the less important input variables were weight of the birds at hatch and body weight at 5 D of age. The results of the neural network optimization indicated that all the input variables, except for BW20, were very similar but slightly higher than mean values (μ for each input variable). The results of this study suggest that the ANN provides a practical approach to predict the final body weight (SW) of Japanese quails based on early performances. Moreover, phenotypic selection for higher values of early growth traits did not ensure the achievement of maximum SW, except for BW20.

Background: There have been several studies of body image and ambivalence anxiety, but the question is whether natural cognition can mediate body image anxiety based on ambivalence? Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of natural imagination in predicting anxiety based on ambivalence. Method: The study was descriptive-correlational and was performed on 130 students of Payam Noor Najafabad University who were selected by convenience sampling method. The instruments were the Toronto Natural Intelligence Scale (1994), the Ton Littletom Fear Questionnaire, Axm & Perry Questionnaire (2005), and the Ambiguity Questionnaire on King and Ammons Emotion Expressions (1990). The data were analyzed using structural equation method. Results: The indirect path coefficients between the predictor variable (emotional ambiguity) and the criterion variable (tone image anxiety) were mediated by natural unconscious mediation (p

Introduction: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effect of virtual filial therapy fr mothers on the social skills and aggression in children with learning disabilities. Materials and Methods: The target population in this randomized controlled clinical trial was all the 6-11 years old children with learning disabilities in Esfahan city during 2018-2019. 30 children with learning disabilities were selected based on Wolcott learning disabilities screening test through convenient sampling and randomly divided into two groups of 15 subjects. In the pre-test and post-test stages, mothers completed the Novaco Anger Scale and Matson's Social Skills Questionnaire. Then, educational materials, including text, photos, and videos were provided weekly via social networks for the mothers in experimental group. The data were analyzed using univariate and multivariate analysis of covariance. Results: Virtual filial therapy significantly improved negative social skills (P=0.001) and its dimensions including non-social behavior (P=0.046), aggression and impulsive behavior (P=0.003), over self-confidence (P=0.013) and aggression variable (P=0.031) and aggressive thinking dimension (P=0.008), although its effects were not significant on positive social skills (P=0.734) and its dimensions including appropriate social behavior (P=0.515), communication with peers (P=0.515), decreasing aggressive behavior (P=0.059) and aggressive feeling (P=0.109). Conclusion: It seems that virtual filial therapy of mothers can be used to improve negative behaviors of children with learning disabilities.

Enterobacter spp. is a gram-negative environmental bacterium, which belongs to the Enterobacteriaceae family and is found in water, sewage, soil, and plants. These bacteria are common among humans and animals, and the most frequently isolated species is Enterobacter cloacae. The species of this genus are often opportunistic pathogens with expanding significance in nosocomial infections, particularly in neonates, immunocompromised patients in intensive care units, emergency sections, skin and soft tissue infection wards, and urology wards. With the unexpected and rapid increase in antibiotic resistance in various bacterial species, there has been a new alarm for the health of the human community. Enterobacter species cause pneumonitis, bacteremia, post-neurosurgical meningitis, neonatal meningitis, skin and soft tissue infections, and urinary tract infections. Some of the main risk factors for the occurrence and dissemination of Enterobacter spp. infections are poor hand hygiene, crowding, low birth weight, premature birth, intubation of patients, prolonged hospital stay, contaminated infant formula, intravenous feeding, use of extended-spectrum antibiotics and use of intravenous catheters.

Background: The most common, costly, and debilitating functional gastrointestinal disorder is irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy on metacognitive beliefs and pain problems in patients with irritable bowel syndrome. Methods: The study used a quasi-experimental design with pre-test, post-test and a three-month follow-up with the control group. All patients with irritable bowel syndrome at Tehran Shariatee Hospital were included in the statistical population. The sample consisted of 30 patients who were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups using the purposive sampling method. Before the intervention, the pre-test was held, after which the experimental group received cognitive-behavioral therapy in 8 sessions of 90 minutes, but the control group did not receive any intervention. Then, the post-test was administered and after three months of post-test implementation, the follow-up period was performed. The research tools included a metacognitive beliefs questionnaire and pain understanding. Data analysis was performed by SPSS.22 software and univariate variance analysis. Results: The experimental group was 33.6 (7.8) years old, while the control group was 35.9 (8.4) years old. Both groups were homogenous in terms of gender, age and marital status. The findings showed that cognitive-behavioral therapy was effective on metacognitive beliefs (P

Background and Objectives: Emerging of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) is one of the major concerns among healthcare systems. This study aimed to investigate the antibiotic susceptibility pattern and carbapenemase genes of carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae isolates obtained from Iranian hospitalized patients. Materials and Methods: This study was performed on 71 CRKP strains isolated from different clinical specimens collected in Tehran Heart Center (Tehran, Iran). A Modified Hodge test (MHT) was done for the detection of carbapenemase-producing K. pneumoniae. The presence of blaKPC, blaVIM, blaIMP, blaNDM, and blaOXA-48-type carbapenemases was evaluated by the PCR method. Results: We identified 8.82% (71/805) of K. pneumoniae isolates as CRKP by MHT test. The antibiotic susceptibility indicated that all isolates were resistant to imipenem, meropenem, cefotaxime, ceftazidime, cefepime, ceftriaxone, cephalothin, ciprofloxacin, and augmentin, and then mostly resistant to aztreonam, cefoxitin, gentamicin, and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole with 98.6%, 98.6%, 97.2%, and 94.4%, respectively. The lowest resistance was related to amikacin with 46.5% (33/71 isolates). The level of imipenem MIC for all carbapenem-resistant isolates was estimated ≥32 µg/mL. Among positive isolates for carbapenemase genes, the most frequent gene was blaOXA-48. It was found in 48 (67.6%) isolates followed by blaVIM in 28 (39.4%) isolates. blaIMP, blaNDM, and blaKPC genes were identified in 19 (26.8%), 13 (18.3%) and 5 (7.0%) isolates, respectively. These genes were not detected in nine isolates. Conclusion: The relatively high frequency of some carbapenemase genes suggests major concern about the emergence of isolates containing carbapenem resistance genes as a potential health threat.

BACKGROUND: Marital satisfaction and positive emotional experience towards one's spouse has always been effective in preserving and surviving the family, therefore one of the concerns of family specialists is to improve these two structures in the family. This research was conducted with the aim of the effectiveness of imago therapy on marital satisfaction and emotional experience towards spouse among married men with conflict in Isfahan city. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The research was semi-experimental with a pre-test and post-test design with experimental and control groups. The statistical population was all married and conflicted men of Isfahan city in the year 1400, from whom a sample of 40 people was selected as available and non-randomly placed in an experimental group and a control group. The measurement tools were Inridge marital satisfaction scale with Cronbach's alpha above 0.80 and emotional experience towards spouse with Cronbach's alpha above 0.92 for each subscale). Both research groups were evaluated by research tools before and after training. While the control group was on the waiting list, the experimental group received Imago therapy. The collected data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (multivariate covariance analysis). RESULTS: The results showed that imago therapy had a significant effect on the improvement of marital satisfaction and the dimensions of emotional experience towards the spouse (P = 0.01). CONCLUSION: According to the present results, it can be said that this method can help family counselors to use this method to improve marital satisfaction and emotional experience towards the spouse and thereby reduce marital conflicts. He used this integrated method.

Background: Unhealthy nutritional attitudes and emotion regulation difficulties are among the most important problems among young people, but the key question is whether natural cognition plays a mediating role in emotion regulation difficulties and nutritional attitudes? Aims: The aim of this study was to investigate the mediating role of natural misery in predicting nutritional attitudes based on emotion regulation difficulties. Method: It was a descriptive-correlational one and was performed on 130 students of Payam Noor Najafabad University who were selected by available sampling method. Research questionnaires included Toronto Natural Intelligence Scale (1994), Garner & Garfinkel (1979) Nutrition Attitude Scale, and Gratz & Roemer (2004) Emotion Regulation Scale. Data were analyzed using structural equation method. Results: The results showed that direct path coefficients between predictor (emotion regulation difficulties) and criterion variable (nutritional attitudes) were not significant (p>0/05), but indirect path coefficients between These variables were significant with mediation of natural odor (p

Background: Because of the current limitations of therapeutic methods, the worldwide appearance and spreading of carbapenem-resistant (CR)-Klebsiella pneumoniae has made to a key concern in the healthcare system. K. pneumoniae, the most frequent Klebsiella species is the cause of human infections, classified as top three pathogens of global concern which established in 2014 WHO Global Report on Surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance. Methods: Embase, PubMed/Medline, Scopus, Google Scholar, Web of Sciences and Iranian databases were searched to retrieve the potentially relevant studies. In this review, we explored the prevalence of K. pneumoniae generating three universal carbapenemases (KPCs, NDMs, and OXA-48-like) by following keywords: "carbapenem resistance" and"blaKPC" and"metallo beta lactamase" and "blaNDM" and "blaOXA" and "Klebsiella pneumoniae" and Iran. Results: After exploiting predefined inclusion and exclusion criteria, 37 articles were collected that reported prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae. At finally, 20 studies reported blaNDM , 17 studies reported blaKPC, 14 studies reported blaOXA-48 and blaVIM as gene cause resistance among Klebsiella pneumoniae strains. The described resistance to carbapenem varied across different studies, ranging from 4.4% to 100%. Conclusion: Our findings demonstrated that the high prevalence of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae expresses concern over most Iranian hospitals.

This dataset provides information related to the outbreak of COVID-19 disease in the United States, including data from each of 3142 US counties from the beginning of the outbreak (January 2020) until June 2021. This data is collected from many public online databases and includes the daily number of COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths, as well as 46 features that may be relevant to the pandemic dynamics: demographic, geographic, climatic, traffic, public-health, social-distancing-policy adherence, and political characteristics of each county. We anticipate many researchers will use this dataset to train models that can predict the spread of COVID-19 and to identify the key driving factors.

A simple, efficient and quick salting-out based centrifugeless dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction combined with high-performance liquid chromatography-ultraviolet detection (HPLC-UV) has been successfully developed for the determination of selected parabens in environmental water samples. Herein, following the dispersion of the extracting solvent (1-undecanol) whose melting point is near the room temperature into the sample solution, the cloudy mixture is passed through a test tube filled with sodium chloride, acting as separating agent based on salting-out phenomenon. By immersing the tube inside an ice bath, the fine droplets of the extraction solvent are solidified, easily collected and after returning to the liquid state, injected into HPLC-UV. The values of the detection limit were in the range of 2.5-5.0 µg L-1 while the intra-day (n = 7) and inter-day (n = 9, within three days) precision were below 3.7 and 4.7%, respectively. A satisfactory linearity (0.997 ≥ r2 ≥ 0.996) and quite a broad linear range (5.0-250 µg L-1) were achieved. The relative errors as the accuracy were less than 6.4% in all experiments. The method was eventually employed for the preconcentration and determination of the analytes in various natural water samples and acceptable results were achieved.

Aim and Background: Disturbance of marital relationship is one of the most common stressors in recent decade which has a significant negative impact on the satisfaction of couples and their children. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of Emotional-Focused Couple Therapy (EFCT) and Narrative Couple Therapy (NCT) on marital conflicts. Methods and Materials: This study was a clinical trial. The sample consisted of 45 maladaptive couples who referred to counseling centers in Isfahan. Participants were randomly assigned to three groups of 15, namely the EFCT, NCT and control groups. Participants were assessed using the Marital Conflict Questionnaire (MCQ) in pretest and posttest. Data were analyzed by multivariate analysis of covariance. Findings: Both the NCT and EFCT approaches at posttest significantly improved marital conflict compared to the control group at all levels of marital conflict. Conclusions: In general, the highest reduction of marital conflicts was observed in the EFCT, NCT and control groups, respectively. In fact, EFCT may be more effective in reducing marital conflict than NCT.

Background and purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of crocin (Cr) on brain oxidative stress indices in animal model demyelinated with intracerebroventricular ethidium bromide (EB). Materials and methods: In an interventional study, female Wistar rats were randomly divided into 7 groups. Crocin administration was done 1 day after EB injection for 21 days. The values ​​for Glutathione peroxidase (GPx), Superoxide dismutase (SOD), and Malondialdehyde (MDA) were measured before and after receiving Cr and analyzed using Paired t test and ANOVA. Results: The levels of GPx, SOD, and MDA significantly reduced in the group that received Cr100 mg/kg (P

Background: Evidence suggests that excessive and borderless relationships in virtual networks seriously damage trust between couples and cause marital strife, separation, and even divorce. But could quality of life therapy on Communication skills and addiction to cyberspace be effective? Aims: The present study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of quality of life therapy on communication skills, addiction to cyberspace, marital satisfaction, and emotional self-regulation in couples. Method: The present research was a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest, two-month followup design with control group. The research statistical population consisted of couples with Internet addiction and communication problems in the city of Isfahan. Among them, 20 couples were selected through purposive sampling and placed randomely into the experimental (10 subjects) and control (10 subjects) groups. The research instruments included the Internet addiction questionnire (Young, 1991), the emotional self-regulation questionnaire (Hofmann and Kashdan, 2010), the communication skills questionnaire (Queen Damm, 2004), and the marital satisfaction questionnaire (Olson, 2006). Quality of life therapy (Frisch, 2006) was administered on the experimental group at eight 90-minute sessions once a week. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA. Results: The results showed that the quality of life therapy had significant effects on addiction to cyberspace (F=83/89, p

Abstract Background Acute gastroenteritis (AGE) is a major cause of pediatric morbidity and mortality around the world. It remains a frequent reason for infection-related admissions to emergency units among all age groups. Following the Syrian refugee crisis and insufficient clean water in our region, we sought to assess the etiological and epidemiological factors pertaining to AGE in South Lebanon. Methods In this multi-center cross sectional clinical study, we analyzed the demographic, clinical and laboratory data of 619 Lebanese children from the age of 1 month to 5 years old who were admitted with AGE to pediatrics departments of three tertiary care centers in South Lebanon. Results Our results revealed that males had a higher incidence of AGE (57.3%) than females. Enteropathogens were identified in 332/619 (53.6%) patients. Single pathogens were found in 294/619 (47.5%) patients, distributed as follows: Entamoeba histolytica in 172/619 (27.8%) patients, rotavirus in 84/619 (13.6%), and adenovirus in 38/619 (6.1%). Mixed co-pathogens were identified in 38/619 (6.1%) patients. Analyzing the clinical manifestations indicated that E. histolytica caused the most severe AGE. In addition, children who received rotavirus vaccine were significantly less prone to rotavirus infection. Conclusions Our findings alluded to the high prevalence of E. histolytica and other unidentified enteropathogens as major potential causes of pediatric AGE in hospitalized Lebanese children. This should drive us to widen our diagnostic panel by adopting new diagnostic techniques other than the routinely used ones (particularly specific for the pathogenic amoeba E. histolytica and for the unidentified enteropathogens), and to improve health services in this unfortunate area of the world where insanitary water supplies and lack of personal hygiene represent a major problem.

In this research, flame retardant polymer-nanocomposites with polyester fibers and inorganic nano materials were prepared to investigate the reduction of flammability. Nano calcium tetraborate (CaB4O7) and Nano barium tetraborate (BaB4O7) were synthesized by precipitation method onto polyester fibers to achieve flame retardant fiber nanocomposite. The prepared fiber nanocomposites were characterized by several techniques such as x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), vertical flammability test, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The CaB4O7 and BaB4O7 with less than 100 nm in size, was found to be well-dispersed throughout the matrix without the formation of large aggregates which is showed efficient flame-retardancy properties. The optimum values for donation of flame-retardancy were obtained 8.02 and 9.5% for calcium tetra borate and barium tetra borate, respectively. TGA/DTG and DSC analysis of pure, treated fibers was accomplished and their thermograms were compared and commented. The results show that the flame retardancy mechanism of obtained flame retardant coated fiber is a condensed-phase phenomenon due to the formation of a protective char layer that acts as a mass transport barrier and a thermal insulator.

The present study investigates the effectiveness of thermostat control strategy in cooling energy consumption in residential buildings. To evaluate the energy consumption, two scenarios including a residential zone with and without the thermostat control system are assumed. The TRNSYS software provides an efficient numerical tool to model and evaluate a cooling system. Furthermore, since solar-powered cooling systems for residential air-conditioning are receiving growing and significant interest, a hot-water fired absorption chiller coupled with evacuated tube collectors is considered as the cooling system. The results reveal that the cooling systems consume a large amount of energy in hot climate zones without employing the thermostatic control. Therefore, cooling energy has great potential for a significant saving in hot climates. It is illustrated that the thermostat strategy has an obvious impact on such energy saving. In the current study, employing the thermostat in 90m2 residential building results in saving energy by up to 36%.

Objectives: Oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) is one of the commonest malignant neoplasms in the oral cavity. Although human papillomavirus has been considered as one of the risk factors for oral cancer, the extent of its involvement in squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) has remained unclear. The present study aimed to detect the prevalence of HPV in the patients with OSCC in Tabriz, northwest of Iran. Materials and Methods: Genomic DNAs of 30 normal non-smoking cases and 30 cases with tongue SCC who underwent surgery in Tabriz, Iran, were extracted and used for amplification of HPV L1 fragment using MY09/MY11 and GP5/GP6 primers by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and nested PCR. The positive PCR products were sequenced to confirm the presence of HPV. Results: Among 30 OSCC samples analyzed, two cases (6.6% of 30) were positive for HPV in PCR performed by MY09/ MY11 primer, and none of them showed a positive result with GP5/GP6 primers. Nested PCR by MY/GP primers showed higher sensitivity in three positive cases (10% of 30) of SCC subjects. Conclusions: According to these findings, HPV infection may not be a causative agent in tissue samples obtained from OSCC patients in Tabriz.

Introduction: Acinetobacter baumannii is one of the primary causes of nosocomial infections. Furthermore, the increment of antibiotic resistance has raised concerns about the proper therapeutic approach to this problem. This study aimed to determine the susceptibility of A.baumannii to colistin and imipenem through minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC). Methods: In this study, 2745 samples (2745 plate) were collected from patients in different wards of Ghaem Hospital and Imam Reza Hospital in Mashhad between October 2015 and September 2016. In the case of a specimen was wound, after disinfection of the wound surface using a sterile swab from the inferior part of the sample, middle stream urine was collected in sterile container, and the bronchial specimen was taken by the doctor by syringe. In this study, 100 A.baumannii were isolated from 100 hospitalized patients at Imam Reza and Ghaem hospitals of Mashhad, By Biochemical tests (Kligler iron agar, Lysine, urea indole) diagnostic and then disc diffusion method, and E-test strips were utilized to evaluate infection, antibiotic susceptibility, and MIC, respectively. .Results: The obtained results of disc diffusion showed that all isolates were resistant to imipenem, which was also confirmed by E-test strips. Moreover, all isolates were sensitive to colistin. The obtained colistin MIC was 0.25μg/ml for one sample and ≤2μg/ml for others; which were considered sensitive according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute standards. Conclusion: The high resistance of A.baumannii to imipenem was indicative of resistance pattern changes of this bacteria and insufficiency of the mentioned antibiotic for treatment. However, colistin is still effective and should be prescribed more carefully to prevent resistant strains spread.

Background and Aim: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is one of the main causes of hospital infections. MRSA is resistant to all beta-lactams due to the presence of the mecA gene. The aim of this study was to isolate and identify the methicillin resistance gene of Staphylococcus aureus by PCR technique, before and after open heart surgery in Day and Shariati hospital. Materials and Methods: After collecting samples, various biochemical and microbiological tests were performed and then antibiotic susceptibility test using disc diffusion method based on CLSI instructions with antibiotics from different groups. It were used turned out to determine the resistance gene, PCR and Qpcr. Results: The results showed that the prevalence of mecA gene in clinical samples was 30% and there was a significant difference in the frequency of isolates of Staphylococcus aureus and MRSA in two hospitals of Day and Shariati. Among the antibiotics, the resistance before the operation of the open heart surgery was 95% for the oxacillin antibiotic and the antibiotic resistance after the surgery was higher than that for oxacillin 100%, erythromycin and, Ceftazidime 97%, which was tested more than the other antibiotics. Conclusion: Because of the importance of Staphylococcus aureus as the most important pathogenic pathogen and considering the significant reduction of MRSA isolation after open heart surgery in the private hospital of Day in comparison with Shariati Hospital, It can be concluded that it is likely that the environmental conditions and the principles of sterilization in private hospitals are much better than government hospitals.

Abstract Mycobacterium simiae is an emerging and spreading pathogen in Iran and little data about its drug susceptibility test (DST) and no standard treatment regimen are available. We report a case of multidrug‐resistant M. simiae respiratory infection in a 65‐year‐old woman with a history of previous Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. The patient was treated with clarithromycin, levofloxacin, and cotrimoxazole for one year and eventually died while still suffering from respiratory problems. For DST, broth microdilution method was used according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute guidelines as well as molecular DST in clinical isolate. Mycobacterium simiae was resistant to streptomycin, moxifloxacin, clarithromycin, and cotrimoxazole antibiotics and was sensitive to clofazimine and amikacin antibiotics. Inappropriate use of antibiotics without determining the pattern of antibiotic resistance increases the likelihood of resistance and, for resistant specimens, the need to review the treatment protocol and replace antibiotics. Effectiveness based on antibiotic resistance pattern is essential.

The effects of bioaugmentation with immobilized Penicillium restrictum on the removal efficiency of sulfamethoxazole (SMX), erythromycin (ERY) and tetracycline (TC) antibiotics as well as membrane biofouling was studied using hollow-fiber membrane bioreactor (HF-MBR). Bioaugmentation with P. restrictum led to a significant change in the antibiotic removal efficiency and relative abundance of aerobic microbial community, most probably as a result of its quorum quenching activity. Furthermore, in addition to its role in the increase of SMX and ERY removal efficiencies and the decrease of their sorption on solid phase, bioaugmentation significantly reduced the transmembrane pressure which in turn reduced membrane clogging. The most abundant phyla in sludge and biofilm samples in the presence of P. restrictum were observed to be Proteobacteria, Bacteroidetes and Firmicutes. Differences in bacterial compositions and their specificity in biodegradation of antibiotics in different reactors showed that bacteria were specifically selected under the pressure of antibiotics and growing fungus.

The present work describes the utilization of high-silica kaolinite for the synthesis of zeolite ZSM-5 with different SiO2/Al2O3 ratios. The new synthetic method, which involves acid-base activation of metakaolinite, is most suitable for the production of high-silica zeolites. The process starts with the conversion of kaolinite to metakaolinite, which is then dealuminated with sulfuric acid with varying concentrations. A relationship between the acid concentration and the SiO2/Al2O3 ratio in the final product was established. The dealuminated kaolinite was hydrothermally treated with alkali to obtain phase-pure ZSM-5. The zeolites were characterized by XRF, XRD, SEM, and N2 physisorption. The sodium form of the zeolite was converted to the acid form for application in catalytic dehydration of alcohols. The catalytic activity of the zeolite was tested in the dehydration of 1-phenylethanol into styrene. The results reveal a selective formation of styrene in high yield that reaches up to 95%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]