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BACKGROUND:Anemia is a global health problem associated with short- and long-term consequences especially in children. The incidence of anemia along with the factors associated with its increased or decreased risk is not yet well studied in Lebanon. Our study aims at determining the demographics of this health burden and identifying some of the important factors linked to it among the pediatric population. METHODS:A 4-months cross-sectional study was performed between August and November 2017 including 295 children aged 1 month to 12 years, who were hospitalized in a tertiary care hospital located in South Lebanon. We analyzed the different demographic data, age, gender, breast feeding duration, solid food introduction, iron supplementation and disease of diagnosis in association with multiple hematological parameters. RESULTS:The prevalence of both mild and moderate anemia was 71.8 and 25.4%, with only 2 cases of severe anemia encountered among children aged 6 months or above. Results showed that the risk of anemia increases by around 3.4 folds among malnourished children than in well-nourished children. This risk also decreased by almost 42% in children receiving iron supplement. CONCLUSION:In consideration to the fact that anemia is a prevalent disease in the Lebanese childhood population, especially in infancy, simple preventive measures such as proper nutritional habits and supplementation of iron rich food to children are highly recommended and should be respected by public health providers.

Identifying the abnormally high-risk regions in a spatiotemporal space that contains an unexpected disease count is helpful to conduct surveillance and implement control strategies. The EigenSpot algorithm has been recently proposed for detecting space-time disease clusters of arbitrary shapes with no restriction on the distribution and quality of the data, and has shown some promising advantages over the state-of-the-art methods. However, the main problem with the EigenSpot method is that it cannot be adapted to detect more than one spatiotemporal hotspot. This is an important limitation, since, in reality, we may have multiple hotspots, sometimes at the same level of importance. We propose an extension of the EigenSpot algorithm, called Multi-EigenSpot that is able to handle multiple hotspots by iteratively removing previously detected hotspots and re-running the algorithm until no more hotspots are found. In addition, a visualization tool (heatmap) has been linked to the proposed algorithm to visualize multiple clusters with different colors. We evaluated the proposed method using the monthly data on measles cases in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan (Jan 2016- Dec 2016), and the efficiency was compared with the state-of-the-art methods: EigenSpot and Space-time scan statistic (SaTScan). The results showed the effectiveness of the proposed method for detecting multiple clusters in a spatiotemporal space.

Purpose: Programmed cell death or apoptosis, is a biochemical procedure that initiates due to some conditions, including hypoxia. Bax and Bcl-2 are among the agents that regulate apoptosis. The amplification of the first one triggers the initiation of apoptosis, and the second one prevents it. Ghrelin is an endogenous peptide that antiapoptosis is its new effect. The aim of this study is to examine the effect of ghrelin on the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio. Methods: Twenty four wistar rats were divided randomly in three groups; control, hypoxic + saline and hypoxic + ghrelin. Hypoxic animals lived in O2 11% for 2 weeks and received either saline or ghrelin subcutaneously daily. The bax and Bcl-2 gene expression were measured by Real-Time RT-PCR. Results: Chronic hypoxia increased the Bax gene expression significantly compared with normal animals (P = 0.008), but the Bcl-2 was not affected by hypoxia. The Bax/Bcl-2 ratio also amplified significantly (P=0.005). Ghrelin administration significantly increased the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio in the hypoxic animals compared to the hypoxic + saline and normal groups (p=0.042 and P= 0.001, respectively). Conclusion: In the present study, animals’ treatment with ghrelin leads to an increment of Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, which indicates a controversy related to cardioprotection of ghrelin.

Surface wave generation due to body wave propagation near ground surface has been discussed in the literature. This phenomenon, typically occurring in topographic changing areas, along with its interaction with body waves (SV), decreases precision of formulas for evaluation of slope displacement. This significant fact caused the researchers not only to investigate the combined surface and SV waves motion pattern, but also to consider its effect on structures built on the slopes. In order to reveal the phenomenon, several finite element numerical studies have been performed by ABAQUS programme. Besides, two physical model slopes simulating the landslide occurrence have been constructed and tested by shaking table device. The results of induced and calculated accelerations obtained by two approaches have been compared and Rayleigh wave generation has been proved. Furthermore, the slope displacements have been calculated by various empirical methods and the results were compared with numerical ones. The results proved that in order to increase the precision of empirical formulas for displacement prediction, surface wave effect should be taken into account. Finally, a concept of “effective depth of surficial amplification” is introduced and its effect on dynamic slope stability is analysed.

Backgrounds & objectives: In addition to their genomic actions, thyroid hormones (THs) can modulate the immune responses through cell surface receptors. One of these is the antiviral effect of THs. Methimazole, as an anti-thyroid compound, is widely used to treat hyperthyroid patients. It also reduces blood leukocytes, granulocytes in particular, and thereby may affect the immune response. Recently, we reported that methimazole-induced hypothyroidism intensifies herpes simplex virus-1(HSV-1) infectivity. To determine whether the effect is mediated through alterations in circulating leukocytes, we assessed the HSV-1 infectivity and circulating leukocytes in methimazole-induced hypothyroid rat. Methods: Male Sprague Dawley rats received methimazole (200 μg/ml) in their drinking water for 2 weeks. Rats were then inoculated with a non-lethal single dose of HSV-1, and sacrificed 3 days later to harvest their spleen. Spleen extract was prepared, and virus yield was determined by evaluation of cytopathic effects (CPE) induced by the extract in a Vero cell culture system. For quantitative analysis, standard method of Reed-Muench was employed. The routine Wright’s staining protocol was used for blood leukocytes differential count. Results: The CPE development was significantly increased in the cell cultures exposed to the spleen extract of methimazole-treated animals (P < 0.05), indicating a higher virus yield and intensified virus infectivity. However, the effect of methimazole on blood leukocytes was minimal. Conclusion: Our data suggest that methimazole increases the susceptibility to HSV-1 infection, at least in part, by blocking THs synthesis but not alterations in circulating leukocytes.

Objectives:Hypertension is one of the most common diseases of the modern era. This study evaluates the effect of hydro-alcoholic celery leaf extract onsystolic blood pressure (SBP), heart rate (HR) and lipid profile in animals’ model of hypertension induced by fructose. Materials and Methods: Sprague Dawley rats were divided into five groups: 1) control group (free access to tap drinking water), 2) group receiving 200mg/kg celery leaf extract, 3) group receiving fructose 10%, and 4,5) receiving fructose and 100mg/kg or 200mg/kg of extract (n=8). In all groups, before and during the test period, SBP and HR were measured by Power lab system. Lipid profiles were determined by auto analysis. Repeated measurement and one way ANOVA were used for data analysis. PResults:The SBP in the fructose group significantly increased compared to control group (P

Introduction: Methadone has been used as a drug to detoxify opioid tolerance. Naloxane precipitated morphine withdrawal behaviours were attenuated by venlafaxine as an antidepressant. On the contrary, after detoxifying the opioids, spontaneous withdrawal syndrome may occur with pain sensitivity. Therefore the present study aimed to examine the effects of chronic methadone (70 mg/kg, in drinking water, 7 days), venlafaxine (80 mg/kg/day, intraperitoneally, 7 days) and their combinations with the spontaneous morphine withdrawal syndrome and pain sensitivity. Methods: Twenty eight young male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: control, venlafaxine treated, methadone treated and venlafaxine + methadone treated. Morphine sulfate (10 mg/kg/day, subcutaneously, 4 days) was injected to all animals. Then primary withdrawal behaviours and tail flick test were performed. The test was then followed by methadone or its vehicle administration. Second intervention was venlafaxine or its vehicle injection. Then final withdrawal behaviours and tail flick test were performed. Results: Combination of chronic methadone substitution and venlafaxine administration, significantly reduced freezing behaviour of spontaneous morphine withdrawal syndrome (p

ABSTRACT Relapse is highly prevalent after detoxification and depression. Due to the advantages of venlafaxine compared with other antidepressants, it is expected that venlafaxine administration may reduce relapse after detoxification and depression. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of venlafaxine on depression-induced relapse to morphine dependence after methadone detoxification. Eighty Sprague-Dawley rats were habituated and conditioned with morphine (10 mg/kg, S.C., for 4 days). After that, primary forced swimming and conditioned place preference (CPP) were tested. They were followed by methadone (70 mg/kg/day, P.O., for 7 days) administration, extinguishing, forced swimming stress (FSS) and administration of venlafaxine (80 mg/kg/day, I.P., for 7 days). Finally same tests were performed. Administration of venlafaxine resulted in a decrement in final preference scores associated with a prime morphine injection (PMI) compared to the primary scores in methadone treated (MTD+) animals. In a swimming test, venlafaxine increased the amount of final floating and decreased final activity scores compared with the primary scores after administration of methadone. Venlafaxine reduced locomotor activity in MTD+ animals in the final test with PMI. There was a positive correlation between the final activity and preference scores after PMI. In conclusion, venlafaxine improved anxiety and depression-induced relapse on methadone detoxified rats.

Rapid screening and monitoring of hollow cylindrical structures using active guided-waves based structural health monitoring (SHM) techniques are important in chemical, petro-chemical, oil and gas industries. Successful implementation of the majority of these techniques in the SHM of pipes depends on the identification of the appropriate guided-waves modes and their frequencies for each application. The highly dispersive nature of the guided-waves and presence of multi modes at each frequency makes the mode selection and the interpretation of signals a challenging task. The surface response to excitation (SuRE) method was developed to detect the defects and loading condition changes on plates with minimum dependence on the excitation of particular modes at certain frequencies. In the present study, the SuRE method is proposed for quantification of longitudinal and circumferential defects, with varying severities, as common examples of axisymmetric and nonaxisymmetric defects in pipes. The results indicate that the SuRE method can be used effectively for damage quantification in hollow cylinders.

Quantitative structure–reactivity relationship (QSRR) can be considered as a variant of quantitative structure property relationship (QSPR) studies, where the chemical reactivity of reactants in a specified chemical reaction is related to chemical structure. As follows, the sulfonation reaction yield of 24 amines, alcohols and phenols with sulfonyl chloride was studied by QSRR. Quantum chemical calculations (b3lyp/6-31+g (d)) were carried out to obtain the optimized geometry. The suitable set of molecular descriptors was calculated to represent the molecular structures of compounds, such as constitutional, topological, geometrical, electrostatic and quantum-chemical descriptors. The genetic algorithm (GA) was applied to select the variables that resulted in the best-fitted models. After the variable selection, multiple linear regression (MLR) was utilized to construct linear QSRR models. The maximum relative error in prediction (5.26) showed that the predictive ability of the model was satisfactory and it can be used for designing similar reactants with efficient sulfonation reaction.

This study attempted to investigate the relationship between emotional intelligence and linguistic competence of some Iranian learners of English in the areas of structure, written expression, vocabulary, reading comprehension, and composition. A forty-item test of linguistic proficiency secured from TOEFL preparatory books with the Cronbach’s Alpha reliability of 0.742, the thirty-three-item Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale, and a task of writing in English were administered to 110 Iranian undergraduate students of English language and literature to elicit the necessary data for study and analysis. Seventy-nine respondents succeeded to finish the tests and the tasks. While there is much literature supporting the existence of a positive relationship between emotional intelligence and academic success, a series of Pearson correlation tests applied to the results from the proficiency test, the essay task, and emotional profiles of the participants did not indicate any significant positive relationship between their emotional intelligence scores and their scores on proficiency tests. The article discusses reasons for these counter-intuitive findings.

مقدمه: ویروس‌ آنفلوانزای پرندگان تحت تیپ 2N9H در طول دو دهه‌ی گذشته در آسیا به صورت پانزوتیک در آمده است. این ویروس، علاوه بر ایجاد بیماری در طیور پرورشی، چندین مورد ابتلای انسانی در آسیا را سبب شده است. این مطالعه به منظور بررسی‌ ارتباط فیلوژنی ژن غیر ساختمانی (NS یا Non structural) و خصوصیات رشدشان بر روی سلول‌های 549A در جدایه‌هایی در استان تهران انجام شد. روش‌ها: از میان ویروس‌های ایزوله شده در سال‌های 91-1388 ویروس آنفلوانزای 2N9H، دو ویروس که در درخت فیلوژنتیک جایگاه‌های متفاوتی با هم داشتند، انتخاب شدند و ژن NS طی واكنش RT-PCR (Reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) تكثیر شد. قطعه‌ی مورد نظر هر جدایه، کلون گردید و پلاسمیدهای حاصل توالی‌یابی شدند. بروز تغییرات احتمالی در توالی‌ ژن NS جدایه‌های مورد نظر با مقایسه با جدایه‌های ثبت شده در پایگاه داده GenBank ارزیابی شد. بر اساس نتایج، رشد این دو جدایه در سلول‌های 549A بررسی شد. ارزش s3GC و مقایسه‌ی میزان جایگزینی Ka/Ks در نواحی رمز دهنده‌ی ژن بررسی شد. یافته‌ها: پردازش اولیه‌ی داده‌های فیلوژنی نشان داد كه ژن NS ویروس‌‌های ایران با همسانی 4/96 درصد به زیر دودمان 439Y و آلل A تعلق دارند. این ویروس‌ها بر اساس زمان جداسازی در دو زیر گروه زیر گروه یك شامل ویروس‌های جدا شده از طیور پرورشی طی سال‌های 2004-1998 و زیر گروه دوم ویروس‌های جدا شده طی سال‌های 11-2006 قرار گرفتند. ارزش s3GC بین 392/0-371/0 متغیر بود و میزان Ka/Ks برای زیر گروه اول 38/0 و برای زیر گروه دوم 42/0 محاسبه شد. نتیجه‌گیری: پردازش توالی اسید آمینه‌ی NS نشان می‌دهد كه این دو ایزوله، دارای توالی KSLR در محل دمین PDZ خود هستند و چندین تغییر همزمان در طول توالی اسید آمینه رخ داده ‌است. عیار دو ویروس به روش ارزیابی پلاك برآورد شد که تفاوت معنی‌داری با هم نداشتند. این داده‌ها نشان می‌دهد که دو ویروس 2N9H جدید ایران دچار تغییرات بسیار اندکی شده‌اند.

Diskursus tentang ahl al-bait merupakan salah satu ajaran pokok dalam agama Islam (al-‘aqi>dah al-Isla>miyyah), yaitu diwajibkan bagi umat Islam untuk mencintai keluarga Nabi Muhammad SAW dan dilarang untuk menghina mereka baik dengan perkataan maupun dengan perbuatan. Hal ini serasi dengan firman Allah dalam QS: al Ahzab 33:56, karena kecintaan terhadap keluarga Nabi Muhammad merupakan bukti kecintaan terhadap Nabi sendiri. Oleh karena itu, barang siapa yang membenci mereka (keluarga Nabi Muhammad) merupakan salah satu cabang kemunafikan. Dalam hal ini, ada persamaan dan perbedaan antara kaum Sunni dan Syi‘ah dalam memandang konsep ahl al-bait. Adapun persamaannya, kedua golongan ini bersepakat bahwa mencintai keluarga Nabi Muhammad SAW adalah suatu kewajiban, sedangkan dari segi perbedaan, kedua golongan ini berselisih dalam menetapkan anggota keluarga Nabi tersebut. Dari segi perbedaan ini, akan berimplikasi terhadap sumber-sumber ajaran Islam, penilaian, dan klasifikasi yang dirumuskan untuk melihat kualitas informasi-informasi di dalamnya. Karena dalam ajaran Syi‘ah, tidak menerima ajaran selain dari ahl al-bait. Kesimpulan dari tulisan ini adalah kecintaan dan penghormatan Sunni terhadap keluarga Nabi Muhammad lebih luas dari pada Syi‘ah, karena hanya membatasi 4 orang saja. Dengan kata lain, kaum Syi‘ah tidak mencintai dan menghormati keluarga Nabi Muhammad, bahkan Syi‘ah memfitnah as}h}a>b al-kisa’ dengan pernyataan yang tidak layak.

This research is an investigation of the relationship between the emotional intelligence of a group of Iranian English language learners and the coherence of the essays they produced. A 40-item TOEFL-type test of English proficiency including items on grammar, vocabulary, reading comprehension with the Cronbach’s alpha reliability of .742, was planned to identify the proficient candidates who could produce substantive and meaningful texts. Moreover, a 33-item inventory of Schutte Emotional Intelligence Scale and a task of essay writing on a specific topic were administered. From 110 candidates who took the test, questionnaire and the task, 79 subjects completely submitted them. Forty-five students managed to score above 23 out of 40 on the proficiency test; therefore, their emotional profiles and essays were further analyzed. For objective assessment of the coherence of the essays, Bamberg’s (1984) Holistic Coherence Scale was used with five points ranging from ‘fully coherent’ (4) to ‘unscorable’ (0). The Spearman’s rho test was used in investigating the association between the coherence of the essays and the emotional intelligence of their writers. Flying in the face of the researchers’ expectation, an insignificant relationship was observed.

Microencapsulated paraffin wax/polyaniline was prepared using a simple in situ polymerization technique, and its performance characteristics were investigated. Weight losses of samples were determined by Thermal Gravimetry Analysis (TGA). The microencapsulated samples with 23% and 49% paraffin showed less decomposition after 330 °C than with higher percentage of paraffin. These samples were then subjected to a thermal cycling test. Thermal properties of microencapsulated paraffin wax were evaluated by Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC). Structure stability and compatibility of core and coating materials were also tested by Fourier transform infrared spectrophotometer (FTIR), and the surface morphology of the samples are shown by Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM). It has been found that the microencapsulated paraffin waxes show little change in the latent heat of fusion and melting temperature after one thousand thermal recycles. Besides, the chemical characteristics and structural profile remained constant after one thousand thermal cycling tests. Therefore, microencapsulated paraffin wax/polyaniline is a stable material that can be used for thermal energy storage systems.

The present study was conducted to investigate the relationship between the perceived social self-efficacy of the students of English and their foreign language classroom anxiety. The required data were gathered through the application of the original versions of two standard questionnaires: Smith and Betz’s (2000) 25-item Scale of Perceived Social Self-Efficacy (SPSSE) and Horwitz, Horwitz and Cope’s (1986) 33-item Foreign Language Classroom Anxiety Scale (FLCAS). A total of 151 participants (including 127 students of English Language and Literature in B.A. level and 24 students of Teaching English as a Foreign Language at M.A. level) took part in the study. Correlational analysis was employed to determine the relationship between perceived social self-efficacy and foreign language classroom anxiety. Pearson Product-Moment correlation analysis results (r = -.164, p < .05) showed that the participants’ perceived social self-efficacy had a reverse relationship with their foreign language classroom anxiety. Further calculations were done for the type and rate of the influence of demographic variables (namely age, gender, academic seniority, and educational level) on students’ PSSE and FLCA. According to the One-Way ANOVA results, no meaningful relationship was observed between age, gender, academic seniority, and educational level of the participants, and their perceived social self-efficacy or foreign language classroom anxiety. Based on the findings of this study, the rate of perceived social self-efficacy (i.e. trust in self in social situations) seems to play a key role in the intensity of foreign language learners’ anxiety and a vital parameter in their full-functioning and efficient learning.

An efficient method for the preparation of 1-amidoalkyl-2-naphthols has been described using a multi-component, one-pot condensation reaction of 2-naphthol, aldehydes and amides in the presence of boric acid under solvent-free conditions.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v26i3.18

The anticancer mediators claim their activity in liquid form as a biocompatible and use in bios stems, which are mostly collected in fluid form. Control on the stability of metal oxide nanoparticles in parallel reducing the effect of large amount on their biological and cytotoxicity activities, remains a challenge. Here anticancer activity and cytotoxicity zinc oxide nanoparticles (NPs) have been presented that are coated with folic acid (F.A) and polyethylene glycol (PEG). The nanoparticles were synthesized by wet chemical method and characterized by x-ray diffraction; scanning electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The cytotoxicity studies were performed on HepG2 cells.MMT assay was used to check the cell viability. The PEG and F.A capped ZnO NPs have shown reduction in cytotoxicity as compare to bare ZnO nanoparticles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to estimate the genetic and phonotypic trends of Somatic Cell Score in Iranian Holstein cows. Also, the environmental factors affecting this trait are investigated. A total of 375351 test day records of somatic cells take from 54374 animals between year 2002 and 2007 were used in this study. The breeding values were estimated by fitting animal model in ASREML software. Genetic and phonotypic trends were estimated by regression of phonotype and breeding value means on year of calving. SAS software was used for estimation of genetic, phonotypic trends and effect of environmental factors. The heritability, genetic and phonotypic trends for Somatic Cell Score were 0.082 ± 0.009, 0.013 ± 0.002 and -0.224 ± 0.103, respectively. The genetic trend was significant and different from zero but phonotypic trends were not significant. Effects of herd, year, interactions between herd and year, herd and season, year and season of calving were also significant however the effects of season of calving were not.

In this paper, I will argue that awareness of images and metaphors held by foreign language learners about the nature of the target language and its learning can be of substantial value and provide teaching practitioners with useful insights about how to deal with various language learning problems. To elicit images which learners hold about foreign language learning, a questionnaire was given to 350 learners of English in different places in Iran. The questionnaire asked the respondents to provide images about learning a foreign language by using a sentence completion task: “Learning a foreign language is like . . .” The responses gained in 200 questionnaires were content-analyzed and the identified images and metaphors were summarized under more broad-ranging categories. The information that the metaphors and the resulting metaphorical categories provide and the theoretical interpretations which can plausibly be made are discussed in some detail and put in a cognitive-psychological perspective.

Mercury is a toxic metal, without biological effect in human body and causes CNS and renal disease. So, removal of mercury vapor through sorbents is an important environmental problem. Due to high capability of nano particle sorbents, nano particle palladium modified on multi wall carbon nano tube (NPd-MWCNT) and single wall carbon nano tube(SWCNT) were selected for this investigation. In this study, instrumental conditions, method procedure and different effect parameters such as, absorption and adsorption efficiency, absorption capacity, temperature, time and repeatability were studied and optimized. In addition the efficiency of sorbents was compared. Absorption capacity and efficiency of sorbents depend on the amount of sorbent, kind of nano particle and mercury mass concentration. For 80 mg of sorbents, working range of NPd-MWCNT and SWCNT were achieved 0.01-3 μg and 0.02- 0.7 μg respectively. Limit of detection (LOD) of NPd-MWCNT (0.003 μg) and SWCNT (0.006 μg) were obtained. In this research, mercury vapor was determined and produced by cold vapor atomic absorption spectrometry (CV-AAS) and mercury pilot respectively. The results show us, the maximum absorption capacity of NPd-MWCNT (8 μg g-1) was higher than SWCNT (0.5 μg g-1) and NPd-MWCNT that had high potential mercury removal.

Rural economy has an important role in rural sustainabledevelopment in every region or country. However, therural economy in Iran is too much depending on agricultureand development of other rural economy in particular nonfarmactivities, has been neglected by Iranian rural communities.Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the role ofnon-farm business on rural sustainable development in SanandajTownship. This study was a type of surveying research andemployed both questionnaire and interview tools. A four-partquestionnaire (with 48 questions) was developed in order tocollect data from the respondents. Likert-type responses withfive scales were used to assess different sections of the questionnaires.The questionnaires’ reliability was tested by Cronbach’sAlpha technique and it was 76% (α= 0.76). A numberof 279 families, 181 families with and 98 without non-farmbusiness were selected randomly in 2011. Results of the studyshowed that non-farm business can contribute to employmentgrowth, income generating, and prevent seasonal and permanentmigration from rural areas. Based on the results, non-farmbusiness and non-farm industries need to be strongly investedby financial facilities through rural cooperatives and unions.Additionally, encouraging rural participation is essential innon-farms and industrial activities.

Non-somatic causes of pain may aggravate painful complaints and complicate the conservative management of diseases such as lumbo-sacral disk root disease. The two-point discrimination test has been used for assessment of diseases, which change patients' skin sensation. This study aims to find out how applicable is two-point discrimination test in the conservative treatment of lumbo-sacral disk diseases. Twenty right-handed females suffering from unilateral lumbo-sacral disk disease were admitted for a conservative treatment from 2006 to 2009. The treatment con-sisted of a week bed rest, physiotherapy, and medication. They were subjected to straight leg raising tests, and their pains were evaluated using visual analog scale. The values of two-point discrimination test were obtained bilaterally for L4, L5 and S1 dermatomes. Changes between the involved and intact lower limbs as well as values of two-point discrimination test before and after the treatment were also compared. In addition, the correlation between the outcome of two-point discrimination, straight leg raising tests, or pain scores were evaluated. There was a significant (P

This research reviews the key factors affecting the concept of Customer Relationship Management, and develops a comprehensive model for CRM deployment and evaluation. The related factors were grouped in 10 Criteria and the proposed framework was called IA-CRM, CRM Strategy, customer distinction, human resources, CRM processes management, interaction management, CRM information, CRM systems and infrastructures, are the enablers. The performance results of CRM, the perception results of CRM and CRM key results, comprise the results axis. The proposed framework has some more advantag. es and capabilities in comparison to the other similar methods including "the existence of three feedback mechanisms, development of criteria using "information technology enterprise architecture" capabilities, taking customer knowledge management into consideration in criteria interactions and in sub-criteria and guidelines definition". Using the proposed framework and RADAR logic, a service organization in power industry was assessed. Results suggested that CRM has not been taken into account as a strategic tool; therefore, CRM strategies and approaches of activities have not been codified properly.

The use of diagnostic and therapeutic methods for assessing pulmonary vein due to its status as a main source of ectopicbeats for the initiation of atrial dysrrythmias is strongly recommended. We report the case of a 13-year-old girl who wasadmitted to our hospital with the electrocardiogram manifestation of an ectopic atrial tachycardia. The focus of arrhythmia was inside the right upper pulmonary vein. The patient underwent successful ablation with a conventional electrophysiology catheter via the retrograde aortic approach. We showed that when the origin of atrial tachycardia is in the right upper pulmonary vein, it is possible to advance the catheter into this vein via the retrograde aortic approach and find the focus of arrhythmia. This case demonstrates that right upper pulmonary vein mapping is feasible through the retrograde aortic approach and it is also possible to ablate the arrhythmia using the same catheter and approach.

We demonstrated the comparison experimentally and numerically a compact Q-switched erbium-doped fiber (EDF) laser based on graphene as a saturable absorber (SA). By optically driven deposition of graphene on a fiber core, the SA is constructed and inserted into a diode-pumped EDF laser cavity. Lasing in CW region starts at 10 mW, whereas stable self-starting Q-switching with a central wavelength of 1530 nm begins at 18 mW. In this paper, at 35 mW, the maximum pulse energy reaches at 2 μJ with pulse repetition rate of 1 MHz and the narrowest pulse width is around 10 μs is obtained. The stability of the pulse is verified from the radio-frequency (RF) spectrum with a measured signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of 48 dB. In this study, the design is compared with the simulation using the Optisystem software. The output power of the experimental study is also compared with the simulation to examine the performance.

The main objective of this research is to investigate the potential combination of Sentinel-2A and ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 (Advanced Land Observing Satellite -2 Phased Array type L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar-2) imagery for improving the accuracy of the Aboveground Biomass (AGB) measurement. According to the current literature, this kind of investigation has rarely been conducted. The Hyrcanian forest area (Iran) is selected as the case study. For this purpose, a total of 149 sample plots for the study area were documented through fieldwork. Using the imagery, three datasets were generated including the Sentinel-2A dataset, the ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 dataset, and the combination of the Sentinel-2A dataset and the ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 dataset (Sentinel-ALOS). Because the accuracy of the AGB estimation is dependent on the method used, in this research, four machine learning techniques were selected and compared, namely Random Forests (RF), Support Vector Regression (SVR), Multi-Layer Perceptron Neural Networks (MPL Neural Nets), and Gaussian Processes (GP). The performance of these AGB models was assessed using the coefficient of determination (R2), the root-mean-square error (RMSE), and the mean absolute error (MAE). The results showed that the AGB models derived from the combination of the Sentinel-2A and the ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 data had the highest accuracy, followed by models using the Sentinel-2A dataset and the ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 dataset. Among the four machine learning models, the SVR model (R2 = 0.73, RMSE = 38.68, and MAE = 32.28) had the highest prediction accuracy, followed by the GP model (R2 = 0.69, RMSE = 40.11, and MAE = 33.69), the RF model (R2 = 0.62, RMSE = 43.13, and MAE = 35.83), and the MPL Neural Nets model (R2 = 0.44, RMSE = 64.33, and MAE = 53.74). Overall, the Sentinel-2A imagery provides a reasonable result while the ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 imagery provides a poor result of the forest AGB estimation. The combination of the Sentinel-2A imagery and the ALOS-2 PALSAR-2 imagery improved the estimation accuracy of AGB compared to that of the Sentinel-2A imagery only.

Background: In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of extracorporeal shockwave treatment (ESWT) on pain and ankle-hindfoot scale of the American Orthopedic Foot and Ankle Society (AOFAS) score of patients with chronic Achilles tendinopathy (AT). Materials and Methods: In this double-blind clinical trial, 43 patients with chronic AT were selected and randomly allocated in two groups to receive a basic treatment with ESWT or sham SWT (radial and focused shock waves, four sessions once a week for 4 weeks). AOFAS and pain scores for each patient were recorded at baseline (before intervention), immediately after intervention, and 4 and 16 weeks after intervention using AOFAS and visual analog scale (VAS) scaling method. Results: A total of 43 patients (22 ESWT and 21 sham SWT) were participated in this study. Both groups improved during the treatment and follow-up period. The mean VAS score decreased from 7.55 to 3 in the intervention group and from 7.70 to 4.30 in the sham SWT group. Mean AOFAS and VAS scores were significantly different between ESWT and no ESWT groups at 16 weeks of follow-up (P = 0.013) (P = 0.47). There was no significant difference in terms of AOFAS and VAS scores between both the groups in the other follow-up times. Conclusion: Overall, ESWT causes decrease in VAS score and increase in AOFAS score. However, due to the small sample size, the results were not statistically significant. It is recommended to plan more interventional studies with larger sample size in the future.

BACKGROUND: Electromagnetic fields are associated with production, transmission and use of electricity. In this tudy we have investigated the effects of short and long time alternative magnetic fields' (AMF, 50 Hz) exposure on the secretion of hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis in the male rats.METHODS: Forty eight Wistar male rats, same range of age and weight were divided into four groups and each groupcontained 12 rats. After one-week adaptation each roup were exposed to AMF (0, 25, 50 and 100 4T espectively) for 17 days, 5 hours a day. In the second protocol the time of exposure extended to 34 days. After experiments rats' blood serums were removed from their blood samples and kept frozen for usage. The results were analyzed by one way- ANOVA statistical method (p < 0.05).RESULTS: Chronic exposures (5h/day for 34 days) to AMFs had no effect on serum's testosterone and LH. But, AMF t 100 4T induced an increase of serum's FSH level in omparison with 25 μT, 50 4T and control groups. In contrast, subchronic AMFs (5 h/day for 17 days) induced a decrease of serum's testosterone in control group in omparison with 25, 50 and 100 4T groups. But these AMFs had no effect on serum's LH and FSH levels.CONCLUSIONS: Increased level of FSH suggests damage to the seminiferous tubules. Our results suggest that AMFs probably causes dysfunction in gonadal axis at the hypothalamic-pituitary level in male rats in different protocols.KEYWORDS: Sex Hormones, Male Rats, Magnetic Field.

BACKGROUND: Chamomile is a beneficial herbal drug that is used as an anti-inflammatory, sedative and anti-allergic agent. The mechanism of action of matricaria recutita (MR), a specious of chamomile, in nociception in male and female animals is not fully understood. In this study, the sedative effect of a species of chamomile, MR, on acute pain was investigated in both male and female adult mice in the presence and absence of sex hormones.METHODS: Male and female NMRI mice weighing 28 ± 3 grams were used. Animals of each sex were divided into intact and gonadectomized groups. Intact group received saline or MR extract (10, 30, 50 mg/kg, intraperitoneally). Gonadectomized group contained two subgroups: a) group that received saline or MR hydro alcoholic extract (50 mg/kg, I.P.), and b) group that received sex hormones (testosterone in male mice and estradiol benzoate and progesterone in female mice), both with and without MR extract (50mg/kg, IP). The analgesia times in all groups were evaluated by hot plate test.RESULTS: MR increased analgesia time both in intact and gonadectomized male and female mice, but had no effect in the presence of pharmacological doses of testosterone (2 mg/kg, subcutaneous) in male mice, and estradiol benzoate (0.1 mg/kg, SC) and progesterone (0.5 mg/kg, SC) in female mice.CONCLUSIONS: It seems that MR can induce a pain-relieving effect with and without physiological doses of sex hormones in male and female mice, but sex hormones probably interact with its analgesic effect in their pharmacological doses.KEY WORDS: Matricaria recutita, pain, testosterone, estradiol benzoate, progesterone, hot plate.

The integrity of a robotic arm was examined remotely via a scanning laser vibrometer (SLV) in order to detect loose bolts. A piezoelectric element (PZT) was bonded on the robot arm for excitation of surface guided waves. A spectrum analyzer generated surface waves within the 20-100 kHz range. The propagation of the waves was monitored with the SLV at the programmed grid points on the robot arm. The surface response to excitation (SuRE) method was used to calculate the spectrums of the signals, and compare the reference scan with the altered scan. Comparisons of before and after the scan showed that after loosening the bolt on the robot arm, spectrums of all the grid points changed to some extent, however, the largest changes occurred in the vicinity of the loosened bolts. The study shows that the SuRE method was capable of detecting the presence and location of loosening bolts using only one PZT element on a complex structure. There are two most important advantages of the SuRE method over the widely used impedance-based technique. The first advantage is the elimination of an expensive impedance analyzer; the second advantage is remotely monitoring capability as long as the surface is excited properly.

Since fallen trees are a key factor in biodiversity and biogeochemical cycling, information about their spatial distribution is of use in determining species distribution and nutrient and carbon cycling in forest ecosystems. Ground-based surveys are both time consuming and labour intensive. Remote-sensing technology can reduce these costs. Here, we used high-spatial-resolution aerial photographs (0.5-1.0 cm per pixel) taken from an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) to survey fallen trees in a deciduous broadleaved forest in eastern Japan. In nine sub-plots we found a total of 44 fallen trees by ground survey. From the aerial photographs, we identified 80% to 90% of fallen trees that were >30 cm in diameter or >10 m in length, but missed many that were narrower or shorter. This failure may be due to the similarity of fallen trees to trunks and branches of standing trees or masking by standing trees. Views of the same point from different angles may improve the detection rate because they would provide more opportunity to detect fallen trees hidden by standing trees. Our results suggest that UAV surveys will make it possible to monitor the spatial and temporal variations in forest structure and function at lower cost.

Objective(s)The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of dexamethasone on striatal dopaminergic, glutamatergic and gamma amino butyric acid (GABA) ergic neurotransmission in normal and parkinsonian rats.Materials and MethodsDexamethasone (0.15, 0.30, 0.60 and 0.8 mg/kg) was administered to normal or parkinsonian rats (i.p.) followed by the analysis of the striatal neurotransmitters concentrations. Additionally, the effect of dexamethasone on the damaged Substantia nigra pars compata (SNc) neurons has been investigated. ResultsDexamethasone resulted in decreased level of striatum glutamatergic-GABAergic and enhanced dopaminergic neurotransmission in normal and parkinsonian rats. In addition, acute treatment with dexamethasone did not improve the lesion at all. ConclusionThese findings suggest the new therapeutic mechanism of action for dexamethasone in Parkinson’s disease animal model.

Abstract Background: To determine the effect of opium smoking cessation on the frequency and type of microorganisms in the nasopharynx of opium smokers. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study performed in psychology and ENT department of Moradi Hospital of Rafsanjan University of Medical Sciences in 2008 (Kerman, Iran). Nasopharyngeal cultures were taken from 50 opium smokers before and 2 to 3 months after cessation of opium smoking. Potential pathogens were identified. Findings: Eight potential pathogens were isolated from nasopharyngeal cultures obtained from 43 individuals before opium smoking cessation, and 4 were recovered from 33 individuals after cessation (P < 0.0001). Streptococcus pneumonia, staphylococcus saprofiticus, streptococos α hemolytic, and staphylococcus aureus in 2nd culture were not seen. The most sensitivity to antibiotics was related to ceftriaxone (84%), ciprofloxacin (74%) and cloxacillin (72%); the most resistance was to amoxicillin (26%) and the least resistance was to chloramphenicol. Conclusion: In our study, some potential pathogens decreased or even disapeared after opium cessation. Our patients have not been advised to change their number of cigarettes. We have used methadone pill for substitution of opium. It seems that opium smoking affects nasopharyngeal flora. Keyword: Opium, Nasaopharynx, Microbial flora

The use of diagnostic and therapeutic methods for assessing pulmonary vein due to its status as a main source of ectopic beats for the initiation of atrial dysrrythmias is strongly recommended. We report the case of a 13-year-old girl who was admitted to our hospital with the electrocardiogram manifestation of an ectopic atrial tachycardia. The focus of arrhythmia was inside the right upper pulmonary vein. The patient underwent successful ablation with a conventional electrophysiology catheter via the retrograde aortic approach. We showed that when the origin of atrial tachycardia is in the right upper pulmonary vein, it is possible to advance the catheter into this vein via the retrograde aortic approach and find the focus of arrhythmia. This case demonstrates that right upper pulmonary vein mapping is feasible through the retrograde aortic approach and it is also possible to ablate the arrhythmia using the same catheter and approach.

Objective: LC/NA system is activator of hypothalamic–pituitar–adrenal (HPA) axis and cold stress triggers an equally robust increase in plasma NA. Increased LHRH content probably due to absence or decrease of NE release from the LC and positive feedback action of E2 on LH secretion show that in late proestrous phase NA, LH and E2 have a strong link. This study was conducted to evaluate the effect of central sympathetic nervous system (by LC lesion and acute cold stress induction) and peripheral sympathetic nervous system (with propranolol administration) on late proestrous phase in rat. Material and Method: One hundred eight rats were divided into control and study groups. Study group was divided into three main sub groups: LC lesion (electrolytic lesion), acute cold stress (4°C for 20 minutes) and propranolol (antagonist of sympathetic nervous system). Vaginal smears were taken for all groups and late proestrous was selective phase for this study. Statistical differences were determined by one–way ANOVA followed by the Tukey post hoc test. SPSS 11 was used for data analysis. P value ≤ 0.05 was defined as significant level. Results: LC lesion decreased only estradiol level (P≤0.001) but could increase serum level of LH like propranolol administration (7mg/kg ip) (P≤0.01). No significant changes were noted in the levels of LH and estradiol in cold stress group like the synergistic effect of LC lesion and Cold stress also synergism of LC lesion, Cold stress and propranolol. Conclusion: This study demonstrated that late proestrous phase has a critical role in LH surge and sympathetic nervous system (NA) and E2 are important and basic factors in this process.

This paper presents a novel biometric identification system with high performance based on the features obtained from human retinal images. This system is composed of three principal modules including blood vessel segmentation, feature generation, and feature matching. Blood vessel segmentation module has the role of extracting blood vessels pattern from retinal images. Feature generation module includes the following stages. First, the optical disk is found and a circular region of interest (ROI) around it is selected in the segmented image. Then, using a polar transformation, a rotation invariant template is created from each ROI. In the next stage, these templates are analyzed in three different scales using wavelet transform to separate vessels according to their diameter sizes. In the last stage, vessels position and orientation in each scale are used to define a feature vector for each subject in the database. For feature matching, we introduce a modified correlation measure to obtain a similarity index for each scale of the feature vector. Then, we compute the total value of the similarity index by summing scale-weighted similarity indices. Experimental results on a database, including 300 retinal images obtained from 60 subjects, demonstrated an average equal error rate equal to 1 percent for our identification system.

Background: The autism spectrum disorder (ASD) describes a wide range of symptoms, including difficulty with social interaction and communication skills. Controversial thinking about oral health of children with ASD, in general may have a lower hygiene level than healthy individuals, low caries rate and high body weight in comparison to healthy children. This study was conducted to assess the oral health status in relation to nutritional status among institutionalized autistic children and adolescents. Materials and methods: From 12 institutes in Baghdad, the study group contained 364 child and adolescent with ASD (Male= 294, Female=70), while control group included 441 normal child and adolescent (Male=357, Female=84) from primary and secondary schools. The age range (6-15) years old categorized to two age groups, children age group (6-10) years and adolescents age group (11-15) years. Decayed, missing and filled surfaces (dmfs, DMFS), plaque (PlI), Gingival (GI) and calculus (CI) indices were used to measure oral health status for both groups. Assessment of nutritional status performed by using BMI for age z-score value. The data of current study was analyzed using SPSS version 21. Results: Mean rank values of (dmfs, DMFS) were lower in study group than control group with high significant differences. The mean rank values of PlI, GI, and CI in study group were found to be higher than control group with high significant differences. A moderate positive high significant correlation was found between ds, dmfs, DS, DMFS and PlI, GI, CI in both groups. The mean rank values of body mass index (BMI) for age z-score were higher in study group than control group. Very weak negative high significant correlation between BMI for age z-score and ds, dmfs, DS, DMFS in study group. Conclusion: Dental caries severity, oral hygiene and gingival health were lower in ASD group than control group. Dental caries severity was related to oral health status in both groups. Possible of overweight, overweight and obesity were most common in children and adolescents with ASD than control group. Body weight of autistic children was related to dental caries severity.

Background: Antipsychotic drugs may have adverse effects on the components of metabolic syndrome. Previous studies have shown that changes in the intestinal microbiome are associated with metabolic disturbances in patients with schizophrenia. The objective of this study was to determine the effects of synbiotics on the components of metabolic syndrome as primary outcomes in patients with schizophrenia. Secondary outcomes were HbA1c, insulin resistance, LDL-c, and anthropometric measurements., Methods: In this double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, seventy patients with schizophrenia receiving antipsychotic drugs who had at least two criteria of metabolic syndrome were randomly divided into two groups to receive either two capsules of a synbiotic supplement or a placebo daily for 8 weeks. Anthropometric indices and biochemical parameters were measured at baseline and after the intervention., Results: Fifty-five patients completed the study. The synbiotic supplement significantly decreased waist circumference and HbA1C compared to placebo (-2.66 ± 4.20 vs. 3.03 ± 4.50 and - 0.26 ± 0.54 vs. 0.20 ± 0.75, respectively). Although BMI did not change significantly in the synbiotic + antipsychotic group, it increased in the placebo + antipsychotic group (-0.37 ± 1.00 vs. 0.61 ± 1.09 P < 0.5). LDL-c and triglyceride (TG) levels decreased significantly in the synbiotic + antipsychotic group, but the change was not significantly different from that of the placebo + antipsychotic group. FBS, HDL-c, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, insulin resistance, and total cholesterol were not significantly different between the two groups after intervention., Conclusion: Synbiotic supplement may decrease waist circumference, HbA1c, LDL and TG and prevent BMI increase in patients receiving antipsychotic drugs., Trial Registration: Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT Number: IRCT20090901002394N45), Date: 26-12-2019., (© 2024. The Author(s).)