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the study aimed to validate the proposed model for environmental policy in the country to decrease environmental pollution in form of a network approach. This descriptive-analytical and cross-sectional study was carried out through survey approach. The statistical population of the study consisted of experts and policy makers in the field of environment who had environmental planning and policy making experience at national and regional level. In this research, Structural Equation Method (SEM) was used for analysis. The results showed good and acceptable fit regarding two indices of TLI and CFI (0.93). On the other hand, the number obtained in terms of the GFI index also indicates the relative fitness of the model (0.86). Also, the acceptability of the model is confirmed regarding PNFI and PGFI indices through the obtained numbers which were 0.78 and 0.84, respectively. The achieved value of the RMSEA index (0.073) also indicates that the model is acceptable. Finally, the results of factor analysis showed that this model was fit and all the numbers and parameters were significant. These facts confirm the acceptability and excellent fitness of the model. In sum, among the three main factors related to the data of the network-based environmental policy system, the âintervening conditionsâ with the factor loading of 0.96 was the best predictors. Out of the 17 measured items, the component of "national maturity" had the highest factor loading and the component of "Eleventh State Environmental Policies" had the lowest factor loading.

Background: Ovarian granulosa cells (GCs) are essential for follicular development. Ovarian advanced glycation end-products (AGEs) accumulation is related to GCs dysfunction. Alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) illustrates therapeutic capabilities for infertility-related disorders. Therefore, this study assessed the effects of ALA on AGEs-induced GCs hormonal dysfunction.Methods: The study was conducted from October 2021 to September 2022 at the Department of Medical Genetics, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. Isolated GCs (n=50) were divided into control, human glycated albumin (HGA), HGA+ALA, and ALA treatments. Steroidogenic enzymes and AGE receptor (RAGE) genes were assessed by qRT-PCR. Steroid hormones and RAGE protein were evaluated using ELISA and Western blotting. Data were analyzed using GraphPad Prism software (ver. 9), and P

The utilization of cold plasma can be used as an alternative method to modify the properties of starch. This research aimed to examine the use of cold plasma technology to alter the structure of corn starch and investigate how its functionality could be improved using a food model (milk dessert). Modified corn starch by plasma technology under different gas contents (dielectric-barrier discharge (DBD)) (95 % argon+5 % hydrogen (DBD1) and 90 % argon+10 % oxygen (DBD2)) was compared to the control sample of corn starch. The physicochemical characteristics of modified corn starch, DSC, XRD, SEM and FTIR tests were evaluated. The findings demonstrated that corn starch had significantly higher solubility, transparency, ash, oil absorption capacity (OAC), and resistant starch (RS) when exposed to cold plasma under the test circumstances compared to the control sample. SEM analysis confirmed that plasma affected the surface of starch granules, making the surface changes more pronounced when oxygen was added to the treatment. It was concluded that the sample should be treated with plasma containing 90 % argon and 10 % oxygen (as the best sample). The best sample (modified corn starch) was used to prepare a milk dessert as a food model, and considerable differences were found between the modified starch treated sample and control samples in terms of moisture, brix, syneresis, and organoleptic properties (p

Background: Leaders are tasked with making decisions that have substantial impact on an organization's well-being. Decision making requires critical thinking. Clinical environments are becoming more complex and demanding nowadays. Acquisition of critical thinking skills seems crucial in order to provide effective and safe services in these climates. There are various general definitions regarding critical thinking in the context of health care management which mostly have no positive correlation with clinical performance. The aim of this study is to provide an evolved perspective on critical thinking in health care managers. Methods: Eight-step Rodgers’ concept analysis approach was adopted in this analysis to provide a clear definition about critical thinking in health care managers as well as searching and analyzing online databases. The inclusion criterion included articles published during 2005-2022 in English and Persian languages (just in English or in Persian). Finally, 57 articles, 3 dissertations, were included in the analysis. Results: The extracted attributes of critical thinking were as follows: responsibility for strategic planning and thinking, making accurate and hesitant decisions and problem solving skills, using professional and inter professional communication skills, applying knowledge in managing clinical settings, organizing human and financial resources, growing of mindsets and disposition for better performances in health care managers, and supervision for insurance of health quality. Provision of critical thinking leads to positive outcomes such as effective and patient-centered care, creativity, evidence-based practices, and professionalism. Conclusion: A clear and comprehensive definition of critical thinking in health care management context was developed. This definition can correct many misconceptions and conceptual misuses about critical thinking in health care managers.

BACKGROUND: Dealing with crises in the current era requires a fundamental change in science and technology, consumption patterns, and people’s relationship patterns, which demands new strategies, alternatives, and administrative methods to deal with different realities of life. Due to the severe outcome of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, governments had to intensify their efforts to deal with this disease and make decisions to manage the crisis and its extreme economic, health, and educational consequences. This qualitative study was conducted in 2023 and aimed to explain the healthcare executives’ decision-making structure in the COVID-19 crisis. METHODS: This qualitative study was conducted using content analysis method. 14 managers working in health and treatment sectors of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran were selected with purposeful sampling in 2023. A semi-structured interview was used to collect data. The conventional content analysis method was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The results led to the extraction of 3 main categories, seven sub-categories, and 16 primary categories. The executives had made decisions, based on their point of view, to deal with COVID-19 in pre-crisis (including the sub-categories of crisis initiation signal recognition, preparing to resist the crisis, and preventing the geographical spread), during-crisis (preventing the crisis damage, limiting the crisis injuries), and post-crisis (including sub-categories of recovery of management and guidance systems and learning from the experiences) phases. CONCLUSION: Based on the results of this study, scientific management and the characteristic of leadership over people can be a way forward for healthcare managers to organize in crises.

BackgroundHealth-seeking behavior (HSB) is a choice taken by an individual to maintain, achieve, or restore good health and prevent diseases. The purpose of this study is to examine the determinants of HSB among the Iraqi population.MethodsThis cross-sectional study in the Rusafa and Karkh districts of Baghdad investigated determinants of HSB from 2022 to 2023. With a sample size of 993 participants meeting inclusion criteria, data were collected through a self-reported questionnaire, utilizing four indicators to measure HSB. The study employed various statistical methods especially logistic regression models, facilitated by Stata 17 software.ResultsResults highlights that married individuals consistently have higher odds of having HSB compared to their single counterparts, with an odds ratio (OR) of 2.09 (95% confidence interval: 1.41–3.10). This relationship remains robust even after controlling for other variables. Furthermore, individuals with higher social class exhibit stronger connections to HSB, although the OR is 1.69 (95% CI: 0.47–6.13), indicating a wide confidence interval. Regarding underlying diseases and their duration, the results indicate that chronic diseases are associated with a higher likelihood of HSB, with an OR of 2.05 (95% CI: 1.35–3.11). Additionally, a longer duration of diseases in terms of years is also linked to a stronger association with HSB, with an OR of 2.86 (95% CI: 1.32–6.23).ConclusionIn conclusion, this work provides important insights into HSB. Married people are continuously more likely to engage in HSB than single people, highlighting the importance of customized interventions. Furthermore, persons from higher social classes have stronger ties to HSB, highlighting the importance of socioeconomic considerations. The link between HSB and chronic diseases, combined with longer disease durations, emphasizes the importance of early detection and thorough healthcare management. These findings give critical guidance for healthcare providers, marketers, and politicians developing effective initiatives to promote HSB.

Infertility is a global health problem affecting about 15% of all couples, of which 50% are due to male infertility. Although the etiology of infertility is known in most infertile men, idiopathic male infertility remains a challenge. Therefore, there is a need for novel diagnostic methods to detect the underlying mechanisms and develop appropriate therapies. Recent studies have focused on the role of non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in male infertility. Circular RNAs (CircRNAs), a type of ncRNAs, are found to play a key role in the development of some pathological conditions, including cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers, autoimmune diseases, etc. Several studies have reported the presence of CircRNAs and their target genes in the human reproductive system. In addition, their expression in testicular tissues, sperm cells, and seminal fluid has been identified. Abnormal expression of CircRNAs has been associated with azoospermia and asthenozoospermia in infertile men. The present narrative review provides a brief description of the role of CircRNAs in spermatogenic cells, male infertility, and reproductive cancers. In addition, some CircRNAs have been identified as potential biomarkers for disease detection and treatment.

Aristotelian Logic, the oldest system of reasoning, has always been come into focus. The Syllogism as the focal issue amid Aristotle’s logic has caused many controversial discussions. After Classic Logic expansion in the 20th century, logicians had a chance to study Aristotelian Syllogism, especially premises-conclusion relation, precisely. In 1951, Jan Lukasiewicz suggested Conditional-Implicative perception and examined the Syllogistic system within axiomatic confines. Lukasiewicz believed a conditional sentence with conjunctive premises as the antecedent could thoroughly represent a perfect mood. Twenty years later, Timothy Smiley and John Corcoran criticized Lukasiewicz’s account independently. As believed by them, Syllogism is a deduction, and Aristotelian Syllogism must be studied in the context of the Natural Deduction system. In the 80s, Paul Thom claimed that Aristotle’s Syllogism could be taken as Triadic Implication. As stated by Thom, a syllogism is a conditional sentence without a conjunctive antecedent. The present article begins with a brief introduction on each standpoint. Then the Implicative and Conductive accounts and their relation to Aristotelian Syllogism are investigated.

Abstract Background: Polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS) with anovulation, hyperandrogenism, ovarian and uterine histological changes, menstrual irregularities, etc. signs is an infertility type. It seems that melatonin and metformin can improve these abnormalities. Objective: To evaluate the effects of melatonin and metformin on the ovary and uterus in PCOS-induced mice using stereological methods. Materials and Methods: Seventy-two adult female BALB/c mice (8-wk-old, 20-30 gr) were randomly divided into control (distilled water, gavage), PCOS (90 µg/kg letrozole, gavage), PCOS+metformin (500 mg/kg, gavage), PCOS+melatonin (10 mg/kg, intraperitoneal injection), and PCOS+melatonin control (0.5% ethanol saline) groups (n = 12/each). Another PCOS group was kept for a month to ensure that PCOS features remained. Finally, a stereological evaluation of the uterus and ovary was carried out, and vaginal cytology and serum testosterone levels were assessed. Results: PCOS mice treated with metformin and melatonin had lower testosterone levels, body weight, and more regular estrus cycles than the PCOS group (p ≤ 0.001). A significant decrease in conglomerate and daughter gland numbers, and primary, secondary, atretic, and cystic follicles numbers with a significant increase in primordial and Graafian follicles, and corpus luteum numbers (p ≤ 0.001) was seen in these treated mice. Also, endometrial vessels' volume and length significantly increased, but ovarian, endometrial, myometrial, stromal, and glands volume, and endometrial and myometrial thickness dramatically declined (p ≤ 0.001). Conclusion: It appears that metformin and melatonin could restore the PCOS phenotype including estrus cycle irregularity, high testosterone level, and ovarian and uterine micromorphology to the control levels. However, the 2 treatments had similar effects on the examined parameters.

Background: Rhesus D-antibodies and maternal red blood cell alloimmunizations are the major causes of fetal anemia, which can cause hydrops and perinatal death if not treated through intrauterine intravascular blood transfusion (IUT). This paper sought to report the short-term neonatal outcomes after IUT in a referral academic center. Methods: The population of this retrospective cohort study comprised all pregnancies that underwent IUT between March 2014 and March 2019. The maternal obstetrics characteristics as well as blood group, antibody screen, and titers were reported. Indeed, the fetal and neonatal outcomes and complications were described either. Results: A total of 141 IUTs were performed in 58 women. Of all, 15 fetuses were hydropic at the first transfusion. The mean±SD (standard deviation) of gestational age and hemoglobin at the first transfusion was 27.06±4.25 weeks and 6.62±2.91 g/dL, respectively. The range of transfusions was 1.8 per woman and the mean±SD amount of blood transfusion in IUT was 84.03±48.79 cc. 7/58 (12%) intrauterine and 6/58 (10%) neonatal death were reported, of which, four cases were hydropic and the others suffered from severe anemia. The mean±SD of gestation age at delivery was 33.6 ± 3.33 weeks. A significant difference was observed between mean fetal hemoglobin levels before and after performing the IUT procedure (p< 0.01). Also, middle cerebral artery (MCA) Doppler assessments showed anemia severity decreased following IUT Conclusion: It seems Intrauterine transfusion is a lifesaving procedure that can boost perinatal survival in fetuses with anemia.

Scholastics were a group of Christian theologians who were mainly active in Europe during the 12th to 17th centuries. One of the notable teachings in scholastic literature is the theory of just price, which can be considered one of the most frequent theories in the history of economic ideas. This study tries to reassess the theory of just price in the economic thought of scholastic thinkers by referring to classical scholastic texts, through which it examines the general experiences of scholastic theology in confrontation with economic phenomena. For this purpose, the theory of just price is examined from the roots of its formation in scholastic practical wisdom to its most superficial form as an economic institution. Through this investigation, the question that how theology can play a role in its practical field, up to the most superficial economic institutions can be answered. The results of this study show that scholastic thinkers in the theoretical field of practical theology had significant achievements in promoting theology through their writings and teachings in schools. And in its practical field, they tried to implement theology in the human foundations of society by building various divine institutions such as a just price. In this regard, the theory of dual human happiness in scholastic theology has had a significant impact on the formation of economic issues as part of scholastic practical wisdom. Despite these achievements, their thought is wanting from two aspects: (1) systematic lack of understanding of modern phenomena such as capitalism and (2) no effort to implement their teachings in the social and economic construction of society.

The marijuana is considered as widely used recreational illicit drug that has become popular among women of reproductive age. It is believed that the marijuana use may have negative impacts on the female fertility. However, the exact mechanisms of its reproductive toxicity remain unclear. The studies suggest that the exogenous cannabinoids may interfere with endocannabinoid system and disrupt hypothalamic‐pituitary‐ovary axis. Consequently, it impacts the female fertility by disruption of normal secretion of ovarian sex hormones and menstrual cycles. However, other studies have shown that medical marijuana is useful analgesic agent for pain management. But, given that the wide range of cannabinoids side effects are reported, it seems that caution should be taken in the recreational use of these substances. In summary, this article aimed to review the possible impacts of marijuana and its derivatives on the main female reproductive organs and embryonic growth and development. The marijuana is the most commonly used illicit drug among young people of reproductive age. The detrimental effects of marijuana on the majority systems including reproductive system have been well documented. In females, the research has demonstrated that the marijuana derivatives can have negative impacts on the main reproductive organs, fertility, and embryonic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Steel-reinforced concrete decks are prominently utilized in various civil structures such as bridges and railways, where they are susceptible to unforeseen impact forces during their operational lifespan. The precise identification of the impact events holds a pivotal role in the robust health monitoring of these structures. However, direct measurement is not usually possible due to structural limitations that restrict arbitrary sensor placement. To address this challenge, inverse identification emerges as a plausible solution, albeit afflicted by the issue of ill-posedness. In tackling such ill-conditioned challenges, the iterative regularization technique known as the Landweber method proves valuable. This technique leads to a more reliable and accurate solution compared with traditional direct regularization methods and it is, additionally, more suitable for large-scale problems due to the alleviated computation burden. This paper employs the Landweber method to perform a comprehensive impact force identification encompassing impact localization and impact time–history reconstruction. The incorporation of a low-pass filter within the Landweber-based identification procedure is proposed to augment the reconstruction process. Moreover, a standardized reconstruction error metric is presented, offering a more effective means of accuracy assessment. A detailed discussion on sensor placement and the optimal number of regularization iterations is presented. To automatedly localize the impact force, a Gaussian profile is proposed, against which reconstructed impact forces are compared. The efficacy of the proposed techniques is illustrated by utilizing the experimental data acquired from a bridge concrete deck reinforced with a steel beam.

In this paper we present several results concerning the cofiniteness of generalized local cohomology modules.