Search

This paper presents the concept of a novel adaptable sensing solution currently being developed under the EU Commission-founded PHOTONGATE project. This concept will allow for the quantification of multiple analytes of the same or different nature (chemicals, metals, bacteria, etc.) in a single test with levels of sensitivity and selectivity at/or over those offered by current solutions. PHOTONGATE relies on two core technologies: a biochemical technology (molecular gates), which will confer the specificity and, therefore, the capability to be adaptable to the analyte of interest, and which, combined with porous substrates, will increase the sensitivity, and a photonic technology based on localized surface plasmonic resonance (LSPR) structures that serve as transducers for light interaction. Both technologies are in the micron range, facilitating the integration of multiple sensors within a small area (mm2). The concept will be developed for its application in health diagnosis and food safety sectors. It is thought of as an easy-to-use modular concept, which will consist of the sensing module, mainly of a microfluidics cartridge that will house the photonic sensor, and a platform for fluidic handling, optical interrogation, and signal processing. The platform will include a new optical concept, which is fully European Union Made, avoiding optical fibers and expensive optical components.

In this paper, we propose an optimized protocol to synthesize reproducible, accurate, sustainable integrally skinned monophasic hybrid cellulose acetate/silica membranes for ultrafiltration. Eight different membrane compositions were studied, divided into two series, one and two, each composed of four membranes. The amount of silica increased from 0 wt.% up to 30 wt.% (with increments of 10 wt.%) in each series, while the solvent composition was kept constant within each series (formamide/acetone ratio equals 0.57 wt.% in series one and 0.73 wt.% in series two). The morphology of the membranes was analyzed by scanning electron microscopy and the chemical composition by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, in attenuated total reflection mode (FTIR-ATR). Mechanical tensile properties were determined using tensile tests, and a retest trial was performed to assess mechanical properties variability over different membrane batches. The hydraulic permeability of the membranes was evaluated by measuring pure water fluxes following membrane compaction. The membranes in series two produced with a higher formamide/acetone solvent ratio led to thicker membranes with higher hydraulic permeability values (47.2–26.39 kg·h−1·m−2·bar−1) than for the membranes in series one (40.01–19.4 kg·h−1·m−2·bar−1). Results obtained from the FTIR-ATR spectra suggest the presence of micro/nano-silica clusters in the hybrid membranes of series one, also exhibiting higher Young’s modulus values than the hybrid membranes in series two.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is acknowledged worldwide to be a grave threat to public health, with the number of US end-stage kidney disease (ESKD) patients increasing steeply from 10,000 in 1973 to 703,243 in 2015. Protein-bound uremic toxins (PBUTs) are excreted by renal tubular secretion in healthy humans, but hardly removed by traditional haemodialysis (HD) in ESKD patients. The accumulation of these toxins is a major contributor to these sufferers’ morbidity and mortality. As a result, some improvements to dialytic removal have been proposed, each with their own upsides and drawbacks. Longer dialysis sessions and hemodiafiltration, though, have not performed especially well, while larger dialyzers, coupled with a higher dialysate flow, proved to have some efficiency in indoxyl sulfate (IS) clearance, but with reduced impact on patients’ quality of life. More efficient in removing PBUTs was fractionated plasma separation and adsorption, but the risk of occlusive thrombosis was worryingly high. A promising technique for the removal of PBUTs is binding competition, which holds great hopes for future HD. This short review starts by presenting the PBUTs chemistry with emphasis on the chemical interactions with the transport protein, human serum albumin (HSA). Recent membrane-based strategies targeting PBUTs removal are also presented, and their efficiency is discussed.

Abstract Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of fed fish oil (FO) with or without vitamin E for mothers on the testis cells of male offsprings. Materials and Methods: Sixty mature female NMRI mice were divided into different groups: control (CTR; Standard diet(vitamin E 50 mg IU/kg) pre and postnatal period); I) Gavages 0.01 ml/day/mother fish oil (FO)+CTR diet during prenatal period; II) Gavages FO+CTR diet during postnatal period; III) consumed VITE(125 mg IU/kg) 2.5 folded greater than standard recommendations(2×)during prenatal period; IV)consumed VITE(2×)diet during pre and postnatal period; V)consumed VITE(2×)diet during postnatal period; VI) Gavages FO+VITE(2×) diet during prenatal period; VII) Gavage FO+VITE(2×)diet during postnatal period ;VIII) Gavages FO+VITE (2×)diet during pre and postnatal period. After weaning, the testes were collected and histological data were analyzed using SAS software by Duncan test. Results: testes cells length, width and weight was lower in offspring which their mothers fed FO+CTR diet during prenatal, (p

Background: In addition to physical problems, infertile couples face psychological issues during treatment. This study aimed to investigate the effect of healing codes training on the sexual self-esteem of infertile women.Methods: The present study employed a quasi-experimental pre-test, post-test, follow-up design with a control group and an experimental group. Convenience sampling method was used to recruit forty infertile women satisfying the inclusion criteria from fertility treatment centers in Isfahan, Iran in 2023. Participants were randomly assigned into either the experimental group (n=20) or the control group (n=20). The experimental group received a standardized 14-week intervention consisting of weekly 90-minute training sessions focused on a specific therapeutic technique (healing codes). Data analysis was conducted using repeated-measures ANOVA.Results: The results demonstrated a statistically significant increase in sexual self-esteem scores in the experimental group compared with the control group (P=0.001) at both the post-test and follow-up phases. No significant difference was observed between the groups at pre-test. Throughout the study, the mean scores for the experimental group (post-test: 110.13±6.71, follow-up: 110.32±6.93) were significantly higher than the control group (post-test: 91.93±11.40, follow-up: 94.74±17.12). These findings suggested that healing codes training led to a significant difference in sexual self-esteem between the experimental and control groups (P=0.001).Conclusions: This study provided evidence that healing codes training leads to a significant improvement in sexual self-esteem among infertile women. These findings suggested that healing codes training may be a promising new approach to improve the psychological well-being of infertile women.

Most people believe that they are adequately aware of sex and its etiquette and hence, they don’t need any education to improve their sexual knowledge. However, relevant issues that are often treatable, like sexual diseases or dissatisfaction, have made physicians write or translate various manuscripts and books to improve public knowledge of sex. The medical manuscript “Lazzat Un Nisaʼ” is an example of such an educational resource. In this paper, the miniatures of the manuscript and their relationship with the text are analyzed. The purpose is to determine the method employed in this visual narrative. The results indicate that the Miniaturist has not resorted to the erotic art; he, rather based his illustration on a lyrical-realistic method. This illustration refers to the effects of sexual knowledge on the success of married life, the intimacy between man and woman, and the satisfaction of their relationship. Accordingly, he has used intelligently visual techniques to picture people, especially women, in the most physical and mental health. He aims to evoke such effects by visual narrative in the miniatures and present the content of the medical text in the manuscript attractively.

Introduction From an expert's perspective, color and form are human visual perception's most significant visual elements. Nowadays, a significant number of theories have been proposed in the field of color recognition, and the advancement of science and research experiences have paved new ways for feeling and perceiving it. Ethan, the author of "The Art of Color", claims: A physicist studies the energy and particles in light, the composition of colored lights, the spectrum of elements, and the frequency and wavelength of colored rays. The molecular structure of pigments is of high importance for a chemist. A biologist examines the distinct impacts of light and color on the visual system and how the eye adjusts to them. The psychologist considers the effect of color on the psyche and mental understanding of colors. Artists are interested in color aesthetics and weigh on the representation of it in artworks. Thus, all these sciences were historically regarded as a subset of philosophy. Therefore, the most comprehensive theories on color were considered a tangible quality issued by philosophers. However, a lack of familiarity with these theories has recently made colorology a new science, concomitant with Newton's experiences and experiments. It is assumed that its origin goes back to the era of specialization of sciences. Historically, philosophers in Iran and Greece have paid attention to the issue of color regarding light, and unknown secrets are written with the source of conceptual or visual sensory perceptions. Therefore, these writings continued with the emergence of Islam, influenced by the Arabic translation movement in the Abbasid era, and were closely related together; they framed the mind of Muslim philosophers by creating developments and new perspectives and the foundation of the philosophical school of illuminationism by Sheikh Shahabuddin Suhravardi at the height of this interaction in the following centuries. Methodology Similarly, this study tries to analyze its philosophical data about colors comparatively and to extract the similarities and differences in their opinions about the perception of this visual element based on light. It is assumed that: Therefore, in all of their comments, the philosophers of Iran and ancient Greece explained the same color by taking the model of light; the perception of this element, a combination of conceptual and visual perception has been manifested. Zoroaster and Mani, in Iran, were regarded as the philosophers and wise people to accept or reject these hypotheses. While describing their religious-knowledge system, they have explicitly or implicitly referred to color manifestations in a written or visual manner. The thoughts of Empedocles, Democritus, Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle were studied in Greece. Discussion Analyzes of the common and distinct aspects of various visions of philosophers suggest that color in their opinions is not only a mixture of the two conceptual and visual senses; each has only stressed one of these two. Thus:Colors emerge in the form of lights with a metaphysical and spiritual nature either in the stand of the soul and its darkness or in the stand of God's manifestation and approaching to Him, and can carry a meaningful quality for humans and finally provide the basis for symbolic spiritual interpretations. Iranian philosophers paid extensive attention to seeing this visual element in the conceptual sense. They perceptually and intuitively substantiated the perception of color and defined ranges of pure and raw colors between white and black. In this range, they valued content and the concept of colors.Likewise, Greek philosophers heavily emphasized seeing this visual element in their vision. Colors that regularly emerge in the shape of various lights with physical nature can potentially convey the tangible quality of the object and the form in isolation as well as in combination with each other for humans and finally form the basis for the sensory interpretations. Therefore, perception of color and its context leads to the emotional and tangible substantiation of its existence by the power of vision, the three components of the object's essence, the way the light shines, and the condition of the eye state. Everybody has considered the existence and the human reaction to their perception certain and expressed comprehensive comments focusing on how to view this visual element. However, should we profoundly consider the thoughts and ideas of these philosophers as the final point, we will find out the correspondence of their opinions with colors and their conversion and combination, which God has created in nature. Ironically, this has been the turning point in their effect on each other and building common interests. It means they spiritually contemplate God's signs, whether in a perceptible or over-perceptible world. The contrast between white and black and various colors between these two are shared among Iranian and Greek philosophers; the red color is also formed by the combination of white and black, whether physically or metaphysically. Greek philosophers emphasized the tangible quality of colors and immediate and direct feeling. On the other hand, Iranian philosophers heeded attention to the mental perception of colors by their mythical and symbolic functions. The functions are based on a stable mental process and are considered the reason for viewing various colors without a sensory organ. According to the belief of Iranian philosophers, the nature of light and color are not separated, and their difference and how color is affected by light is not considered in viewing various colors. The Greek philosophers believed that the difference in how light is affected by colors caused the eyes to see the colors differently. Greek philosophers have expressed some conditions in their ideas to realize the color vision and the perception of it beyond the vision power. However, Iranian philosophers considered human efforts the condition for the light seeker in symbolic transit from darkness and the evils to brightness and the goods in the evolution of the soul. In the scope of Greek philosophy, color is a material element and the product of the dissociation of light to reveal several defined objects from which the primary colors are taken, and from the combination of them, the secondary colors are produced. However, light is synonymous with the existence and manifestation of God’s infinite nature from which various colors are produced in Iranian philosophy. It is the cause of the realization and emergence of colors in the realm of human existence. From Iranian philosophers’ point of view, white and black colors are created based on how much they benefit from the source of God’s grace; thus, they have semantic and symbolic value. Nevertheless, these colors are created based on the extent to which the physical radius of light increases or decreases. Conclusion Unlike Socrates, who briefly and concisely proposed his thoughts on how he sees colors, other philosophers in these two countries have pointed out the details of the emergence of colors based on light and its different types. The difference is that Iranian philosophers studied the classification of colors and the Greek philosophers examined their combinations. The former have always considered colors in the longitudinal hierarchy and the latter in the transverse hierarchy. Although the Greek philosophers' opinions are distinct from each other, i.e., Empedocles and Democritus studied colors based on the movement of light particles, Socrates reviewed them based on eye frictions with light rays, Plato considered the outcome of the exit of the radius, and Aristotle examined them based on their impressions. Thus, they have proven all these topics based on the visual sense. On the other hand, Zoroaster and Mani saw colors from another angle of view and considered the intuition of the human soul in gaining the grace of Ahura as evidence for different colors. The Greek philosophers believed that the difference in how light is affected by colors caused the eyes to see the colors differently. They believe that the nature of light and color are not separated, and the difference and how color is affected by light are not considered in viewing various colors. Therefore, they explained the perception of this visual element regardless of the arguments of physical logic about the perception of colors based on conceptual sense.

Abstract Developing theranostic devices to detect bleeding and effectively control hemorrhage in the prehospital setting is an unmet medical need. Herein, an all‐in‐one theranostic platform is presented, which is constructed by sandwiching silk fibroin (SF) between two silver nanowire (AgNW) based conductive electrodes to non‐enzymatically diagnose local bleeding and stop the hemorrhage at the wound site. Taking advantage of the hemostatic property of natural SF, the device is composed of a shape‐memory SF sponge, facilitating blood clotting, with ≈82% reduction in hemostatic time in vitro as compared with untreated blood. Furthermore, this sandwiched platform serves as a capacitive sensor that can detect bleeding and differentiate between blood and other body fluids (i.e., serum and water) via capacitance change. In addition, the AgNW electrode endows anti‐infection efficiency against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Also, the device shows excellent biocompatibility and gradually biodegrades in vivo with no major local or systemic inflammatory responses. More importantly, the theranostic platform presents considerable hemostatic efficacy comparable with a commercial hemostat, Dengen, in rat liver bleeding models. The theranostic platform provides an unexplored strategy for the intelligent management of hemorrhage, with the potential to significantly improve patients' well‐being through the integration of diagnostic and therapeutic capabilities.

National authority is a kind of rightful power, governing all potentials of a nation and attaining an enormous part of its validation and identity in their culture, through different mechanisms such as art, because although art provides a kind of visual pleasure in its outward appearance based on the aesthetic elements, it has also the potential to convey messages and thoughts and display political and social necessities of its own era in its hidden perspective and deep meaningful layers. Thus, as Foucault believed, each artwork is the meeting of different political and social debates which may be investigated for the purpose of identifying and analyzing the hidden meanings of authority, power and sovereignty. In this regard, the present research, with a case study approach, has focused on a tile tabletop from Qajar era, a work by Ali Muhammad Isfahani, so as to answer this question: How and by means of which characteristics are the content-based layers of its figures and illustrations created to become a visual proof of consolidation of national authority of Iran in international arena and to display such meaning? To answer accordingly, studies were conducted with reference to reliable library-electronic resources and based on iconological criticism approach to elaborate on the way the meaning was given to such tiles. The analysis displays that if the national authority is based on these three elements: identity factors, sense of belonging to such factors and knowledge of such factors, the artist has carried out illustration and visual narration according to all these elements. In fact, the artist has not merely intended to display the identity factors and belongingness, but he had a comprehensive and extensive knowledge of them and has taken action in creating decorative drawings and figures, relying on such knowledge and comprehension for the following reasons:1- From all verse, prose and folk stories which have always been reflecting the thoughts of the Iranians in ups and downs of historical events, the artist has chosen some stories which emphasize on political heritage of the Iranians and their victories against the enemies’ invasions more than the others. Therefore, he has chosen five stories from Shahnameh, three stories from Hosseinnameh and one from Ghahremannameh.2- Whereas he was aware that Houshang is the first king of the world after Kiomars and the founder of mythical ages of the world, he has placed the illustrations of such characters on the head of the tabletop and has set that as a base for placement and sequence of other illustrations.3- He has made endeavors to convey some messages such as honor, bravery, courage, patience, chivalry, compassion, generosity, loyalty, patriotism, sacrifice and defense in the framework of interests of Iranian nation, and to hide them under visual layer of his artwork, because he created this artwork in a situation when he was first, completely aware of the position of its orderer, Robert Murdoch Smith, and he knew that this tile tabletop would be sent abroad to the UK after its creation and delivery, and second, he had accepted such order at a time when a new period of endangering historical borders and territorial integrity of Iran was started.4- Whereas he was aware that authority is not an abstract concept and that it will come to existence when it is considered proportional to each period of time, he has made use of the common technique of that period, which is underglaze painting with light and bright colors in forming the mechanism of his artwork. Although, in this regard he obliged himself to display such mechanism with Iranian and Islamic attributes. Therefore, he refers to the tradition of accompaniment with literary contents; exactly in the middle of the period when tendency to modernism and to disconnect from literature became popular following the west. Further, he has made use of rules and principles of Persian miniature.Thus, we can generally conclude that Ali Muhammad Isfahani has not just intended to display his antecedent through repeating the historical patterns in the exact same form, but he was completely aware of all identity factors such as history, geography and territory, political heritages and government and cultural and scientific heritages, and connected them to the visual elements of his artwork in line with a specific and purposeful orientation. In other words, he has institutionalized them as the meaningful layers of visual elements of his artwork to signify a proof of an illustration of consolidation of national authority of Iran in international arena in the form of a painted tile tabletop; narrating the interesting ancient stories of Iran.

Background and Aim: Pregnancy due to physiological and psychological changes can affect the mental health of mothers. This study aims to investigate the Approach of acceptance and commitment based on the fear of delivery pain. Materials and Methods: This study was a randomized educational trial with a commitment-based treatment approach that was performed on pregnant women in Arak in 2016-2017. After obtaining written consent forms, 42 subjects were selected through the available sampling method. Subjects were grouped in the intervention group (ACT) and in the control group. Eight 90-minute sessions were held for 8 consecutive weeks of counseling Fear of delivery pain at 10 and one month after the intervention was measured in 2 groups by the Likert scale of pain (1-7) score. Data analysis was performed through repeated measure ANOVA by using SPSS (Version 18). Results: Results showed that the mean pain immediately after the intervention was 2.52±2.20 in the intervention group and 4.66±1.80 in the control group. Which is a month later in the intervention group compared to the control group had a significant decrease (3.52±1.81 vs. 4.52±2.30) (P=0.001). Conclusion: In this study, counseling with the approach of acceptance and commitment reduction the fear of delivery pain, which is the most important reason for choosing cesarean section in women, Therefore, it seems that empowering midwives to counseling approaches can be useful to improve maternal care during pregnancy, especially in the administration of delivery preparation classes.

Abstract Background Pseudomonas is a genus of bacteria commonly found in investigations of gut microbes in malaria mosquitoes. Among those mosquitoes is the dominating malaria vector in Asia, Anopheles stephensi, where Pseudomonas is a prevailing bacterium and natural inhabitant of its breeding places. In order to explore the reason for finding Pseudomonas so frequently, an investigation of its localization and transstadial properties was undertaken. Methods A Pseudomonas isolate from An. stephensi was transformed successfully with an endogenous plasmid modified to express green fluorescent protein (GFP). Subsequently, the Pseudomonas-GFP was added to the laboratory larval breeding place of An. stephensi and taken up by the larvae. After 24 hours, the larvae were cleaned and moved to a bath with double-distilled water. Also, female adults were fed sugar solution containing Pseudomonas-GFP. The Pseudomonas-GFP was traced in the alimentary canal of larvae, pupae and adults. Results Fluorescent microscopy and PCR assays showed that the Pseudomonas bacteria underwent transstadial transmission from larvae to pupae and then to adults. In blood-fed female mosquitoes, the bacteria increased in numbers and remained in the mosquito body for at least three weeks after eclosion. In addition to the midgut, the Malpighian tubules of both larvae and adult mosquitoes were colonized by the bacteria. Also Pseudomonas-GFP that was distributed through sugar solution was able to colonize the Malpighian tubules of adult females. Conclusions Colonization of the Malpighian tubules by Pseudomonas bacteria seems to be important for the transstadial passage from larvae to adult and presumably for the longevity of the bacteria in the adult mosquito. The existence of an entry point in the larval stage, and the long duration in the female gut, opens up for a possible use of Pseudomonas in mosquito paratransgenesis.

Introduction: As chest pain is an important symptom of coronary artery disease (CAD), the presentation of the symptom often prompts referral to a cardiologist for further investigation. The aim of the present study is to determine the prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms in patients referred to a cardiology outpatient clinic for performing the stress test. Patients and Methods: Two hundred and fifty consecutive outpatients referred for evaluation of chest pain by the stress test at a government cardiology clinic from April 2010 to November 2010 were asked to participate in the study. We estimated the prevalence of anxiety and depression symptoms, as assessed by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, in a sample of patients with chest pain. Results: The prevalence of anxiety and depressive symptoms was estimated to be 42% and 31%, respectively, in the total chest pain population. Males with abnormal test were depressed but females experienced more anxiety symptoms. Patients with negative tests had significantly higher scores for anxiety and higher depression scores than those with positive tests. Eleven percent of the patients with positive tests were women and 23% were men. Conclusion: Determining a patient′s anxiety disorder history may assist the clinician in identifying, especially, women with angina who are at a lower risk of underlying CAD.

هدف از انجام پژوهش حاضر مقایسه ی عناصر آزمون ترسیم درخت در کودکان 9 – 7 ساله ی مبتلا به اختلال نارساخوانی و کودکان عادی بوده است. - طرح پژوهش علی مقایسه ای و جامعه آماری کلیه ی دانش آموزان دختر و پسر عادی و مبتلا به اختلال یادگیری نارساخوانی (9-7 ساله) شهر زاهدان در سال تحصیلی 88-87 بوده است که از این تعداد، 120 نفر با روش نمونه گیری تصادفی چند مرحله ای به عنوان نمونه آماری انتخاب شدند. ابزارهای پژوهش شامل، آزمون هوشی وکسلر کودکان، آزمون اختلال خواندن و آزمون ترسیم درخت می باشد و برای تجزیه و تحلیل داده ها از آزمون همخوانی مجذور کا، جهت مقایسه ی دو گروه از لحاظ فراوانی سطوح عناصر در آزمون ترسیم درخت، استفاده شده است.یافته های پژوهش نشان داد که در 10 شاخص از آزمون ترسیم درخت تفاوت معناداری بین کودکان نارساخوان و کودکان عادی وجود داشته است

Introduction: The purpose of this study was to determine the role of proactive personality in entrepreneurial intentions and career success. Methods: This study was a descriptive-correlatal research. The statistical population of the study was all the personnel's Isfahan University of Medical Sciences were been selected from which a sample of 308 employees randomly. The questionnaires of this research were Proactive Personality Scale (PPS), Shapero and Crant's Entrepreneurship Intentions Scale, Career Satisfaction's Scale and Jackson's Personality Research Form for assessing need for achievement. Data were analyzed by applying with SPSS and stepwise and hierarchical regressions. Results: Results showed that R-square was 0.24; it means that 24 percent of variances between control variables and entrepreneurial intentions are common, and when proactive personality are added to regression it increased to 0.3, thus the pure relationship between proactive personality and entrepreneurial intentions was 0.06 and it was significant (P < 0.0001). Also, the pure relationship between proactive personality and subjective career success was 0.02 and it was significant (P < 0.004), and the pure relationship between proactive personality and objective career success was approximately 0.01 and it was significant too (P < 0.028). Conclusion: This research shows that proactive personality has very important relationship with individual and environmental variables and though it could be helpful for performance and promotions of organizational goals. Keywords: Personality; Allied Health Personal; Universities.