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The main objective of this study is to determine the optimal distribution of water between upstream and downstream users in a main irrigation canal with a limited supply of water in order to maximize the net revenue derived from existing farming activities. To this end, an economic positive mathematic programming (PMP) model is employed to determine the economic value of the water for each delivery point along the main canal in which there is agricultural activity. This information is added to a model that accounts for the operational aspects of a realistic, large irrigated district in the center of Iran, which is used by a model predictive controller to prioritize the reaches in the main canal according to their potential profit in economic terms. The results show the satisfactory operation of the canal reaches, such that the water levels in the reaches with high economic water value are kept closer to the operational target levels. Accordingly, the water deficit is proportionally divided along the main canals to maximize economic profits from the irrigated district. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Existing literature that examines the Hikikomori-like idiom of distress (HLID) initially labelled this phenomenon as a culture-bound syndrome. However, the increasing number of reports from other parts of the world suggest that HLID could instead be a culture-reactive idiom of distress, originating from biopsychosocial disequilibrium and cultural upheaval. The impact of imposed social withdrawal due to the Coronavirus 2 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic on the growing prevalence of HLID has not yet been adequately explored. Aims: The first objective is to examine the factorial validity of the 25-item Hikikomori Questionnaire (HQ-25) in Oman. Second, we aimed to investigate the prevalence of HLID following the lifting of SARS-COV-2 restrictions in the Arabian Gulf country of Oman. The third related objective is to examine factors associated with the variation of HLID., Methods: This cross-sectional online survey was widely distributed across the diverse socio-demographic population residing in Oman. After the validation of the questionnaire and the factorial validity, the Arabic version of HQ-25 was used to explore the prevalence and factors associated with HLID., Results: A total of 1529 participants were included in the study (response rate = 76.5%), of whom 44% (n = 673) expressed HLID. We randomly split it into half, one for exploratory factor analysis (EFA) (n = 764) and the other half for confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) (n = 765). From the EFA results, a three-factor model was found for the Omani version of HQ-25, which represented 52.87% of the variance with good internal reliability (Overall Cronbach's: 0.92; Socialisation: 0.92; Isolation: 0.84; Emotional support: 0.73). The CFA results report acceptable goodness-of-fit indices (χ2/df = 17.92, p < .001; CFI = 0.90; TLI = 0.95; RMSEA = 0.04, 95% CI 0.02-0.07; SRMR = 0.05) of the three-factor model of the collected samples. All 1529 data were used in the respondents. The results of the logistic regression showed that married marital status (OR = 1.51, 95% CI: 1.12-2.03, p = 0.007), older age (OR = 0.97, 95% CI: 0.95-0.99, p = 0.008), living in an urban area (OR = 0.71, 95% CI: 0.56-0.91, p = 0.006), unemployed occupational status (OR = 1.72, 95% CI: 1.30-2.88, p < .001), screen time (7+ hours vs. <4 hours: OR = 4.50, 95% CI: 3.16-6.41, p < .001; 4-7 hours vs. <4 hours: OR = 2.10, 95% CI: 1.61-2.70, p < .001), history of mental illness (OR = 3.70, 95% CI: 2.29-5.91, p < .001), and adverse childhood experiences (OR = 2.60, 95% CI: 2.03-3.20, p < .001) were significant risk factors for HLID., Conclusion: The factorial validity of the HQ-25 performed in this study appears to mirror the previously reported 3-factor structures. Some of the associated factors appear to support and, conversely, dissent from the findings of previous studies. These are discussed in terms of the attributions of the SARS-COV-2 pandemic, demographic trends in Oman, and sociocultural factors specific to the region of interest., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2023 Al-Sibani et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: Acinetobacter baumannii is one of the most common causes of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) in patients hospitalized in ICU. Multiple resistance has resulted in excessive use of Colistin antibiotic, which is the latest treatment option for this bacterium. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine the abundance of multi-resistance and molecular characteristics of resistance to colistin among A. baumannii isolated from patients that are infected with VAP and hospitalized in ICU of "Qazvin" and "Masih Daneshvari" hospitals., Materials and Methods: In this study, 200 A . baumannii isolates related to VAP were collected from ICU of "Masih Daneshvari" (2012-2018) and "Qazvin" (2017-2018) hospitals, from bronchoalveolar lavage & tracheal aspirate specimens. Isolates were detected as A. baumannii by PCR with specific primers of the bla OXA-51-like gene. Antibacterial susceptibility of isolates to colistin was determined by the MIC method, and other antibiotics were examined by the disk diffusion method, according to the CLSI criteria. Multi-drug resistance (MDR) and extended-drug resistance (XDR) isolates were determined according to standard definitions of the CLSI., Results: All the isolates were susceptible to colistin. Moreover, they were resistant to piperacillin, piperacillin-tazobactam, ceftazidime, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, amikacin, gentamycin, levofloxacin, co-trimoxazole, and ciprofloxacin. Antimicrobial resistance rates for tetracycline and ampicillinsulbactam were 8.5% and 20%, respectively. All isolates were MDR and XDR. All isolates were susceptible to colistin (MIC50=1 and MIC90=2 μg/ml). The sequencing results did not show any point mutation in pmr CAB genes, and mcr-1 gene was not detected in any isolates., Conclusion: In this study, all A. baumannii isolates collected from VAP patients were MDR and XDR . Although all isolates were susceptible to colistin, and this agent seems the most appropriate antibiotic for treatment of VAP, colistin resistance can become endemic in the world rapidly due to plasmid-mediated mobile colistin resistance mcr genes., (Copyright© 2021 National Research Institute of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease.)

Statement of the Problem: There are some concerns regarding the effect of chlorhexidine (CHX) applied for cavity disinfection on the bond strength of adhesive restorations to dentin., Purpose: This study sought to assess the effect of CHX on the shear bond strength (SBS) of Equia resin-modified glass ionomer cement (RMGIC) to dentin in permanent teeth., Materials and Method: In this experimental study, the buccal surface of 84 freshly extracted human premolars was ground to expose the flat dentin. The samples were randomly assigned to four groups (n=21). The steps were as following in the group I a : conditioning, Equia RMGIC, 500 thermal cycles; group I b : conditioning, Equia RMGIC, 6000 thermal cycles; group II a : conditioning, CHX, Equia RMGIC, 500 thermal cycles, and group II b : conditioning, CHX, Equia RMGIC, and 6000 thermal cycles. Twenty samples from each group were subjected to SBS test and one sample was inspected under a scanning electron microscope. Data were analyzed using two-way ANOVA and t-test., Results: The SBS was significantly different among the groups ( p = 0.007). The groups subjected to 500 thermal cycles showed significantly higher SBS to dentin when they were treated with CHX ( p = 0.000). There was no significant difference between samples thermocycled for 6000 cycles with and without application of CHX ( p = 0.269). The SBS in the groups that were thermocycled for 6000 cycles (I b and II b ) was lower than those thermocycled for 500 cycles (I a and II a ). This difference between II a and II b was statistically significant ( p = 0.007)., Conclusion: Chlorhexidine can positively affect the short term SBS of Equia RMGIC to dentin.