Search

Background: E-learning is an essential application of information and communication technology, which is emphasized in facilitating teaching-learning activities and the use of online resources. Objectives: The present study aimed to investigate the correlation between e-learning attitudes and academic achievement in medical students. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 154 residents, interns, and clerkships at Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Kashan, Iran in 2020. Data were collected using two standard questionnaires, and the students' grade point average (GPA) was considered as their academic achievement. Data analysis was performed in SPSS version 26 using descriptive statistics (frequency tables) and inferential statistics (independent t-test, ANOVA, and correlation-coefficient) at the significance level of P ≤ 0.05. Results: The students’ attitude toward e-learning was considered favorable with the score estimated at 77.5. However, the students’ attitude toward e-learning had no significant correlation with their academic achievement (P = 0.169). Conclusions: Given the satisfaction of the students with e-learning, we could use the capacities and strengths of e-learning to ensure the quality of learning in medical education. Furthermore, these capacities could be employed to overcome the barriers and limitations of traditional education, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Background & aim: Comparing to adult inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), those with early onset manifestations have different features in terms of the underlying molecular pathology, the course of disease and the response to therapy. We investigated the IL-10 signaling pathway previously reported as an important cause of infantile (Very Early Onset) IBD to find any possible variants. Method: With the next generation sequencing technique we screened IL-10, IL-10RA and IL10RB genes of 15 children affected by very early onset-GI (gastrointestinal) disorders. Additionally, we analyzed them based on Thermo Fisher immune deficiency panel for genes either having a known role in IBD pathogenesis or cause the disorders with overlapping manifestations. We performed multiple functional analyses only for the cases showing variants in IL-10-related genes. Result: In 3 out of 15 patients we identified variants including a homozygous and heterozygote mutations in IL-10RA and a novel homozygous mutation in IL-12RB1. Our functional studies reveal that in contrast to the IL-10RA heterozygote mutation that does not have deleterious effects, the homozygous mutation abrogates the IL-10 signaling pathway. Conclusion: Our study suggests we need to modify the classical diagnostic approach from functional assays followed by candidate-gene or genes sequencing to the firstly parallel genomic screening followed by functional studies. (C) 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved

Although the sense of safety and social interactions are vital within the neighborhoods and their effects on community cohesion and sustainability are inevitable, the impacts of higher density on these issues are still controversial. Previous studies have found that most of the negative associations of density were related to the perceptions of density. The causal nature of this relationship, however, has not been established. The present study fills this gap and investigates whether territoriality serves to mediate the relationship between perceived density and social interactions. Using structural equation modeling to develop a framework, this study draws on data collected from three gated communities with same net residential density, housing type and different layouts. The results of ANOVA indicate that there is a significant difference between cases in terms of perceived density and social interactions of residents. This finding highlights the importance of layout in comparison to quantitative densities. In addition, mediational analysis suggests that perceived density relates indirectly to social interactions, by giving rise to territoriality, which in turn relates positively to social interactions. Ultimately, according to the conventional criteria for acceptable model fitness, all variables have a good model fit, and the elucidated variance in described social interactions is also statistically significant.

To evaluate the accuracy of transcutaneous bilirubin measurement in a large population of newborn infants, before and during the phototherapy.A single Bilicheck instrument was used for transcutaneous measurements. A photo-opaque patch was positioned over the measurement site prior to starting phototherapy. Transcutaneous bilirubinometry was conducted on an unpatched area of the forehead skin and on the nearby site covered by the photo-opaque patch. Readings were obtained from patched and unpatched areas and simultaneous total serum bilirubin concentrations were compared.We studied 134 term and 36 preterm newborns. Pre-phototherapy measurements showed a strong correlation (r: 0.929, P0.001, Limit of agreement: -1.8 to 3.1) between Bilicheck and serum bilirubin readings. Post-phototherapy correlation between Bilicheck and serum bilirubin readings was (r: 0.921, P0.001, LOA: -1.8 to 2.8) among term and (r: 0.887, P = 0.001, LOA: -1.4 to 2.7) among preterm neonates in patched areas. These correlations were (r: 0.666, P0.001, LOA: -1.7 to 7.3) among term and (r: 0.756, P0.001, LOA: -0.5 to 5.3) preterm neonates post-phototherapy in unpatched areas.BiliCheck can be safely used for the evaluation of bilirubin levels in preterm and term newborn infants under phototherapy. BiliCheck is slightly less reliable among preterm newborns.

The airflow in building environment is a strategy that could provide indoor thermal comfort conditions in warm and dry environment. Therefore, formation of ventilation inside buildings is essential. In the meantime, the nature has some structures, which have created much potential in the natural ventilation. Thus, this research aims to provide a mechanism for improving natural ventilation in the building to recognize the effective features in the termite mound, as a successful natural structure in hot and dry climate. In order to conduct this research, extensive examples of termite mounds were studied, which were located in the hot and dry climate. The research tool was the library studies carried out so far in the field of biology, which provide strategies to promote natural ventilation system in the building after recognizing the process of termite mound ventilation and its effective factors. The results indicate that wind, water, temperature differences, and the form of inner channels of the mound have an important role in natural ventilation. These factors require vertical ducts inside the building in order to streamline the air. However, other features such as the materials applied in the termite mound and placing in the ground reduce the heat dissipation inside mound building, but these features have no effect on the process of natural ventilation inside the mound.

Emissive probes are standard tools in laboratory plasmas for the direct determination of the plasma potential. Usually they consist of a loop of refractory wire heated by an electric current until sufficient electron emission. Recently emissive probes were used also for measuring the radial fluctuation-induced particle flux and other essential parameters of edge turbulence in magnetized toroidal hot plasmas [R. Schrittwieser et al., Plasma Phys. Controlled Fusion 50, 055004 (2008)]. We have developed and investigated various types of emissive probes, which were heated by a focused infrared laser beam. Such a probe has several advantages: higher probe temperature without evaporation or melting and thus higher emissivity and longer lifetime, no deformation of the probe in a magnetic field, no potential drop along the probe wire, and faster time response. The probes are heated by an infrared diode laser with 808 nm wavelength and an output power up to 50 W. One probe was mounted together with the lens system on a radially movable probe shaft, and radial profiles of the plasma potential and of its oscillations were measured in a linear helicon discharge.