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In this work, we study the electronic and transport properties of phosphorene nanorings in two perpendicular directions (zigzag and armchair directions) in the presence of a zigzag metallic source and drain leads. Our results are based on the non-equilibrium Green's function method and a five-parameter tight-binding approach. We investigate how system parameters affect the electronic transport. These parameters include the radius of the rings, the width of the leads, and the external potential. Our results show that for all configurations studied, a transport energy gap exists whose size can be tuned by the width of the leads and the radius of the nanoring. The transmission function of wider leads shows more sensitivity to the variation of the inner radius due to higher electronic states that can respond to smaller changes in the scattering region. In addition, the transport along the armchair direction is more susceptible to tuning than the transport along the zigzag direction. The effects of external potentials on the conductance are more pronounced than the geometrical parameters. In particular, the circular potential of the amplitude of 0.1 eV can widen the transport gap by about ∼0.35 eV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Suppression of negative, uncomfortable emotions can lead to moral injury, resulting in emotional, behavioral, and social issues, as well as mental health conditions such as depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the concept of moral injury-typically associated with conflict situations--has gained increased attention. Objectives: This study aimed to assess the prevalence of moral injury during the pandemic and its correlation with psychological distress. Methods: Between December 2020 and January 2021, we evaluated the frequency of depression, anxiety, and stress, and their correlation with moral injury in 333 medical interns, residents, and nurses. We used validated versions of the Moral Injury Symptom Scale-Healthcare Professionals (MISS-HP) and the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale (DASS-21). Results: The study included 333 medical professionals, most of whom were aged 26 - 30. Clinically significant moral injuries were observed in nearly half of the participants. Women had higher average scores for stress and anxiety compared to men. A lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) at the workplace was associated with increased depression, anxiety, and stress. Nurses reported higher levels of depression, anxiety, and stress than other healthcare professionals. Additionally, there was a significant positive correlation between moral injury and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. Female participants experienced higher rates of moral injury than male participants, and single individuals reported more suffering than married ones. Moral injury was notably higher among nurses compared to other healthcare professionals. Conclusions: The study found that healthcare professionals experienced anxiety, stress, depression, and moral injury during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moral injury was strongly associated with increased stress, worry, and depression. Female healthcare professionals exhibited higher levels of anxiety and stress, while being married appeared to offer some protection against depression. Nurses were particularly vulnerable, with end-stage patients and insufficient resources contributing to elevated levels of anxiety, stress, and moral injury. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper develops a new procedure for finding the most unfavorable long-period excitation for isolated building structures based on the probabilistic critical excitation method. The upper bound of earthquake input energy per unit mass is considered the problem's constraint, and a modified power spectral density (PSD) function is proposed to conform to the new constraint. It is shown that the new constraint can be used as a criterion to estimate the possible range of input energy of similar earthquakes. In addition, the new PSD function can control the excitation's intensity. Finally, three base-isolated shear buildings modeled as multi degree of freedom systems with nonproportional damping are considered, and the critical excitations for each model are found based on the proposed method. To examine the reliability of the results, three actual accelerograms with a considerably high level of total input energy are selected as benchmarks and linear dynamic analyses are conducted using these accelerograms along with the generated critical excitations. The results show that the generated long-period excitations can better estimate the structural behavior (i.e., maximum displacement, drift, and absolute acceleration of stories) than the actual benchmark accelerograms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scholars have called for more critical considerations of social justice and tourism that align with the tenets, values, and practices for sustainability, transformation, and social change. The aim of this research was to map and critically assess the status of refugee-related research in tourism, particularly with regards to the extent to which it adopts, or extends, a social justice-oriented agenda. A systematic literature review of existing studies was conducted. Content analysis assessed three aspects of 37 studies, namely, (1) the topics covered, (2) the extent to which the research aligns with social justice research practices, and (3) the extent to which the research furthers the social justice agenda for transformation. The review revealed a body of work that does not demonstrate social justice research practices; mostly because the refugee-related research topics of focus do not exhibit a social justice-oriented agenda. Our review illustrated that existing tourism research tends to frame refugees negatively and as a threat to destinations, and neglect critical considerations of epistemologies, reflexivity, and research processes. We conclude by highlighting alternative approaches that could contribute to a social justice-oriented agenda, using tourism as a bridge for creating change within structures, discourses, and practices in refugee-related research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater serves as the primary source of freshwater in arid and semi-arid regions, rendering them resilient against precipitation scarcity. Various aspects of the drought phenomenon necessitate the application of multivariate analysis and composite drought indices. These composite indices afford a more comprehensive understanding of various drought types. However, few studies have considered the integration of meteorological and groundwater drought information. This research delves into determining a threshold for triggering the transition from meteorological drought to groundwater drought in an arid region (Minab plain). It introduces the Joint Deficit Meteo-Groundwater Drought Index, a result of combining two droughts based on copula function. Furthermore, trivariate drought frequency analysis (severity-duration-peak) is conducted based on three scenarios in three clusters of the Minab Plain. Drought risk is then assessed using conditional probability. The results indicate that the northern and central parts of the Minab Plain face a high risk of meteo-groundwater drought. With increasing drought duration and severity, the peak also rises, placing the entire region at risk of widespread drought. A comprehensive understanding of meteo-groundwater drought and an assessment of its characteristics provide insights into the signals of propagation from meteorological drought to groundwater, facilitating the management of groundwater and surface water resources to mitigate the effects of drought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an innovative method to quantify damage based on surface cracks of reinforced concrete shear walls (RCSWs). The key idea is to use artificial intelligence and convert crack patterns to graphs. In this method, the mathematics of graph theory is used to extract information (graph‐based features) from crack patterns and use them for crack quantification. The proposed graph features are used in linear regression and leave‐one‐out cross‐validation to predict the mechanical features calculated for each RCSW: Park and Ang damage index and the dissipated energy. Among the three general stages of damage, which are safe, questionable, and not safe, this paper focuses on quantifying the second stage. To validate the approach, crack images of three RCSWs are used. The walls had different aspect ratios (0.54, 0.94, and 2.00) and were subject to quasi‐static cyclic loading. Regression results demonstrate low root mean squared errors and high coefficients of determination (R2 scores above 0.845). This proves the ability of the proposed graph‐based method in quantifying damage based on surface crack patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Enteral nutrition is a type of nutritional support that provides the necessary sources of energy and protein for patients who suffer from dysphagia, chronic disease, and loss of appetite. In this study, a gelatin‐maltodextrin binary biopolymer system has been incorporated into a semi‐solid formula. The I‐optimal combination design approach was used to create 19 formulations, and the dynamic rheological properties, dynamic laser scattering, and zeta potential responses were evaluated over 30 days of storage at 5°C. Solid viscoelastic behavior has been approved since G′ > G″ in the frequency sweep test with no cross‐over point. Maltodextrin may interfere within the gelatin network, and increasing the maltodextrin to gelatin (from 0.14 to 1) may lead to a wider linear viscoelastic (LVE) strain range (2.16%), a lower storage modulus at LVE (52%), a lower yield stress (46%), and a lower glass transition temperature (34%). The presence of maltodextrin may reduce the temperature of the sol‐to‐solid transformation by 48% and enhance its flexibility. In contrast, increasing the gelatin‐to‐maltodextrin ratio following melting at 37°C led to an increase in the cumulant mean and polydispersity index, indicating a relatively unstable system. The range of zeta potential values between −4.4 and 1.7 mV confirmed a tendency toward coagulation. Microscopic images revealed instability because of irregular or compact chains formed in the gelatin matrix by using higher amounts of maltodextrin. Finally, the best formula had the best rheological stability and was suitable for tube‐feeding patients, with a gelatin‐to‐maltodextrin ratio of 4.35:3.64% w/w on day 17.4. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Besides being a devastating and long-lasting disaster, a drought is an event that affects a large area. It is essential to determine the duration, severity, and magnitude of the drought in the determination and evaluation of the measures. The disruption of rain-based activities in the Black Sea coasts, the wettest areas in Turkey, will cause agricultural production to decrease and the region's people to be negatively affected economically. Analysing the meteorological drought due to precipitation in the region will help to reduce the effects of such adverse events. In the present study, three homogeneous regions were identified using the fuzzy C-means clustering method (FCM), and drought characteristics (e.g. severity (S), duration (D), and magnitude (m)) were calculated based on the standardised precipitation index (SPI). The trivariate risk analysis of meteorological drought was performed using copulas, goodness-of-fit test statistics, and graphical methods. The L-moment ratio diagram for drought duration in all homogeneous regions showed that among the five distributions, the best distribution function was determined for the severity and duration of drought as PE3 regions and the magnitude of drought as GPA. The copula goodness-of-fit statistics showed that the Joe copula in all homogeneous regions is the best. Based on the results, the west coast of the Black Sea is under high conditional drought risk, and inland and eastern coastal are under low conditional drought risk in the S≤20 and D≤20 episodes, for m=0.2. Nevertheless, with the increase of m value, the area at risk of drought is growing; moreover, the entire region considered for m=0.75 and 1 is very high risk. The conditional risk analysis can be helpful for the decision-makers to maintain agricultural activities and prevent this region, which plays a vital role in the country's exports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The occurrence of natural disasters such as floods and earthquakes has devastating effects on geographical areas, especially rural areas. Such incidents often endanger the health of residents by destroying economic resources and welfare facilities and are always a serious threat to the development of rural areas. In this regard, the aim of the current research is to spatially analyze the extent to which the local community has economic factors affecting resilience against environmental hazards in the villages of Sistan region. This research has been carried out in a descriptive-analytical way, the statistical population of the research included all heads of households in 373 villages with more than 50 households in Sistan region in 1401, using Cochran's formula, 189 heads of households were randomly selected as a sample. was selected and WASPAS and SPSS software were used for data analysis. Friedman's test has been used to examine the difference between indicators of economic factors affecting villagers' resilience against environmental hazards. With a significance level of chi-square (1216.77) lower than 0.05, it can be asserted statistically, with 95% confidence, that the economic factors influencing villagers' resilience exhibit significant variations among them and are generalizable to the broader society. The results of the regression test regarding the effect of economic factors on the resilience of rural communities in Sistan region indicate that the multiple correlation between economic factors and resilience is equal to the coefficient of determination (R2=0.003), which shows that Economic factors have no effect on the resilience of villagers in Sistan region. Also, the results of the WASPAS ranking technique confirm that the villagers located in Nimroz and Hirmand cities have the highest level of economic resilience against natural hazards and the villagers located in Hamon city have the lowest level of economic resilience against hazards. They are natural. Finally, it can be said that by increasing the resilience of rural communities in dealing with natural hazards and giving necessary knowledge to villagers in this field, the stability of rural areas can be provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying hydrological concepts, such as water footprint, economical water footprint, and virtual water trade is necassary to improve water resource management. This study considers the concepts of water footprint and economical water footprint to prioritize the cultivation of rain-fed and irrigated almonds in Iran during 2006–2016. The study results shows that the rain-fed average water footprint and economical water footprint are 9.2 m3kg−1 and 2.88 m3 per $, respectively, with 72% of the share being green water footprint, and 28% being grey. Irrigated almonds' water footprint and economical water footprint are 11.4 m3kg−1 and 5.16 m3 per $, with the share of green, blue, and grey water footprints being 19%, 71%, and 10%, respectively. The total Average water footprint (AWF) of almond production is 10167.3 MCM year−1, 80% being irrigated and 20% being rain-fed. About 9343 MCM year−1 of this amount is exported overseas as the virtual water trade. Increasing the yield of almonds in rainfed orchards improves the productivity of green water, and as a result, irrigated orchards will be reduced; therefore, the pressure on water resources will be reduced based on WF criteria. The results of this study demonstrate that due to water and soil limitations in Iran, the concepts of water footprint and economical water footprint provide useful information for the conservation and management of water resources in agriculture by combining local and regional data on water availability and scarcity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Since happiness and life satisfaction can predict the mental health of the elderly, therapeutic interventions such as reminiscence can be useful for these people. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of structured group reminiscence on happiness and life satisfaction of elderly people. Material and methods: This was a clinical trial study. Among the elderly, 36 people were selected by systematic random sampling according to the inclusion criteria; using randomized blocks, the samples were divided into the intervention and control groups. Then they were divided into 2 groups of 18 people (18 in the intervention group and 18 in the control group). Reminiscence therapy was held in 8 sessions. Participants were asked to complete the Happiness, Life Satisfaction Questionnaire, and a brief psychiatric examination and demographic characteristics in the pre-test phase, immediately after the intervention and one month after the intervention. Results: The two groups, intervention and control, were similar in terms of age, examination of mental status, gender, education level and marital status (p > 0.05). The results of comparing the mean of happiness and life satisfaction variables between the intervention and control groups in the pre-test phase, immediately after the intervention, and one month after the intervention indicated a statistically significant difference. Conclusions: According to the findings of this study, structured group reminiscence is an effective intervention to improve happiness and life satisfaction in this age group. Therefore, it can be a cost-effective way to increase the vitality of the elderly without complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates charged black holes within the framework of quintic quasi-topological gravity, focusing on their thermodynamics, conserved quantities, and stability. We construct numerical solutions and explore their thermodynamic properties, supplemented by the study of analytically solvable special cases. By verifying the first law of thermodynamics, we validate our approach and compare our findings to those of Einstein gravity. The physical properties of the solutions are examined across anti-de Sitter, de Sitter, and flat spacetime backgrounds. Our analysis reveals that anti-de Sitter solutions demonstrate thermal stability, while de Sitter and flat solutions lack this property. Finally, we discuss the implications of our results and propose potential avenues for future research in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic affected working conditions in healthcare systems and caused occupational stress and challenges for the majority of healthcare workers (HCWs). Objectives: This study aimed to examine the prevalence of anxiety, depression, burnout, and career resilience and assess the personal and occupational risk factors contributing to psychological symptoms in Iranian HCWs during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: Through a cross-sectional study, HCWs were surveyed within January to February 2022 to evaluate the prevalence of anxiety and depression (using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale [HADS]), burnout (using the Maslach burnout inventory health services survey for medical personnel [MBI-HSS-MP]), and career resilience (using the Career Resilience Questionnaire [CRQ]). The correlation between demographic-occupational factors and psychological symptoms was analyzed. A total of 610 complete responses were received from Iranian HCWs. Results: Approximately 87.9% of HCWs had symptoms of both anxiety and depression (HADS score ≥ 11). The results indicated that most HCWs experienced various signs of burnout (i.e., emotional exhaustion, decreased sense of personal accomplishment, and depersonalization, respectively). The mean score for career resilience reported by the participants was appropriate; however, a fifth of the HCWs had poor career resilience. The highest scores of burnout, anxiety, and depression, in addition to the lowest scores of career resilience, were reported by intensive care unit (ICU) professionals. Conclusions: Marital status, long daily working hours, night shift work, access to personal protective equipment (PPE), and direct exposure to patients with COVID-19 had a significant impact on the anxiety, depression, burnout, and resilience of the HCWs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The optimal approach for anticoagulation in patients with bioprosthetic valves and atrial fibrillation (AF) remains a subject of debate. A meta-analysis using updated evidence to evaluate the efficacy and safety of direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) compared to vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) in patients with AF and bioprosthetic valves to address this controversy. Methods: A comprehensive search was conducted in multiple databases, including PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, and the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, up until March 2023. The search aimed to identify relevant randomized controlled trials (RCTs) that examined the efficacy and safety outcomes of both direct oral anticoagulants (DOACs) and vitamin K antagonists (VKAs) in patients with bioprosthetic valves and atrial fibrillation. The primary outcomes of interest were major bleeding and all-cause mortality. Results: Our study demonstrated that despite the difference was not significant, the hazard of all-cause mortality was 2.5% higher in the DOAC group (HR = 1.03, 95% CI = [0.88, 1.19], p-value =.75). Similarly, the hazard of stroke (HR = 1.03, 95% CI = [0.87, 1.32], p-value =.71) and major bleeding (HR = 1.11, 95% CI = [0.89, 1.38], p-value =.36) were found to be respectively 3.2 and 10.7% higher in the DOAC group, although the difference was not significant. However, the hazard of intracranial hemorrhage was found to be 28.8 lower in the DOAC treatment group (HR = 0.71, 95% CI = [0.39, 1.31], p-value =.27), which again was not statistically significant. Conclusions: Our meta-analysis demonstrates that in patients undergoing bioprosthetic valve surgery and presenting with AF afterward, DOAC and VKA are similar regarding life-threatening and all-cause mortality outcomes, including major bleeding, stroke, and intracranial hemorrhage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the issue of physician suicide and its impact on the medical community. It highlights that suicide is the second leading cause of death in the USA and that physician residents in Iran have also been affected. Various risk factors contribute to suicidal thoughts among doctors, including life events, drug use, financial stress, and psychological problems. The prevalence of suicide attempts is higher among doctors and nurses compared to the general population, with female doctors being particularly at risk. The article emphasizes the need for strategies to identify and support doctors with mental health issues, as well as improving working conditions and providing mental health screenings. [Extracted from the article]

We investigated the prediction accuracy and bias of single-step genomic BLUP (ssGBLUP) with or without weights for single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). The SNP weights were calculated using population Fixation Index (WssGBLUPFST) and a nonlinear method called nonlinearA (WssGBLUPNLA). The results of these two weighted methods were compared with a non-weighted method. The individuals of the reference population were sorted based on their estimated breeding values and the top 5% and bottom 5% of individuals based on their estimated breeding values (EBVs) were considered as subpopulations 1 and 2. The FST values for all SNPs between subpopulations 1 and 2 were scaled between zero and one and used as weights. The prediction accuracy and bias of predictions in WssGBLUPFST, WssGBLUPNLA and ssGBLUP methods were compared considering varying the numbers of quantitative trait locus (QTL) (10, 50 and 500), heritability (0.1 and 0.4) and size of reference population (1500, 5000 and 12500). In 10 and 50 QTL, both weighting methods outperformed regular ssGBLUP and with simulation, WssGBLUPFST outperformed WssGBLUPNLA. By increasing the number of QTL to 500 QTL, the WssGBLUPFST was no longer superior to WssGBLUPNLA and ssGBLUP. Our results suggest usefulness of weighting genomic relationship matrix by using FST, especially when the trait is affected by a few numbers of QTL. The prediction accuracy of WssGBLUP methods is expected to increase by identifying and giving appropriate weight to QTL with major effects. Combining different test statistics into a single framework such as decomposition of multiple signals may help reduce false positives and pinpoint the QTL position with more precision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: While ventriculo-extracranial shunting procedures have been the standard treatment option for hydrocephalus for a long time, their long-term morbidity, including the development of post-shunt de novo seizures, should be taken into account. This study aimed to investigate the rate and risk factors of the occurrence of de novo post-shunt seizures in patients with hydrocephalus. Methods: In this retrospective longitudinal study, all patients with hydrocephalus who had ventriculo-peritoneal shunt insertion from 2014 to 2017 at Namazi Hospital, (Shiraz, Iran) were studied. Phone calls were made to all patients to obtain their postoperative seizure outcome and other data (e.g., sex, age at surgery, shunt insertion location, history of seizures before surgery, history of seizures after surgery, any other type of brain surgery, and the etiology of their hydrocephalus). The Pearson Chi Square was used for the analysis of binary variable (e.g., sex) differences, and the t test for the analysis of differences in the means of numerical variables (e.g., age). Bonferroni correction tests were also utilized. P values less than 0.05 were considered significant. Results: A total of 114 patients were included in the study. Overall, 68 (60%) patients had a frontal location of shunt insertion and 46 (40%) had a parietal site. Twenty-four (21%) patients reported experiencing de novo post-shunt seizures, 15 of which had a frontal location and nine a parietal location for shunt insertion (P=0.824). Conclusion: De novo post-shunt seizures are common occurrences. However, shunt location is not a significant risk factor for the development of de novo post-shunt seizures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the rise of Internet addiction, particularly among younger generations, and the potential role of Internet Addiction Recovery Camps in addressing this issue. These camps aim to help individuals reduce their dependency on digital devices through therapy, physical activities, and skill-building workshops. However, the effectiveness of these camps is still debated, with concerns about potential withdrawal symptoms and the lack of standardized protocols and accessibility. The article emphasizes the need for a multi-faceted approach to address Internet addiction, including education, research, and the development of accessible and affordable recovery programs. [Extracted from the article]

The article discusses the rise of Internet addiction, particularly among younger generations, and the potential role of Internet Addiction Recovery Camps in addressing this issue. These camps aim to help individuals reduce their dependency on digital devices through therapy, physical activities, and skill-building workshops. However, the effectiveness of these camps is still debated, with concerns about potential withdrawal symptoms and the lack of standardized protocols and accessibility. The article emphasizes the need for a multi-faceted approach to address Internet addiction, including education, research, and the development of accessible and affordable recovery programs. [Extracted from the article]

Objective. Quality of life (QoL) is a major concern in breast cancer (BC) patients. Despite efforts, no study has comprehensively addressed determinants of QoL in patients with BC. This study aimed to synthesize evidence on QoL correlations using the meta-analytic structural equation modeling (MASEM) approach. Methods. Our search in PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, and Cochrane databases resulted in 5,238 initial relevant papers, 73 of which were eligible for final analysis with a total of 44,121 patients. We used a two-stage procedure of correlation-based MASEM to examine the relationship between QoL and body mass index (BMI), physical activity (PA), sleep, depression, fatigue, and stress. Results. Final MASEM model suggested that PA (path coefficient = 0.33, 95% CI = −0.0444; 0.6334), fatigue (path coefficient = −0.23, 95% CI = −0.6825; 0.0361), and stress (path coefficient = −0.22, 95% CI = −0.5143; 0.6875) were the most important factors related to QoL in patients with breast cancer. Final model identified variables responsible for 68% of the variation in QoL in BC. Conclusion. QoL is an important outcome in the treatment course of BC. Large-scale and meta-analysis studies could help patients to have a life with improved quality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzed extreme precipitation events, using daily rainfall data for 1966–2015. A Mann–Kendall trend test was used to evaluate trends in extreme precipitation, copula functions were applied to compute the joint return periods of extreme events, and univariate and bivariate distributions were used to determine risk. The results showed that the decrease in consecutive wet days (CWD) was significant in the west and the northwest of Iran, while the consecutive dry days (CDD) index was increasing therein. The precipitation on more than the 90th percentile (P90) very wet days and annual number of days with precipitation less than the 90th percentile threshold (D90) indices followed similar patterns, with no significant trend in most parts of Iran, but at several stations in the north, west, and northwest, their decline was extreme. Furthermore, the increase of D10 (annual number of days with precipitation less than the 90th percentile threshold) and P10 (total precipitation of D10 of a year) was extreme in the wet regions of Iran, including the north, west, and northwest areas, and also part of the center. More than 50 percent of Iran experienced a low risk level, with a return period of extreme events (CWD, CDD) of more than 27.5 years, and the joint return periods of (D10, D90), (P10, P90), and (D10, P10) pairs were less than 100 years in most regions of Iran. Due to the increasing number of dry days in the north, west, and northwest of Iran, the drought risk increased. Based on the changes in extreme precipitation indices in recent years, the findings of this study will be useful for copula-based frequency analysis under a changing environment at regional and global scales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The proposed method provides a better match between the MFD of the synthetic catalog and the observation. • Excluding background seismicity from the simulation leads to an underestimation of earthquake probability. • The interaction effects of background faults modify the earthquake rates and probabilities on individual faults. • The spatial distribution of background seismicity is accurately considered inside the simulator using the proposed method. Physics-based simulations have been extensively employed to generate synthetic earthquake catalogs over the past decade. In this kind of simulation, primary known faults are typically modeled, while smaller and intermediate faults are often neglected. As a result, the location of earthquakes in the simulation is confined to the modeled faults. Furthermore, due to the elimination of off-fault seismicity, a complete match of the frequency-magnitude distribution of the synthetic catalog with observed data is not achieved. This paper presents an approach to include off-fault seismicity (or background seismicity) within the simulation. First, background earthquakes are separated from the primary faults' earthquakes, and a fault section is assigned to each event. By employing a scaling relationship, the dimensions of these fault sections are determined according to the magnitude of the corresponding event. The fault section's slip rates are estimated based on the observed frequency-magnitude distribution. Combining the background fault model with the primary fault model results in a comprehensive model that accounts for all stress interactions between fault elements within the simulator in actual locations. As a result, a broader range of frequency-magnitude distribution in the synthetic catalog can be matched to the observations. A case study using one of the available simulators, Virtual Quake, on a sample area is presented. The results demonstrate that eliminating off-fault seismicity could lead to an underestimated assessment of the earthquake probabilities for the whole region and a biased estimation of earthquake rates in individual faults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thermoelectrics as a way to use waste heat, is essential in electronic industries, but its low performance at operational temperatures makes it inappropriate in practical applications. Tailoring graphene can change its properties. In this work, we are interested in studying the transport properties of S-shape graphene structures with the single vacancy (SV) and double vacancy (DV) models. The structures are composed of a chiral part, which is an armchair graphene nanoribbon, and two zigzag graphene ribbons. We investigate the changes in the figure of merit by means of the Seebeck coefficient, electronic conductance, and electronic and phononic conductances with the vacancies in different device sizes. The transport properties of the system are studied by using the non-equilibrium Green's function method, so that the related Hamiltonians (dynamical matrices) are obtained from the tight-binding (force constant) model. The maximum figure of merit (ZT) obtains for the DVs in all lengths. Physical properties of such a system can be tuned by controlling various parameters such as the location and the type of the defects, and the device size. Our findings show that lengthening the structure can reduce phononic contribution, and single vacancies than double vacancies can better distinguish between electronic thermal conductance behavior and electronic conductance one. Namely, vacancy engineering can significantly increase thermoelectric performance. In the large devices, the SVs can increase the ZT up to 2.5 times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Happiness is an essential component in measuring quality of life. Today, rapid internet use proliferation has led to adverse effects on this behavior of individuals and family structures. Method: The statistical population consisted of 500 high school girls aged between 15 and 18 studying in 10th, 11th, and 12th grades at Shiraz, Iran, from February 2018 to March 2019. The data were collected using the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire (OHQ) and the Young's Internet Addiction Test (IAT). The test and the questionnaire were translated into Persian. The validity and reliability were approved by earlier studies in Iran. Five hundred high school students participated in the study. Results: The mean age of the participants was 16.7 ± 0.97 years, and their grade point average (GPA) was 18.41 ± 7.92. Among the 500 participants, 55% (275) of fathers and 65.8% (329) of mothers had parents with a diploma degree, and 162 (32.4%) were affected by Internet Addiction (IA). The univariate analysis showed that participants' education field, parents' educational status, each parent's vocational status, participants' GPA, and their duration of Internet usage correlated with the IA (P ≤ 0.2). Furthermore, multiple logistic analyses showed that mothers' education (P < 0.055) and participants' minutes of Internet usage (P < 0.001) correlated with IA. Conclusion: There is a negative correlation between happiness score and internet addiction among high school female students in Shiraz, Iran. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Motivation: Smart cities can develop cutting‐edge technology and innovative solutions and policies to improve urban life. Like other emerging phenomena, smart cities need to address several contextual challenges. Their implementation in low‐ and lower‐ middle‐income countries (L&LMICs) has characteristics that policy‐makers might consider to improve contextual conditions in their strategies. Purpose: The article identifies the interconnected obstacles that hinder the implementation of a smart city in Mashhad, Iran's second‐largest metropolis, and offers a comprehensive framework to address these. Methods and approach: The study used a qualitative research methodology. Due to the exploratory nature of the research, 15 semi‐structured in‐depth interviews were conducted with experts on the smart city in the municipality, the city council, and Mashhad universities. Grounded theory method (GTM) was deployed to develop the research framework. Findings After analysing the data, eight themes and 29 sub‐themes within three categories were classified, showing that Mashhad faces numerous challenges in the implementation of a smart city, which call for practical policies and measures regarding institutional structure (such as lack of co‐ordination among stakeholders and legal gaps), urban infrastructure (such as cost of implementation and privacy) and human concerns. Policy implications: The socio‐cultural, economic, political, and even ecological conditions of cities can influence the success of smart city policies, so each city will face a different set of challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to help managers develop a proper strategy and policy for their company's future. After the global COVID-19 pandemic, developed countries decided to change their production and relocate and re-industrialize. The U.S.'s big electronics and automobile companies are not an exception to this rule. The lithium batteries are the main instrument of mobile phone and electric vehicles. The leading lithium battery supplier for the U.S mobile phone companies is China. Argentina, Bolivia, and Chile (in South America) have some of the largest lithium mines in the world; these countries are known as the lithium triangle. Among the 86 million tonnes of lithium resources worldwide, 49.9 million tonnes exist in this area. The researchers in this study surveyed the best country for constructing a battery for companies in the U.S. Because of the growth of electric vehicles and their use of the lithium battery, the world is facing astronomical prices for lithium. To emphasize this issue and help managers create good policy, this study combined multiple methods. The improved suitability-feasibility-acceptability (SFA) strategy is integrated with the Bayesian best-worst method (BBWM) and measurement of alternatives and rankings according to compromise solution (MARCOS) multicriteria methods to determine the best destination. For comparison, based on the SFA strategy, seven criteria are introduced: commercially viable reserves, national minimum wage, corporate income tax, accessibility to mining companies, accessibility to the waterway, population, and political stability index. The Bayesian BWM analysis reveals that the foremost factor is corporate income tax, whereas MARCOS's findings indicate that Chile is the best country to construct the lithium battery industry. To verify the proposed approach, a comparison analysis also is performed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Vascular injuries during inguinal hernia repair are rarely reported. Especially in children, we have little information about vascular management. CASE REPORT: In this article, we present a 6-year-old girl with right iliac vein ligation during inguinal hernia repair who was referred to our center and managed at the day of surgery. We recommended prior surgeon to order therapeutic heparin in dispatch time. The patient was treated with primary anastomosis of iliac vein and was admitted to pediatric intensive care unit (PICU). On the day following the operation, she had minimal dyspnea with low oxygen saturation and the investigations revealed pulmonary micro-embolization. Blood flow in lower extremity was normal and after a few days, she was discharged with good health and oral anticoagulation. CONCLUSION: Any unusual bleeding at the time of inguinal hernia repair should be considered as major vascular injury by the surgeon, and to prevent more injuries, minimum attempt must be performed to control the bleeding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For the the quintic quasitopological action which has no well-defined variational principle, we introduced a surface term that for a spacetime with flat boundaries make the action well-defined. Moreover, we investigated the numerical solutions of the above-mentioned gravity coupled to the nonlinear logarithmic and exponential electrodynamics. It has no horizon and curvature except one conical singularity at r = 0 with a deficit angle δ ϕ . Also we found the counterterm which removes non-logarithmic divergences for the static quintic quasitopological gravity. Using this counterterm one can calculate a finite action and conserved quantities for the quintic quasitopological gravity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adolescence can be a critical period during which individuals begin to cope with self-harm behaviors, and the increasing prevalence of suicide and suicidal attempts in this period is quite tangible in different communities. Given the lack of awareness concerning tolerance strategies in individuals with suicidal behavior, we investigated coping strategies in adolescents with suicidal thoughts. Methods: This qualitative research was conducted during January and February 2019 in which we used the method of qualitative content analysis. In this study, 17 adolescents with suicidal ideation referred to Larestan welfare centers, Fars province were interviewed. In addition, one psychologist and 17 parents of the adolescents participated in this research. Purposeful sampling was done. Data collection continued through semi-structured deep interviews until data saturation. Results: Two main themes, namely effective coping strategies with 16 sub-themes and ineffective coping strategies with 12 subthemes were extracted from the data. Conclusions: It was concluded that using appropriate plans to strengthen positive strategies in adolescents, providing them with new positive strategies, and omitting negative strategies can be conducive to preventing suicidal thoughts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent studies have demonstrated the superior efficacy of bilateral internal thoracic artery (BITA) grafts compared to other graft methods in treating coronary artery disease. Competitive flow (CF) is a primary factor contributing to graft failure in the long term. For the first time, the CF of the BITA-Y graft has undergone rigorous numerical analysis. Through the application of transit time flow measurement (TTFM) and hemodynamic parameters, this study provides a new perspective on graft performance. Simulation results indicate that average flow, TTFM, and hemodynamic parameters fall within the critical range for stenosis severities below 90%. Specifically, at 80% stenosis, the mean graft flow (MGF) and pulsatility index (PI) of the left internal thoracic artery (LITA) were 0.071 cc/s and 27, respectively, while those of the right internal thoracic artery (RITA) were 0.211 cc/s and 11. With increasing stenosis severity, TTFM parameters remained within the clinical permissible limit (MGF > 0.34 cc/s and PI < 5). At 95% stenosis severity, the MGF and PI for LITA were 0.526 cc/s and 1.2, respectively, while those for RITA were 0.790 cc/s and 0.9. The results indicate the presence of competitive flow within the BITA-Y graft for stenosis severities below 90% area reduction, suggesting a potential risk of graft failure in the long term. Additionally, the results indicated that when there are significant differences in stenosis severity between the two native arteries, the BITA-Y graft is not optimal due to CF, characterized by low MGF and high reverse flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Suitability-Feasibility-Acceptability (SFA) is a fundamental tool for the development and selection of strategy. Any type of decision-making problem can be resolved by Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) methods. In this research, we explore the complexity of determining the proper goal market for the Chilean fish market. This study proposed a combined approach of SFA with MCDM methods in a real case study. The proposed structure helps to assign the best market for Chilean export fish to West Asia. Three countries (Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Oman) are selected as a target market in this region, and then related criteria are obtained from various sources. In order to develop a new market for the Chilean fishery industry, five major criteria, including the potential of a target market, region's economic attractiveness, consumption of the seafood, location, cost of transportation, and country risks, were selected based on the SFA framework. Calculating the criteria weights is performed by the Best-Worst (BWM) method, and ordering the alternatives is operated by Measurement Alternatives and Ranking according to compromise Solution (MARCOS) methods. The results showed that Oman is the best destination (importer) for the Chilean fish market (Salmon fish as the case). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quasilocal definitions of stress–energy–momentum—that is, in the form of boundary densities (rather than local volume densities)—have proven generally very useful in formulating and applying conservation laws in general relativity. In this paper, we present a detailed application of such definitions to cosmology, specifically using the Brown–York quasilocal stress–energy–momentum tensor for matter and gravity combined. We compute this tensor, focusing on the energy and its associated conservation law, for FLRW spacetimes with no pertubrations and with scalar cosmological perturbations. For unperturbed FLRW spacetimes, we emphasize the importance of the vacuum energy (for both flat and curved space), which is almost universally underappreciated (and usually 'subtracted'), and discuss the quasilocal interpretation of the cosmological constant. For the perturbed FLRW spacetime, we show how our results recover or relate to the more typical effective local treatment of energy in cosmology, with a view toward better studying the issues of the cosmological constant and of cosmological back-reactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Whole genome evaluation of quantitative traits using suitable statistical methods enables researchers to predict genomic breeding values (GEBVs) more accurately. Recent studies suggested that the ability of methods in terms of predictive performance may depend on the genetic architecture of traits. Therefore, when choosing a statistical method, it is essential to consider the genetic architecture of the target traits. Herein, the performance of parametric methods i.e. GBLUP and BayesB and non-parametric methods i.e. Bagging GBLUP and Random Forest (RF) were compared for traits with different genetic architecture. Three scenarios of genetic architecture, including purely Additive (Add), purely Epistasis (Epis) and Additive-Dominance-Epistasis (ADE) were considered. To this end, an animal genome composed of five chromosomes, each chromosome harboring 1000 SNPs and four QTL was simulated. Predictive accuracies in the first generation of testing set under Additive genetic architectures for GBLUP, BayesB, Baging GBLUP and RF were 0.639, 0.731, 0.633 and 0.548, respectively, and were 0.278, 0.330, 0.275 and 0.444 under purely Epistatic genetic architectures. Corresponding values for the Additive-Dominance-Epistatic structure also were 0.375, 0.448, 0.369 and 0.458, respectively. The results showed that genetic architecture has a great impact on prediction accuracy of genomic evaluation methods. When genetic architecture was purely Additive, parametric methods and Bagging GBLUP were better than RF, whereas under Epistatic and Additive-Dominance-Epistatic genetic architectures, RF delivered better predictive performance than the other statistical methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: We investigated the rate of employment in patients with functional seizures (FS) in a follow‐up study. We also investigated the rate of receiving disability benefits in these patients. Finally, we investigated factors that are potentially associated with their employment status. Methods: In this long‐term study, all patients with FS, who were diagnosed at Shiraz Comprehensive Epilepsy Center, Iran, from 2008 to 2018, were investigated. In a phone call interview to the patients in February 2020, we tried to obtain the following information: seizure outcome, employment status, receiving disability benefits, and their current drug regimen, if any. The first call was made in the evening and after working hours. In case of no response, we made two more attempts in the following weeks to contact the patients during different time periods of the day. Results: Eighty‐ four patients participated. Thirty‐one patients (37%) were employed, and 53 people (63%) were not; at the first visit, the rate of employment was 23%. Female sex (Odds Ratio [OR]: 12.18; 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 3.51–42.18; p =.0001), taking psychiatric drugs (OR: 4.93; 95% CI: 1.17–20.73; p =.02), and being employed previously (OR: 0.19; 95% CI: 0.04–0.77; p =.02) were independently significantly associated with the current employment status. Three patients (4%) reported receiving disability social benefits, two women and one man. Conclusion: This study highlights that unemployment is a serious issue in patients with FS and psychiatric comorbidities play a significant role in the employment status in these patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rhizomania is one of the most damaging and widespread diseases in the major sugar beet (Beta vulgaris L. subsp. vulgaris) growing regions worldwide. The causal agent, Beet necrotic yellow vein virus, is transmitted by a plasmodiophorid vector, Polymyxa betae Keskin. In this study, the inhibition of BNYVV multiplication was evaluated, under field conditions, in six sugar beet transgenic events generated based on gene silencing of the major coat protein gene (CP21). Phenotypic criteria, including scoring for disease symptoms and an immunoassay for viral accumulation, indicated that the transgenic events were less susceptible to rhizomania and had lower virus titre rates than non-transgenic plants of the susceptible cultivar '9597'. Disease severity and virus titres were comparable to the resistant cultivar 'Dorothea', which carries the Rz1-resistance gene and was bred through traditional means. This study provides a proof of concept for the effectiveness of the gene-silencing mechanism for introducing rhizomania resistance in sugar beet at the field level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nano fertilizers offer benefits in nutrition management through their strong potential to increase nutrient use efficiency. Traditional fertilizers are not only costly for the producer but may be harmful to humans and the environment. Furthermore, nano fertilizers may also be used for enhancing abiotic stress tolerance. This study was performed on the evaluation of nano chelated nitrogen and urea fertilizers on the physiological characteristics of wheat under drought stress conditions. Experiments were carried out in two locations in Fars province, Iran. The experimental design was performed as a split-split plot in RCBD design. The first factor included irrigation treatments (normal and withholding irrigation at the flowering stage), sub factor was nitrogen treatment (0, 37, 74 and 110 k g.ha-1 ) in the form of Urea fertilizer, and sub-sub factor was nitrogen (0, 14, 27 and 41 kg.ha-1 ) in the form of nano chelated nitrogen fertilizer. Studied traits were RWC, Ion Leakage, Protein, Phosphorus and Potassium content, Remobilization and photosynthesis rate. According to the analysis of variances, stress, nitrogen (urea) and nano chelated nitrogen had significant effects on all studied traits. Mean comparisons showed that drought stress led to 13% reduction in RWC, 21% Ion Leakage, 26% Protein, 13% Phosphorus and 26% Potassium content, 22% Remobilization and 69% photosynthesis rate compared to normal irrigation. In conclusion Application of 41 kg.ha-1 nano chelated nitrogen fertilizer in comparison with urea led to increase 4% in Rwc, 3% Ion leakage, 52% protein, 26% phosphor, 6% potassium, 6% Remobilization and 21% photosynthesis rate compared to control, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought stress is considered as a main restriction to have the best potential crops performance in arid and semi-arid regions in the world. Hence, some mechanistic strategies are required to manage drought stress detrimental influences. Silicon as an essential mineral nutrient, plays an important role in physiology, metabolism, and function of crops exposed to drought stress. This study was carried out to evaluate the influences of various irrigation regimes and silicon foliar on three safflower cultivars to find the optimal irrigation level and silicon fertilizer. Three levels of irrigation (0, 2 and 4 times irrigation during growth) were main plots and sub plots were three silicon foliar levels (0, 1 and 2 mM) and three safflower cultivars (Goldasht, Padideh and Golmehr). This experiment was performed in Firouzabad city, Fars Province, Iran with latitude 28°51' N and longitude 52°36' E, during 2018 and 2019. Malondialdehyde content (MDA), polyphenol oxidase (PPO), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and ascorbate peroxidase (APX), oil yield, oil content and seed yield were measured on these cultivars. Interactive effects of irrigation, silicon and cultivars were significant (p<0.01) for MDA, APX, oil yield and oil content. Drought stress in the all safflower cultivars caused a decline in seed yield, oil content and oil yield. On the other hands, silicon was mediated to decrease effect of drought stress and increased amount of seed yield, oil content, oil yield, PPO and SOD. The highest seed and oil yield were observed in Goldasht cultivar under full irrigation and 2mM silicon. Thus, it can be suggested that 1 mM of silicon foliar may ameliorate the performance of safflower exposed to drought stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cancer is one of the major diseases that seriously threaten the human life. Increasing interest in cancer treatment strategies for chemotherapy treatment planning and optimal drug administration has created new applications for mathematical modeling. In this paper, we develop a finite-horizon Markov decision process (MDP) model for cancer chemotherapy treatment planning that could advise selection of the optimal policy for the chemotherapy regimen according to the patient's condition. The proposed model uses a finite action space of optimal cancer chemotherapy regimens for gastric and gastroesophageal cancers resulted from the proposed optimization model and a finite state space of patients' toxicity levels. Results show that the proposed approach yields the optimal sequence of gastric and gastroesophageal cancer chemotherapy treatment regimens for a period of chemotherapy treatment which makes possible designing clinical trials for sequential treatments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim of the study: The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties Youth anxiety measure for DSM-5(YAM-5) in nonclinical sample. Materials and Methods: This was a descriptive cross-sectional study. The statistical population of this study included all elementary and middle school students in Shiraz during 2017-18, among which 400 persons were selected with random cluster sampling and who participated in the research by completing the children's and adolescent's anxiety scales and child behavior checklist. A total of thirty students were selected for re-test reliability that was performed four weeks later. In order to examine the agreement between the child-parent form, fifty parents of students were randomly selected from this population. Data were analyzed using SPSS22 and Amos 18 software. Results: The results showed that the five-factor structure of YAM-I and YAM-II is acceptable with data. The correlation coefficient of YAM-I with internalization nd externalization problems was equal to 0.50 and 0.18 respectively; and that of YAM-II was 0.36 and 0.16, respectively. The YAM-I agreement for a parent was 0.67; and agreement of YAM-II child with parent was 0.89. Cronbach's Alpha of YAM-I and YAM-II was 0.84 and 0.78 respectively. The reliability of YAM-I retest was 0.98 and for the subscales it was between 0.90 and 0.95. The reliability of YAM-II retest was 0.96 and for the sub-scales it was between 0.94 and 0.96. Discussion: The Youth anxiety measure for DSM-5 has good psychometric properties in nonclinical sample. Conclusion: The YAM is a valid and reliable questionnaire to be utilized in future research [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Applying combined nonlinear indices is a useful approach in assessing drought condition. This study investigates a combined multivariate index (Joint Deficit Hydro-meteorological Index: JDHMI) in monitoring hydro-meteorological drought to determine whether the index could simultaneously reflect the complicated nonlinear behavior of precipitation and runoff in a watershed. The JDMI (JDHI) index is obtained on the basis of the joint marginal distribution of SPImod1,..., SPImod12 (SRImod1,..., SRImod12) using the empirical copula. The JDHMI then is computed by combining the JDMI and JDHI indices using a suitable theoretical copula. Furthermore, drought characteristics (severity-duration-magnitude) are extracted from the JDHMI and trivariate conditional return periods that are obtained from three-dimensional copulas in four different scenarios. Results of this study indicate that (1) multivariate copulas effectively reflect the complicated and nonlinear relationship between drought variables; (2) comparison between univariate and multivariate drought indices indicated that the JDHMI is slightly more sensitive to the historical events; and (3) spatial distribution of drought hazard is illustrated using conditional return period obtained in four different scenarios in Bandar-Sedij and Kole-Mehran watershed. Additionally, the conditional probabilities provide effective information for forecasting drought conditions. In this regards, on the basis of several specific values of S-D-M, it is estimated that the central and eastern parts of the region will experience frequent hydro-meteorological drought over next 18 years. Finally, due to the climatic changing in the recent years, findings of this study could be useful in reducing drought effects on the natural resources and also help decision-makers in developing water resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quasilocal definitions of stress-energy–momentum—that is, in the form of boundary densities (in lieu of local volume densities) — have proven generally very useful in formulating and applying conservation laws in general relativity. In this Essay, we take a basic look into applying these to cosmology, specifically using the Brown–York quasilocal stress-energy–momentum tensor for matter and gravity combined. We compute this tensor and present some simple results for a flat FLRW spacetime with a perfect fluid matter source. We emphasize the importance of the vacuum energy, which is almost universally underappreciated (and usually "subtracted"), and discuss the quasilocal interpretation of the cosmological constant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Colorectal cancer is one of the most common cancers among men and women worldwide. Patients who are diagnosed at the early stages of the disease have a significantly better prognosis, lower mortality, and lower burden of the disease. Thus, screening methods, namely colonoscopy, and fecal occult blood test are effective means of a timely diagnosis. However, there are pearls and pitfalls among doctors in the decision to participate and implement these methods. This article aims to evaluate and discuss the attitude and behavior of physicians toward colonoscopy screening. Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was performed on 81 physicians working in academic hospitals of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Iran, between February and May 2019. Data were gathered using demographic information checklists and a researcher-developed checklist to evaluate the attitude of physicians towards the benefits and necessity of colonoscopy. Data were analyzed using SPSS software version 23, and p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: 81 physicians with a mean age of 58.9 ± 6.6 years were studied. Most of the participants were male (n = 60, 74.1%), married (n = 79, 97.5%), and had fellowships in their specialty (n = 44, 54.3%). When asked about barriers against colonoscopy, most physicians mentioned unwillingness (n = 24, 29.6%) and lack of time (n = 14, 17.3%). There was no significant association between physicians’ sex and their screening colonoscopy history (p =0.98). Moreover, no significant association was detected between the physicians’ level of education and undertaking colonoscopy (p = 0.15). Conclusion: This study revealed that a large number of physicians are not willing to undergo screening colonoscopy despite the fact that they have a positive attitude towards the method. Although physicians are knowledgeable about the benefits of colonoscopy, it is not sufficient, and creating the right cultural context is also needed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated droughts in arid and semi-arid regions in Iran using long historical data from 25 stations. These stations were clustered into three homogeneous regions using a fuzzy clustering method. The severity and duration were extracted using the Standardized Precipitation Index-12, and the dependence structure between drought severity and duration was evaluated using Pearson's, Spearman's ranked, and Kendal's tau correlation coefficients. The best marginal distributions of severity and duration were selected using graphical and theoretical goodness-of-fit criteria. Results showed that the generalized logistic (GLO) model satisfactorily fitted drought duration in regions I and III, while the Wakeby distribution fitted better in region II. For drought severity, the best fitted model was the GLO model in region I, the generalized extreme value (GEV) model in region III, and the Wakeby model in region II. Furthermore, the Gumbel copula in region I and the Gaussian copulas in regions II and III were able to model the dependence between drought variables well. Also, stochastic simulation of bivariate drought using selected copulas showed that the behavior of bivariate drought changed when the degree of correlation between variables was considered. The copula method was used to obtain bivariate and conditional return periods. The bivariate analysis of drought risk indicated that coastal and internal regions of Iran were more risky than semi-arid and arid regions. The results of this study would be useful for water resource management and risk analysis at the regional scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The effect of a new, structured group training program on the anxiety reduction in Iranian pregnant women at risk of preterm labor (PTL) was assessed. Design: A randomized controlled clinical trial. Setting: The prenatal care center in the Gynecology Clinic of University Hospital. Population: 72 Iranian pregnant women at risk of PTL with a gestational age of 24–28 weeks. Methods: Several trained research nurses presented group educational counseling sessions for 6 weeks based on the integration of psychological instructions and interactive lectures for the intervened group (n = 36). Pregnant women in the control group (n = 36) only received routine pregnancy care. Main Outcome Measures: The completion of pregnancy-related anxiety questionnaire (PRAQ) for Iranian pregnant women at risk of PTL in the intervention (before and after 6-week counseling, and 1-month post-counseling) and control (before, and on the 6th and 10th week after the study) groups. Results: There was a significant difference in the mean anxiety score between the intervention (3.45 ± 0.75) and control (3.01 ± 0.34) groups before the group educational counseling sessions. After this intervention, a significant reduction in the mean anxiety scores of intervened pregnant women (2.48 ± 0.32) compared to the control (2.68 ± 0.81) was found. This decrease in mean anxiety score after the 1-month post-counseling was more pronounced than the 6th week after the study onset (P < 0.001). Low anxiety scores in the intervention group over time were also maintained. Conclusions: Implementing the group educational counseling sessions is recommended as a complementary, effective, and noninvasive intervention to efficiently control the anxiety in pregnant women at risk of PTL. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by biological motor proteins, that efficiently convert chemical fuel to unidirectional motion, there has been considerable interest in developing synthetic analogues. Among the synthetic motors created thus far, DNA motors that undertake discrete steps on RNA tracks have shown the greatest promise. Nonetheless, DNA nanomotors lack intrinsic directionality, are low speed and take a limited number of steps prior to stalling or dissociation. Herein, we report the first example of a highly tunable DNA origami motor that moves linearly over micron distances at an average speed of 40 nm/min. Importantly, nanomotors move unidirectionally without intervention through an external force field or a patterned track. Because DNA origami enables precise testing of nanoscale structure‐function relationships, we were able to experimentally study the role of motor shape, chassis flexibility, leg distribution, and total number of legs in tuning performance. An anisotropic rigid chassis coupled with a high density of legs maximizes nanomotor speed and endurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Inspired by biological motor proteins, that efficiently convert chemical fuel to unidirectional motion, there has been considerable interest in developing synthetic analogues. Among the synthetic motors created thus far, DNA motors that undertake discrete steps on RNA tracks have shown the greatest promise. Nonetheless, DNA nanomotors lack intrinsic directionality, are low speed and take a limited number of steps prior to stalling or dissociation. Herein, we report the first example of a highly tunable DNA origami motor that moves linearly over micron distances at an average speed of 40 nm/min. Importantly, nanomotors move unidirectionally without intervention through an external force field or a patterned track. Because DNA origami enables precise testing of nanoscale structure‐function relationships, we were able to experimentally study the role of motor shape, chassis flexibility, leg distribution, and total number of legs in tuning performance. An anisotropic rigid chassis coupled with a high density of legs maximizes nanomotor speed and endurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the main issues in precision engineering is the lack of deep understanding of the pre-sliding behavior at the interface of mating surfaces of positioning mechanisms. In addition to the mechanical properties of the contacting bodies, their surface topography plays a key role in the pre-sliding regime and has a great impact on the frictional stiffness. This paper experimentally evaluates a boundary element method (BEM) model for the pre-sliding behavior at the interface of a smooth silicon wafer and a rough polymeric ball. The polymeric ball is either high-density polyethylene (HDPE) or polyoxymethylene (POM). The experiments are conducted at three different normal loads on five different spots on the wafer. The sliding stroke and coefficient of friction are extracted from experiments to be implemented as inputs to the numerical model. The roughness of the balls is also another input. The numerical and experimental friction hysteresis loops are compared. There is a small difference in the predicted pre-sliding distance from the experiments. The lateral stiffness, calculated at three different points on the pre-sliding regime of friction hysteresis loops, is compared with the Mindlin's solution and experimental values for both contact interfaces and normal loads. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With the growing rate of tumors, cancer has become one of the most important health concerns in Iran. The urgency with which Iranian researchers and health professionals address this challenge leads to a load of scientific materials. Methods: To reveal gaps in produced knowledge and suggest future research directions, applying well-validated scientometric tools, we assessed the trends of Iranian published scientific articles and citations in the field of oncology. The inclusion criteria consisted of all oncology-related articles that were data-based, and peer-reviewed; with at least an abstract published in English; and authored by at least one researcher affiliated with Iranian institutions. Results: Amongst 5 063 525 oncology research records indexed in at least one of PubMed, Scopus, or Web of Science Core Collection (WoS) from the start to February 2019, Iranian researches accounted for about 24 867 (0.49%). Published articles on all cancers by Iranian researchers had a sharp continuously ascending trend, with the same pattern for citations received. Some important topics such as complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies have been missing and some such as diagnostic and pharmaceutical innovations have been less investigated. The most collaborative country was the United States, while no close collaboration was observed with China that was introduced as the most productive country in the field of oncology over the past decades. Conclusion: Despite the progressive trend in most oncology fields, some significant practical topics are still missing. Systematic reviews of produced theoretical innovations and translating them to functional knowledge can be of importance to fulfill the mentioned gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The application of critical excitation method with displacement-based objective function for multi degree of freedom (MDOF) systems is investigated. To this end, a new critical excitation method is developed to find the critical input motion of a MDOF system as a synthetic accelerogram. The upper bound of earthquake input energy per unit mass is considered as a new constraint for the problem, and its advantages are discussed. Considering this constraint, the critical excitation method is then used to generate synthetic accelerograms for MDOF models corresponding to three shear buildings of 10, 16, and 22 stories. In order to demonstrate the reliability of generated accelerograms to estimate dynamic response of the structures, three target ground motions with considerable level of energy contents are selected to represent "real critical excitation" of each model, and the method is used to re-generate these ground motions. Afterwards, linear dynamic analyses are conducted using these accelerograms along with the generated critical excitations, to investigate the key parameters of response including maximum displacement, maximum interstory drift, and maximum absolute acceleration of stories. The results show that the generated critical excitations can make an acceptable estimate of the structural behavior compared to the target ground motions. Therefore, the method can be reliably implemented to generate critical excitation of the structure when real one is not available. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]