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Background and Objectives: Sleep is one of the essential and vital needs for human and is an effective factor in the child growth and development. The basic foundations of learning sleep habits are formed during childhood and a person tries to maintain it during lifetime. This study aimed to determine the sleep habits of primary school students of Nahavand city from the point of view of parents. Methods: In this correlational descriptive study, 240 students aged 6-11 years, were selected using random cluster sampling in Nahavand city in 2017. Data were collected by demographic information questionnaire and Children's Sleep Habits Questionnaire (CSHQ). The questionnaires were completed as self report by the parents (mother or father). Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics methods and independent t-test. Results: The mean score of the students' sleep habits was 64.32±9.33 and the highest mean score of sleep habits was related to the dimension of sleeping behavior, 26.87±4.75, and the lowest mean score was related to the dimension of night awake, 4.35±1.48, which, in other words, the high mean was indicative of sleep habits’ disorder, and the low mean indicated less sleep habits’ disorder. Conclusion: The findings of this study showed that sleep habits’ disorders affect various aspects of the child's life.

Introduction Durum wheat (Triticum turgidum var. durum) is grown for human consumption, mainly as pasta products, e.g., spaghetti and macaroni, couscous, bulgur, frike, flat breads, etc. Worldwide, the area annually planted to durum wheat is estimated to be around 17-18 million hectares, i.e., 8 percent of total wheat area, with a production averaging about 30 million tons annually, which is 5.5 percent of total wheat production. Although durum is grown in various regions of the world, the great bulk of durum area and production is concentrated in the Mediterranean basin and North America. Eight countries (Algeria, Canada, Italy, Morocco, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, and USA) account for nearly two thirds (2/3) of world durum area and production. In Iran, the area under durum cultivation is about 400-500 thousands hectares with an annual production of 400-500 thousand tons, which covers about 60% of country demands. In spite of the importance of durum for Iranian rural economies, the country has not all succeeded in its research and development efforts to substantially improve durum productivity. The combinations of increasing demand for durum and durum products, as a result of demographic pressure, and relatively low durum productivity partly due to abiotic stresses (i.e. cold, terminal heat, moisture and nutrient deficiency stresses) made the country to an importer of durum. These are frequently exacerbated by biotic stresses, e.g., diseases and insects that may severely inhibit crop growth. Materials and methods The main purpose of this study was to achieve high yielding durum wheat genotypes with higher yield stability in different environmental condition, tolerance to environmental stresses such as cold damage, drought and end of season heat stress. Hence, 17 durum wheat lines were evaluated for grain yeild and morphlogical traits in Maragheh, Sararood, Qamloo, Ardabil and Shirvan agricultural research stations in 2011-14. In each location, the experiments were conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Results and discussion Based on combined ANOVA, there was significant difference among the environments, genotypes and G×E. GGE-biplot models showed that the 5 environments were belonged to 3 mega-environments, and different genetopes had higher yield in each mega-environments. Sumplimentary irrigation, at sowing time and flowering growth stages, could increase grain yield of lines 30 and 70 percent in Maragheh and Qamloo locations, respectively. The increase of grain yield was 42 percent for line Rascon under suplimentary irrigation. The AMMI and GGE results also confirmed genotype 5 was the most high-yielding durum line with reasonable yield stability in cold areas (Maragheh, Qamloo and Ardabil). Also, genotype 13 was the most high yielding and stable line in Sararood. Hence, these line can be candiatted to release new durum varieties for cold and moderat rainfed areas. Complementary irrigation could increase grain yield up to 30 and 70 percent in Maragheh and Sararood, respectively. Conclusions It can be concluded that finding of new stable high-yielding durum lines, with better performances than that the existed varieies, is a great progress in durum breeding programs in cold rainfed areas. Both GGE biplot and AMMI analyses could be used in grain yield stability and adaptability under rainfed conditions and sumplementary irrigations, however, the results of GGE biploet were more applicable and can be use extensively in the study of grain yield adaptability and stability under rainfed and sumplementary irrigations conditions in durum wheat breeding programs.

Background: The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral stress therapy on stress, depression and distress in patients with cancer.Cases Report: In a cross-sectional study of consecutive patients (Aged 32-70 years, progression of their disease was at levels 1 to 3, high cycle education, and 3 months of chemotherapy, of which 40, were randomly available from this group (20 experimental and 20 Control group). The instrument was a McGill Pain Questionnaire (1997) and the Hazards and Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) questionnaire. Data were analyzed using two methods of Kolmogorov-Smirnov inferential statistics and multivariate analysis of covariance using software software Spss17.Conclusion: Correlation analysis showed that the experimental group had a significant reduction in depression and anxiety in the posttest after the control group compared with the control group. The short-term cognitive-behavioral stress management program can reduce, depression and anxiety in cancer patients.

The purpose of this research is to study the effectiveness of training executive functions on anxiety symptoms on preschool children (4-5 years old) from the region six in the city of Tehran. In this study, the Experimental Design with pre-post testing method and control group is considered. Of the 192 children who according to Spence children's anxiety scale (parental report form) had an anxiety scores higher than the mean standard deviation, 40 children were selected and then divided into experimental and control group by using the simple random sampling method. In experimental group, children received executive function training, while the control group received no training. The analysis of covariance methodology was utilized to analyze the data. The result of analysis shown that the group who received training was significantly reduced in the post-test compared to pre-test (P < 0.001). Therefore, the effectiveness of training executive functions was confirmed for the anxiety disorders treatment in children.

In recent decades, cities have grown organically and urban areas in a short time have been several times its original size and city development has been the forms of the individual components, without planning, uncoordinated that urban sprawl pattern is the main feature. Urban Smart Growth cities were developed for deal with problems of sprawl. The case study is Maragheh city. The research method is descriptive and analytical. In this paper, the capacity of Maragheh, using the development from within the main principles of smart growth is about the sprawl, is marked. Indexes such as population density, rate of open space, building quality, access and permeability, compressibility, etc. are used. Neighborhoods with using Analytical Hierarchy presses (AHP) to prioritize and ultimately the level was estimated for each of them. Results show that in 1392 the gross population density of 59.3 persons per hectare is which is considered very low density and On the other hand there is a lot of undeveloped land, 333 hectares, Uses of unconventional urban, and the average per capita level of infrastructure per person is 162.3 square meters. With this description, using the principles of smart growth and in particular, the principle of development from within and Suitable density, Building on wasteland and etc., sprawl can be prevented the sprawl.

One of the most important subjects for investigation in the humanities, especially in philosophy and theology, is the comparative investigation. Today in many countries, comparative philosophy is an independent discipline that has different especial methods and investigators. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, after the Islamic Revolution, many thinkers tried to conduct studies on the comparative subjects and published different books and articles about these subjects as well as the comparative philosophy itself. Dr. Mahdi Haeri Yazdi is one the contemporary Islamic thinkers that has investigated comparative philosophy by publishing different books and articles in this area. In this article, we try to re-study one of his books about comparative philosophy drawing on a critical approach. The author in his book, “HerameHasti” (Pyramid of Being)has tried to notice to some philosophical problems, comparing Islamic philosophy and Western philosophy and logic. In this article, we try to show that his book has some internal and methodical pitfalls although it has different merits for comparative investigations in philosophy, theology, and logic.

Background: Previous studies suggest that group therapies, including acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and logotherapy, successfully reduce stress in patients. Objectives: The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment group therapy and group logotherapy in reducing perceived stress among multiple sclerosis (MS) patients. Materials and Methods: This research was a pretest-posttest controlled quasi-experimental study. Research population was comprised of all (n=3000) MS patients who were members of Mashhad MS Society, Iran. From among 198 patients, 33 who met the inclusion criteria and scored above 45 on the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS) were selected through convenience sampling, homogenized based on their scores on PSS as well as demographic characteristics, and then assigned to three groups of 11. The first group received 12 ACT sessions and the second group received 8 sessions of group logotherapy, while no intervention was provided for the control group. Afterwards, the PSS was re-administered to all the groups. Data were analyzed using one-way ANCOVA in SPSS software version 20. Results: The results demonstrated that both group therapies reduced perceived stress among patients (p=0.001). However, ACT had a higher effect than logotherapy in reducing perceived stress (p=0.04). Conclusion: Acceptance and commitment group therapy and group logotherapy are effective in reducing perceived stress among MS patients.

Ischemic heart disease is a psycho-physiological problem. There are several biological and psychological factors that affect the incidence and severity of hypertension. The present study was aimed to the role of psychological and social factors mediating effect of physical factors is the compatibility of ischemic heart disease. Methods: In this descriptive-correlated study ,The study population included over- 30 – adult pation with Ischemic heart disease who referred to health center in khorasan jonobi. Through convenience sampling 310 persons were selected as samples of the study. health locus of control and social perception of mental illness and cope were used to gather the data. To analyze the data Structural equation modeling (SEM) Amos18 was done by software was used. Results: There was a significant negative correlation between blood pressure and psychosocial adjustment there (05/0> p, 17 / 0- = B). Between psychological factors and psychological and social adjustment there is a significant positive relationship. (05/0> p; 95 / 0- = B). BP relationship between psychological factors mediate the relationshipcompatibility.(05/0>p) Conclusion: Health locus of control and perception of a significant relationship with psychological and social adjustment, and also a significant relationship between blood pressure and psychological and social adjustment there. As well as psychological factors mediating effect of blood pressure on the compatibility of ischemic heart disease are associated and severity of the impact of 05 / 0- respectively. PaperType:ResearchArticle.

Genotype × environment interactions make it difficult to release high yielding durum varieties for diverse environmental conditions. The main purpose of this study was to achieve high yielding durum wheat genotypes with higher yield stability in different environmental conditions, tolerance to environmental stresses such as cold damage, terminal drought, and heat stresses. Hence, 16 durum wheat lines were evaluated for grain yield stability and morphological traits in Maragheh, Sararood, Qamloo, Ardabil and Urmia Agricultural Research Stations in 2012-15. In each location, the experiments were conducted in a randomized complete block design with three replications. Based on combined ANOVA, there were significant differences among the environments (E), genotypes (G) and G×E. GGE-biplot analysis showed that the 14 environments belonged to 3 mega-environments, and different genotypes had higher yield in each mega-environments. The AMMI and GGE results also confirmed that genotypes 2 (G-1252) and 3 (61-130/414-44//…) were the most high-yielding durum lines with reasonable yield stability across environments. Also, genotype 10 was the most adapted genotype to Ardabil. Line 61-130/414-44//… had 60, 11, 31, 10 and 17% more yield than check line (Saji) in Maragheh, Sararood, Qamloo, Ardabil and Urmia under rainfed conditions, respectively. Hence, these lines can be candiates to release as new durum varieties for cold and moderate rainfed areas. Complementary irrigation could increase grain yield up to 14 and 68% in Maragheh and Sararood, respectively. It can be concluded that finding new stable high-yielding durum lines, with better performances, as compared to the existed varieties, is a great progress in durum breeding programs in cold rainfed areas. Moreover, the GGE biplot and AMMI analysis had good performance in adaptability and yield stability analysis in durum genotypes and could be used to evaluate durum genotypes at different locations over the years in durum breeding programs.

Physicalistic Theology is a term that has no exact definition in theologian views. In the 20th century some of Christian thinkers on theology, like Nancy Murphy and Peter van Inwagen, by accepting a Physicalistic approach on human being, tried to analyze the Christian beliefs about human identity and his immortality. This approach today is called Physicalistic Theology. According to this approach, human is not but this physical body itself and so we can simply analyze the immortality problem. In this article we try to by an analytic and descriptive method, analyze the immortality of human according to the view of Physicalistic Theology. We will analyze the most important reasoning of Physicalistic Theology that is: no-interaction between the material and the immaterial, interaction between the person and the body, and the physicalism in Christian beliefs. One of the conclusions of this article is that according to Physicalistic view, the person that at some time has not been in the world, must exists any time to destroyed forever because the Christians believe to things that cannot justify rationally. The problem of immortality is one of these matters. Physicalistic Theology try to prove the immortality based on the miracles and the absolute power of God.

In this study, to evaluate the different geomorphic facies sediment yield in Aran province, wind erosion meter and IRIFR model was used. The results of wind erosion meter showed that the most speed of threshold in natural condition is belonging to hard crust and dried clay plain with a speed of 13m/s, then Puffy and clay-agricultural lands with a speed of 12 m/s, and the lowest threshold speed is 6/5 m/s related to fine-grained loamy - sandy soils of pediment that due to lack of the adhesion, flat, and smooth surface and wind shear impact and blown with wind. The results of wind erosion intensity with wind erosion meter also showed that the clay plains and Puffy lands facies are most stable with sediment of 0 to 175/2 tone/km 2 / yr which sorted erosion in class I, and sand sheet with the graveled covered, clay plain and sand dunes are the most sensitive facies, that with 5450/09 to 5517/04 tone/km2/ yr sediment equivalent classified in IV erosion class. While the results of the IRIFR model showed that the most stable facies are facies agricultural lands with 415/1 ton/km2/yr sediment erosion that classified in the erosion class II and facies sand sheet and sand dune the most sensitive facies, that with 1168/6 ton/km2/ yr sediment equivalent classified in IV erosion class.

Background: While chemotherapeutic agents result in an improvement in both disease-free and overall survival in cancer patients, treatment can result in short and long-term complications. One well-known complication is neuropathy which can result from a number of chemotherapeutic agents. However, chemotherapy-induced phrenic neuropathy is an exceedingly rare phenomenon with few cases reported in the literature. Case: A 34-year-old male with metastatic testicular cancer presented with progressive dyspnea on exertion after initiation of chemotherapy with bleomycin, cisplatin, and etoposide. Multiple diagnostic studies were performed including pulmonary function testing, chest computed tomography, fluoroscopic sniff evaluation, in addition to phrenic nerve electromyography. Based on results of these tests, the diagnosis of chemotherapy-induced phrenic neuropathy was made. Conclusion: Chemotherapy-induced phrenic neuropathy, although rare, should be considered as a cause of dyspnea in cancer patients following initiation of chemotherapy.

Background: Hypereosinophilia (HE) is defined by the presence of >1.5 × 109/L eosinophils in the peripheral blood. Paraneoplastic HE has been reported in a number of solid and hematologic malignancies including ovarian cancer. We present a case with paraneoplastic HE in the setting of underlying endometrioid ovarian carcinoma. Case presentation: An 88-year-old woman presented with cough, dyspnea and 20-pound unintentional weight loss of one month duration. Evaluation revealed peripheral hypereosinophilia (HE) with absolute eosinophil count of 15.38 × 109/L (53.8%) and an elevated exhaled nitric oxide at 172 parts per billion (normal

Diabetic myopathy refers to the manifestations in the skeletal muscle as a result of altered glucose homeostasis which reflects as fibrosis. Since physical exercise has been indicated a protective strategy for improving glucose metabolism in skeletal muscle, we tested a hypothesis under which the endurance exercise training could reverse the produced skeletal muscle fibrosis by diabetes. Eight-week-old male Wistar rats were randomly assigned into four groups including healthy control (HC), healthy trained (HT), diabetic control (DC), and diabetic trained (DT) groups. Diabetes was induced by a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (STZ; 45 mg/kg). Rats in the HT and DT groups carried out an exercise program on a motorized treadmill for five days a week over six weeks. Skeletal muscle levels of NRG1and ErbB2 were measured by the Western blot method. Exercise training decreased blood glucose levels in the DT group. Induction of diabetes increased skeletal muscle fibrosis in both the fast extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and slow soleus muscles, while endurance training modified it in diabetic trained rats. Moreover, muscle NRG1and ErbB2 levels were increased in diabetic rats, while training modified muscle NRG1and ErbB2 levels in diabetic trained rats. Our study provides novel evidence that endurance training could modify skeletal muscle fibrosis through NRG1/ErbB2 modification in STZ-induced diabetic rats.

Measuring metabolite patterns and antioxidant ability is vital to understanding the physiological and molecular responses of plants under salinity. A morphological analysis of five rapeseed cultivars showed that Yangyou 9 and Zhongshuang 11 were the most salt-tolerant and -sensitive, respectively. In Yangyou 9, the reactive oxygen species (ROS) level and malondialdehyde (MDA) content were minimized by the activation of antioxidant enzymes such as superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT), and ascorbate peroxidase (APX) for scavenging of over-accumulated ROS under salinity stress. Furthermore, Yangyou 9 showed a significantly higher positive correlation with photosynthetic pigments, osmolyte accumulation, and an adjusted Na+/K+ ratio to improve salt tolerance compared to Zhongshuang 11. Out of 332 compounds identified in the metabolic profile, 225 metabolites were filtrated according to p < 0.05, and 47 metabolites responded to salt stress within tolerant and sensitive cultivars during the studied time, whereas 16 and 9 metabolic compounds accumulated during 12 and 24 h, respectively, in Yangyou 9 after being sown in salt treatment, including fatty acids, amino acids, and flavonoids. These metabolites are relevant to metabolic pathways (amino acid, sucrose, flavonoid metabolism, and tricarboxylic acid cycle (TCA), which accumulated as a response to salinity stress. Thus, Yangyou 9, as a tolerant cultivar, showed improved antioxidant enzyme activity and higher metabolite accumulation, which enhances its tolerance against salinity. This work aids in elucidating the essential cellular metabolic changes in response to salt stress in rapeseed cultivars during seed germination. Meanwhile, the identified metabolites can act as biomarkers to characterize plant performance in breeding programs under salt stress. This comprehensive study of the metabolomics and antioxidant activities of Brassica napus L. during the early seedling stage is of great reference value for plant breeders to develop salt-tolerant rapeseed cultivars.

Background: Drug abuse is one of the important problems needs intervention in our country and may influence life and health of a person. One of the important functions and indicates the health of the individual is sleeping. Objective: To determine the effectiveness of multi-component cognitive behavioral intervention on quality of sleep and general health in drug abusers. Methods: This interventional study was conducted in 2015 in drug treatment centers of Qazvin. With consideration inclusion criteria and after preliminary interview, 30 male of treatment center were chosen available from one of the treatment centers of Qazvin and were randomly assigned in two groups. One of the groups received multi-component cognitive behavioral therapy and the control group received no intervention. Research tools were Pittsburg's quality of sleep and general health questionnaires that were filled by clients at baseline and after sessions of the intervention. Data were analyzed by method of analysis of variance differences. Findings: The results demonstrated that multi-component cognitive behavioral therapy significantly improved the quality of sleep and general health in drug abusers in intervention group comparing to control group (P=

Background and objective: Hypertension is a psycho-physiological problem. There are several biological and psychological factors that affect the incidence and severity of hypertension. The present study was aimed to investigate the mediating role of subjective-wellbeing in terms of perceived stress and hypertension. Materials and methods: In this descriptive-correlated study, the study population included over-45-adult patients with hypertension who referred to health centers in Tehran. Through convenience sampling 298 persons (121 male and 177 female) were selected as samples of the study. Perceived stress scale questionnaire and subjective well-being questionnaire were used to gather the data. To analyze the data Structural equation modeling (SEM) was used. Results: There was a significant and negative correlation between subjective well-being and hypertension (p < 0.01, β = 0.353). The subjective well-being mediates the relationship between perceived stress and hypertension (p < 0.01, β = 0.203) and scores of perceived stress and subjective well-being explain the percentage of variance in blood pressure and changes in scores of perceived stress explain 45% of variance in subjective well-being. Conclusion: People with high blood pressure have high perceived stress and subjective well-being contributes to the control of hypertension. Paper Type: Research Article.

Background and Objectives: Emotion regulation and management play a determinant role in health and prevention of mental disorders in patients with chronic disease. In this research the moderating role of cognitive emotion regulation strategies was studied on the relationship between personality traits and quality of life in dialysis patients. Method: The present study was conducted as a descriptive correlational study on 100 dialysis patients referred to hospitals of Qom province. All participants were asked to complete World Health Organization Quality-of-Life Scale (WHOQOL-BREF), Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) and NEO personality inventory. The research data were analyzed using Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analysis. Results: The results of moderated regression analysis revealed that maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies affect the relationship between all personality traits, except openness and quality of life, and adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies have a moderating role only in the relationship among extraversion, agreeableness, and quality of life. Conclusion: Based on the results of this research, personality traits play an important role in emotion regulation strategies as well as quality of life in dialysis patients.

Background: Chronic renal disease is highly associated with reduced quality of life and hope has an important role in improving the quality of life of dialysis patients. The study aimed to examine the mediating role of hope on the relationship between neuroticism and extraversion factors and quality of life in dialysis patients. Method: In a correlative study, 100 dialysis patients from Qom hospitals were selected by cluster random sampling and participants completed quality of life, Snyder hope scale and NEO personality inventory. Data were analyzed by using a Structural Equation Modeling. Results: The structural equation model revealed that hope has mediating role in relationship between neuroticism and extraversion factors and quality of life in dialysis patients. This means that neuroticism has negative indirect effect and extraversion has positive indirect effect due to hope on quality of life. Conclusion: Based on the results of this study, neuroticism and extraversion factors play an important role in the hope of dialysis patients that have an impact on the quality of life for dialysis patients.

Abstract Objectives:. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy and spiritual therapy on the death anxiety of women with breast cancer. Materials and Methods: The present study was based on a quasi-experimental design comprising three groups, with pre-test, post-test and a two-month follow-up. For the purpose of this study, considering inclusion and exclusion criteria, 24 women with breast cancer were selected based on availability method by investigating their history and clinical interviews. They were then randomly assigned into three groups, including (1) acceptance and commitment therapy, (2) spiritual therapy, and (3) control. The experimental groups received 8 sessions of 90 minute treatment interventions once a week, and then, two months later, the follow-up was performed. The control group did not receive any treatment. The research instruments incleded structured clinical interview for DSM-IV and Templar death anxiety scale (DAS). All three groups completed the pre-test, post-test and follow-up steps. Data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, Shapiro-Wilk index, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), repeated measures analysis of variance, post-hoc and multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA) and SPSS-21 software. Results: The result showed that there was a significant difference between the effects of acceptance and commitment therapy and spiritual therapy on death anxiety (P< 0.05, F = 4.07). the effect of spiritual therapy on death anxiety was significant (P

We report a design for terahertz (THz) detection by introducing strain to an area of a single-wall carbon nanotube (SWNT) film. The strain is achieved by bending the film around the center, and a large THz response is measured at the two photo-thermoelectric junctions created on the edges of the strained area. We attribute the THz response to an increase in the Seebeck coefficient of the SWNT film with strain, which gives rise to the photo-thermoelectric effect. The enhanced thermal performance is verified on a macroscopic scale using Non-Equilibrium Green’s Function approach for SWNT networks.

Determining the duration of protective immunity requires quantifying the magnitude and rate of loss of antibodies to different virus and vaccine antigens. A key complication is heterogeneity in both the magnitude and decay rate of responses of different individuals to a given vaccine, as well as of a given individual to different vaccines. We analyzed longitudinal data on antibody titers in 45 individuals to characterize the extent of this heterogeneity and used models to determine how it affected the longevity of protective immunity to measles, rubella, vaccinia, tetanus, and diphtheria. Our analysis showed that the magnitude of responses in different individuals varied between 12- and 200-fold (95% coverage) depending on the antigen. Heterogeneity in the magnitude and decay rate contribute comparably to variation in the longevity of protective immunity between different individuals. We found that some individuals have, on average, slightly longer-lasting memory than others-on average, they have higher antibody levels with slower decay rates. We identified different patterns for the loss of protective levels of antibodies to different vaccine and virus antigens. Specifically, we found that for the first 25 to 50 years, virtually all individuals have protective antibody titers against diphtheria and tetanus, respectively, but about 10% of the population subsequently lose protective immunity per decade. In contrast, at the outset, not all individuals had protective titers against measles, rubella, and vaccinia. However, these antibody titers wane much more slowly, with a loss of protective immunity in only 1% to 3% of the population per decade. Our results highlight the importance of long-term longitudinal studies for estimating the duration of protective immunity and suggest both how vaccines might be improved and how boosting schedules might be reevaluated.

Background: Following community health assessment Project (CHAP) in suburbs of Bandar Abbas city, health problems in women and children such as pregnancy complications and infant/child impaired growth are highly prevalent. Therefore, the present population-based prospective cohort study investigated the effects of a wide range of modifiable exposures during pregnancy and postpartum on mother and child health. Methods: The sample comprised of 1000 pregnant women in their first gestational trimester, who live in the three most socially and economically vulnerable neighborhoods of Bandar Abbas, are under recruitment during Feb 2016-18. Four structured questionnaires are being carried out from pregnancy to 30 d, 6 months, and 12 months postpartum. Biologic and ultrasound results are also gathered through hospital and health center records. The study is currently close to the end of the recruitment phase. Conclusion: The results of the interim and final analyses are being translated into applicable preventive action plans aiming to reduce and control modifiable risk factors for ill-health in mothers and children in suburb communities in South of Iran.

Biotic and abiotic stresses are major limiting factors for high crop productivity worldwide. A landrace collection consisting of 380 durum wheat (Triticum turgidum L. var. durum) entries originating in several countries along with four check varieties were evaluated for biotic stresses: yellow rust (Puccinia striiformis Westendorf f. sp. tritici) and wheat stem sawfly (WSS) Cephus cinctus Norton (Hymenoptera: Cephidae), and abiotic stresses: cold and drought. The main objectives were to (i) quantify phenotypic diversity and identify variation in the durum wheat landraces for the different stresses and (ii) characterize the agronomic profiles of landraces in reaction to the stresses. Significant changes in reactions of landraces to stresses were observed. Landraces resistant to each stress were identified and agronomically characterized. Percentage reduction due to the stresses varied from 11.4% (yellow rust) to 21.6% (cold stress) for 1000-kernel weight (TKW) and from 19.9 (yellow rust) to 91.9% (cold stress) for grain yield. Landraces from Asia and Europe showed enhanced genetic potential for both grain yield and cold tolerance under highland rainfed conditions of Iran. The findings showed that TKW and yield productivity could be used to assess the response of durum wheat landraces to different stresses. In conclusion, landraces showed high levels of resistance to both biotic and abiotic stresses, and selected landraces can serve in durum wheat breeding for adaptation to cold and drought-prone environments.

The aim of the current research was to identify causes of organizational silence among the staff of the University of Mohaghegh Ardabil. To achieve the aim, case study was used which first qualitative phase was conducted and after that quantitative data was collected and analyzed. The research population was 354 faculty members of mohaghegh university which 11 members of them were studied through cluster sampling in the qualitative phase and 153 members of them were selected via cluster sampling method. to collect qualitative data, unstructured interview was conducted which validated based on triangulation and participant feedback. On the other hand, the tool for quantitative phase was researcher- designed questionnaire which reliability was 0/92. Inductive content analysis through open coding was applied for analyzing qualitative data and software pls were used for quantitative data. The results showed that that organizational factors such as organizational structure, culture and negative reaction on the part of management and leadership styles and personal factors such as fear of job loss, type of personality, and lack of employee commitment are the reasons that lead to silence people in organizations . Findings also showed the negative reaction from staff managers have the greatest impact on organizational silence.

Background & Aims: Health beliefs play an important role in encouraging people to engage in behaviors related to health promotion. Thus, the purpose of this study is to evaluate the role of health beliefs in predicting barriersto cervical cancerscreening among women in Bandar Abbas, Iran. Methods: Using convenience and random sampling, this cross-sectional study was conducted on 681 married women who referred to health centers of Bandar Abbas. The data collection tool was a questionnaire based on the health belief model. Data were analyzed using the Mann-Whitney test and multivariate regression analysis. Results: The results showed that 50.23% of subjects had previously had a Pap smear test. The mean intensity score and perceived benefits were higher in subjects who had had Pap smear compared to those who had not. Multivariate regression analysis indicated that benefits and perceived vulnerabilities were predictors of barriersto the Pap smearscreening test. Conclusion: The health belief model, accordingly, appears to be useful in predicting barriers to cervical cancerscreening

Application of provenance method by tracers or fingerprinting has been demonstrated as a successful and effective way to determine the sediment sources. According to this method, physical, geochemical and biogenic features of sediment are used to determine the sediment sources and their importance. The main aim of this research is determining the contribution of different facies using the hybrid model in sediment supply for sand dunes of Ashkzar erg. For this aim, 65 surface samples from the sources region facies and 8 samples from the sand dunes were collected and the particles less than 62.5 micron, as the target, were tested. In order to measure the geochemical elements including rare earth elements (REE) and trace element, the ICP-AES was used. Then, ICP-MS was used to measure Strontium (87Sr & 86Sr) and Neodymium (143Nd & 144Nd) isotopes. The indices of rare earth elements were calculated and the elements, REE indices and isotopes were used as tracer. Then, initial choice and optimal combination of tracers were done by the statistical methods including one-way ANOVA, Kruskal-Wallis and discrimination analysis. Finally, contribution of the various facies on sediments supply was determined using hybrid models. The results showed that Rubidium (Rb), Cerium (Ce) and Strontium (Sr) were determined as the optimal combination. Moreover, the results of hybrid models showed that the distribution facies of fine sandy plains & dry river bed, fans & dry river bed, Kelot, farmlands, Neogene marl hills and Sebkha were 27, 22.7, 24.4, 13.26, 6.4 and 6.24 % respectively. Performance of the model was 0.999 indicating it's accurate and appropriate results.

Objective(s):Gentamicin sulphate (GS) nephrotoxicity seems to be related to the generation of reactive oxygen species. There is evidence that oxygen preconditioning increases the activity of antioxidant enzymes. Materials and Methods: Forty eight female rats were divided into 6 groups (n=8) as follows: group 1 was the control, group 2 received daily GS, groups 3,4 and 5 received oxygen 2 hr/day for 2 days, 4 hr/day for 2 days, 4 hr/day for 4 days, recpectively and then received daily GS, group 6 received oxygen 2 hr/day for 2 days and then received 2 hr oxygen before daily GS injection. Oxygen (with 90% purity) used at the flow rate of 4 l/min. GS administred for 8 days (100 mg/kg, IP). Tissue sections prepared from the left kidney, stained with PAS method and then studied hisopathologically and stereologically. The right kidneys were homogenized and the supernatants were prepared. Serum MDA, creatinine and urea, renal MDA, gluthatione and catalase activity were measured. The data were analyzed by Mann-Whitney U test at the significant level of PResults: Oxygen therapy significantly improves serum creatinine and urea, preserve tubular volume density, reduce tubular necrosis in groups 4 and 6 compared to group 2. Oxygen therapy significantly increases renal catalase in groups 4 and 6 compared to group 2. Conclusion: Pretreatment with normobaric hyperoxia and daily oxygen therapy improved gentamicin nephrotoxicity possibly via inhibition of lipid peroxidation and increasing the renal catalase activity but could not restore any parameter at the same levels as control group.

Wind regime data from the Jask meteorological station from a 20-year statistical period (1985-2005) was analyzedusing the Fryberger method to investigate sand drift potential (DP) in this area. The resultant drift potential anddirectional variability of wind were calculated and illustrated. Average annual sand DP was estimated to be 460vector units (VU), and the sand flux is 51 m3/m.year. Therefore, in view of the wind’s erosive power (calculated bysoftware using the Lettau-Lettau equation) and according to Fryberger’s classification (1979), this area is categorizedas a high energy wind environment. Calculating DPt in different seasons showed that the strongest winds blow insummer and winter (158.8 and 152.4 VU), and autumn had the lowest DP. In summer, the wind blows in a southsoutheastpattern which differs from that of other seasons. Autumn also has the highest frequency of winds swifterthan threshold velocity. The unidirectional index (RDP/DPt) value is 0.08 for this region, which causes the formationof transverse dunes (barkhanoid) from south-southeast to north-northwest.

Objective: This study aimed to predict coping strategies based on the characteristics of the stimulants-dependent people. Method: The research method was correlational. The population consisted of all stimulant-dependent individuals (n=402) that consecutively admitted to addiction centers of Tehran over the last year and had a drug dependence diagnosis. By systematic sampling, 201 subjects were selected of this population. The NEO personality inventory (NEO-FFI short form) and Lazarus-Folkman’s coping strategies (WCQ-short form) questionnaires administered among selected sample. Results: The results showed that there is a positive correlation between the personality dimension of neuroticism and coping strategies of avoidance, disengagement, and a negative one with continence. There is a positive correlation between the personality dimension of extroversion and avoidance, seeking social support and a negative one with (assuming) responsibility. Also there is a positive correlation between the personality dimension of compatibility with restraint coping strategies and seeking social support. Conscientiousness personality dimension did not predict any coping strategies in stimulus-dependent patients. Conclusion: Personality traits can predict coping strategies in stimulus-dependent individuals. For the treatment of addicted patients paying attention to evaluation of the patients’ characteristics is suggested.

Background and Objective: Recent studies show that depressed people have an attention bias to negative stimuli. Therefore, the present study was carried out to compare attention bias in depressed and normal people. Method: The present research was an analysis study with a causal- comparative method. The statistical population included all the depressed individuals who had referred to a psychological clinic in Tehran. Using convenience sampling method and carrying out the Beck Depression Inventory as well as the unstructured interview with DSMIV criteria, 30 depressed individuals (cut-off point 21 and higher) were selected as the patient group, and then were compared to 30 normal people, as the control group, in terms of sex, age, marriage status, and education levels as compare group. Finally, the computer-based neurological test of Dot- Probe (emotional faces stimuli) was performed on the subjects of both groups. Results: The data were analyzed using t-test to examine the extent of matching between the two groups, and the multivariate analysis of covariance (MANOVA) was applied to study attention bias in the two groups. The results showed that there was a difference of time speed between the two groups; i.e. the depressed group acted slower in responding to incongruent stimuli. However, there was no significant difference in accuracy of the responds. Conclusion: The findings imply the role of depression severity in exacerbating attention bias in depressed people, and also the necessity to apply treatment methods or to use attention bias modification in depressed individuals

The growth and development pattern or city form is defined as spatial pattern of human activities. At present the city pattern is divided into two groups as horizontal or sprawl and vertical or compact. Evidences show that cities are grown unplanned in recent years and the cities' limits have expanded several times than their primary area. Thus, planners and policy makers are trying to identify the physical pattern of cities to manage and direct the city growth in line with sustainable development. Maragheh is the case study for this research which is located in the north west of the country. The research applied analytical-comparative methods to identify and assess the pattern of physical and spatial growth of the city in different periods. The quantitative models included accumulation degree (Moran and Grey), Entropy, Ginny coefficient, Heldern and density. The results show that the city has experienced a slow and compact physical and spatial growth in the past through which the start of rapid urbanization during 1355 to 1365 expanded rapidly. The area of city increased 16.5 times and this was in the form of sprawl and continued to 1385. Regarding the results of the research the compact city pattern is recommended for the change of growth pattern and approaching the urban sustainable development.

Although the HVTN 505 DNA/recombinant adenovirus type 5 vector HIV-1 vaccine trial showed no overall efficacy, analysis of breakthrough HIV-1 sequences in participants can help determine whether vaccine-induced immune responses impacted viruses that caused infection. We analyzed 480 HIV-1 genomes sampled from 27 vaccine and 20 placebo recipients and found that intra-host HIV-1 diversity was significantly lower in vaccine recipients (P ≤ 0.04, Q-values ≤ 0.09) in Gag, Pol, Vif and envelope glycoprotein gp120 (Env-gp120). Furthermore, Env-gp120 sequences from vaccine recipients were significantly more distant from the subtype B vaccine insert than sequences from placebo recipients (P = 0.01, Q-value = 0.12). These vaccine effects were associated with signatures mapping to CD4 binding site and CD4-induced monoclonal antibody footprints. These results suggest either (i) no vaccine efficacy to block acquisition of any viral genotype but vaccine-accelerated Env evolution post-acquisition; or (ii) vaccine efficacy against HIV-1s with Env sequences closest to the vaccine insert combined with increased acquisition due to other factors, potentially including the vaccine vector.

Background: We aimed to assess the high-risk group for suicide using different classification methods includinglogistic regression (LR), decision tree (DT), artificial neural network (ANN), and support vector machine (SVM). Methods: We used the dataset of a study conducted to predict risk factors of completed suicide in Hamadan Province, the west of Iran, in 2010. To evaluate the high-risk groups for suicide, LR, SVM, DT and ANNwere performed. The applied methods were compared using sensitivity, specificity, positive predicted value, negative predicted value, accuracy and the area under curve. Cochran-Q test was implied to check differences in proportion among methods. To assess the association between the observed and predicted values, Ø coefficient, contingency coefficient, and Kendall tau-b were calculated. Results: Gender, age, and job were the most important risk factors for fatal suicide attempts in common for four methods. SVM method showed the highest accuracy 0.68 and 0.67 for training and testing sample, respectively. However, this method resulted in the highest specificity (0.67 for training and 0.68 for testing sample) and the highest sensitivity for training sample (0.85), but the lowest sensitivity for the testing sample (0.53). Cochran-Q test resulted in differences between proportions in different methods (P

Introduction: The purpose of this study was comparing of resiliency, identity styles, spirituality, and perceived social support in addicts, non-addicts, and recovered addicts. Method: In this causal-comparative study, by available sampling, 30 addicts, 30 non-addicts, and 30 recovered addicts were selected of adolescents. All participants completed the resiliency, identity styles, spirituality, and perceived social support questionnaires. Results: The results of comparing of identity styles indicated that on informational and normative styles, non-addicts had significantly higher scores than addicts and recovered addicts. On avoidant/disoriented style, non addicts had significantly lower levels than two other addict groups. The results of comparing of resiliency showed that non-addicts had significantly higher scores than two other groups. Also recovered addicts were significantly more resilient than addicts. In comparing of spirituality component, non addicts and recovered addicts had significantly higher scores than addicts. By Comparing of perceived social support, non-addicts and recovered addicts had significantly higher levels than addicts. Conclusion: According to the results of this study, participating in NA groups and perception of social support increased the resiliency of recovered addicts. Also, identity is relatively consistent component that by participating in treatment process, does not change significantly.

Introduction & Objective: There are varieties of interventions to treatment of ADHD, among which drug therapy, behavior therapy, parental management training and neurofeedback can be cited. The present study designed to investigate and compare the effectiveness of neurofeedback and Ritalin on improving conduct problems and hyperactivity. Materials & Methods: Quasi-experimental research method with pretest-post test design has been applied in the research. Statistical population of the study consisted of ADHD children of Tehran. The study samples of the study were patients referred to children psychiatric clinic. Based on the purpose of the study' 20 children were randomly selected and classified into 2 groups according to random assignment. CPRS-48 (parent form) was administered by parents before and after the treatments as research tools. Recruited data was analyzed by SPSS-19 in two sections of descriptive and inferential statistics. ANCOVA revealed some differences in the groups. Results: The findings of the study showed that there was a significant difference between Ritalin and neurofeedback on improving conduct problems in other words, Ritalin was more effective in alleviating the problems. Also there was no significant difference between the interventions on improving hyperactivity index. Conclusion: With respect to more efficiency of Ritalin than neurofeedback on certain continuum of signs/symptoms of ADHD, as a whole, preferences of interventions should be based on type, magnitude and severity of the syndrome.

Drought is a normal, recurring feature of climate phenomena; it may occur virtually in all climatic regions. The effects of drought accumulate slowly and its impacts are spread over a larger geographical area than other natural hazards. Drought is a natural hazard originating from a deficiency of precipitation that result in a water shortage for some activities or some groups and is often associated with other climatic factors such as high temperatures, high winds and low relative humidity that can aggravate the severity of the event. Iran is frequently affected by recurring droughts. In this research the Qom province with an area 11500 km2 that located in an arid and semi arid region of Iran was selected. Eighth site of rangeland were chosen that represented rangeland situation in the study area. In these sites relative factors such as plant cover , density, yield, regeneration ,land cover were measured in 60 plots with 2 m2 area along the 4 transect with 400 m along. Rangeland yield was measured with the cutting and weighting method in a quarter of plots, and the total yield in each site was obtained from the regression models between plant cover and species yield. Data series were cumulated for 9 years (1998-2006). Palmer drought severity index (PDSI) carried out in this study. The objective of this study is to performance of the PDSI to assessment of drought in the rangeland of the Qom. The analysis of results indicated that each site growth season is different from another. The rangeland yield is not related to the annual rainfall, but the best relationship was between rainfall in growth season and range yield. Also the study showed that the highest frequency of significant models is related to March-July period.

Introduction:Lipid oxidation, including LDL oxidation, plays a pivotal role in development of atherosclerosis. Supplementing diet with antioxidants, such as vitamin E and walnut husk hydroalcoholic extract, may prevent LDL oxidation. In the present study, we investigated the in vitro effects of walnut husk hydroalcoholic extract on serum LDL oxidation caused by copper sulfate.Method:Blood samples were obtained from healthy individuals after an overnight fasting. Serum LDL was isolated. A control group was created using the serum LDL alone, and experiment groups were created using serum LDL oxidized by CuSO4 and walnut husk hydroalcoholic extract at concentrations of 0.2, 2 and 20 μg/mL. LDL oxidation was assessed through measuring conjugate dienes, lag times and malonedialdehyde (MDA) to provide a basis for comparing the effects of different concentrations of walnut husk hydroalcoholic extract on serum LDL oxidation in the presence of copper.Results:Our findings indicate that walnut husk hydroalcoholic extract reduces serum LDL oxidation, with lag times equal to 87%, 178% and 202% for concentrations of 0.2, 2 and 20 μg/mL, respectively. In other words, the inhibitory properties of walnut husk hydroalcoholic extract on LDL oxidation are proportionate to the extract concentration.Conclusion:The findings of the present study indicate that walnut husk hydroalcoholic extract prevents LDL oxidation. This compound may have similar effects in vivo.

The problem of God as ipsum esse is dependent to the way of understanding esse and defining acts of being and existence. Aquinas shows the importance of this problem in On Binge and Essence. Aquinas uses being (esse) in different meanings in his works. In Summa theological, he ascribes two meanings to esse: the act of essence, and the composition of a proposition affected by the mind in predicating a predicate to a subject. We use the second meaning about God as well as the first meaning; we say "God exists" is true. Aquinas notes that not only about things that composed of matter and form, but also about sui generis substances, the essence differs from existence. Only is God the same as his essence. Aquinas believes the name "He who exists" is most properly applies to God. The being is the most unlimited and universal name which its only bearer is the sui generis existent whose essence is the same as his existence.

Objective: The study has been conducted to compare the instruction effects of inductive thinking strategy with the traditional teaching approach on school achievement of students with mental retardation. Method: A quasi-experimental design with pre-test post-test plan with control group has been adapted. A sample of 60 subjects were randomly selected from the population of the fifth- grader students of Hamedan special education schools, A representative sample was randomly assigned into two experimental groups and two control groups. (Each included 15 male and 15 female subjects.) Prior to the research phase both groups received a pre-test. Designed for a science course, the experimental group was assigned under the inductive thinking instruction technique and was instructed by well trained teachers for a period of four months. The number of sessions summed up to at least 24 thirty-minute sessions in a Learning Disability Center in Hamedan. Meanwhile, the control group (males and females) received their instructions in a traditionally presented technique of teacher- Student interactions. Results and recommendations: The school performances of both groups were evaluated by a post-test. The findings showed that the amount of the achievement of the students who received the inductive thinking instructions was far higher than the students who took the same science course by the traditional approach.

Functionalized iron oxide nanoparticles (IONPs) have unique physical and chemical properties, which make them potential candidates for biomedical applications. In this study, a facile one-pot method is reported for the preparation of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) functionalized IONPsthrough in situ free radical solution polymerization of AA and subsequent coprecipitation of Fe ^3+ and Fe ^2+ ions. The FTIR spectroscopic and TGA results indicated the successful formation and surface functionalization of IONPs with PAA. Electron micrographs showed that the prepared particles were of nano-sized and their shape is dependent on the concentration of PAA. pH-dependent variation of average hydrodynamic diameter confirmed the pH-responsivity of PAA-functionalized IONPs. Magnetic measurement suggested that the PAA functionalized IONPs were strongly paramagnetic (53.0 emug ^−1 ). Fenton-like catalytic generation is carried out to measure toxicity associated with the nanoparticles. The suppression ability for reactive oxygen species (ROS) generation associated with PAA-functionalized IONPs was studied via methylene blue degradation assay to address their toxicity profile. PAA-functionalized IONPs exhibited better suppression ability than that of the bare IONPs. The adsorption behavior of trypsin was also studied at different pH levels and a maximum adsorption is occurred on PAA-functionalized IONPs at pH 5.0. Catalytic behavior study confirmed higher activity of trypsin immobilized on PAA-functionalized IONPs than that of the reference IONPs. Therefore, the functionalized IONPs can be of high interest for magnetically recyclable biocatalyst carrier.

This research aims to build a computer network system that works on detecting and locating flame by using fractal geometry in the digital video through building the network system in a server-client structure through which the characteristics of both the server and the clients are determined. A terminal stations were adapted to receive the digital video, and then divided into set of frames to be treated later on individually using fractal geometry (2 dimension variation algorithm to create fractal dimensions matrix). Studying and analyzing the value of the fractal dimensions of each frame, to identify the flame region by recognizing the common properties. Applying the suggested algorithm on Various samples exceeding 300 colored digital images containing flames with different spectra have been selected. Those images are taken by digital cameras or downloaded from the internet. On the other hand, the application on digital video applied and exceed 100 sample. Results show that using fractal dimension is an active and encouraging way in determining the characteristics of flame with its all spectra. No any negative evidence was recorded on all samples which exceed 100 sample from the digital video during the interval of the application test. Results also show the harmony and consistency in transferring process through the protocols that have been dealt with.

The issue of “Finity or Infinity of Space and Time” is one of the most important problems in the western and also in the Islamic philosophy. The history of the debate about this problem is interwoven with the history of differnet views of philosophers and theologians. In the western philosophy, Aristotle is the first thinker who presents a detailed and articulated discussion about the finity or infinity of space and time. In On Heavens, he asserts that considering the Infinity is a crucial step in the way of understanding the truth. This issue is propouned again in the Islamic world, especially by Avicenna, in a different articulation, but by the same attitude. Avicenna presented arguments in an Aristotelean way in favor of finity of space and infinity of time. In this paper, we are to analyse and consider the views of the mentioned great peripatetic philosophers on the finity of space and infinity of time.

The RV144 clinical trial showed the partial efficacy of a vaccine regimen with an estimated vaccine efficacy (VE) of 31% for protecting low-risk Thai volunteers against acquisition of HIV-1. The impact of vaccine-induced immune responses can be investigated through sieve analysis of HIV-1 breakthrough infections (infected vaccine and placebo recipients). A V1/V2-targeted comparison of the genomes of HIV-1 breakthrough viruses identified two V2 amino acid sites that differed between the vaccine and placebo groups. Here we extended the V1/V2 analysis to the entire HIV-1 genome using an array of methods based on individual sites, k-mers and genes/proteins. We identified 56 amino acid sites or "signatures" and 119 k-mers that differed between the vaccine and placebo groups. Of those, 19 sites and 38 k-mers were located in the regions comprising the RV144 vaccine (Env-gp120, Gag, and Pro). The nine signature sites in Env-gp120 were significantly enriched for known antibody-associated sites (p = 0.0021). In particular, site 317 in the third variable loop (V3) overlapped with a hotspot of antibody recognition, and sites 369 and 424 were linked to CD4 binding site neutralization. The identified signature sites significantly covaried with other sites across the genome (mean = 32.1) more than did non-signature sites (mean = 0.9) (p < 0.0001), suggesting functional and/or structural relevance of the signature sites. Since signature sites were not preferentially restricted to the vaccine immunogens and because most of the associations were insignificant following correction for multiple testing, we predict that few of the genetic differences are strongly linked to the RV144 vaccine-induced immune pressure. In addition to presenting results of the first complete-genome analysis of the breakthrough infections in the RV144 trial, this work describes a set of statistical methods and tools applicable to analysis of breakthrough infection genomes in general vaccine efficacy trials for diverse pathogens.

Electrocardiograph (ECG) monitoring system is one of the diagnostic tools which can help in reduce the risk of heart attack. A cardiologist may be able to determine heart condition from the ECG signal that recorded from subject. The purpose was to design an ECG monitoring system which consists of ECG circuit and digital signal processing system to deny the unwanted signal. In general, the ECG signal is nature weak and only around 1mV amplitude. Therefore filter and amplifier circuits were designed into 3 stages with a total gain of 1000 to bring the signal to around 1V. Circuit designed included of instrumentation amplifier, bandpass filter and notch filter. The frequency bandwidth of ECG is between 0.05Hz until 100Hz. Schematic circuit was tested by software simulation before proceeding to hardware implementation. Simulation analysis was done by using Software Proteus 8 Professional while the further signal processing was done in MATLAB software environment. A PQRST ECG waveform can be seen clearly after digital filtering stage in MATLAB environment. Digital signal processing in MATLAB software included of pre-filtering, Fast Fourier transform and peak detection. As conclusion, the time interval between peaks can be determined automatically which can provide useful information in clinical aspect.

Building applied solar thermal systems are considered by different stakeholders an attractive alternative to traditional space and water heating systems. However, their performance depends largely on climatic conditions, water heating needs and operational parameters which, in turn, offer opportunities for performance optimization. The present research attempts to provide architects with a design decision tool that integrates solar thermal collectors efficiently to meet hot water demand for various building types inclusive of residential, commercial and industrial in a hot climate. The analysis is conducted numerically through a thermal model developed and executed in TRNSYS and validated experimentally. The parameters investigated include the collector tilt angle, azimuth angle and collector inlet fluid flow rate. Finally, the collector aperture area required per building foot print area is determined. The research revealed that for a 1000 m2 footprint building area of schools, offices, residential, factories and hospitals would require respectively 8 m2, 10 m2, 14 m2, 24 m2 and 38 m2 of the static collector installed at 24° tilt angle with optimal water flow rate. Additional operational aspects of collector tracking, and solar radiation concentration were investigated and further reduce the required collector area. A simple payback period analysis reveals a return on investment of 2 years applying subsidized tariff rates under the climatic conditions of, or similar to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates.

Organic/inorganic hybrid composite materials have been extensively studied as they combine the properties of inorganic material and organic polymer. Among the inorganic material biocompatible silica (SiO2) is an interesting candidate for application in biotechnology because such material is wide spread in nature as well as in medicine. During the last few decades, stimuli-responsive polymers are drawing much attention from the researchers for application versatility such as target-specific delivery of drug and corrosion inhibitors. Considering the biocompatibility and many such important properties as high cargo loading capacity, long blood circulation lifetime, enhanced permeability and retention, mechanical strength, and easy processability, combination of SiO2 particles with stimuli-responsive polymers is gaining attention over the last decade. This review article will report the progress made towards the development and application of stimuli-responsive hybrid composites based on SiO2.

Several recent large clinical trials evaluated HIV vaccine candidates that were based on recombinant adenovirus serotype 5 (rAd-5) vectors expressing HIV-derived antigens. These vaccines primarily elicited T-cell responses, which are known to be critical for controlling HIV infection. In the current study, we present a meta-analysis of epitope mapping data from 177 participants in three clinical trials that tested two different HIV vaccines: MRKAd-5 HIV and VRC-HIVAD014-00VP. We characterized the population-level epitope responses in these trials by generating population-based epitope maps, and also designed such maps using a large cohort of 372 naturally infected individuals. We used these maps to address several questions: (1) Are vaccine-induced responses randomly distributed across vaccine inserts, or do they cluster into immunodominant epitope hotspots? (2) Are the immunodominance patterns observed for these two vaccines in three vaccine trials different from one another? (3) Do vaccine-induced hotspots overlap with epitope hotspots induced by chronic natural infection with HIV-1? (4) Do immunodominant hotspots target evolutionarily conserved regions of the HIV genome? (5) Can epitope prediction methods be used to identify these hotspots? We found that vaccine responses clustered into epitope hotspots in all three vaccine trials and some of these hotspots were not observed in chronic natural infection. We also found significant differences between the immunodominance patterns generated in each trial, even comparing two trials that tested the same vaccine in different populations. Some of the vaccine-induced immunodominant hotspots were located in highly variable regions of the HIV genome, and this was more evident for the MRKAd-5 HIV vaccine. Finally, we found that epitope prediction methods can partially predict the location of vaccine-induced epitope hotspots. Our findings have implications for vaccine design and suggest a framework by which different vaccine candidates can be compared in early phases of evaluation.

Objective(s)Recent studies revealed the neuroprotective effects of epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG) on a variety of neural injury. The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of EGCG on the tissue lipid peroxidation after spinal cord injury (SCI).Materials and MethodsRats were randomly divided into four groups of 7 rats each as follows: sham-operated group, trauma group, and EGCG-treatment groups (50 mg/kg, i.p., immediately and 1 hr after SCI). The rats were euthanized 24 hr after injury and then, spinal cord samples were taken for determination of malodialdehyde levels, as an indicator of lipid peroxidation. ResultsThe results showed that MDA levels were significantly decreased in EGCG-treatment groups. ConclusionOn the basis of these findings, we propose that EGCG may be effective in protection of spinal cord tissue from injury.