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Abstract Background Limited gender-based research has compared sexual health among pornography users (PUs) and non-users, including non-problematic pornography users (non-PPUs) and problematic pornography users (PPUs), particularly in non-Western cultures. Methods A 2022 cross-sectional study involving 450 Iranian university students categorized participants as PUs or non-users based on 12 months of use. PUs were further classified as non-PPUs or PPUs using the 'Problematic Pornography Use Scale' cutoff point, with comparisons of demographic and sexual variables made between these groups. Results Pornography use was reported among 39.6% of students, including 51.7% of men and 33.6% of women. In general, 9.5% of participants were PPUs, including 17.4% of men and 5.6% of women. PUs were mainly men, had fewer children, shorter marriages, lower religiosity, and lower levels of education. Compared with non-users, PUs reported earlier sexual relationships, lower satisfaction with sex frequency and communication, and greater rates of extramarital relationships, masturbation, sexual desire, and sexual distress. PPUs reported more sexual desire, pornography use, masturbation, and extramarital affairs than non-PPUs. Similar patterns in demographics, sexual history, and health were observed in pornography use across genders. The regression indicated being male (OR: 2.42, 95% CI: 1.44–4.06), having lower education (OR: 0.89, 95% CI: 0.81–0.97), fewer children (OR: 0.64, 95% CI: 0.48–0.86), higher masturbation (OR: 1.31, 95% CI: 1.14–1.49), more extramarital relationship (OR: 1.69, 95% CI: 1.07–2.67), less religiosity (OR: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.82–0.93), more sexual excitement (OR: 0.79, 95% CI:0.62–1), and more sexual distress (OR: 1.20, 95% CI: 1.02–1.32) were associated with pornography use. Two-way ANOVA found no significant effects of gender or pornography use on sexual satisfaction. Women had worse sexual function regardless of usage. Pornography users, regardless of gender, experienced higher sexual distress.

Abstract Among the myriad of nanoparticles, silica nanoparticles (SiO2NPs) have gained significant attention since they are extensively produced and used across several kinds of industries. Because of its widespread usage, there has been increasing concern about the potential health effects. This study aims to evaluate the effects of SiO2NPs on Interleukin-6 (IL-6) gene expression in human lung epithelial cell lines (A549). In this study, A549 cells were exposed to SiO2NPs at concentrations of 0, 1, 10, 50, 100, and 200 µg/mL for 24 and 48 h. The IL-6 gene expression was assessed using Real-Time RT-PCR. Additionally, the impact of SiO2NPs on the viability of A549 cells was determined by MTT assay. Statistical analysis was performed using GraphPad Prism software 8.0. MTT assay results indicated a concentration-dependent impact on cell survival. After 24 h, survival decreased from 80 to 68% (1–100 µg/mL), rising to 77% at higher concentrations. After 48 h, survival dropped from 97 to 80%, decreasing to 90% at higher concentrations. RT-PCR showed a dose–response relationship in cellular toxicity up to 10 µg/mL. At higher concentrations, there was increased IL-6 gene expression, mitigating SiO2NP-induced cytotoxic effects. The study shows that the viability and proliferation of A549 cells are impacted by different SiO2NPs concentrations. There may be a potential correlation between IL-6 gene expression reduction and a mechanism linked to cellular toxicity. However, at higher concentrations, an unknown mechanism increases IL-6 gene expression, reducing SiO2NPs' cytotoxic effects. These effects are concentration-dependent and not influenced by exposure times. Further investigation is recommended to determine this mechanism's nature and implications, particularly in cancer research.

Abstract Background In countries where abortion laws are stringent, induced abortions are prevalent. The limited availability of abortion services within these regions amplifies the likelihood of maternal complications and mortality. Induced abortions represent a significant public health concern in Iran and are characterized by a multitude of intricate factors that remain largely unexplored. Gaps in knowledge persist pertaining to the influences driving induced abortion within the Iranian context. To adequately address the issue of induced abortion, it is imperative to discern the determinants that shape the decision-making process. The primary objective of this study was to design an intervention program focused on mitigating the occurrence of induced abortion within couples, with an emphasis on identifying the key factors that contribute to this phenomenon. Methods This study comprises three phases. In the first phase, a qualitative approach based on the I-change model will be employed to identify the factors influencing induced abortion. The second phase involves a systematic review to identify the determinants of induced abortion and strategies to prevent induced abortion. In the third phase, the outcomes of the qualitative approach and systematic review will be shared with experts and specialists using the Delphi method to categorize and prioritize strategies. Subsequently, based on the final consensus, a comprehensive program will be developed to prevent induced abortion. Discussion This study introduces an I-change model-based program for the prevention of induced abortion. The prevention of induced abortion holds great significance in mitigating maternal morbidity and mortality, curtailing healthcare expenses, and fostering population growth rates. The research findings will be disseminated via reputable peer-reviewed journals and communicated to the academic and medical communities. This dissemination aims to provide valuable insights that can contribute to the advancement of induced abortion and abortion prevention programs.

SignificanceThis third biennial intraoperative molecular imaging (IMI) conference shows how optical contrast agents have been applied to develop clinically significant endpoints that improve precision cancer surgery.AimNational and international experts on IMI presented ongoing clinical trials in cancer surgery and preclinical work. Previously known dyes (with broader applications), new dyes, novel nonfluorescence-based imaging techniques, pediatric dyes, and normal tissue dyes were discussed.ApproachPrincipal investigators presenting at the Perelman School of Medicine Abramson Cancer Center's third clinical trials update on IMI were selected to discuss their clinical trials and endpoints.ResultsDyes that are FDA-approved or currently under clinical investigation in phase 1, 2, and 3 trials were discussed. Sections on how to move benchwork research to the bedside were also included. There was also a dedicated section for pediatric dyes and nonfluorescence-based dyes that have been newly developed.ConclusionsIMI is a valuable adjunct in precision cancer surgery and has broad applications in multiple subspecialties. It has been reliably used to alter the surgical course of patients and in clinical decision making. There remain gaps in the utilization of IMI in certain subspecialties and potential for developing newer and improved dyes and imaging techniques.

Abstract Excess water production is one of the challenges that can cause several operational and economic problems. In this work, a comprehensive study of the PPG swelling in the presence of monovalent and divalent ions was conducted. Then, a comprehensive and practical mathematical modified fractal grow (MFG) model that can calculate the amount of PPG swelling in different salinities overtime was introduced. The output of the model was compared with the experimental data and showed a matching of about 80%. The viscosity of the PPGs at various shear rates was studied and matched with the cross-viscosity model. To assess the thermal stability of the particle gels. The TGA result represented the 10% of weight loss up to the reservoir temperature. In the following, core flooding tests with different injection scenarios were conducted. The oil recovery for the water and water/PPG/water scenarios were 39.5% and 71.5%, respectively. Eventually, the relative permeability curves were plotted using the Corey approach, and the effect of the PPG injection on the relative permeability curves was shown. The PPG injection increased oil production and reduced the excess water production by reducing water mobility.

PurposeWe aimed to estimate the level and trend of plasma cholesterol and raised total cholesterol (TC > 200 mg/dl) prevalence at national and subnational level of Iran.MethodsNine national surveys and 27 studies, encompassing 3,505 unique points on over 500,000 adults, aged > 25 years with a report of laboratory measurement of TC were found. Age-spatio-temporal model and Gaussian Process Regression were used to estimate mean TC for each sex, 5-year age groups, and 31 provinces from 1990 to 2016.ResultsAt national level, age-standardized prevalence of TC > 200 mg/dL has decreased from 57·2%(53·3-61·1) to 22·4%(20·5-24·3) in women and 53·2%(49·1-57·3) to 18·0%(16·4-19·6) in men. TC distribution presented a condensation between 170-200 mg/dL. At subnational level, decreasing and converging patterns of raised TC prevalence were detected.ConclusionThe decrease in raised TC is likely the result of statin widespread use, food industry improvements, and the expanded primary health care.Supplementary informationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s40200-022-01052-w.

Objectives: In order to increase the awareness of health service providers about the difficulties and consequences associated with the violation of menstrual rights, it is necessary to conduct a review study of existing programs in this area. This study aimed to review the menstrual rights programs and policies for reproductive-aged women and girls. Methods: In this systematic review, we searched international databases, including PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, and Web of Science, as well as Iranian ones, such as IranMedex, Magiran, MEDLINE, and Embase, for relevant studies without considering publication year. Finally, of 832 results, including articles, reports, and governmental documents, 27 studies were included in this review study. Results: "Menstrual rights" is not viewed as a major issue, even in the international vision programs. The results indicate that the programs in this field were mainly focused on four aspects: laws and policies, empowerment in menstruation management, normalization, and support for menstrual justice. Despite the increase in programs to achieve menstrual health, dealing with the legality of these programs has been completely marginalized. Conclusions: Since instructions and plans can play a vital role in implementing health policies, our findings emphasize the need for an evidence-driven plan to improve women and girls’ menstruation and reproductive health and rights that is consistent with long-term developmental goals. Attracting partnerships from the private sector, charities, and activists in this field can be very beneficial to achieving these goals.

Abstract Renewable energy sources play an important role in providing clean energy for future electricity networks. As the penetration level of these resources grows, their integration with the grid will be more challenging. Each renewable energy source has different inherent characteristics that, if appropriately used in the generation mix, could complement each other and create many technical and economic benefits for the power system. Usually, renewable energy resource complementarity studies are carried out with the objectives of smooth effect, reducing the need for storage and load tracking. In this study, the economic complementarity approach is introduced with the help of a Mixed integer nonlinear programming (MINLP) model. This approach can integrate renewable and storage energy sources with the grid and determine the optimal capacity of these resources in complementary used mode. The results show that the proposed method always imposes the system's lowest annual operation and investment costs.

Timely intervention reduces the risk of a poor prognosis in hand eczema, making early recognition of symptoms important in high-risk professions. However, limited data exist regarding the ability of cleaners and healthcare workers to recognize hand eczema. The aim of this study was to examine cleaners’ and healthcare workers’ ability to recognize hand eczema in clinical photographs and to assess the severity of the disease. Cleaners and healthcare workers completed a questionnaire consisting of 16 questions and participated in a structured interview referring to a validated photographic severity guide for chronic hand eczema, which comprised clinical photographs of hand eczema at varying levels of severity. Eighty cleaners and 201 healthcare workers (total N = 281) participated in the study. The rates of correctly identified hand eczema in clinical photographs (cleaners/ healthcare workers) were: 41.2%/57.7% (mild hand eczema), 81.2%/92.0% (moderate hand eczema), 85.0%/94.5% (severe hand eczema) and 82.5%/97.0% (very severe hand eczema). The proficiency of healthcare workers in recognizing hand eczema was significantly higher than that of cleaners. The results indicate that a large proportion of cleaners and healthcare workers fail to recognize mild hand eczema in clinical photographs. Healthcare workers had higher success rates in recognizing hand eczema in all severity categories. Symptom underestimation may lead to under-reporting of the true prevalence of hand eczema, with consequent loss of opportunities for prevention.

This study explores the capacity and kinetics of microbially-induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICCP) using BioFibers—endospore-laden polymeric fibers. Innovatively developed as a delivery system, BioFibers incorporate a bio-self-healing feature into quasi-brittle composites like concrete. Constructed with a load-bearing core fiber, a bio-compatible hydrogel sheath, and an outer protective shell layer, BioFibers represent a novel approach to enhancing material healing properties. BioFibers have been engineered to provide the matrix with three functionalities: autonomous self-healing, crack growth control, and damage-induced activation. The primary goal of this study was to focus on the self-healing functionality of BioFibers and evaluate the biomineralization performance through advanced material characterization techniques. In this context, we conducted quantitative and qualitative experiments to study bio-self-healing kinetics and precipitates material characterizations using thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) and X-ray powder diffraction (XRD). TGA results revealed that the self-healing kinetics based on calcium carbonate precipitation were mainly exhibited by three stages: (i) endospore germination lag phase, (ii) ureolytic activity, and (iii) saturation degree of carbonate, resulting in precipitations of calcium carbonate per one activated BioFiber (with an average mass of 56.9 ± 1.4 mg) equal to: (i) 3.35–30.30 mg, (ii) 31.08–140.91 mg, and (iii) 381.39–620.08 mg, respectively. SEM imaging revealed growing calcium carbonate crystal formation, primarily vaterite, during the progression of MICCP. EDS data in the initial stage indicated traces of phosphorus, potassium, nitrogen, sodium, and sulfur, signaling the endospore germination phase. In subsequent stages, carbon, calcium, and oxygen elements dominated, confirming calcium carbonate precipitation. XRD phase analysis showed that amorphous content was the primary residue in the first stage, with 85.5% associated with organic matter and 5.6 wt% due to amorphous calcium carbonate. As the MICCP process continued, the amorphous content, mainly organic matter, decreased, reaching 23.5 wt% in the last stage. Conversely, the crystalline phase increased, with calcite accounting for 21.4 wt% and vaterite accounting for 51.7 wt% in the final stage.

Online gaming may be associated with adverse outcomes in a minority of players. While some suggest that pathological patterns of online gaming are a public health concern in Iran, the evidence on pathological gaming among Iranian online gamers remains scarce. This study aims to investigate the patterns, motivations, and correlates of pathological online gaming in Iran. An online survey in Persian was performed among adult online gamers recruited across Iranian universities and social media. The 10-item Internet Gaming Disorder Test (IGDT-10) was used to screen for Internet Gaming Disorder (IGD). Motivations for gaming were assessed using the Motives for Online Gaming Questionnaire (MOGQ) and correlated psychiatric symptoms were assessed using the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI). After the estimation of descriptive statistics and bivariate tests, multivariate linear and logistic regressions were used to assess the correlates of the IGDT-10 score and IGD. A total of 791 individuals (75.4% men) responded to the survey. More than 5% played 42 h or more per week. Only 3.7% of respondents met the threshold for IGD. IGD was 9.4 times more common among male than female gamers. The most commonly endorsed criteria were 'continuation', 'negative consequences', and 'preoccupation'. Younger age, time spent on gaming, using a PC instead of a smartphone for gaming, 'escape' and 'fantasy' gaming motivations and psychiatric symptoms were associated with the IGDT-10 score. A small minority of Iranian online gamers may be at risk of pathological gaming and its associated harms, especially younger gamers who play long hours and play with escapist and 'fantasy'-related motivations. Further research is needed to elucidate the causes and consequences of gaming-related problems and to evaluate proposed diagnostic criteria and screening instruments., Author(s): Hosein Rafiemanesh [sup.1] [sup.2] , Rabert Farnam [sup.2] , Arshiya Sangchooli [sup.2] , Jamileh Rahimi [sup.3] , Marziyeh Hamzehzadeh [sup.4] [sup.2] , Kamyar Ghani [sup.4] [sup.2] , Maral Mardaneh [...]

Abstract Background Organic farming is a relatively new concept in developing countries compared to developed countries. Understanding the factors affecting consumers’ willingness to pay for organic foods is critical to increasing the production of these products. This study aimed to develop and validate a Persian version of the questionnaire for assessing determinants of organic food purchase intention among adults in Tehran, the capital of Iran. Methods The study was conducted in a two-phased standardized methodology in 2019. During Phase 1, a draft questionnaire was developed based on a comprehensive literature review. In phase 2, validation of the instrument was performed. Participants included a multidisciplinary expert panel comprising 14 members to evaluate content validity, a sample of lay people to assess face validity (n = 20), internal consistency (n = 300), and test-retest reliability (n = 62). The internal consistency and test-retest reliability were measured using the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Cronbach’s alpha. Results Forty-nine of 57 items had a CVR above 0.51 and were retained in the questionnaire. Three items were added to the questionnaire. The average CVI for the questionnaire was 0.97. Cronbach’s α and ICC of the entire questionnaire were 0.86 and 0.93, respectively. Each phase of development progressively improved the questionnaire, resulting in a final 52-item questionnaire divided into 9 dimensions, including knowledge, attitude, subjective norms, health consciousness, environmental concerns, perceived convenience of purchase, perceived cost, sensory characteristics, and purchase intention. Conclusions The developed questionnaire appears to be a valid and reliable instrument for examining determinants of consumer intentions to purchase organic food.

The use of shear walls is one of the diverse approaches to deal with lateral forces, and composite shear walls are among the different types of these walls. Composite walls consist of two steel sheets and a concrete core between them joined by shear connectors. In this system, the concrete cover can also participate in the load-bearing of the section. Shear connectors are used for bonding concrete to the steel sheet in the wall. Due to the necessity of creating a composite functionality, these connectors play an important role in the behavior of the system. Moreover, the effect of J-hook connectors on steel-concrete composite shear walls is investigated. For this aim, an experimental model is simulated and validated in the ABAQUS software. After verifying the accuracy of the model, a parametric analysis is defined and further studies are performed by using a nonlinear in-crescent static method (pushover method). The results of this study show that the J-Hook connector positively affects increasing load capacity and reducing the out-of-plane displacement of the composite shear wall. Additionally, the number and location of the connectors have a great impact on the both load and buckling capacity of the steel plate. Above all, adding concrete to the steel shear wall which consists of two steel sheets, not only rise the wall's bearing capacity by 14 percent, but improve the performance of the interaction between materials by about 17%.