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Abstract Background The transmission of Salmonella spp. to human through the consumption of contaminated food products of animal origin, mainly poultry is a significant global public health concern. The emerging multidrug resistant (MDR) clones of non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) serovars, have spread rapidly worldwide both in humans and in the food chain. In this study NTS strains were isolated from diseased laying hens in Iran and were further studied by whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to investigate the prevalent serovars, multilocus sequence types, antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes. Results Out of eight isolated Salmonella spp. six were identified as S. Enteritidis serovar ST11 (n = 5) or ST5824 (n = 1), and two isolates were recognized as S. Kentucky serotype ST198 lineages. The aminoglycoside resistance gene aac(6′)-Iaa was the most frequently detected gene being present in all serovars, but it did not confer phenotypic resistance to corresponding agents (tobramycin and amikacin). All S. Enteritidis isolates carried a single GyrA D87N/Y substitution. Other identified antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) including tetA, floR, sul1, dfrA1, aph(3′)-Ia and double gyrA and parC mutations conferring high-level ciprofloxacin resistance (CIPR) (MIC ≥ 16mg/L) were only found in S. Kentucky isolates. The comparison of phenotypic and genotypic antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profiles revealed inconsistent results for some antibiotics. A total of 11 different Salmonella Pathogenicity Islands (SPIs) including SPIs-1, to 5, 9, 10, 13, 14, C63PI, CS54 and several virulence genes related to type III secretion system, adhesins, iron and magnesium uptake, serum and antimicrobial peptide resistance were detected among the isolates. Conclusions Our study reports emergence of a highly MDR- CIPR S. Kentucky ST198 clone form poultry associated sources in Iran. The presence of numerous virulence determinants, SPIs and ARGs in the examined NTS isolates poses a significant risk for food safety. The inconsistencies between the genotypic and phenotypic AMR profiles indicate that WGS data alone may not be always sufficient for guiding therapeutic strategies.

Lack of appropriate early diagnostic tools for drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB) and their incomplete drug susceptibility testing (DST) profiling is concerning for TB disease control. Existing methods, such as phenotypic DST (pDST), are time-consuming, while Xpert MTB/RIF (Xpert) and line probe assay (LPA) are limited to detecting resistance to few drugs. Targeted next-generation sequencing (tNGS) has been recently approved by WHO as an alternative approach for rapid and comprehensive DST. We aimed to investigate the performance and feasibility of tNGS for detecting DR-TB directly from clinical samples in Bangladesh. pDST, LPA and tNGS were performed among 264 sputum samples, either rifampicin-resistant (RR) or rifampicin-sensitive (RS) TB cases confirmed by Xpert assay. Resistotypes of tNGS were compared with pDST, LPA and composite reference standard (CRS, resistant if either pDST or LPA showed a resistant result). tNGS results revealed higher sensitivities for rifampicin (RIF) (99.3%), isoniazid (INH) (96.3%), fluoroquinolones (FQs) (94.4%), and aminoglycosides (AMGs) (100%) but comparatively lower for ethambutol (76.6%), streptomycin (68.7%), ethionamide (56.0%) and pyrazinamide (50.7%) when compared with pDST. The sensitivities of tNGS for INH, RIF, FQs and AMGs were 93.0%, 96.6%, 90.9%, and 100%, respectively and the specificities ranged from 91.3 to 100% when compared with CRS. This proof of concept study, conducted in a high-burden setting demonstrated that tNGS is a valuable tool for identifying DR-TB directly from the clinical specimens. Its feasibility in our laboratory suggests potential implementation and moving tNGS from research settings into clinical settings.

Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic condition that requires ongoing self-management and education. In recent years, there has been a growing interest in utilizing mobile serious games as a tool for patient education and engagement. This article presents the development of DiaPo, a mobile serious game designed to improve self-management education for patients with T2DM. DiaPo integrates gamification techniques to increase patient engagement and motivation while providing essential information about disease management. The development of DiaPo followed a structured design process, utilizing the Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation (ADDIE) educational system. This systematic approach allowed for the integration of best practices in educational game design and diabetes care. The development team consisted of experts in medical informatics, game design, and diabetes care, ensuring a multidisciplinary approach to the game's creation. The game's narrative focuses on a T2DM patient who earns positive points for making healthy lifestyle choices and negative points for poor ones. This gamified approach aims to reinforce positive behaviors and provide immediate feedback on negative ones. Interactive animations confirm or deny options selected by the player, further enhancing the learning experience. DiaPo offers a flexible and adaptable platform suitable for diverse audiences, promoting inclusiveness and accessibility in T2DM education. DiaPo represents a novel approach to self-management education for patients with T2DM, utilizing gamification techniques and a multidisciplinary design process to create an engaging and informative mobile serious game. By promoting inclusiveness and accessibility, DiaPo has the potential to empower patients with T2DM to take an active role in their disease management. As the field of mobile serious games continues to evolve, DiaPo stands as a promising tool for improving T2DM education and patient outcomes.

Cancer, being one of the deadliest diseases, poses significant challenges despite the existence of traditional treatment approaches. This has led to a growing demand for innovative pharmaceutical agents that specifically target cancer cells for effective treatment. In recent years, the use of metal nanoparticles (NPs) as a promising alternative to conventional therapies has gained prominence in cancer research. Metal NPs exhibit unique properties that hold tremendous potential for various applications in cancer treatment. Studies have demonstrated that certain metals possess inherent or acquired anticancer capabilities through their surfaces. These properties make metal NPs an attractive focus for therapeutic development. In this review, we will investigate the applicability of several distinct classes of metal NPs for tumor targeting in cancer treatment. These classes may include gold, silver, iron oxide, and other metals with unique properties that can be exploited for therapeutic purposes. Additionally, we will provide a comprehensive summary of the risk factors associated with the therapeutic application of metal NPs. Understanding and addressing these factors will be crucial for successful clinical translation and to mitigate any potential challenges or failures in the translation of metal NP-based therapies. By exploring the therapeutic potential of metal NPs and identifying the associated risk factors, this review aims to contribute to the advancement of cancer treatment strategies. The anticipated outcome of this review is to provide valuable insights and pave the way for the advancement of effective and targeted therapies utilizing metal NPs specifically for cancer patients.

Tuberculosis is a respiratory disease that is treatable with antibiotics. An increasing prevalence of resistance means that to ensure a good treatment outcome it is desirable to test the susceptibility of each infection to different antibiotics. Conventionally, this is done by culturing a clinical sample and then exposing aliquots to a panel of antibiotics, each being present at a pre-determined concentration, thereby determining if the sample isresistant or susceptible to each sample. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of a drug is the lowestconcentration that inhibits growth and is a more useful quantity but requires each sample to be tested at a range ofconcentrations for each drug. Using 96-well broth micro dilution plates with each well containing a lyophilised pre-determined amount of an antibiotic is a convenient and cost-effective way to measure the MICs of several drugs at once for a clinical sample. Although accurate, this is still an expensive and slow process that requires highly-skilled and experienced laboratory scientists. Here we show that, through the BashTheBug project hosted on the Zooniverse citizen science platform, a crowd of volunteers can reproducibly and accurately determine the MICs for 13 drugs and that simply taking the median or mode of 11-17 independent classifications is sufficient. There is therefore a potential role for crowds to support (but not supplant) the role of experts in antibiotic susceptibility testing.

BackgroundMolecular diagnostics are considered the most promising route to achieving rapid, universal drug susceptibility testing for Mycobacterium tuberculosiscomplex (MTBC). We aimed to generate a WHO endorsed catalogue of mutations to serve as a global standard for interpreting molecular information for drug resistance prediction.MethodsA candidate gene approach was used to identify mutations as associated with resistance, or consistent with susceptibility, for 13 WHO endorsed anti-tuberculosis drugs. 38,215 MTBC isolates with paired whole-genome sequencing and phenotypic drug susceptibility testing data were amassed from 45 countries. For each mutation, a contingency table of binary phenotypes and presence or absence of the mutation computed positive predictive value, and Fisher's exact tests generated odds ratios and Benjamini-Hochberg corrected p-values. Mutations were graded as Associated with Resistance if present in at least 5 isolates, if the odds ratio was >1 with a statistically significant corrected p-value, and if the lower bound of the 95% confidence interval on the positive predictive value for phenotypic resistance was >25%. A series of expert rules were applied for final confidence grading of each mutation.Findings15,667 associations were computed for 13,211 unique mutations linked to one or more drugs. 1,149/15,667 (7·3%) mutations were classified as associated with phenotypic resistance and 107/15,667 (0·7%) were deemed consistent with susceptibility. For rifampicin, isoniazid, ethambutol, fluoroquinolones, and streptomycin, the mutations' pooled sensitivity was >80%. Specificity was over 95% for all drugs except ethionamide (91·4%), moxifloxacin (91·6%) and ethambutol (93·3%). Only two resistance mutations were classified for bedaquiline, delamanid, clofazimine, and linezolid as prevalence of phenotypic resistance was low for these drugs.InterpretationThis first WHO endorsed catalogue of molecular targets for MTBC drug susceptibility testing provides a global standard for resistance interpretation. Its existence should encourage the implementation of molecular diagnostics by National Tuberculosis Programmes.FundingUNITAID, Wellcome, MRC, BMGF.

Abstract The Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) includes several human- and animal-adapted pathogens. It is thought to have originated in East Africa from a recombinogenic Mycobacterium canettii-like ancestral pool. Here, we describe the discovery of a clinical tuberculosis strain isolated in Ethiopia that shares archetypal phenotypic and genomic features of M. canettii strains, but represents a phylogenetic branch much closer to the MTBC clade than to the M. canettii strains. Analysis of genomic traces of horizontal gene transfer in this isolate and previously identified M. canettii strains indicates a persistent albeit decreased recombinogenic lifestyle near the emergence of the MTBC. Our findings support that the MTBC emergence from its putative free-living M. canettii-like progenitor is evolutionarily very recent, and suggest the existence of a continuum of further extant derivatives from ancestral stages, close to the root of the MTBC, along the Great Rift Valley.

As the age increases, the power and ability of the elderly to recognise architectural spaces and related internal or external areas decreases. This initially increases their dependence on others, and in the next stages they may lose the ability to find their way. The purpose of this research is to provide an understanding of the elements that play a role in the mental dimensions of aging. The present article was formed in order to answer these questions: ‘how does the perception and cognition of the elderly take place with a focus on environmental and human approaches’, and ‘what are the influential indicators in the perception and cognition of the elderly’. For this purpose, Kahrizak elderly home was chosen. Using the 'Space Syntax’ method, this article examines the behavioural and cognitive responses of the elderly regarding the spatial characteristics of the elderly home. The research method includes two cognitive and spatial parts. In the cognitive section, after interviewing the elderly and receiving cognitive maps, the findings from the cognitive maps were compiled. Space configuration was evaluated through depth map software and Space Syntax parameters. In this analysis, spatial parameters such as connection value, connectivity, selection, depth of access and resolution have been examined and compared with cognitive maps. The analyses show that the maximum correlation is 7.3 and its average is 3.5, the maximum and average correlation parameters are 20 and 8.6, respectively. The maximum and average selection parameters are equal to 67 and 11.06, respectively. The maximum and average access depth parameters are 257 and 138.7, respectively. The analysis shows that Space Syntax modelling can be effective for understanding the perceptibility of space by the elderly, but for a correct understanding of the same space, other methods such as cognitive maps are needed. The results show that multiple objective and subjective factors are effective in the elderly's perception and their knowledge of space, together and sometimes with priorities over each other.

ABSTRACT: Objectives: The increase in multidrug-resistant bacteria has reached an alarming rate globally, making it necessary to understand the underlying mechanisms mediating resistance in order to discover new therapeutics. Tigecycline (TGC) is a last-resort antimicrobial agent for the treatment of serious infections caused by extensively drug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae. Methods: The TGC-resistant Escherichia coli mutants were obtained by exposing three different TGC-susceptible isolates belonging to ST131 (n = 2) and ST405 (n = 1) to increasing concentrations of TGC. The genetic alterations associated with reduced susceptibility to TGC were identified using whole genome sequencing. The fitness cost of TGC resistance acquisition, as well as incidence of cross-resistance, was also investigated. Results: The TGC minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of in vitro selected mutants were elevated 8 to 32 times compared with ancestral strains. Inactivating mutations (frameshift and nonsense) or amino acid substitutions were identified in genes encoding proteins with diverse functions, including AcrAB efflux pump or its regulators (lon and marR), Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) inner core biosynthesis enzymes (waaQ and eptB), ribosomal S9 protein (rpsI), and RNA polymerase β subunit. In most cases (but not all), acquisition of TGC resistance was associated with a fitness cost. While TGC resistance development was associated with cross-resistance to other members of the tetracycline family and chloramphenicol, hypersensitivity to nitrofurantoin was identified among heptose III-less LPS mutants. Conclusion: TGC resistance among the studied mutants was found to be multifactorial with extrusion by efflux transports being the most common mechanism. The LPS inner core biosynthesis pathway, as well as ribosomal S9 protein, could be additional targets for TGC resistance.

Dentists have always sought to harmonize the shapes of the teeth with the entire face based on parameters such as gender, personality, and age. The Visagism concept helps dentists to be able to create a smile that is not only for esthetics but also in harmony with all the psychological characteristics of the patient. The aim of this study was to investigate the match between smile design and personality traits of patients applying for smile design.Materials & Methods:This is a descriptive-analytical study. Standard photographs in three different modes of rest, gentle smile, and full smile were taken from 104 patients aged 30-18 years referred to the School of Dentistry of the Islamic Azad University of Isfahan in 2016 for smile design. Patients were given a questionnaire about temperament and an interview questionnaire for understanding their dental needs. The photos were checked by one professional observer and classified according to the Visagism concept and the photos were analyzed with the results of the questionnaire and the interview form. The Data were analyzed by Chi-square and One-Way ANOVA test (p value < 0.05).Results:Consistency percentage between personality and smile was 71.1% (p value < 0.0001). The most consistent in these 2 factors was Phlegmatic temperament (81.1%).Conclusion:Since there is a significant relationship between smile design and personality, it is recommended that in reconstructing a smile dentists should not limit themselves to aesthetic aspects from a dental point of view, but by creating a patient's psychological evaluation, create an esthetic smile plan in harmony with patients' psychological characteristics.

Background: The transmission of Salmonella spp. to human through the consumption of contaminated food products of animal origin, mainly poultry is a significant global public health concern. The emerging multidrug resistant (MDR) clones of non-typhoidal Salmonella (NTS) serovars, have spread rapidly worldwide both in humans and in the food chain. In this study NTS strains were isolated from diseased laying hens in Iran and were further studied by whole-genome sequencing (WGS) to investigate the prevalent serovars, multilocus sequence types, antimicrobial resistance and virulence genes. Results: Out of eight isolated Salmonella spp. six were identified as S. Enteritidis serovar ST11 (n = 5) or ST5824 (n = 1), and two isolates were recognized as S. Kentucky serotype ST198 lineages. The aminoglycoside resistance gene aac(6′)-Iaa was the most frequently detected gene being present in all serovars, but it did not confer phenotypic resistance to corresponding agents (tobramycin and amikacin). All S. Enteritidis isolates carried a single GyrA D87N/Y substitution. Other identified antimicrobial resistance genes (ARGs) including tetA, floR, sul1, dfrA1, aph(3′)-Ia and double gyrA and parC mutations conferring high-level ciprofloxacin resistance (CIPR) (MIC ≥ 16mg/L) were only found in S. Kentucky isolates. The comparison of phenotypic and genotypic antimicrobial resistance (AMR) profiles revealed inconsistent results for some antibiotics. A total of 11 different Salmonella Pathogenicity Islands (SPIs) including SPIs-1, to 5, 9, 10, 13, 14, C63PI, CS54 and several virulence genes related to type III secretion system, adhesins, iron and magnesium uptake, serum and antimicrobial peptide resistance were detected among the isolates. Conclusions: Our study reports emergence of a highly MDR- CIPRS. Kentucky ST198 clone form poultry associated sources in Iran. The presence of numerous virulence determinants, SPIs and ARGs in the examined NTS isolates poses a significant risk for food safety. The inconsistencies between the genotypic and phenotypic AMR profiles indicate that WGS data alone may not be always sufficient for guiding therapeutic strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The rapid growth of population, agriculture, urban and industries has led to increasing water demand and competition for its consumptions. The promotion of agricultural water productivity has the main effect on improving water consumption. Water delivery and scheduling methods are important to increase the flexibility of irrigation systems. Among different available methods, the on-request water delivery has higher flexibility than the rotational one and doesn’t need the high cost of automatic systems. The appropriate adjustment of the structures and their operational instructions between successive requests is a function of discharge variation, time interval between operations, coincidence of different request, physical condition of canal and structures and hydrodynamic behavior of the flow, which is a complex task. To obtain the performance of the recently utilized method, i.e., FSL (Fuzzy SARSA Learning), it is necessary to compare it to a traditional method like Artificial Neural Network (ANN). In this research, data from the east Aghili canal was trained for programming water delivery and distribution using MLP (Multi-Layer Perceptron) and RBF (Radial Basis Function) networks of ANN with the on-request method. Finally, the results of the FSL and ANN models were compared.Material and methods: In this research, the MLP (Multi-Layer Perceptron) and RBF (Radial Basis Function) networks of ANN were used to determine the procedure for exploiting the operational instructions of the on-request method in the east Aghili canal, in Khuzestan Province, using its flow and gate opening data. In this research, 70%, 15%, and 15% of data were used to train, test, and validate the model, respectively. The correlation coefficient and root mean square error were used for determining the better method. Modeling of the canal was done using the Irrigation Canal Conveyance System (ICSS) hydrodynamic model. To evaluate the MLP, RBF, and FSL outputs, maximum and average errors of water depth, adequacy, efficiency, equity, and dependability were used.Results and discussion: The operational instructions were determined using the MLP in March 2017 in the east Aghili canal, and were compared to the corresponding determined operational instructions using FSL. According to the obtained results, it was observed that the MPA index in the ANN method in the first and second block of this channel, respectively were 0.952 and 0.919 and in the case of using the FSL method, these values were equal to 0.996 and 1. Also, the MPF index in the simulation using the ANN in both blocks were equal to 1 and in the case of FSL, these values were equal to 0.999 and 0.971. The maximum error of MAE of water level in the first and second block of the study, respectively were equal to 9.2 and 3.8 % and in the case of using the FSL method, these were equal to 5.5 and 7.4 %. The results showed that the MLP was better than the RBF to determine the operational instructions. The MAE and IAE indicators were minimum, and the water delivery indicators were close to their desired values according to the Molden and Gates (1990) criteria. Aldo, it was revealed that the FSL was better than the MLP, however, the MLP results were valid and can be used in practice.Conclusion: In this research, the ANN model was used for determining operational instructions using MATLAB. The training was done using the MLP and RBF using the east Aghili canal data. The ICSS was used for simulating the canal. The results showed that the MLP was better than RBF, and the FSL model was better than the MLP as well. However, both of them can be used in practice.

BackgroundInflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) affects the quality of life. Patient education and support needs are crucial components of comprehensive chronic illness care. The main purposes of this review were to (i) explore the informational and supportive needs of these patients to improve the quality of life in the existing literature and (ii) identify the gaps related to the needs of the patients in articles.MethodsThe scoping review is based on the Daudt methodological framework, a modified version of Arksey and O'Malley. Electronic databases were extensively searched from January 01, 2000 to April 30, 2022. Four electronic databases (PubMed/Medline, CINAHL, APA PsycInfo, Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection, APA PsycArticles, and ProQuest) were searched using controlled vocabulary, and specific keywords. The searched terms were matched to each database. We manually searched two key journals, namely the Journal of Inflammatory Bowel Disease and the Journal of Crohn's and Colitis.ResultsIn the review, 75 studies on the assessment of the information and support needs of patients with IBD were reviewed. In this regard, 62 and 53 studies were regarding information needs and support needs, respectively. Most of the information needs of patients with IBD reported in the studies were related to diet needs, and educational needs were the most essential support needs.ConclusionsHealth policymakers and managers can develop care and educational programs related to this disease in health centers according to the needs of the patients. Health professionals, especially gastroenterologists, are the primary referral sources for information on patients. Therefore, gastroenterologists can take the lead in planning and educating the patients and sharing their decisions.Systematic review registrationOSF, https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/3MWGJ.

Farzaneh Ohadi, Soheila Rahgozar, Elaheh Sadat Ghodousi Department of Cell and Molecular Biology & Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Science and Technology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, IranCorrespondence: Soheila RahgozarDepartment of Cell and Molecular Biology & Microbiology, Faculty of Biological Science and Technology, University of Isfahan, Hezar Jarib Street, Isfahan 81746-73441, IranTel +98 313 793 2455Fax +98 313 793 2456Email rahgozar@sci.ui.ac.irPurpose: Sal‐like protein 4 transcription factor (SALL4) is a stem cell transcription factor that plays an essential role in the maintenance and self-renewal of embryonic and hematopoietic stem cells, functioning as an oncogene in several cancers. However, the role of SALL4 in the biological behavior of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia and its relationship with multidrug resistance and relapse has remained largely unknown.Patients and Methods: Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to characterize the expression pattern of SALL4 in the bone marrow samples of 43 patients with Philadelphia negative ALL and 18 children in the non-cancer control group. The presence of minimal residual disease was measured a year after the initial therapy using SSCP (single-strand conformation polymorphism). In addition, the correlation between the expression of SALL4 and ABCA3 in relapsed patients was analyzed statistically.Results: Results showed an overexpression of SALL4 in de novo patients compared with the control group (P=0.0001, AUC= 0.93), indicating the importance of this gene in the induction of leukemia. A significant increase in the ABCA3 expression levels was revealed in the relapsed patients, in comparison with the drug-sensitive group (P = 0.0005). The leukemogenetic effect of SALL4 can be related to the effect of this gene on the maintenance of pluripotency in cancer stem cells. Results also suggest that the expression of SALL4 can be considered as a diagnostic marker for pediatric ALL. Moreover, SALL4 expression levels in the minimal residual disease positive (mrd+) ALL group was significantly higher than those in the mrd− group (p=0.0001, AUC= 0.92).Conclusion: These data demonstrate the prognostic impact of SALL4 in childhood ALL. Our findings also indicated a direct correlation between the mRNA expression levels of SALL4 and ABCA3 transporter in the relapsed group of ALL patients (r=0.7). These results describe a possible mechanism by which SALL4 may lead to the development of multidrug resistance.Keywords: childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia, multidrug resistance, SALL4, ABC transporters, relapse, ABCA3

مقدمه: ارﺗﺒﺎط و درك ﻣﺘﻘﺎﺑﻞ ارایه دﻫﻨﺪگان ﺧﺪﻣﺎت ﺳﻼﻣﺖ دﻫﺎن و مراجعه‌کنندگان، ﻣﻮرد ﺗﻮﺟﻪ ﺟﺪي ﻧﻈﺎم آﻣﻮزﺷﻲ دﻧﺪانﭘﺰﺷﻜﻲ قرار دارد. هدف از انجام پژوهش حاضر، بررسی و مقایسه میزان همدلی دندان‌پزشکان و دانشجویان دندان‌پزشکی شهر اصفهان با مراجعه‌کنندگان معتاد به مواد مخدر در سال 1397 بود. مواد و روش‌ها: جامعه آماری این مطالعه توصیفی- مقطعی را دانشجویان دندان‌پزشکی دانشگاه آزاد اسلامی واحد اصفهان (خوراسگان) و دندان‌پزشکان شاغل در کلینیک‌های دندان‌پزشکی شهر اصفهان تشکیل داد که از هر گروه 100 نفر به روش نمونه‌گیری در دسترس انتخاب شدند. داوطلبان پرسش‌نامه‌ای دو قسمتی شامل اطلاعات فردی و پرسش‌نامه استاندارد همدلی Jefferson (Jefferson Scale of Empathy یا JSE) را تکمیل کردند. داده‌ها با استفاده از آزمون‌های 2χ، Fisher's exact، Independent t، Linear regression و ضریب همبستگی Pearson مورد تجزیه و تحلیل قرار گرفت. یافته‌ها: میزان همدلی دندان‌پزشکان با افراد معتاد، به طور معنی‌داری بیشتر از دانشجویان دندان‌پزشکی بود (001/0 > P). میانگین متغیر همدلی با افراد معتاد، در هیچ‌کدام از گروه‌های دانشجویان و دندان‌پزشکان بین مردان و زنان یا افراد مجرد و متأهل اختلاف معنی‌داری را نشان نداد (050/0 < P). بین سن دانشجویان دندان‌پزشکی با متغیر همدلی آن‌ها با افراد معتاد، رابطه مستقیم و ضعیفی وجود داشت (050/0 > P، 271/0 = r)، اما در گروه دندان‌پزشکان، بین متغیر سن و میزان همدلی رابطه معنی‌داری مشاهده نشد (780/0 = P). بر اساس نتایج آزمون Linear regression، میزان همدلی دندان‌پزشکان با افراد معتاد بیشتر از دانشجویان بود (001/0 > P)، اما هیچ‌کدام از متغیرهای زمینه‌ای سن، جنسیت، سابقه شغلی و وضعیت تأهل، تأثیر معنی‌داری بر همدلی نداشت (050/0 < P). نتيجه‌گيري: اگرچه نمره همدلی دندان‌پزشکان با افراد معتاد به طور معنی‌داری بیشتر از دانشجویان دندان‌پزشکی بود، اما نمره همدلی هر دو گروه در وضعیت متوسطی قرار داشت. بنابراین، برنامه‌ريزان آموزش دندان‌پزشكي باید جهت افزايش همدلي با افراد معتاد، برنامه‌هاي هدفمند را به دوره آموزشی دندان‌پزشکی وارد کنند.

Medical centers (that is, hospitals and clinics) in metropolitan areas produce substantial amounts of hazardous waste in both solid and liquid (wastewater) forms. Unless medical centers manage their waste with appropriate care, the significant hazards posed to urban residents and areas far outweigh the benefits of their services. Therefore, comprehensive environmental management programs need to be developed in order to minimize the associated impacts and improve environmental performance. In addition to identifying the environmental consequences, developing a comprehensive performance assessment program requires a deep understanding of the factors involved and their corresponding shares. Thus, the aim of this paper is to model environmental performance assessment in urban medical centers. Firstly, relevant criteria, sub-criteria and indicators were identified using the Delphi method. Next, Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) was applied to rank the factors and a balanced scoring was established to model the environmental performance assessment in medical centers. The adequate consistency index confirms Fuzzy AHP accuracy and consequently, the scores. The model was applied in Sarem Specialized Hospital in Tehran, Iran. The results indicate that the hospital has good environmental performance. The results show that the waste disinfection indicator, was rated the highest and most important index with a score of 84.The other indicators were ranked in terms of treated sewage and source separation of waste and application of mechanisms to control water consumption respectively with scores of 38, 26.5 and 25.

Controlling the water level in irrigation channels is important for the efficient management of irrigation and water delivery. In this study, the proportional–integral–derivative (PID) controller was implemented in both the HEC-RAS boundary condition, as an internal model, and MATLAB, as an external model. In the latter, the Hydrologic Engineering Center's (HEC) River Analysis System (HEC-RAS) model was automated for irrigation canals by coding in the MATLAB script. To test the new models, E1R1 (first right bank branch of the first eastern canal in the Dez irrigation network, Khuzestan Province, Iran) irrigation canal data were prepared in HEC-RAS. A flow pattern was provided to simulate the canal water levels. The results showed efficient control of the water level for both models. The maximum and average water depth deviations from the target value were 13% and 4%, respectively, which fall in the good agreement range. The fewer these indicators, the better the performance is. The efficiency and adequacy were close to the ideal value and in the good agreement classes. The equity indicator was 0.013, which is very close to its ideal value of zero, showing efficient water distribution in the tested system. According to the literature for the equity indicator, a range of 0–0.10 is good, a range of 0.11–0.25 is fair, and a range of greater than 0.25 is poor. The results showed that simple and fast implementation is the main advantage of the internal model; however, it is not suitable for implementing complex controllers. Conversely, the external model can be implemented for complicated algorithms without any limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Noise pollution is one of the most important and growing pollutions in large cities. Measuring sound pollution is an essential step to control and manage its effects. Therefore in this research, zoning and modeling of noise pollution was carried out in one of the densely populated areas of Tehran, region 16. In this study, at first eight stations were selected to study area. Material and methods: At the next stage, 46 stations were selected in the studied area and the equivalent level of sound was measured for each station in three periods: in the morning, at noon and at night; and results were used to determine the level of sound pollution. In addition, one of pathways of transit network of area 16, i.e. Shahid Rajaei Highway was selected and noise intensity was measured at different intervals for zoning and modeling of noise pollution of that highway. Then, a model was proposed to predict the level of noise intensity at different distances from the highway. To verify the accuracy of the proposed model, another highway was investigated and a comparison test was performed between measured and predicted values. Results and discussion: The percentage error between predicted and measured values is very negligible and thus the proposed model can be used to evaluate the pollution of other highways. The results obtained from the main stage of this study revealed that the maximum average equivalent level of sound in highway is 83.5714 Db and highway side until 30 m is not suitable for residential use. The minimum average sound level allowed for residential areas is 58 db. Conclusion: Other results of this study indicate that in all sound measurement stations in transit network, the mean measured equivalent level of sound is more than accepted standard in Iran. Due to high noise pollution in the area under study, the proposed solutions to control noise pollution are to use sound walls on highways and to create more green spaces in areas prone to pollution.

Many studies have confirmed the acceleration of economic growth through financial development, but just a few studies have discussed the disproportionate effect of financial development on the growth of the firms with different sizes. So the distributional effects of financial development among firms are still unclear. Accordingly, using a dynamic panel model, we have examined the role of small firms in different industries on the effect of financial development on industrial development of Iranian economy. This study has been carried out on 22 industries according to ISIC4 two-digit codes for the period 1383-1393 (Iranian Calendar) using the Generalized Moment Method (GMM). The results of the model confirm that the development of financial intermediaries exerts a positive effect on the industries with a bigger technical share of small firms. In other words, financial development through banking development has a more positive effect on small firms than large firms. This result is not valid for the development of the stock market.

Mohsen Heidary,1,2 Saeed Zaker Bostanabad,3,4 Seyed Mohammad Amini,5 Alireza Jafari,6 Mostafa Ghalami Nobar,4,7 Arash Ghodousi,8 Morteza Kamalzadeh,9 Davood Darban-Sarokhalil1 1Department of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 2Student Research Committee, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran; 3Microbiology Department, Islamic Azad University-Parand Branch, Tehran, Iran; 4Mycobacteriology Department, Massoud Laboratory, Tehran, Iran; 5Radiation Biology Research Center, Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), Tehran, Iran; 6Inflammatory Lung Diseases Research Center, Department of Internal Medicine, Razi Hospital, School of Medicine, Guilan University of Medical Sciences, Rasht, Iran; 7Reference Health Laboratory of Iran (RHL), Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Tehran, Iran; 8Emerging Bacterial Pathogens Unit, Division of Immunology, Transplantation and Infectious Diseases, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milano, Italy; 9Quality Control, Department, Razi Vaccine and Research Institute, Agricultural Research Education and Extension Organization, Karaj, IranCorrespondence: Davood Darban-SarokhalilDepartment of Microbiology, School of Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranEmail davood_darban@yahoo.comBackground: Nowadays, tuberculosis (TB) is one of the top ten leading causes of mortality worldwide. The emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) – and extensively drug-resistant (XDR) – Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis) is identified as one of the most challenging threats to TB control. Thus, new and safe nano-drugs are urgently required for the elimination of TB. The aim of this study was to investigate the anti-bacterial effects of Ag, ZnO, and Ag-ZnO nanoparticles (NPs) on MDR- and XDR-M. tuberculosis.Materials and methods: In this study, Ag, ZnO, and Ag-ZnO NPs were synthesized by the chemical reduction and chemical deposition methods. NPs were characterized using ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering, and transmission electron microscopy. Then, various dilutions of NPs were prepared and their minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimum bactericidal concentrations (MBCs) were determined against M. tuberculosis strains using the broth microdilution and agar microdilution methods. Finally, MTT test and cell culture assay were performed.Results: The effects of concentrations of 1–128 μg/mL Ag NPs, ZnO NPs, 2Ag: 8ZnO, 8Ag:2ZnO, 3Ag: 7ZnO, 7Ag:3ZnO, and 5Ag:5ZnO on M. tuberculosis strains were investigated. MIC results showed the inhibitory effect of 1 μg/mL of all NPs against XDR-M. tuberculosis. In addition, the concentrations of 4 μg/mL Ag, 8 μg/mL 5Ag:5ZnO, 8 μg/mL 7Ag:3ZnO, 32 μg/mL 3Ag:7ZnO, 16 μg/mL 8Ag:2ZnO, and 64 μg/mL 2Ag:8ZnO inhibited MDR-M. tuberculosis growth. However, MBC results indicated the inability of Ag, ZnO and Ag-ZnO NPs, either in combination or alone, to kill MDR- or XDR-M. tuberculosis.Conclusion: To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to evaluate the effects of Ag and ZnO NPs against MDR and XDR strains of M. tuberculosis. According to the results, Ag and ZnO NPs showed bacteriostatic effects against drug-resistant strains of M. tuberculosis. Therefore, these NPs may be considered as promising anti-mycobacterial nano-drugs. However, further studies are required to affirm the bactericidal effects of these NPs against TB.Keywords: Mycobacterium tuberculosis, silver, zinc oxide, nanoparticle, MDR-TB, XDR-TB

Background & Objective: Academic motivation plays a significant role in self-directed learning due to giving energy to learners and directing their activities. This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between academic motivation and hope for the future with readiness for self-directed learning in dental students in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences and Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran. Materials and Methods: This descriptive, correlational study was performed on dental students in Isfahan University of Medical Sciences and Islamic Azad University, Isfahan (Khorasgan) branch. In total, 265 students were selected using Krejcie and Morgan Table. Data collection tools included demographic characteristics questionnaire, adults dispositional hope scale, and academic motivation and self-directed learning readiness scale, which were completed by the participants during the study. In addition, data analysis was performed in SPSS version 16 using Pearson’s correlation coefficient and multiple regression tests in a step-by-step form. Results: In this study, there was a positive, significant relationship between academic motivation and hope for the future (P

Purpose: The main purpose of this research is to locate the public libraries in Bojnourd based on the indicators of centrality, consistency and natural features of the earth. Identification of the major criteria in the site selection of the libraries, determination of the appropriate method for standardizing and weighting the criteria, and definition of appropriate scenarios for each of the selected area as based on their physical properties. Method: The present study's method is descriptive with a practical nature and a quantitative approach, and the survey method has been used to collect the data. In order to standardize the criteria maps, fuzzy functions were used; in to weigh the site selection criteria, the Fuzzy Analytical Hierarchy Process (FAHP) were utilized; and to combine the criteria, the weighted linear combination (WLC) were used. The Delphi method and paired comparison questionnaire were used to weight the criteria. The statistical population is composed of the experts related to the site selection of libraries, and 12 persons were selected as the sample using the targeted non-random sampling method. Findings: The findings of the research indicated that in general, population density, accessibility, distance from existing libraries, proximity to educational centers and proximity to cultural and religious centers, respectively, have been the most important criteria in terms of the importance of the final weight of criteria. By combining the criteria considered in this study, 6 areas had a high spatial fitness for library space. In addition, given the standard per capita, Bojnurd city needs 3 new libraries which can be selected according to the policies considered, from the 6 areas with high spatial fitness. Originality/value: Locating the appropriate areas for building a library can prevent additional costs before building a library. In addition, the correct site selection of libraries can have a significant impact on the efficiency of libraries. Considering the limited budget and the equipping policies of libraries, various strategies are adopted to lease a place for the library or to build a new library. Therefore, several plans and scenarios are presented in this research with an innovative approach within the selected areas according to the status of the existing uses of buildings and and the bulidings' quality. Furthermore, the most important issue that has received less attention thus far is the uncertainty in judgments. Therefore, the fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making method was used in order to solve this problem.