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Abstract: To investigate the effect of nutrition management along with zeolite application on the fertilizer use efficiency and irrigation water productivity of two cultivars of maize under deficit irrigation conditions, a field experiment was carried out. The experiment was conducted at Soil and Water Research Institute, Karaj, Iran, in 2015 and 2016, in the form of a factorial split plot layout based on a randomized complete block with three replications. Experimental treatments included: two levels of irrigation: full irrigation (I1) and low irrigation (70% full irrigation) (I2) as the main factor, and the factorial combination of fertilizer application at five levels; 1- conventional application of fertilizer (F1), 2- conventional application of fertilizer + 10 tons of zeolite per hectare from the source of clinoptilolite (F2), 3 - fertilizer application according to the recommended method (F3), 4. fertilizer application in the recommended method and 10 tons of zeolite per hectare from the source of clinoptilolite (F4), 5- control (without fertilizer) (F5) and maize cultivars: late maturity (Cross-704) (C1) and early maturity (C-Fajr) (C2) was considered as the sub-factor. The results showed that deficit irrigation reduced the grain yield of maize (17% and 20%, respectively, in Fajr and 704). The effect of fertilizer application on all plant traits was, therefore, significant in this study. Under deficit irrigation conditions, the highest grain yield of corn varieties was obtained from the recommended fertilizer application + zeolite (cultivars 704 and 260 produced 7934.3 and 7793.8 kg/ha, respectively), but it was decreased by 7% and 15%, respectively, as compared to the recommended application of fertilization + zeolite (cultivars 704 and 260 varieties produced 8180 and 9170.29 kg ha-1, respectively) under full irrigation condition. The results showed that using an appropriate fertilizer management with the consumption of 10 tons per hectare of zeolite, may lead to saving 30 percent in irrigation water consumption (about 2100 m3 per hectare) and obtaining good grain yield.

This article discusses the use of a mosque as a surge capacity facility during the Covid-19 pandemic in Iran. Due to limited healthcare capacity, a mosque in Neyshabur was repurposed into a clinic for triage patients. The clinic operated for 30 days and admitted up to 800 patients per day. The article highlights the advantages of using religious sites as additional treatment venues, such as parking availability and suitable physical structures. It also emphasizes the importance of teamwork, safety standards, and utilizing healthcare professionals from universities and volunteer organizations. The article concludes by emphasizing the need for preparedness and planning for future outbreaks. [Extracted from the article]

Background & Objectives: Exclusive breast-feeding during the first 6 months of life is the best type of nutrition for the infants in terms of fulfilling their its physical and emotional needs. The incidence of many kinds of infection decreases with breast-feeding. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of exclusive breast-feeding infants aged less than 6 months in Mash'had and to look at some factors that affect breastfeeding. Methods: This population-based survey used a stratified cluster sampling method to draw 30 clusters containing a total of 1450 infants aged 7-12 months. Data collection was performed using both questionnaires and interviews with mothers. Exclusive breast-feeding was defined as nursing through the first 6 months of life without any other food intake except drugs and vitamin supplements.Results: The study achieved a response rate of 87.4% in mothers; 51.2% of the infants were male and the remaining 48.8% (618) were female. The overall prevalence of exclusive breast-feeding during the first 6 months was 56.4% with (95% CI: 49.7%-63.2%). The figure was 57.2% (95% CI: 49.9%-64.4%) for boys and 55.7% (95% CI: 48.7%-62.6%) for girls. In this survey, 91.7% of the infants (95% CI: 88.7%–94.7%) had received breast-feeding immediately after birth. In multiple logistic regression analysis, the mother's age, her awareness of the adequacy of her milk, and advice from others to use formulas were the factors that had a significant relationship with breast-feeding in the first 6 months. Conclusions: Almost 43% of infants had received alternative nutrition such as family food or formula. Considering the important effect of breast-feeding, provision of educational programs by the Health Ministry to raise the mothers' awareness of breast feeding can be a priority in children's health.

While levodopa (L-Dopa) is the primary treatment for alleviating Parkinson's disease (PD), its efficacy is hindered by challenges such as a short half-life and inconsistent plasma levels. As PD progresses, the rising need for increased and more frequent L-Dopa doses coupled with symptom fluctuations and dyskinesias underscores the urgency for improved comprehension of the interplay between L-Dopa levels and PD motor symptoms. Addressing this critical need, we present a decentralized testing method using a disposable biosensor strip and a universal slope (U-slope) calibration-free approach. This enables reliable, rapid, simple, and cost-effective decentralized L-Dopa measurements from capillary blood. A pilot study with PD persons demonstrates the ability to monitor real-time L-Dopa pharmacokinetics from fingerstick blood after oral L-Dopa-Carbidopa (C-Dopa) tablet administration. Correlating capillary blood L-Dopa levels with PD motor scores revealed a well-defined inverse correlation with temporal motor fluctuations. We compared the resulting dynamic capillary blood L-Dopa levels with plasma L-Dopa levels using the traditional but clinically impractical high-performance liquid chromatography technique. By providing timely feedback on a proper L-Dopa dosing regimen in a decentralized and rapid fashion, this new biosensing platform will facilitate tailored optimal L-Dopa dosing, towards improving symptom management and enhancing health-related quality of life., (© 2024 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Background: The occurrence of side effects of vaccines plays an important role in their acceptance by people. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the side effects of COVID-19 vaccines (Sputnik-V, AstraZeneca, and Sinopharm) in Neyshabur health care workers (HCWs). Methods: A cross-sectional study was performed to evaluate the side effects of COVID-19 vaccines among the HCWs of the Neyshabur University of Medical Sciences from July 31, 2021, to September 6, 2021, by using a self-report checklist. We sent our checklist via an internet link to collect data such as demographic data of participants, previous COVID-19 infection (PCR+), vaccine information and side effects of vaccines. Mean, median and standard deviation were used to determine descriptive statistics and a logistic regression model was also used to determine the relationship between the type of vaccine and its side effects. Results: 317 participants filled out the checklist; among them 47% (N= 149), 21.14% (N= 67), and 31.86% (N= 101) have been vaccinated with Sputnik-V, AstraZeneca, and Sinopharm, respectively. The percentage of side effects after the first dose was 62.15% (N= 197). The Percentage of local side effects was 76% (N= 241) and systemic side effects were 29.36% (N= 95). The most common side effects in all three vaccines were injection site pain (75.08%, N= 240), muscle pain (62.46%, N=198) and headache (52.05%, N=165). Also, the odds ratio of injection site pain, chill and sweating in those who received the AstraZeneca vaccine was 3.9(95% CI, 1.7-9.3), 3.7 (95% CI, 1.8-7.3), and 3.2 (95% CI, 1.7-63), of those who received the Sputnik V vaccine ( p ≤ 0.001). Conclusion: The most common side effects among our participants were injection site pain, muscle pain, and headache. Most of the post-vaccination side effects are mild to moderate in severity and self-limited. Reported side effects were more common in recipients with AstraZeneca than in those with Sputnik-V and Sinopharm., (© 2022 Iran University of Medical Sciences.)

Background and Objective: Preclinical studies suggest that curcumin might be a potential neuroprotective agent in Parkinson's disease (PD). This clinical trial aimed to evaluate the efficacy of adding nanomicelle curcumin on improving the motor and non-motor symptoms of PD patients and their quality of life., Material and Methods: Idiopathic PD patients aged ≥30≥ 30 whose symptoms were under control were included in this pilot, randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled, add-on trial. Eligible patients were randomly assigned to either the curcumin (n = 30, 80 mg/day) or placebo (n = 30) groups and were followed for nine months. Primary outcomes were the Movement Disorder Society-sponsored revision of the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (MDS-UPDRS) and Parkinson's Disease Questionnaire (PDQ-39). These variables, along with demographic data, drug history, and possible side effects of curcumin, were gathered at the beginning of the study and every three months. A mixed effects model was used to compare the group-by-time interaction, followed by post hoc analysis., Results: Although the mean MDS-UPDRS and PDQ-39 scores were not significantly different between the curcumin and placebo groups at any time points, MDS-UPDRS part III (P = 0.04) showed a significant difference in its overall trend between the study groups. However, post hoc analysis failed to spot this difference at study time points. The most common side effects of curcumin were nausea and vomiting (P = 0.25) and gastroesophageal reflux (P = 0.42)., Conclusion: While curcumin is a well-tolerated natural compound, this trial was unsuccessful in showing its efficacy in quality of life and clinical symptoms of PD patients., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Objective: Volunteers need considerable resiliency to cope with formidable challenges during their operations in disaster scenes. The present study was conducted to identify factors affecting the different aspects of resiliency among volunteers in disasters., Material and Methods: The databases of Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, ProQuest, Google Scholar, World Health Organization Library, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) Library, PsycArticles, and SafetyLit were searched until September 29, 2018. The main search terms were resiliency, disaster, humanitarian aid worker, and volunteer., Results: A total of 548 documents were obtained and screened based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. A number of 8 documents was selected for the final analysis. The main factors contributing to the resilience of volunteers at the 3 stages of pre-, during, and post-disasters were classified into 3 groups of individual, environmental, and organizational. Important factors affecting resilience of volunteers in disasters included previous disaster response experience and disaster-related training., Conclusion: Resiliency should be deemed integral to relief operations. Considering the main factors affecting volunteers' resiliency, it is highly suggested that organizations active in humanitarian endeavors explore the factors impacting on resilience among their volunteers via various research methods and seek to select those with higher degrees of resilience in order to avert untoward consequences in their missions.

Introduction: Fourier domain Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a widely used high-resolution optical imaging technique. It is useful for various applications in medical imaging, such as ophthalmology (e.g. retinal imaging for diagnosing complications like glaucoma or macular degeneration), dermatology, oncology, and cardiology. The ability to noninvasively measure both the refractive index and thickness of biological tissues could have various medical applications and enable earlier disease detection. For example, observing changes in the refractive index can help distinguish between tissues with normal or abnormal function. Methods: In this study, the theoretical framework for simultaneous measurement of the refractive index and physical thickness of multilayer systems is proposed and tested for two different samples, each having three layers, a glass/NaCl solution/glass sample and a glass/sugar solution/glass sample. The whole signal processing procedure and the experimental setup are described. Results: The refractive index and thickness of salt water and sugar water samples in the Fourier-domain OCT (FD-OCT) system were obtained. The resulting data were compared with reference measurements and showed a deviation of about 1% for the samples. Conclusion: We tested the proposed framework for the simultaneous extraction of the refractive index and thickness of multilayer systems of salt water and sugar water from its FD-OCT data. We showed that the measured parameters were in agreement with reference amounts., (Copyright © 2021 J Lasers Med Sci.)

Background: There is controversy regarding Alberta Stroke Program Early CT Score (ASPECTS) and platelet indices as predictors of outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke (AIS). We aimed to assess the prognostic value of ASPECTS, mean platelet volume (MPV), plateletcrit (PCT), and platelet count (Plt) in 3-month and 1-year functional outcomes of AIS patients, both independently and in combination., Methods: This prospective study was conducted in Shams Al-shomuos and Ghaem hospitals of Mashhad, Iran from June 2019 to January 2021. Overall, 553 patients above 18 years old with first-ever anterior circulation AIS met the eligibility criteria and were included. Clinical, hematologic, radiologic, and demographic data of patients were recorded at baseline. The 3-month and 1-year functional outcome was evaluated by modified Rankin Scale (mRS). Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the independent predictors of poor functional outcome (mRS>2) and mortality., Results: The mean age of the patients was 65.50 ± 14.41 years and 282 patients (51%) were male. ASPECTS ≤ 7 was an independent predictor of both poor function (OR=1.94, 95%CI=1.04-3.62, P = 0.04) and mortality (OR=2.02, 95%CI=1.14-3.58, P = 0.02) at 1 year. MPV was also a strong predictor of 3-month (OR=3.88, 95%CI=2.04-7.38, P = 0.02) and 1-year (OR=3.32, 95%CI=1.91-5.78, P = 0.01) mortality, as well as 3-month (OR=3.25, 95%CI=1.80-5.86, P < 0.001) and 1-year (OR=4.35, 95%CI=2.36-8.02, P < 0.001) poor function. For 1-year poor function (OR=9.33, 95%CI=2.19-39.73, P = 0.003) and mortality (OR=6.40, 95%CI=2.09-19.64, P = 0.001), ASPECTS combined with all platelet indices found to be a more robust independent predictor compared to each variable alone., Conclusion: Although MPV is an independent predictor of both 3-month and 1-year poor function and mortality in AIS patients, ASPECTS ≤ 7 was found to be a risk factor for 1-year poor function and mortality. Moreover, the prognostic value of both platelet indices and ASPECTS are greater when they are combined together in AIS patients., (Copyright © 2021. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

Background: Examining various problems after disasters is important for the affected people. Managing humanitarian aid and donations among the affected people is considered as one of the most important problems after disasters. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the challenges and barriers of humanitarian aid management in 2017 Kermanshah Earthquake., Methods: This study was conducted from November 2017 to January 2018, with qualitative case study design. The population included 21 people including 6 humanitarian aid manager, 6 volunteers, 4 aid workers, and 5 affected people. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and purposeful sampling, which continued until saturating the data. The strategies recommended by Guba were used for evaluating the trustworthiness of the data. The data was analyzed with conventional content analysis method according to method suggested by Graneheim and Lundman., Results: Based on the results, two themes, nine categories, and 19 sub-categories were identified considering the challenges and barriers of humanitarian aid and donors' management during the 2017 Kermanshah Earthquake. The categories included education, command and coordination, communication and information, rules, security, traffic and overcrowding, assessment, providing system, and cultural setting. Also, two themes including managerial and structural barriers were extracted., Conclusion: Adopting an effective management and appropriate policies with respect to humanitarian aid and modifying structural and managerial barriers can improve the performance and management of humanitarian aid.

Background: Humanitarian aid workers experience various challenges in disasters, which affects their wellbeing. Being resilience can help volunteers to adapt to them. This study was conducted to develop and validate a resiliency questionnaire to evaluate the resilience of humanitarian aid workers in disasters. Methods: This study was conducted in 2 phases between Dec 2017 and Oct 2018. In the first phase for item generation, we used qualitative content analysis. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 18 humanitarian aid workers were used for data collection. In the second phase, by conducting a quantitative study, the psychometric properties of the scale including face, content and construct validities as well as internal and external reliabilities, were determined. Data analysis was performed using SPSS 19 and the significance level was set at less than 0.05. Results: Six main subjects were extracted from the first-stage data using content analysis. The final questionnaire included six factors and 31 items after validity and reliability criteria analysis. These six factors including organizational supports, individual factors, organizational planning, social support, teamwork and challenges of disaster scene included 52.19% of the variance. The internal consistency was confirmed as well (Cronbach's alpha = 0.814). Conclusion: This specific self-assessment questionnaire can be used for scoring the resilience of humanitarian aid workers in disasters. In the case of low resilience score of volunteers, managers should avoid sending them on missions and try to improve their resilience through educational programs., (© 2019 Iran University of Medical Sciences.)

Background/aims: Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is one of the most common chronic liver diseases. Some risk factors are known to influence the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, but the effect of tobacco smoking on the progression of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is controversial. The main goal of this systematic review and meta-analysis is to investigate the association between smoking and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease., Method: Electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, and ISI Web of Science) were searched to find published articles on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and smoking until December 2016. All relevant studies were screened by inclusion and exclusion criteria and compatible studies were chosen. The Newcastle-Ottawa Scale was used to assess the methodological quality of eligible articles. Subsequently, information was gathered based on the following: author, publication year, keywords, country, inclusion and exclusion criteria, main results, study design, conclusion, and confounder variables (age, body mass index, gender, ethnicity, and diabetes). Finally, analyses were performed using Comprehensive Meta-Analysis Software., Results: Data were extracted from 20 observational studies (9 cross-sectional, 6 case-control, 4 cohort studies, and 1 retrospective cohort study). A significant association was observed between smoking and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease with a pooled odds ratio of 1.110 (95% confidence interval, 1.028-1.199), p-value = 0.008. The statistical heterogeneity was medium with an I2 of 40.012%, p-heterogeneity = 0.074. Also there was a significant relation between non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and passive smoking with a pooled odds ratio of 1.380 (95% confidence interval, 1.199-1.588; p-value = 0.001; I2 = 59.41; p-heterogeneity = 0.117)., Conclusion: Our meta-analysis demonstrated that smoking is significantly associated with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. Further prospective studies exploring the underlying mechanisms of this association should be pursued. Also passive smoking increases the risk of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease about 1.38-fold. The effects of smoking cigarettes on active smokers (current smoker, former smoker, and total smoker) are less than passive smokers. Further studies are needed to compare the of effects of passive and active smoking on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Background: Explosions are classified as both man-made and complex accidents. Explosive events can cause serious damage to people, property, and the environment. This study aimed to investigate the pattern and nature of damage incurred to the victims of the Neyshabur Train Explosion., Methods: The current study is a descriptive cross-sectional study that was retrospectively performed on 99 individuals using census method and documents victims hospitalized due to the Neyshabur train disaster (February 2004) in 2016. In this study, different variables such as age, sex, type of injury, treatment, etc. were examined using a questionnaire and were analyzed using SPSS16., Results: The results showed that 50.5% of victims were males with mean age of 30.33 ± 4.27 years and most of them were in 20- to 40-year age group. A total of 98 victims were discharged after treatment, and 1 victim died due to the severity of injuries after 3 days of hospitalization. Second type of injuries caused by the explosion accounted for most of the injuries (55.6%), and most treatments (54.5%) were related to the specific field of orthopedics., Conclusion: Handling and transportation of fuels and chemicals via rail transport system is one of the potential hazards that threatens human life. The results showed that the highest numbers of victims were in 20- to 40-year age group, which is the age of economic efficiency. The prevention and reduction of human and financial losses resulting from accidents require proper national planning., Competing Interests: We obtained ethical approval from the Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences Ethics Committee (IR.SBMU.RETECH.REC.1396.792).Not applicable.The authors declare that they have no competing interests.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Collagen fibril is a major component of connective tissues such as bone, tendon, blood vessels, and skin. The mechanical properties of this highly hierarchical structure are greatly influenced by the presence of covalent cross-links between individual collagen molecules. This study investigates the viscoelastic behavior of a collagen lysine-lysine cross-link based on creep simulations with applied forces in the range or 10 to 2000pN using steered molecular dynamics (SMD). The viscoelastic model of the cross-link was combined with a system composed by two segments of adjacent collagen molecules hence representing a reduced viscoelastic model for a simplified micro-fibril. It was found that the collagen micro-fibril assembly had a steady-state Young׳s modulus ranging from 2.24 to 3.27GPa, which is in agreement with reported experimental measurements. The propagation of longitudinal force wave along the molecule was implemented by adding a delay element to the model. The force wave speed was found to be correlated with the speed of one-dimensional elastic waves in rods. The presented reduced model with three degrees of freedom can serve as a building block for developing models of the next level of hierarchy, i.e., a collagen fibril., (Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Unique mechanical properties of collagen molecule make it one of the most important and abundant proteins in animals. Many tissues such as connective tissues rely on these properties to function properly. In the past decade, molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been used extensively to study the mechanical behavior of molecules. For collagen, MD simulations were primarily used to determine its elastic properties. In this study, constant force steered MD simulations were used to perform creep tests on collagen molecule segments. The mechanical behavior of the segments, with lengths of approximately 20 (1X), 38 (2X), 74 (4X), and 290 nm (16X), was characterized using a quasi-linear model to describe the observed viscoelastic responses. To investigate the mechanisms of the viscoelastic behavior, hydrogen bonds (H-bonds) rupture/formation time history of the segments were analyzed and it was shown that the formation growth rate of H-bonds in the system is correlated with the creep growth rate of the segment (β=2.41βH). In addition, a linear relationship between H-bonds formation growth rate and the length of the segment was quantified. Based on these findings, a general viscoelastic model was developed and verified here, using the smallest segment as a building block, the viscoelastic properties of larger segments could be predicted. In addition, the effect of temperature control methods on the mechanical properties were studied, and it was shown that application of Langevin Dynamics had adverse effect on these properties while the Lowe-Anderson method was shown to be more appropriate for this application. This study provides information that is essential for multi-scale modeling of collagen fibrils using a bottom-up approach., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The presence or absence of pulsus paradoxus (PP), defined as an inspiratory decrease greater than 10 mmHg in systolic blood pressure, can have significant diagnostic and therapeutic implications for many clinical conditions including acute asthma, pericardial tamponade, heart failure, hypovolemia, shock states, and the like. However, PP may be difficult to measure in children. Indwelling arterial catheters facilitate the measurement of PP, but this invasive technique generally is reserved for critically ill patients. This study aimed to assess the use of the pulse oximetry plethysmographic waveform (POPW) for the detection of PP in pediatric patients after cardiac surgery. The study enrolled 40 pediatric patients 18 years of age and younger who had invasive blood pressure monitoring with an intraarterial cannula. Systolic pressure variability (SPV) and changes in POPW amplitude (DeltaPOPW%), calculated using five consecutive snapshots from every patient's monitor, were compared using linear regression, Pearson product-moment correlation, the Spearman rank method, and receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve analysis. A strong correlation existed between respiratory SPV and DeltaPOPW% for the detection of PP (r = 0.682; p < 0.0001). A respiratory variation in DeltaPOPW% exceeding 25.44% (about one-fourth the amplitude of the tallest POP waveform) allowed detection of PP with a sensitivity of 86.7% and a specificity of 88%. Pulse oximetry is a readily available and easily performed noninvasive means for detecting PP in children.