The comparison of competitive balance in Football Premier Leagues of England, Germany, Spain, France, Italy and Iran: a case study from 2009-2010 Season

Most sports are attractive because they are almost unpredictable. The more the competitiveness of league teams, the harder to predict the games and as a result, that league will be more attractive. Competitive balance refers to the balance in sport capabilities of teams. The aim of this paper was to compare the competitive balance in football premier leagues of Iran, England, Germany, Spain, France and Italy in 2009-2010 season. The data were secondary and collected from the final tables of premier leagues of those countries in 2009-2010 season. The five-club concentration ratio (C5) and C5 index of competitive balance (C5ICB) were used to analyze the data. The less C5ICB and C5 are, the more competitive balance is, and conversely. The C5ICB results showed that the leagues were ranked (ranging from most balance to least balance) as follows: Iran Pro League (129.60), Germany Bundesliga (135.37), French 1st League (138), Serie A, Italy (140), English Premier League (148) and Primera Liga, Spain (149.60). As a result, Iran premier league enjoyed the most balance and Primera Liga, Spain the least balance. In spite of the sport economics research representing lack of comparability between European leagues and other leagues in world, competitive balance has been decreased clearly in European leagues

Detection and genotyping of Toxoplasma gondii isolated from soil in Ahvaz, southwest of Iran

Abstract To detection and genotype of Toxoplasma gondii isolated from soil in Ahvaz, southwest of Iran. Between August 2011 and May 2012 at different sites located in the area of the Ahvaz city south west Iran. A total of 200 soil samples were taken from different points of the region. Oocysts were recovered using the flotation method. Then, PCR reactions targeting the GRA6 gene were performed for specific T. gondii detection. The positive samples were studied by RFLP (random amplified fragment length polymorphism) using MseI enzymes to confirm the parasite linage. Toxoplasma DNA was found in 18 samples. Among them, 12 samples were successfully genotyped as GRA6 type III and 6 as GRA6 Type II. This is the first investigation detecting and genotyping T. gondii oocyst in environmental soil samples of Ahvaz, South west of Iran. The results of this study indicated that soil contaminated with T. gondii oocysts especially in public park may play a role in the epidemiology of human toxoplasmosis in southwest of Iran

Immunological cross reaction between cancer cells and hydatid cyst

Background and aims: Hydatid cyst is the larval stage of the tape worm Echinococcu granulosus. Anticancer effects of some parasites have been shown. Moreover, existence of common antigens between some parasites especially hydatid cyst and cancers have been reported. So, immunological cross reaction between hydatid cyst and cancer cell antigens has been investigated in this study. Methods: In this laboratory descriptive study, different hydatid cyst antigens were prepared and antibody raised against them in rabbits. In dot immunoblotting, those antigens were probed with sera of patients with cancers (collected from Imam Hossein Hospital in Isfahan). Also, cross reaction among excretory secretory products of cancer cells and antisera raised against different hydatid cyst antigen was investigated. In order to remove carbohydrate bands of antigens, sodium periodate buffer was used. Results: Antisera raised against laminated & germinal layers of hydatid cyst reacted with excretory secretory products of cancer cells. Also, antigens of hydatid cysts reacted with cancer patients sera. Carbohydrate bands of antigens were involved in some immunological cross reactions. Conclusion: Results of this work emphasis existence of common antigens between hydatid cyst and cancers. Therefore, more study about these common antigens is recommende

Enhancing web application security through automated penetration testing with multiple vulnerability scanners.

Penetration testers have increasingly adopted multiple penetration testing scanners to ensure the robustness of web applications. However, a notable limitation of many scanning techniques is their susceptibility to producing false positives. This paper presents a novel framework designed to automate the operation of multiple Web Application Vulnerability Scanners (WAVS) within a single platform. The framework generates a combined vulnerabilities report using two algorithms: an automation algorithm and a novel combination algorithm that produces comprehensive lists of detected vulnerabilities. The framework leverages the capabilities of two web vulnerability scanners, Arachni and OWASP ZAP. The study begins with an extensive review of the existing scientific literature, focusing on open-source WAVS and exploring the OWASP 2021 guidelines. Following this, the framework development phase addresses the challenge of varying results obtained from different WAVS. This framework’s core objective is to combine the results of multiple WAVS into a consolidated vulnerability report, ultimately improving detection rates and overall security. The study demonstrates that the combined outcomes produced by the proposed framework exhibit greater accuracy compared to individual scanning results obtained from Arachni and OWASP ZAP. In summary, the study reveals that the Union List outperforms individual scanners, particularly regarding recall and F-measure. Consequently, adopting multiple vulnerability scanners is recommended as an effective strategy to bolster vulnerability detection in web applications

Microstructure and impression creep characteristics Al-9Si-xCu aluminum alloys

The effects of 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 wt.% Cu additions on the microstructure and creep behavior of the as-cast Al-9Si alloy were investigated by impression tests. The tests were performed at temperature ranging from 493 to 553 K and under punching stresses in the range 300 to 414 MPa for dwell times up to 3000 seconds. The results showed that, for all loads and temperatures, the Al-9Si-3.5Cu alloy had the lowest creep rates and thus, the highest creep resistance among all materials tested. This is attributed to the formation of hard intermetallic compound of Al2Cu, and higher amount of α-Al2Cu eutectic phase. The stress exponent and activation energy are in the ranges of 5.2- 7.2 and 115 -150 kJ/ mol, respectively for all alloys. According to the stress exponent and creep activation energies, the lattice and pipe diffusion- climb controlled dislocation creep were the dominant creep mechanism

The impact of intellectual capital disclosure on common cost of equity in the companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange

Nowadays, the use of non- tangible assets due to its competitive advantage has significant impact on the success and survival of organizations, hence the identification, measurement, and management of intellectual capital is of particular importance and makes real value of the organizations revealed. The impact of intellectual capital disclosures provides useful information to assist actual and potential investors in making rational decisions. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of intellectual capital disclosure and its components on the sort of equity in the period of five years from 2008 to 2012 in the companies listed in Tehran stock exchange. Thus, 80 stock companies were considered as the samples and for this study, four hypotheses have been considered. The variables of the study were first identified and excel software was used to calculate the variables which are independent from Palyk model to measure the variables of the study. The data were analyzed by SPSS Statistics software version 20 and applying descriptive and inferential statistics such as correlation analysis, multiple regressions to test the hypotheses. The results of the statistical hypothesis test show there is a positive and significant relationship between intellectual capital disclosure and common Cost of equity. Also, the results indicated that the effect of the two components from the components of the intellectual capital - structural capital and human capital disclosure - on the independent variable, common Cost of equity, is not significant, but the impact of Capital Employed Disclosure on common cost of equity was significant, positive and reasonable

The impact of intellectual capital disclosure on common cost of equity in the companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange

Nowadays, the use of non- tangible assets due to its competitive advantage has significant impact on the success and survival of organizations, hence the identification, measurement, and management of intellectual capital is of particular importance and makes real value of the organizations revealed. The impact of intellectual capital disclosures provides useful information to assist actual and potential investors in making rational decisions. The aim of this study was to investigate the impact of intellectual capital disclosure and its components on the sort of equity in the period of five years from 2008 to 2012 in the companies listed in Tehran stock exchange. Thus, 80 stock companies were considered as the samples and for this study, four hypotheses have been considered. The variables of the study were first identified and excel software was used to calculate the variables which are independent from Palyk model to measure the variables of the study. The data were analyzed by SPSS Statistics software version 20 and applying descriptive and inferential statistics such as correlation analysis, multiple regressions to test the hypotheses. The results of the statistical hypothesis test show there is a positive and significant relationship between intellectual capital disclosure and common Cost of equity. Also, the results indicated that the effect of the two components from the components of the intellectual capital - structural capital and human capital disclosure - on the independent variable, common Cost of equity, is not significant, but the impact of Capital Employed Disclosure on common cost of equity was significant, positive and reasonable