Iran’s poultry meat export status in the Middle East region

Agriculture is literally a matter of life and death in the developing world. Ninety-six per cent of the world’s farmers – approximately 1.3 billion people – live in developing countries. In the rural areas of the developing world, close to 900 million people live on less than $1 a day.The Doha mandate encouraged the hope that dumping of subsidised exports from rich countries would finally be brought to an end, that market access for developing countries would be improved,and that developing countries would continue to be permitted to use tariffs and other border measures as part of their rural development strategies. In the Middle East,agriculture is the largest contributor to the Gross Domestic Product and foreign exchange,and is the second largest employer.Yet despite its economic importance it is largely overlooked in the development of new technologies and in the allocation of trained human resources. Agriculture in the Middle East focuses on new ways to improve food production, the challenges of a largely arid land, and managing limited agricultural resources.Agriculture is one of the oldest income sources in Iran. Close to one-third of the working population are engaged in agriculture and related industries such as poultry farming.Agriculture plays a significant role in the Iranian economy. At now agriculture account for an average of 27.8 percent of the GDP, and employ 26.1 percent of the labor force.Also agricultural products account for 47 percent of non-oil exports.Poultry species play important roles in the livelihood of human beings throughout the world both in ways that are quantifiable economically and in others that cannot and are therefore not captured in economic indices such as national GDP estimates.Poultry meat contribute directly to food security because there are no taboos against their consumption.With regard to F.A.O annual reports(2004) ,Iran has been rated 1st producer and also 1st exporter of poultry meat in the Middle East region. Capital stock in this industry consists of Breeding Farms (lines) ,Grand Parents(GP), Parent stock (PS), Broilers, Slaughter-Houses and dependant industries of governmental and private sectors is 4000 Billions Rials (5 Billions$). The current production is related to 70% of production units potential ,so with regard to remained considerable potential,it is necessary to make of them in an optimum rate. Therefore poultry products exports particularly poultry meat can be used for increasing of income and development for poultry industry. The objective of this paper was to study the dynamics on comparative advantage of Iran’s poultry meat export in the Middle East market.Poultry meat,export,Revealed comparative advantage,iran,middle east

Spatial analysis of the physical development planning pattern in cities of Markazi province

Objective: Today, spatial analysis techniques in Geographic Information Systems (GIS) are used in many researches in the social, economic, environmental and physical sciences. The ability to integrated levels analysis and the possibility of combining different layers of information is the advantages of using these techniques. The purpose of this research is to spatial analysis of the physical development planning pattern in cities of Markazi province using spatial analysis techniques. Methods: The present paper is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive - analytical in terms of method. In this study, all enactments of Markazi Province infrastructure and urban planning committee between 2011 and 2017 were gathered. In order to analyze the spatial distribution of these enactments in the cities of Markazi province, the geographic information system spatial analysis has been used. In this research, three methods of Average Nearest Neighbor (ANN), High/Low Clustering (HLC) and Spatial Autocorrelation (SA) in statistical spatial analysis and Kernel Density (KD) estimation method were used to spatial show of the phenomena in continuous levels. Results:The results of this study indicate that the distribution of enactments at the provincial level has been clustered, which has led to the polarization pattern of the populous cities. Consequently, there has been a spatial focus and an increase in regional imbalances. Conclusion: Ignoring regional capacity and the role of environmental factors in the planning is one of the most prominent results of spatial analysis of the enactments of Markazi Province infrastructure and urban planning committee in the current decade. Therefore, by creating a geospatial database at the provincial level and updating and monitoring it continuously and analyzing the development policies in the cities level appropriate to regional and ecological capability, one can step towards sustainable regional development

Rehydration: Comparison of Isotonic and Hypotonic Saline with Dextrose in Children

Introduction: Early rehydration with bolus fluid can be life saving. We compared isotonic saline with a hypotonic fluid which was composed of saline 0.9%, dextrose, and bicarbonate in our clinical setting.Materials and Methods: 71 children entered to this study , 41 cases received isotonic saline and the remaining 30 cases received hypotonic fluid which was composed of 750 cc saline 0.9%, 28 cc bicarbonate 7.5%, and 222cc dextrose 5% for resuscitation fluid challenge at a dose of 20ml/kg over 20 minutes that could be repeated up to 3 times as needed. Serum sodium (Na), potassium (K), blood sugar (BS) and bicarbonate (HCo3) were measured before initiating rehydration and after 3 hours. T independent test was used to compare the values between the two groups and T paired test in each group in SPSS 16. The level of significance was set at 0.05.Results: Serum Na, K, BS, and HCo3 were 134±5, 3.8 ±0.6, 90±16, and 11.6±3.6 before and 135±4, 3.7±0.5, 73±13, and 15±3 three hours after rehydration in the isotonic group, respectively.In the isotonic rehydrated group, BS drop and HCo3 rise significantly (p<0.001). Serum Na, K, BS, and HCo3 were 134±6, 3.6±0.6, 91±15, and 10.1±1.9 before and 136±3, 3.6±0.4, 94±10, and 15±2 three hours after rehydration in the hypotonic saline group, respectively. Serum sodium increased 2meq/dl (p<0.04) and bicarbonate increased 4.9 meq/l (P< 0.001).Conclusions: The hypotonic serum containing 115meq/l of sodium chloride combined with 25meq/l of sodium bicarbonate and dextrose 1.1% is not associated with a decrease in BS or hyponatremia. It also increases serum HCo3 prominently.Keywords: Hypotonic Solutions; Isotonic Solutions; Dehydration; Child

Modeling Occupant-Building-Appliance Interaction for Energy Waste Analysis

AbstractThe objective of this paper is to discover the emergent energy performance and determinants of energy waste in buildings. Electricity consumption in the U.S. attributes to 73% of energy waste in buildings and much of this waste is due to improper design, operation, and use of appliances. In particular, the operation or use phase of buildings and the way occupants behave significantly contribute to energy waste. Understanding the determinants of energy waste during the operation phase of buildings is a challenging task due to the complex interactions between the occupants, building units, and appliances. To decode these complex interactions and facilitate a better understanding of the determinants of energy waste, a simulation approach is used in this study. An agent-based simulation model was developed to capture the diverse attributes and dynamic behaviors of building occupants at the interface of human-building-appliance interactions. The application of the proposed model is demonstrated in a case study. Using simulation experiments, the interactions between occupant, building unit and appliance on energy consumption were investigated. The simulation model also was used for estimating determinants of energy waste. In addition, the simulation model includes a visualization interface that facilitates communication of strategies between the buildings users and facility managers. The results will highlight the significant attributes and effective strategies for energy waste reduction at the interface of human-building-appliance interactions. This information has potentially significant implications for building designers, facility managers, and users through a better understanding of emergent energy performance of buildings

Investigating Evaluation Frameworks for Electronic Health Record: A Literature Review

BACKGROUND: There are various electronic health records (EHRs) evaluation frameworks with multiple dimensions and numerous sets of evaluation measures, while the coverage rate of evaluation measures in a common framework varies in different studies. AIM: This study provides a literature review of the current EHR evaluation frameworks and a model for measuring the coverage rate of evaluation measures in EHR frameworks. METHODS: The current study was a comprehensive literature review and a critical appraisal study. The study was conducted in three phases. In Phase 1, a literature review of EHR evaluation frameworks was conducted. In Phase 2, a three-level hierarchical structure was developed, which includes three aspects, 12 dimensions, and 110 evaluation measures. Subsequently, evaluation measures in the identified studies were categorized based on the hierarchical structure. In Phase 3, relative frequency (RF) of evaluation measures in different dimensions and aspects for each of the identified studies were determined and categorized as follows: Appropriate, moderate, and low coverage. RESULTS: Out of a total of 8276 retrieved articles, 62 studies were considered relevant. The RF range in the second and third level of the hierarchical structure was between 8.6%–91.94% and 0.2%–61%, respectively. “Ease of use” and “system quality” were the most frequent evaluation measure and dimension. Our results indicate that identified studies cover at least one and at most nine evaluation dimensions and current evaluation frameworks focus more on the technology aspect. Almost in all identified studies, evaluation measures related to the technology aspect were covered. However, evaluation measures related to human and organization aspects were covered in 68% and 84% of the identified studies, respectively. CONCLUSION: In this study, we systematically reviewed all literature presenting any type of EHR evaluation framework and analyzed and discussed their aspects and features. We believe that the findings of this study can help researchers to review and adopt the EHR evaluation frameworks for their own particular field of usage

Iran’s poultry meat export status in the Middle East region

Agriculture is literally a matter of life and death in the developing world. Ninety-six per cent of the world’s farmers – approximately 1.3 billion people – live in developing countries. In the rural areas of the developing world, close to 900 million people live on less than $1 a day.The Doha mandate encouraged the hope that dumping of subsidised exports from rich countries would finally be brought to an end, that market access for developing countries would be improved,and that developing countries would continue to be permitted to use tariffs and other border measures as part of their rural development strategies. In the Middle East,agriculture is the largest contributor to the Gross Domestic Product and foreign exchange,and is the second largest employer.Yet despite its economic importance it is largely overlooked in the development of new technologies and in the allocation of trained human resources. Agriculture in the Middle East focuses on new ways to improve food production, the challenges of a largely arid land, and managing limited agricultural resources.Agriculture is one of the oldest income sources in Iran. Close to one-third of the working population are engaged in agriculture and related industries such as poultry farming.Agriculture plays a significant role in the Iranian economy. At now agriculture account for an average of 27.8 percent of the GDP, and employ 26.1 percent of the labor force.Also agricultural products account for 47 percent of non-oil exports.Poultry species play important roles in the livelihood of human beings throughout the world both in ways that are quantifiable economically and in others that cannot and are therefore not captured in economic indices such as national GDP estimates.Poultry meat contribute directly to food security because there are no taboos against their consumption.With regard to F.A.O annual reports(2004) ,Iran has been rated 1st producer and also 1st exporter of poultry meat in the Middle East region. Capital stock in this industry consists of Breeding Farms (lines) ,Grand Parents(GP), Parent stock (PS), Broilers, Slaughter-Houses and dependant industries of governmental and private sectors is 4000 Billions Rials (5 Billions$). The current production is related to 70% of production units potential ,so with regard to remained considerable potential,it is necessary to make of them in an optimum rate. Therefore poultry products exports particularly poultry meat can be used for increasing of income and development for poultry industry. The objective of this paper was to study the dynamics on comparative advantage of Iran’s poultry meat export in the Middle East market

Iran’s poultry meat export status in the Middle East region

Agriculture is literally a matter of life and death in the developing world. Ninety-six per cent of the world’s farmers – approximately 1.3 billion people – live in developing countries. In the rural areas of the developing world, close to 900 million people live on less than $1 a day.The Doha mandate encouraged the hope that dumping of subsidised exports from rich countries would finally be brought to an end, that market access for developing countries would be improved,and that developing countries would continue to be permitted to use tariffs and other border measures as part of their rural development strategies. In the Middle East,agriculture is the largest contributor to the Gross Domestic Product and foreign exchange,and is the second largest employer.Yet despite its economic importance it is largely overlooked in the development of new technologies and in the allocation of trained human resources. Agriculture in the Middle East focuses on new ways to improve food production, the challenges of a largely arid land, and managing limited agricultural resources.Agriculture is one of the oldest income sources in Iran. Close to one-third of the working population are engaged in agriculture and related industries such as poultry farming.Agriculture plays a significant role in the Iranian economy. At now agriculture account for an average of 27.8 percent of the GDP, and employ 26.1 percent of the labor force.Also agricultural products account for 47 percent of non-oil exports.Poultry species play important roles in the livelihood of human beings throughout the world both in ways that are quantifiable economically and in others that cannot and are therefore not captured in economic indices such as national GDP estimates.Poultry meat contribute directly to food security because there are no taboos against their consumption.With regard to F.A.O annual reports(2004) ,Iran has been rated 1st producer and also 1st exporter of poultry meat in the Middle East region. Capital stock in this industry consists of Breeding Farms (lines) ,Grand Parents(GP), Parent stock (PS), Broilers, Slaughter-Houses and dependant industries of governmental and private sectors is 4000 Billions Rials (5 Billions$). The current production is related to 70% of production units potential ,so with regard to remained considerable potential,it is necessary to make of them in an optimum rate. Therefore poultry products exports particularly poultry meat can be used for increasing of income and development for poultry industry. The objective of this paper was to study the dynamics on comparative advantage of Iran’s poultry meat export in the Middle East market

A study on the activity and thermal stability of adenosine deaminase in the presence of spermine

Adenosine Deaminase is an aminohydrolase (EC 3.5.4.4) which participates in the purine metabolism where it degrades either adenosine or 2'-deoxyadenosine producing inosine or 2'-deoxyinosine, respectively. The enzyme contains a parallel alpha/beta -barrel motif with eight central beta strands and eight peripheral alpha helices. ADA is located both in the cytosol and on the cell membrane. Since spermine, a natural metabolite, exists in all cells and tissues and its effect on the cell proliferation and enzyme regulation have been reported,  thermal inactivation of the ADA and spermine regulatory effect on the ADA activity have been investigated in this study. Percentage of ADA activity in the presence and absence of spermine (1000 µM) in Tris buffer 50 mM, pH 7.5 at physiologic and pathologic temperatures have been reported in the present study. Thermal inactivation curves for ADA in the absence and presence of spermine (1000 µM) in different temperatures ranging from 55 oC to 70 oC have been drawn. Our data showed that spermine activates the enzyme in the low concentrations of adenosine at 37 oC. However, it inhibits ADA activity at 42 oC in the same concentrations of substrate. It is concluded that spermine regulatory effect depends on combined influence of temperature and adenosine concentration. Furthermore, thermal stability of the enzyme also depends on temperature in presence of spermine. Binding site of spermine on the enzyme has been identified by docking analysis

Neurological Involvements in COVID-19: A hospital-based study

ObjectivesThe SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is the most challenging crisis in the contemporary world. Besides severe pulmonary involvement, the disease also has several extrapulmonary manifestations, and new signs and symptoms are associated with it every dayThe present study aimed to inquire about the frequency of neurological manifestations and risk factors of COVID-19. Materials & MethodsThis retrospective, descriptive study included patients with neurological involvement admitted to the Alborz University of Medical Sciences academic hospitals from March 2020 to July 2020 with confirmed COVID-19 infection. The data included in the analysis were the patient’s demographic information, underlying diseases, neurological manifestations, and laboratory findings.   ResultsThe study included ninety-five patients with a mean age of fiftynine. Neurological symptoms and signs were observed in 91.6% and 10.5% of the patients, respectively. The most frequently associated neurological symptoms of COVID-19 were fatigue (49.5%), headache (47.4%), and dizziness (45.3%). Furthermore, the most common neurological involvements included gait disorders (6.3%), cerebellar dysfunction (4.2%), and cerebrovascular accidents (3.15%). Positive troponin was shown to be the strongest predictor of neurological signs (OR=21, P=0.017), followed by WBC≥15,000 (OR = 20.75, P=0.018) and a history of respiratory disease (OR=7.42, P=0.007)

How did the COVID-19 pandemic affect the referral patterns for SPECT myocardial perfusion? A single center experience

Objective(s): We evaluated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the number of referrals for SPECT myocardial perfusion imaging (SPECT-MPI) as well as changes in the clinical and imaging characteristics.Methods: We respectively reviewed 1042 SPECT-MPI cases performed in a 4-month period during the COVID-19 pandemic (PAN; n=423) and compared their findings with those acquired in the same months before the pandemic (PRE; n=619).Results: The number of stress SPECT-MPI studies performed during the PAN period significantly dropped compared to the number of studies carried out in the PRE period (p = 0.014). In the PRE period, the rates of patients presenting with non-anginal, atypical and typical chest pain were 31%, 25% and 19%, respectively. The figures significantly changed in the PAN period to 19%, 42%, and 11%, respectively (all p-values <0.001). Regarding the pretest probability of coronary artery disease (CAD), a significant decrease and increase were noticed in patients with high and intermediate pretest probability, respectively (PRE: 18% and 55%, PAN: 6% and 65%, p <0.001 and 0.008, respectively). Neither the rates of myocardial ischemia nor infarction differed significantly in the PRE vs. PAN study periods.Conclusion: The number of referrals dropped significantly in the PAN era. While the proportion of patients with intermediate risk for CAD being referred for SPECT-MPI increased, those with high pretest probability were less frequently referred. Image parameters were mostly comparable between the study groups in the PRE and PAN periods