Environmental Kuznets curve in Indonesia, the role of energy consumption and foreign trade

This study examines the dynamic relationship among carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, economic growth, energy consumption and foreign trade based on the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for Indonesia during the period 1971–2007. The Auto regressive distributed lag (ARDL) methodology is used as an estimation technique. The results do not support the EKC hypothesis, which assumes an inverted U-shaped relationship between income and environmental degradation. The long-run results indicate that foreign trade is the most significant variable in explaining CO2 emissions in Indonesia followed by Energy consumption and economic growth. The stability of the variables in estimated models is also examined. The result suggests that the estimated models are stable over the sample period.Environmental Kuznets curve; CO2 emissions; energy consumption

Neuroplasticity in Early Onset Multiple Sclerosis

How to Cite This Article: Naser Moghaddasi A. Neuroplasticity in Early Onset Multiple Sclerosis. Iran J Child Neurol. 2014Autumn;8(4): 80-81. Letter to Editor, Has not abstract.ReferencesBoiko A, Vorobeychik G, Paty D, Devonshire V, Sadovnick D; Neurologists. Early onset multiple sclerosis: a longitudinal study. Neurology 2002; 59(7):1006-10.Inaloo S, Haghbin S. Multiple Sclerosis in Children. Iran J Child Neurol 2013; 7(2):1-10.Ghezzi A. Therapeutic strategies in childhood multiple sclerosis. Ther Adv Neurol Disord 2010; 3(4): 217–228.Ferreira ML, Machado MI, Dantas MJ, Moreira AJ, Souza AM. Pediatric multiple sclerosis: analysis of clinical and epidemiological aspects according to National MS Society Consensus 2007. Arq Neuropsiquiatr 2008; 66(3B):665-70.Mundkur N. Neuroplasticity in children. Indian J Pediatr 2005; 72(10):855-7.A Naser-Moghadasi, M Owji. What can neuroplasticity tell us about the treatment of multiple sclerosis? Ir J Neurol 2013; 12(Suppl 1): 15.Anderson V, Spencer-Smith M, Wood A. Do children really recover better? Neurobehavioural plasticity after early brain insult. Brain 2011; 134(Pt 8):2197-221.Sale A, Berardi N, Maffei L. Environment and brain plasticity: towards an endogenous pharmacotherapy. Physiol Rev 2014; 94(1):189-234

Parenting attitudes and style and its effect on children's school achievements.

The paper reviewed empirical studies on children's school achievements. The contributions of parenting attitude and style were examined in relation to children's school achievement. A strong relationship between children's school achievement and parenting attitude and style was reported in the paper. Findings from the review revealed that authoritative parenting styles were associated with higher levels of children's school achievement, though findings remain inconsistent across cultures and societies. Future studies may explore some of the salient issues underlying the inconsistencies reported in the study, particularly the contradictory results between Asian and European American school children

A study on efficiency of e-banking outsourcing in Iran

This paper evaluates the outsourcing procedures' conformity of E-banking services in some Iranian private banks according to the OMBOK structure. The insight on the outsourcing as a supportive source for the strategies of an organization is increasing and outsourcing is not being looked at as an element for reducing the organization's costs anymore. Therefore, there is an increasing trend in banking sector towards employing the outsourcing, as an effective response to the environment and attracting customers. This paper attempt to find out how outsourcing procedures of e-baking services in private banks is corresponded with the framework of this standard. The study considers five primary dimensions consisting of infrastructure, operation management, business, customer relations and technology among private banks across the country based on OMBOK model. The study selects 90 experts out of 100 people in the field of E-banking as sample study and distributes some questionnaires among them and the questionnaire is analyzed using Kruskal-Wallis test. According to the achieved results, out of the five domains of OMBOK structure including infrastructure, business, technology, customer relations and operation management, the outsourcing procedures of the e-banking services in Iran's private banks does not correspond in two domains of infrastructure and business, but corresponded in other domains

Do Multiple Sclerosis and Neuromyelitis Optica Patients Have a Lower Chance of Developing Neurological Complications of COVID-19, Compared to Healthy People? The Role of ACE2

As COVID-19 spreads all around the world, it indicates various side effects and complications. Currently, we know that, this disease can affect other organs like brain. The growing number of neurological complications from this disease suggests that, the coronavirus is a neurotropic virus, and this neurotropicity has been attributed to the expression and presence of receptors of angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) in central nervous system (CNS). Unlike ACE itself, ACE2 converts angiotensin 2 to 1, and is present in lung alveolar epithelial cells. In this regard, the coronavirus is likely to use ACE2 as a receptor to enter and infect human cells. The virus causes disease in some other areas such as pancreas and colon with the same mechanism as that of ACE2 receptor. Moreover, the high presence of the corresponding receptor in the CNS has increased the likelihood of neurological involvement in this virus. The binding of the virus to this receptor (Figure 1), which is present in different areas of the brain such as the glial cells, neurons and astrocytes spreads the virus to the CNS and this induces a variety of neurological symptoms. One of the most important areas of the brain that causes high expressions of ACE and ACE2, angiotensinogen, and angiotensin II secretion in the CNS, is perivascular astrocytes. Neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD) is an astrocytopathy in which a high rate of astrocyte destruction occurs. Some studies have also shown that, these perivascular astrocytes are largely eliminated in multiple sclerosis (MS), especially at chronic stages. This destruction could justify the studies, which have demonstrated the low levels of ACE2 in the cerebrospinal fluid of these patients. Matsushita et al. revealed that, angiotensin II, ACE, and ACE2 levels were lower in the cerebrospinal fluid of the patients with seropositive NMOSD compared to healthy individuals. Accordingly, the same was true for ACE2 levels in MS patients. Another study confirmed the low level of ACE2 concentration in the cerebrospinal fluid of the patients with MS. The destruction of astrocytes and low level of ACE2 concentration could theoretically predict the ACE2 receptor deficiency which might reduce the chance of entering the virus into the CNS, and consequently, decrease the neurological complications. This may suggest that, neurological complications are less likely to occur in the patients with NMOSD and MS in case of developing COVID-19. However, as with all diseases, it is not possible to simply predict the lower degree of neurological complications in these patients on the basis of one factor such as a lower expression of ACE2 in these patients. Thereafter, further investigations are required to shed light on how MS and NMOSD patients develop infectious diseases related to the CNS

EFL Learners’ Attitudes toward Writing Instruction Based on Critical Language Awareness

The present study sought to investigate the attitudes of upper-intermediate EFL female learners toward writing instruction based on critical language awareness (CLA). Sixteen participants were selected based on their performance on a quick placement test (QPT) and a writing task. Three instruments namely, QPT, a researchers made opinionnaire and semi-structured interview were used to elicit the data. The findings of the opinionnaire and semi-structured interview revealed an overall positive attitude toward CLA-based writing class. This study might be of help to writing teachers, and textbook and syllabus designer in that they can bring critical language awareness into consideration in EFL context

A Simulation-Based Optimization Approach for Integrated Port Resource Allocation Problem

Todays, due to the rapid increase in shipping volumes, the container terminals are faced with the challenge to cope with these increasing demands. To handle this challenge, it is crucial to use flexible and efficient optimization approach in order to decrease operating cost. In this paper, a simulation-based optimization approach is proposed to construct a near-optimal berth allocation plan integrated with a plan for tug assignment and for resolution of the quay crane re-allocation problem. The research challenges involve dealing with the uncertainty in arrival times of vessels as well as tidal variations. The effectiveness of the proposed evolutionary algorithm is tested on RAJAEE Port as a real case. According to the simulation result, it can be concluded that the objective function value is affected significantly by the arrival disruptions. The result also demonstrates the effectiveness of the proposed simulation-based optimization approach. </span

Evaluation of the Incidence, Severity, and Mortality Rate of COVID-19 in Patients with Multiple Sclerosis Receiving Interferon β-1a

We enthusiastically read Payandemehr et al.’s study, which examined the effect of interferon β-1a (ReciGen, CinnaGen Co., Iran) on the severity of the disease in patients with COVID-19 and revealed that taking interferon β-1a (INF) significantly reduced the duration of hospitalization and the rate of mortality of hospitalized COVID-19 patients.&nbsp;INF is one of the main drugs in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS), and these patients mainly use this drug for a long time. We decided to examine whether the drug has an effect on the incidence rate of COVID-19 in MS patients and whether it affects the course of COVID-19 in case of infection. In November 2020, 75 RRMS patients treated with INF (ReciGen, CinnaGen Co., Iran) were evaluated for COVID-19. Fifty-seven and eighteen cases were female and male, respectively. Patients had a mean age of 36.9±7.2 years, disease duration of 7.0±4.4 years, and the INF use duration of 3.5±1.7 years. Of these 75 patients, only one patient (1.33%) tested positive for COVID-19. The patient was a 29-year-old female nurse working in the pediatric intensive care unit (ICU) and had been receiving INF for six years since the diagnosis of MS. She developed symptoms of cough, shortness of breath, lethargy, anorexia, constipation, and diarrhea in June 2020. The lung computed tomography (CT) scan indicated mild lung involvement, and the reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction&nbsp;(RT-PCR) test was positive for COVID-19. The patient continued her INF treatment, and the symptoms completely disappeared after five days. The patient did not require to be hospitalized during her COVID-19 infection. Therefore, the hospitalization rate due to COVID-19, hospitalization in the ICU, and mortality rate were zero in INF users. In a study by Sahraian et al. addressing 4647 MS patients revealed that the incidence of COVID-19 was 1.46%, which was similar to our findings concerning patients receiving INF. However, the hospitalization rate in the mentioned study was 25%, which was very different from that of our study. It should be noted that patients were taking a wide range of drugs in the mentioned study, and most of them were taking rituximab. Nevertheless, there was no relationship between the type of the administered drug and the chance of hospitalization in the mentioned study. Our findings suggest that there might be a link between the use of INF and non-hospitalization and lack of mortality in patients with MS infected by COVID-19. The obtained findings are in line with the results provided by Payandemehr et al.’s study. Although our study was observational and did not have a control group, it revealed that the INF administration might reduce the severity of the infection. However, the use of INF did not prevent COVID-19 infection. The positive effect of interferons on reducing the severity of COVID-19 has been indicated in other studies, as well. Considering its positive effect on COVID-19 and the fact that interferons have been used in the treatment of MS disease for many years, more attention should be devoted to administering this drug in patients with MS during COVID-19 as it can significantly reduce the risk of COVID-19 related complications