Studying the Factors Related to the International Scientific Mobility of Faculty Members of the University of Tabriz

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to identify and determine the importance of factors related to the international scientific mobility of Tabriz University faculty members using exploratory factor analysis. Methodology: This research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive survey in terms of the data collection method. The statistical population of the research included faculty members of Tabriz University. Research data was collected through library study and questionnaire. The collected data were analyzed using the exploratory factor analysis method, and related factors were extracted. Findings: After studying related texts, 25 indicators were identified and using the exploratory factor analysis method in six factors, including access to research resources and facilities, gaining a scientific reputation and CV, the environment and working conditions of universities, the cultural-geographic affinity, the development of scientific cooperation’s, Accommodation costs were categorized. The importance of each index was checked from the subjects' point of view. The credibility and reputation index of universities with an average of 4.5, professional development and advancement with an average of 4.4, to create a solid scientific and research resume with an average of 4.3, observing the activities and work methods of others with an average of 4.3 were the most important. Conclusion: The obtained results showed that the six factors of access to research resources and facilities, gaining a scientific reputation and CV, the environment and working conditions of universities, cultural-geographic affinity, the development of scientific cooperation, and accommodation costs are among the factors related to the international scientific mobility of Tabriz University faculty members. Value: This research is important because it has identified the factors related to the international scientific mobility of Tabriz University faculty members. These factors can be considered in policy making and facilitating and encouraging the international scientific mobility of researchers and the internationalization of universities

A Secure and Efficient Authentication Technique for Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks

Vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs) have been emerging due to the recent technologies in wireless and network communications. The most fundamental part in VANETs is to enable message authentications between vehicles and roadside units. Message authentication using proxy vehicles has been proposed to reduce the computational overhead of roadside units significantly. In this type of message authentication schemes, proxy vehicles with verifying multiple messages at the same time improve computational efficiency of roadside units when there are a large number of vehicles in their coverage areas. In this paper, first we show that the only proxy-based authentication scheme (PBAS) presented for this goal by Liu et al. cannot achieve authenticity of messages, and also it is not resistant against impersonation and modification attacks and false acceptance of batching invalid signatures. Next, we propose a new identity based message authentication using proxy vehicles (ID-MAP). Then, to guarantee that it can satisfy message authentication requirement, existential unforgeability of underlying signature against adaptively chosen-message and identity attack is proved under Elliptic Curve Discrete Logarithm Problem in the random oracle model. It should be highlighted that ID-MAP not only is more efficient than PBAS since it is pairing-free and does not use map-to-point hash functions, but also it satisfies security and privacy requirements of vehicular ad hoc networks. Furthermore, analysis shows that the required time to verify 3000 messages in ID-MAP is reduced by 76% compared to that of PBAS

Multimorbidity as an important issue among women: results of gender difference investigation in a large population-based cross-sectional study in West Asia

Objectives: To investigate the impact of gender on multimorbidity in northern Iran. Design: A cross-sectional analysis of the Golestan cohort data. Setting: Golestan Province, Iran. Study population: 49 946 residents (age 40–75 years) of Golestan Province, Iran. Main outcome measures: Researchers collected data related to multimorbidity, defined as co-existence of two or more chronic diseases in an individual, at the beginning of a representative cohort study which recruited its participants from 2004 to 2008. The researchers utilised simple and multiple Poisson regression models with robust variances to examine the simultaneous effects of multiple factors. Results: Women had a 25.0% prevalence of multimorbidity, whereas men had a 13.4% prevalence (p<0.001). Women of all age-groups had a higher prevalence of multimorbidity. Of note, multimorbidity began at a lower age (40–49 years) in women (17.3%) compared with men (8.6%) of the same age (p<0.001). This study identified significant interactions between gender as well as socioeconomic status, ethnicity, physical activity, marital status, education level and smoking (p<0.01). Conclusion: Prevention and control of multimorbidity requires health promotion programmes to increase public awareness about the modifiable risk factors, particularly among women

Optimized joint unicast-multicast panoramic video streaming in cellular networks

In this paper we present Joint Unicast-Multicat Panoramic Streaming (JUMPS) over the cellular network. JUMPS optimizes the resource allocation for a group of eMBMS (evolved Multicast Broadcast Multimedia Systems) users to enhance their experience while leveraging the inherent diversity in both users\u27 network conditions and field of view (FoV). The key intuition is combining unicast and multicast, for tiled panoramic content, would enable facilitate using the right amount of resources for every tile considering the tile popularity and receiving user link quality. We compare JUMPS performance to state-of-the-art solutions and show that it significantly improves users\u27 received FoV bitrate and reduces their battery by reducing the number of resource blocks that users have to listen to. These results are consistent across various scenarios that vary across user group link conditions, FoV diversity, and available network resources

Users’ Expectation from the User Interface Screen of an Academic Digital Library

The present paper investigates the E-learner’s expectations concerning the features incorporated within the user interface screen of an academic digital library. A researcher-made questionnaire was used for the survey. The sample was taken from the E-learners using this technology in Iranian universities. 200 questionnaires were distributed. The data analysis showed a general consensus about the priority of comprehensibility of the terms used in the User Interface Screen (uis) as well as the display features and clarity of the navigational functions as the usability criteria for UIS. ANOVA analysis indicated that, with the exception of navigation and guidance functions, there was no significance with respect to three categories of students. In other words, all students had similar expectations and their ICT skill is not a factor influencing the prioritization of these criteria. The results further indicated that except for the browsing page, there is no significant difference between novice, intermediate and advanced students with respect to search screen features

Investigating the factors affecting the willingness to continue using Instagram pages of public libraries in West Azerbaijan province during the COVID-19 pandemic

Purpose: Instagram pages of public libraries were a suitable platform to establish and maintain communication with users and provide services and information they needed, especially during the epidemic of diseases such as COVID-19. The aim of the present study is to identify the factors affecting the willingness of users to continue using the Instagram pages of public libraries in West Azerbaijan province during the COVID-19 pandemic. Method: The current research is applied in terms of purpose and descriptive-survey of correlation type in terms of the data collection method. The research was carried out in 1399-1400. The data collection tool was a researcher-made questionnaire, whose face validity was confirmed by experts in this field, and its reliability was calculated using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient at 72%. The statistical population of the research included all the followers of the Instagram pages of public libraries in West Azerbaijan province during the COVID-19 pandemic, from which 20 active pages were selected, and the questionnaire was provided to them privately by the managers of the pages, and finally 212 questionnaires were returned. Descriptive statistics were used to determine frequency, frequency percentage, standard deviation and mean in SPSS software, and the structural equation modeling by partial least squares method in SmartPLS software was used to investigate the relationships between variables and test hypotheses. Findings: The findings of the analysis of path coefficients showed that there is a positive and significant relationship between perceived usefulness, responsiveness, social benefits and satisfaction with the desire to continuously use Instagram pages of public libraries in West Azerbaijan province. Satisfaction with the path coefficient (0.446) was the strongest factor in predicting the continued use of Instagram pages of public libraries in West Azerbaijan province during the COVID-19 pandemic. After satisfaction, responsiveness, usefulness, and social benefits, respectively, had the greatest impact on the desire to continuously use these pages. Interestingly, no significant relationship was observed between the variables of ease of use, expectations, perceived enjoyment, type of post uploaded, post upload time, content, social influence, and correlation with the tendency to continuously use Instagram pages of public libraries. The results related to the path coefficients of the factors of type of uploaded post, time of uploading post, ease of use and content on the perceived usefulness of users from the Instagram pages of public libraries in West Azerbaijan province showed that there is a positive and significant relationship and the type of uploaded post with the path coefficient (0/290) was the strongest predictor of perceived usefulness. Furthermore, the analysis of path coefficients showed that the relationship between perceived enjoyment and perceived usefulness on user satisfaction is not significant, but the coefficients of the effect of ease of use and expectations on user satisfaction from Instagram pages of public libraries in West Azerbaijan Province is positive and significant. In general, the value of the goodness of fit was 0/641, which indicates the appropriateness of the overall fit of the model. Originality/value: Considering that the desire and intention to continue using social media sites is an act after their admission and so far, few studies have identified the factors influencing the desire to continue using social media, especially Instagram pages in public libraries, the results of this study can have valuable scientific and practical implications for managers and policy makers in this field

Nq-Gpls: N-Queen Inspired Gateway Placement And Learning Automata-Based Gateway Selection In Wireless Mesh Network

This paper discusses two issues with multi-channel multi-radio Wireless Mesh Networks (WMN): gateway placement and gateway selection. To address these issues, a method will be proposed that places gateways at strategic locations to avoid congestion and adaptively learns to select a more efficient gateway for each wireless router by using learning automata. This method, called the N-queen Inspired Gateway Placement and Learning Automata-based Selection (NQ-GPLS), considers multiple metrics such as loss ratio, throughput, load at the gateways and delay. Simulation results from NS-2 simulator demonstrate that NQ-GPLS can significantly improve the overall network performance compared to a standard WMN

Toll-Like Receptors in the Pathogenesis of Autoimmune Diseases

Human Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a family of transmembrane receptors, which play a key role in both innate and adaptive immune responses. Beside of recognizing specific molecular patterns that associated with different types of pathogens, TLRs may also detect a number of self-proteins and endogenous nucleic acids. Activating TLRs lead to the heightened expression of various inflammatory genes, which have a protective role against infection. Data rising predominantly from human patients and animal models of autoimmune disease indicate that, inappropriate triggering of TLR pathways by exogenous or endogenous ligands may cause the initiation and/or perpetuation of autoimmune reactions and tissue damage. Given their important role in infectious and non-infectious disease process, TLRs and its signaling pathways emerge as appealing targets for therapeutics. In this review, we demonstrate how TLRs pathways could be involved in autoimmune disorders and their therapeutic application

Enabling interference-aware and energy-efficient coexistence of multiple wireless body area networks with unknown dynamics

This paper presents an adaptive interference mitigation scheme for multiple coexisting wireless body area networks (WBANs) based on social interaction. The proposed scheme considers the mobility of nodes within each WBAN as well as the relative movement of WBANs with respect to each other. With respect to these mobile scenarios traffic load, signal strength, and the density of sensors in a WBAN are incorporated to optimize transmission time with synchronous and parallel transmissions to significantly reduce the radio interference and energy consumption of nodes. This approach leads to higher packet delivery ratio (PDR) and longer network lifetime even with nodes dynamically moving into and out of each others interference region. We make channel assignment more energy-efficient and further reduce power consumption using transmit power control with simple channel prediction. Simulation results show that our approach maintains optimum spatial reuse with a range of channel dynamics within, and between, coexisting BANs. This protocol based on social interaction is shown to mitigate interference and minimize power consumption, and increase the spatial reuse and PDR of each WBAN, while increasing network lifetime. In the context of the adaptive interference mitigation scheme proposed, this paper also reviews the state of the art in literature on mobility, MAC layer, and power control solutions for WBANs, as well as providing a summary of interference mitigation schemes previously applied for the coexistence of WBANs

Impact of crack propagation path and inclusion elements on fracture toughness and micro-surface characteristics of welded pipes in DWTT

Despite fundamental differences between the characteristics of base and weld metal and higher accuracies obtainable using original-size specimens in drop-weight tear test (DWTT), there still exists a research gap in fracture surface examinations of DWTT welded specimens. This study investigates the microscopic characteristics of the fracture surface of spirally welded API X65 steel with chevron notch (CN) and pressed notch (PN) DWTT specimens. Microstructures of different sub-zones were investigated, including, weld metal (WM), heat affected zone (HAZ), and base metal (BM). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) investigations revealed the numerous inclusions in the WM that cause stress concentration. Micro-cracks are formed at the beginning of the fracture process when the energy level is high; nevertheless, in the shear fracture area, where energy is reduced, micro-cracks were not observed. Inverse fracture was located in the HAZ and BM in the PN and CN specimens, respectively. Comparison of the weight percentages of inclusion elements obtained by energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) with API 5L standard target values showed that in most inclusions, Mn, Ti, and S were higher than standard values. After metallurgical and mechanical investigations, a framework for a new prospect has been introduced to conduct statistical analyses, based on which, the confidence intervals of the weight percentages of inclusion elements were carefully determined. Changes in the weight percentages of constituent inclusion elements in the WM are smaller compared to the BM and HAZ that would be reasons for better mechanical properties of the WM compared to the BM. Considering the impact of inclusions on weld-ability and toughness, industrial guidelines are presented to carefully control the elements within the confidence intervals of this research, during welding to minimize the formation of inclusions, in turn, reducing the formation and growth of micro-cracks, and significantly improving mechanical properties