Effects of Trade Liberalization on Domestic Prices: Some Evidence from Tunisian Manufacturing

This paper presents estimates of the competitive effects of trade liberalization on domestic pricing behaviour of Tunisian manufacturing industries. The theoretical framework is based on a dynamic flexible adjustment model of price determination in a small open economy. It investigates the process of adjustment in price level toward a desired level. The adjustment process is both industrial and time-specific. The empirical results show that, in the long run, domestic price responds greatly to import penetration, followed by demand pressure. There was a negative effect from import competition on domestic price. Trade policy is a viable policy option to promote competitiveness.dynamic model; domestic price; trade liberalization; panel data; speed of adjustment; Tunisia

Teaching How to Learn:: Reconsidering Architectural Design in Undergraduate Education

This paper examines an architectural design studio, which puts a strong emphasis on the role of research in design process. The co-authors taught collaborative parallel architectural design studios consecutively in spring, fall semesters of 2001, and spring semester of 2002. An ongoing research tests the effectiveness of efforts made by the authors to re-examine the priorities for the undergraduate curriculum through the second level studio in architectural design offered to students of the Bachelor of Arts (BA) and Bachelor of Science (BS) degree programs. The efforts to refine and redefine priorities within the studio education were based on the following eight premises: 1. The main role of the studio teacher is to teach students how to learn. 2. Research is a crucial tool for design. 3. Learning about the environment and sustainability, in an elemental and direct way, is critical to design education. 4. Design is integrally related to and influenced by materials and methods out of which emerges a particular aesthetic. 5. Exposure to a diversity of ideas and viewpoints through guest speakers, reading assignments and other resources is invaluable to student development. 6. Creating opportunities for students to teach their peers and teachers accelerates their rate of development. 7. Learning through collaboration is a means of constructively harnessing student's energy and conveys an often-neglected reality of the architectural profession. 8. Building, documentation, and exhibition of student's work, both process and product, have the potential to positively engage the larger community The methods employed to test the effectiveness of the teaching efforts are observation, documentation, and analysis of student presentations and projects by the authors. Informal interviews of students and of guest speakers invited to the course also contributed to the research. The main results will be illustrated through specific student projects and more generally in the paper. Research is ongoing through the current semester

Estimating the Online Presence of COVID-19 Papers in Social Media: An Altmetric Study

Introduction:  As the significant pandemic of the millennium, COVID-19 attracted research interest worldwide, and many papers have been published on the topic and increasingly shared in different social media. This study aimed to estimate the presence of COVID-19 papers in social media. Methods: In this altmetric survey, Altmetric Explorer was used for data extraction. A comprehensive unlimited search was done on 9 July 2022 for COVID-19 papers mentioned at least once on social media. All 162,068 related papers as the study population was analyzed in Excel 2016 and SPSS v22. Results: 151,956 COVID-19 papers (93.76%) were mentioned at least once on social media. Most papers (100,295) were within the altmetric attention score ranging from 1-10. As the top-ranked source, Twitter mentioned 144,073 papers (88.90%), followed by Mendeley, covering 129,328 (79.79%), papers and News Outlet covering 39,445 papers (24.33%). Most Twitter, Facebook, and News users were from the USA and the UK. "MedRexiv" ranked first with mentioning 10,971 papers, followed by the British Medical Journal with 2,122 mentioned papers and the Lancet with 692 mentioned papers. In the top highly-mentioned papers, some central aspects of the disease, such as its prevention, treatment, and vaccination, were considered as main public concerns. Conclusions: COVID-19 research has been increasingly presented in social media, which is a sign of considering COVID-19 as a primary human concern. Thus, social media platforms have a prominent role in the reach and visibility of research output in COVID-19

Measurement of Heavy Metals (Nickel, Chromium, and Cobalt) in Wild and Farmed Carps (Cyprinus carpio) of Hamadan Province

Fish consumption has been considerably increased in Iran recently. On the other hand, the increase in aquatic ecosystem pollution can cause the accumulation of heavy metals in aquatic animals – the fish, in particular. Therefore, measuring the amount of heavy metals in fish is of great importance for consumers’ health. This study aimed to measure the amount of heavy metals (nickel, chromium, and cobalt) in wild and farmed carps (Cyprinus carpio) by using an ICP device. In this cross-sectional study which was performed in Hamadan province in 2018, 40 carp samples (20 wild carp samples and 20 farmed ones) were randomly collected from Anouch and Shirinsoo dams and from breeding centers of the province and, after completing the digestion phase, the amount of heavy metals in the samples were measured using the ICP device. The study results showed that the amounts of nickel metal in wild and farmed carps were equal to 0.108±0.086 and 0.102±0.108 mg/kg dry weight, respectively; and the amounts of chromium in wild and farmed fish samples were 0.348±0.396 and 0.136±0.074 mg/kg dry weight in muscle tissue, respectively. Cobalt metal was not observed in wild and cultured samples. According to the results from the statistical analysis, no significant difference was detected between wild and farmed fishes regarding contamination with nickel metal. However, a difference was found between wild and farmed fishes (P<0.05) regarding chromium. Taking into account the higher amount of nickel and chromium metals in the wild carp samples compared to the farmed ones, it was recommended that necessary measures be taken to control the sources responsible for polluting the aquatic environment and to prevent the penetration of industrial effluents and other polluting factors into the dams of Hamedan province in order for avoiding the increase in the amount of heavy metals in the province’s water sources

Phylogenetics and Biogeography of Lilium ledebourii from the Hyrcanian Forest

ilium ledebourii (Baker) Boiss is one of the most endangered lilies, restricted to only a few small and fragmented areas in the Hyrcanian forest. This study aimed at evaluating the taxonomy of this unique Iranian lily and reconstructing divergence time from other species of the genus Lilium to address the role of this region in its diversification. Phylogenetic trees based on nuclear ITS and chloroplastic matK strongly supported the monophyly of the genus Lilium and division into subclades hardly matching prior morphological classifications. Biogeographic analyses using S-DIVA revealed East Asia as the ancestral range from where Lilium presented a multidirectional expansion towards North America, West-Central Asia, North Asia, and Europe. Diverging from ancestral Lilium during the beginning of Eocene (50 Ma; 95% HDP: 68.8–36.8). Specific members of Lilium colonized Iran (Western Asia) separated from the Clade IV (West-Central Asia and Europe lineage), and then yielded the Iranian L.ledebourri. Accordingly, the north of Iran appears to have promoted both long-term persistence and migration of Lily species from Asia to the Europe

Indomethacin electrospun nanofibers for colonic drug delivery: in vitro dissolution studies

Generally, although the conventional drug delivery systems, such as using only pHdependent polymers or time-dependent release systems are popular, the individuals’ variations of physiological conditions usually lead to premature or imperfect drug release from each of these systems. Therefore, a combination of pH- and time-dependent polymers could be more reliable for delivering drugs to the lower GI tract such as colon. To this end, electrospinning method was used as a fabrication approach for preparing electrospun nanofibers of indomethacin aimed for colon delivery. Formulations were prepared based on a 3 2 full factorial design. Independent variables were the drug:polymer ratio (with the levels of 3:5, 4.5:5 and 6:5 w/w) and Eudragit S:Eudragit RS w/w ratio (20:80, 60:40 and 100:0). The evaluated responses were drug release at pH 1.2, 6.4, 6.8 and 7.4. Combinations of Eudragit S (ES), Eudragit RS (ERS) and drug based on factorial design were loaded in 10 ml syringes. 3 Electrospinning method was used to prepare electrospun nanofibers from electrospinning solutions. Conductivity and the viscosity of the solutions were analyzed prior to electrospinning. After collection, the nanofibers were evaluated in terms of morphology and drug release. It was shown that the ratio of drug:polymer and polymer:polymer were pivotal factors to control the drug release from nanofibers. A formulation containing Eudragit S:Eudragit RS (60:40) and drug:polymer ratio of 3:5 exhibited the most appropriate drug release as a colon delivery system with a minor release at pH 1.2, 6.4 and 6.8 and major release at pH 7.4. Nanofibers resulted from this formulation were also more uniform and contained fewer amounts of beads. It was demonstrated that the electrospinning could be regarded as a modern approach for the preparation of colon drug delivery systems leading to marketable products

Changes in Aflatoxin Content During the Processing of Vinegar Obtained From Grape

Mycotoxins are known to be one of the most important food contaminants that pose potential health risks to humans. This study aimed to investigate the changes in total aflatoxin (TAF) content during grape vinegar production. Different types of aflatoxins including aflatoxin B1 (AFB1 ), B2 (AFB2 ), G1 (AFG1 ), and G2 (AFG2 ) were spiked into washed grape samples in the level of 5 μg/kg. Then grape samples were converted to vinegar. After different stages of vinegar processing including juicing, alcoholic fermentation, acetic acid fermentation, and pasteurization, sampling was performed and the level of each aflatoxin was measured using high performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detector (HPLC-FD). Among different processing steps, the pasteurization operation had the least effect on the removal of aflatoxin. After juicing, the amount of AFB1 , AFB2 , AFG1 and AFG2 decreased by 14%, 11.18%, 13.77%, and 18.56%, respectively. Alcoholic fermentation had the greatest effect on the removal of aflatoxin so that it could reduce the levels of AFB1 , AFB2 , AFG1 and AFG2 by 41.87%, 45.34%, 45.37%, and 46.52%, respectively. Overall, during processing and conversion of grapes to vinegar, the values of AFB1 , AFB2 , AFG1 and AFG2 were reduced by 76.20%, 71.06%, 69.26%, and 75.85%, respectively. Processing grapes to vinegar can have a significant effect on the aflatoxin reduction

Erratum – Carrier Status for p.Gly61Glu and p.Arg368His CYP1B1 Mutations Causing Primary Congenital Glaucoma in Iran

This is an Erratum to "Carrier Status for p.Gly61Glu and p.Arg368His CYP1B1 Mutations Causing Primary Congenital Glaucoma in Iran" [J Ophthalmic Vis Res 2021;16(4):574–581] and does not have an abstract. Please download the PDF or view the article HTML