Scheduling and Codeword Length Optimization in Time Varying Wireless Networks

In this paper, a downlink scenario in which a single-antenna base station communicates with K single antenna users, over a time-correlated fading channel, is considered. It is assumed that channel state information is perfectly known at each receiver, while the statistical characteristics of the fading process and the fading gain at the beginning of each frame are known to the transmitter. By evaluating the random coding error exponent of the time-correlated fading channel, it is shown that there is an optimal codeword length which maximizes the throughput. The throughput of the conventional scheduling that transmits to the user with the maximum signal to noise ratio is examined using both fixed length codewords and variable length codewords. Although optimizing the codeword length improves the performance, it is shown that using the conventional scheduling, the gap between the achievable throughput and the maximum possible throughput of the system tends to infinity as K goes to infinity. A simple scheduling that considers both the signal to noise ratio and the channel time variation is proposed. It is shown that by using this scheduling, the gap between the achievable throughput and the maximum throughput of the system approaches zero

Predictors of Life Skills Level of Students in Zahedan University of Medical Sciences in Southeast of Iran

Background and aims: Life skills involve a big class of socio-psychological and interpersonal skills which help a person to take conscious decisions, communicate effectively and improve self-management skills. Preparing a plan for all the above mentioned programs, need awareness about life skills level of different groups such as students in universities. Present study was aimed to reveal the predictors of life skills level of Students in Zahedan University of Medical Sciences in southeast of Iran. Methods: This cross-sectional study carried out on 380 medical students of Zahedan in 2015. The subjects were selected using stratified random sampling method. The data were collected using reliable Life Skill Dimensions Score questionnaire. The data were analyzed in Stata.12 software using ANOVA, Independent t-test and multiple linear regression with Hosmer-Lemshow method. Results: The mean of total score regarding life skills score was 280.8±45.8. The linear regression analysis indicated that gender (β=11.15, 95 CI: 5.03-17.27), socioeconomic status (β=6.78, 95 CI: 1.76-11.8) and average grades (β=15.3, 95 CI: 9.11-21.49) were associated with life skills score. However, the life skills score was not associated with the age, semester, residential area, smoking, marital status and school of education (P>0.05). Conclusion: The level of life skills scores of medical students in southeast of Iran is low in all dimensions especially in communication skills. Thus, promoting life skills in university students is too important. However, the life skills training programs should be implemented with respect to socioeconomic status, gender and average grade and male students with low socioeconomic status and average have priority

Stresses in Soil Beneath Triangular Shell Foundations

Foundations perform a crucial role in structures to transmit the loads from the superstructure to the soil beneath. The first utilization of shells as foundations was about six decades ago in Mexico. Shells are structures that transmit loads based on their form rather than mass, allowing to preserve more material. Investigations illustrated that the shell foundations provide higher bearing capacity and better settlement characteristics relative to traditional flat footings. In order to improve the geotechnical behavior of shell foundations, researchers attempt to obtain the optimum shape of shell footings by achieving more uniform stress distributions beneath the soil. This thesis scrutinizes the stress distributions below embedded triangular shell strip footings resting on loose, medium, and dense sands by examining the effect of the edge angle. A series of two-dimensional numerical models are developed and calibrated with conducted experimental results in the literature. Mohr-Coulomb failure yield criteria are employed to simulate the soils with elastic-perfectly plastic behavior. Also, plane strain conditions are assumed to model the soils. The results indicate an increase in average stress distributions below the shell foundations by reducing the edge angle under a particular applied load. Triangular shell foundations demonstrate higher load-carrying capacity and more uniform stress distributions beneath the soil than flat foundations. Contact pressure at the soil-foundation interface and stress distributions at different depths are attained and presented. This study reveals that the optimum edge angle for triangular strip shell foundations in loose, medium, and dense sand states is 55 degrees

On the Fourier Transform of the Products of M-Wright Functions *

abstract: In this paper, using the Bromwich's integral of the inverse Mellin transform we find a new integral representation for the M-Wright function and state the Fourier transform of this function. Moreover, using the new integral representations for the products of the M-Wright functions, we also get the Fourier transform of it

Comparing the Presence of Researchers of Medical Universities of Western Provinces of Iran on ResearchGate and Scopus

The aim of the present study was to compare the presence of researchers of Medical Universities of Western Provinces of Iran (i.e., Kurdistan, Hamadan, Kermanshah, and Ilam) on ResearchGate and Scopus using altmetric approach. This research also aimed to identify the significant difference between the Scopus indicators and the altmetric indicators of ResearchGate. The statistical population of this research consists of the researchers from University of Medical Sciences in Kurdistan, Hamadan, Kermanshah and Ilam with indexed documents in Scopus and affiliated with ResearchGate that were compared and reviewed by the author's work on ResearchGate. According to Scopus, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences had the highest average number of documents, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences has the highest average h-index, and Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences had the highest average citation count. Based on the number of publications, Ilam University of Medical Sciences had the highest average, based on the ResearchGate Score (RG Score), Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences had the highest score and based on the following and followers indicators, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences received the highest score. Increasing the number of documents uploaded on ResearchGate will increase the citations in Scopus and, consequently, the h-index will increase

Comparing the Presence of Researchers of Medical Universities of Western Provinces of Iran on ResearchGate and Scopus

The aim of the present study was to compare the presence of researchers of Medical Universities of Western Provinces of Iran (i.e., Kurdistan, Hamadan, Kermanshah, and Ilam) on ResearchGate and Scopus using altmetric approach. This research also aimed to identify the significant difference between the Scopus indicators and the altmetric indicators of ResearchGate. The statistical population of this research consists of the researchers from University of Medical Sciences in Kurdistan, Hamadan, Kermanshah and Ilam with indexed documents in Scopus and affiliated with ResearchGate that were compared and reviewed by the author's work on ResearchGate. According to Scopus, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences had the highest average number of documents, Hamadan University of Medical Sciences has the highest average h-index, and Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences had the highest average citation count. Based on the number of publications, Ilam University of Medical Sciences had the highest average, based on the ResearchGate Score (RG Score), Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences had the highest score and based on the following and followers indicators, Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences received the highest score. Increasing the number of documents uploaded on ResearchGate will increase the citations in Scopus and, consequently, the h-index will increase

Exploring Effective Foreign Language Teaching from the Eyes of Iranian Learners: Reporting a Qualitative Interview Study

This article reports on a qualitative study of the learners’ beliefs about effective foreign language teaching in an Iranian setting. A semi-structured interview covering several fundamental issues in foreign language (FL) pedagogy was conducted with 22 upper-intermediate Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. Qualitative content analysis of the transcript data yielded several interesting and informative themes. Among the most prominent results of the study, mention can be made of learners’ strong penchant for modern, learner-centered approaches to FL teaching such as communicative language teaching (CLT) and task-based language teaching (TBLT). Among the other notable themes were learners’ endorsement of teachers’ high proficiency and pedagogical knowledge, positive teacher personality, the integration of culture teaching in the classes, and sustaining learner interest and motivation. The results have implications for knowledge-based teacher education as well as for practicing and prospective FL teachers

A modified version of the SMAR model for estimating root-zone soil moisture from time-series of surface soil moisture

Root-zone soil moisture at the regional scale has always been a missing element of the hydrological cycle. Knowing its value could be a great help in estimating evapotranspiration, erosion, runoff, permeability, irrigation needs, etc. The recently developed Soil Moisture Analytical Relationship (SMAR) can relate the surface soil moisture to the moisture content of deeper layers using a physically-based formulation. Previous studies have proved the effectiveness of SMAR in estimating root-zone soil moisture, yet there is still room for improvement in its application. For example, the soil water loss function (i.e. deep percolation and evapotranspiration), assumed to be a linear function in the SMAR model, may produce approximations in the estimation of water losses in the second soil layer. This problem becomes more critical in soils with finer textures. In this regard, the soil moisture profile data from two research sites (AMMA and SCAN) were investigated. The results showed that after a rainfall event, soil water losses decrease following a power pattern until they reach a minimum steady state. This knowledge was used to modify SMAR. In particular, SMAR was modified (MSMAR) by introducing a non-linear soil water loss function that allowed for improved estimates of root zone soil moisture.Keywords: surface soil moisture, root-zone soil moisture, SMAR, soil water loss function, MSMA

Pluronic F-127 hydrogel as a promising scaffold for encapsulation of dental-derived mesenchymal stem cells.

Dental-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) provide an advantageous therapeutic option for tissue engineering due to their high accessibility and bioavailability. However, delivering MSCs to defect sites while maintaining a high MSC survival rate is still a critical challenge in MSC-mediated tissue regeneration. Here, we tested the osteogenic and adipogenic differentiation capacity of dental pulp stem cells (DPSCs) in a thermoreversible Pluronic F127 hydrogel scaffold encapsulation system in vitro. DPSCs were encapsulated in Pluronic (®) F-127 hydrogel and stem cell viability, proliferation and differentiation into adipogenic and osteogenic tissues were evaluated. The degradation profile and swelling kinetics of the hydrogel were also analyzed. Our results confirmed that Pluronic F-127 is a promising and non-toxic scaffold for encapsulation of DPSCs as well as control human bone marrow MSCs (hBMMSCs), yielding high stem cell viability and proliferation. Moreover, after 2 weeks of differentiation in vitro, DPSCs as well as hBMMSCs exhibited high levels of mRNA expression for osteogenic and adipogenic gene markers via PCR analysis. Our histochemical staining further confirmed the ability of Pluronic F-127 to direct the differentiation of these stem cells into osteogenic and adipogenic tissues. Furthermore, our results revealed that Pluronic F-127 has a dense tubular and reticular network morphology, which contributes to its high permeability and solubility, consistent with its high degradability in the tested conditions. Altogether, our findings demonstrate that Pluronic F-127 is a promising scaffold for encapsulation of DPSCs and can be considered for cell delivery purposes in tissue engineering

Effect of laser-dimpled titanium surfaces on attachment of epithelial-like cells and fibroblasts.

PurposeThe objective of this study was to conduct an in vitro comparative evaluation of polished and laserdimpled titanium (Ti) surfaces to determine whether either surface has an advantage in promoting the attachment of epithelial-like cells and fibroblast to Ti.Materials and methodsForty-eight coin-shaped samples of commercially pure, grade 4 Ti plates were used in this study. These discs were cleaned to a surface roughness (Ra: roughness centerline average) of 180 nm by polishing and were divided into three groups: SM (n=16) had no dimples and served as the control, SM15 (n=16) had 5-µm dimples at 10-µm intervals, and SM30 (n=16) had 5-µm dimples at 25-µm intervals in a 2 × 4 mm(2) area at the center of the disc. Human gingival squamous cell carcinoma cells (YD-38) and human lung fibroblasts (MRC-5) were cultured and used in cell proliferation assays, adhesion assays, immunofluorescent staining of adhesion proteins, and morphological analysis by SEM. The data were analyzed statistically to determine the significance of differences.ResultsThe adhesion strength of epithelial cells was higher on Ti surfaces with 5-µm laser dimples than on polished Ti surfaces, while the adhesion of fibroblasts was not significantly changed by laser treatment of implant surfaces. However, epithelial cells and fibroblasts around the laser dimples appeared larger and showed increased expression of adhesion proteins.ConclusionThese findings demonstrate that laser dimpling may contribute to improving the periimplant soft tissue barrier. This study provided helpful information for developing the transmucosal surface of the abutment