Feasibility of Implementing the Integrated Model of Biological Ethics and Strategic Intelligence: From Theory to Practice

Background and Aim: Organizations need reliable and robust strategies to survive and thrive in an unstable environment. Many authors believe that knowledge is the most important input to the process of strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation. As such, it is important to know how to collect, analyze and process the knowledge required. The purpose of this paper is to design a strategic intelligence process model at the organizational analysis level. Materials and Methods: The textual data of this study were collected in English and Persian through the databases of EBSCO, Google Scholar and Iran Doc. Findings: The findings of the study showed that the process of strategic intelligence for the experts in the state banking industry consists of eight stages. The two stages of "need determination" and "planning and organization" are process drivers, which through the "information gathering" phase lead to the following steps: "Purifying and storing useful information", "information analysis", "production Intelligence", "Distributing Intelligence and Ethics" and "Using Intelligence and Feedback". Conclusion: The results of this study provide insights into the implementation of the strategic intelligence process in organizations and evaluate its effectiveness. Because decision-making patterns follow value systems, these value systems give different ratings to different decisions and when referring to the system when a person, or social organization, faces multiple decisions at the same time. Governing value selects decisions that, overall, gain a higher rank in the accepted value system and those are decisions that ensure the utility of the individual or the social system. Therefore, mere review of policies, plans and operational plans (strategic levels) in strategic environmental assessment will not suffice in terms of their compliance with environmental criteria, as they may at some stage need to "formulate" the plan and its implementation is made; irreversible decisions are made that require a lot of costs to reform.   Please cite this article as: Abbaspour A, AmirKhani AH, Pourezzat AA, Hozoori MJ. Feasibility of Implementing the Integrated Model of Biological Ethics and Strategic Intelligence: From Theory to Practice. Bioethics Journal, Special Issue on Bioethics and Citizenship Rights 2020; 81-103.زمینه و هدف: سازمان‌ها برای بقا و موفقیت در محیطی بی‌ثبات و آشفته، نیازمند استراتژی‌هایی قابل اطمینان و استوار هستند. مؤلفان زیادی بر این باورند که دانش، مهم‌ترین ورودی فرایند تدوین، اجرا و ارزیابی استراتژی‌ است. به این ترتیب دانستن چگونگی گردآوری، تحلیل و پردازش دانش مورد نیاز، اهمیت یافته است. هدف این مقاله طراحی مدل فرایندی هوش استراتژیک و اصول اخلاقی در سطح تحلیل سازمانی است. مواد و روش‌ها: داده‌های متنی این تحقیق به زبان‌های انگلیسی و فارسی و از طریق پایگاه داده‌های ای.بی.اس.سی.او (EBSCO)، گوگل محقق (Google Scholar) و ایران داک گردآوری شده است. یافته‌ها: یافته‌های تحقیق نشان دادند که فرایند هوش استراتژیک از نظر خبرگان صنعت بانکداری دولتی از هشت مرحله تشکیل شده است. دو مرحله «تعیین نیاز» و «برنامه‌ریزی و سازماندهی»، پیشران‌های فرایند هستند که از طریق مرحله «گردآوری اطلاعات» منجر به شروع مراحل وابسته به شرح ذیل می‌شوند: «تصفیه و انبارش اطلاعات مفید»، «تحلیل اطلاعات»، «تولید هوش»، «توزیع هوش و اصول اخلاقی» و «کاربرد هوش و بازخورگیری». نتیجه‌گیری: نتایج این تحقیق بینشی را برای پیاده‌سازی فرایند هوش استراتژیک در سازمان‌ها و ارزیابی اثربخشی آن، فراهم می‌کند. به دلیل این‌که الگوهای تصمیم‌گیری از نظام‌های ارزشی پیروی می‌كنند، این نظام‌های ارزشی، به تصمیمات مختلف، رتبه‌های متفاوتی می‌دهند و هنگامی كه یك فرد، یا سازمان اجتماعی با چند تصمیم به طور هم‌زمان مواجه باشد، با مراجعه به نظام ارزشی حاكم، تصمیماتی را انتخاب می‌کند كه در مجموع، رتبه بیشتری در نظام ارزشی پذیرفته‌شده كسب كند و آن‌ها، تصمیماتی هستند كه مطلوبیت آن فرد و یا نظام اجتماعی را تأمین می‌نمایند. بنابراین صرف بررسی خط مشی‌ها، طرح‌ها و برنامه‌های عملیاتی (سطوح راهبردی) در ارزیابی راهبردی محیطی، به لحاظ تطابق‌پذیری آن‌ها با معیارهای محیط زیستی كفایت نمی‌كند، زیرا ممكن است در مرحله‌ای كه باید در مورد ضرورت «تدوین» طرح و اجرای آن تصمیم‌گیری شود، تصمیمات غیر قابل برگشتی گرفته شود كه اصلاح آن‌ها مستلزم هزینه‌های بسیار می‌باشد

Estimation of CO2 solubility in aqueous solutions of commonly used blended amines: Application to optimised greenhouse gas capture

One of the key concerns in the 21st century, alongside the growing population, is the increase in energy consumption and the resulting global warming. The impact of CO2, a prominent greenhouse gas, has garnered significant attention in the realm of CO2 capture and gas purification. CO2 absorption can be enhanced by introducing some additives into the aqueous solution. In this study, the accuracies of some of the most up-to-date computational approaches are investigated. The employed machine learning methods are hybrid-adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (Hybrid-ANFIS), particle swarm optimization-adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (PSO-ANFIS), least-squares support vector machines (LSSVM) and genetic algorithm-radial basis function (GA-RBF). The developed models were used in estimating the solubility of CO2 in binary and ternary amines aqueous solutions. i.e. blends of monoethanolamine (MEA), triethanolamine (TEA), aminomethyl propanol (AMP), and methyldiethanolamine (MDEA). This modeling study was undertaken over relatively significant ranges of CO2 loading (mole of CO2/mole of solution) as a function of input parameters, which are 0.4–2908 kPa for pressure, 303–393.15 K for temperature, 36.22–68.89 g/mol for apparent molecular weight, and 30–55 wt % for total concentration. In this work, the validity of approaches based on different statistical graphs was investigated, and it was observed that the developed methods, especially the GA-RBF model, are highly accurate in estimating the data of interest. The obtained AARD% values for the developed models are 18.63, 8.25, 12.22, and 7.54 for Hybrid-ANFIS, PSO-ANFIS, LSSVM, and GA-RBF, respectively

Evaluation of the Effects of Low Level Laser Therapy on the Healing Process After Skin Graft Surgery in Burned Patients (A Randomized Clinical Trial)

Background: Skin graft is standard therapeutic technique in patients with deep ulcers but as every surgical procedure has complications. Although several modern dressings are available to enhance comfort of donor site, using techniques that accelerate wound healing may enhance patient’s satisfaction.Low Level Laser Therapy (LLLT) has been used in several medical fields, especially for wound healing but for treating large ulcers, it may last several months to heal completely.Materials and Methods: The protocols and informed consent were reviewed according to Medical Ethics Board of Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences (IR.SBMU.REC.1394.363) and Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT2016020226069N2). Nine patients with bilateral similar grade 3 burn ulcer in both hands or both feet, candidate for Split Thickness Skin Graft (STSG) were selected. One side was selected for laser irradiation and the other side as control, randomly. Laser area was irradiated by red, 655 nm laser light, 150 mW, 2 J/Cm2 for the bed of the ulcer and infra red 808 nm laser light, 200 mW for the margins, every day for 7 days.Results: The rate of wound dehiscence after skin graft surgery was significantly lower in laser treated group in comparison to control group which received only classic dressing (P=0.019).Discussion: In the present study for the first time we evaluate the effects of LLLT on the healing process of skin grafted area in burn patients. The results showed LLLT is a safe effective method which improves graft survival and wound healing process and decreases the rate of wound dehiscence in patients with deep burn ulcer

Chemerin levels in chronic kidney disease: A systematic review and meta-analysis

IntroductionChemerin as an inflammatory biomarker has gained attention in its biomarker capability. Several studies measured its levels in chronic kidney disease (CKD), as one of the common non-communicable causes of mortality and morbidity. Hence, this systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate this association.MethodsPubMed, Scopus, Embase, and the Web of Science databases were systematically searched for studies investigating chemerin levels in any CKD stage (including end-stage renal disease patients undergoing hemodialysis (HD)) and comparing it with healthy controls. Random effect meta-analysis was performed to calculate the standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence interval (CI).ResultsA total of eight studies were included, comprised of 875 individuals, with a mean age of 56.92 ± 11.78 years. All studies had high quality based on the New Castle-Ottawa Scale (NOS). Meta-analysis revealed significantly higher levels of chemerin in CKD patients compared to healthy controls (SMD 2.15, 95% CI 0.83-3.48, p-value<0.01). Additionally, HD patients had statistically higher levels of chemerin than controls (SMD 2.10, 95% CI 0.58-3.62, p-value=0.01). In meta-regression, publication year accounted for 23.50% and 24.17% of heterogeneity for these analyses, respectively.ConclusionChemerin can be potentially used as a biomarker in CKD patients, which can suggest the inflammatory pathways for the disease. Further research is warranted for the assessment of its clinical applications and enlightening its role in the pathophysiology of CKD

Health Literacy and the Influencing Factors: A Study in Five Provinces of Iran

Background & Objective: Health literacy is defined as the degree to which individuals have the capacity to obtain, process, and understand basic health information and services required for making appropriate health decisions. The aim of this study was to estimate the level of health literacy and to determine the factors influencing it using valid instrument. Methods: In a Population-based household survey in 5 cities and 5 villages of Boushehr, Mazandaran, Kermanshah, Ghazvin and Tehran provinces, 1086 adults aged 18 and older were enrolled into the study. Health literacy was measured by the questionnaire designed for test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults (TOFHLA) after validation. Regression analysis was used to determine the association of demographic factors and level of health literacy. Results: The average response rate was 70.8% in the studied clusters. From all participants, 61.4% were female and the rest were male. Mean age of participants was 38.1 years. Seventeen percent of the study population was illiterate and 36% had diploma or higher education. The level of health literacy was adequate in 28.1%, borderline in 15 .3% and inadequate in 56.5% of the subjects. Mean score of health literacy was 45.3 in males and 41.1 in females (P=0.057) . However, after adjustment for educational level in the regression model, health literacy was found to be higher in females (P=0.14). Limited health literacy was also associated with lower economic status (P=0.004). Conclusion: This study indicates that the level of health literacy is low in Iran. Educational level was the most important determinant of health literacy and the most increase was seen in subjects with more than 8 years education. Lower health literacy in women, older people and rural inhabitants was mainly due to lower educational levels in these groups. Keywords: Health literacy, survey, influencing factors