Cytogenetic Evaluation of Couples With Spontaneous Abortion, Still Birth and Recurrent Miscarriage in Qazvin: Report and Review

Background: Chromosomal abnormality plays an important role in different types of miscarriages. Objectives: The present study was designed to investigation chromosomal anomalies in three groups of couples with recurrent abortion (RA), spontaneous abortion (SA) and still birth (SB). PatientsandMethods: In this retrospective study, the frequency of chromosomal aberrations was investigatedamong 260 couples with miscarriage, which had referred to the cytogenetic section of a reference laboratory in Buali hospilal, Qazvin, Iran from 2009 to 2014. Metaphase spreads were analyzed using G-banding. Results: In this study, 7.6% of couples had chromosomal aberrations including, balanced reciprocal translocations, robertsonian translocations, inversions and sex chromosome aneuploidy. Frequency of balanced translocations was higher, specifically in couples with SA. Conclusions: In this investigation we showed that chromosomal abnormalities could be one of the important causes of miscarriages. Cytogenetic evaluation of couples, which experienced different types of miscarriage, may prevent unnecessary treatments. Keywords: Recurrent Abortion, Spontaneous Abortion, Still Birth, Chromosome Abnormalit

Alternative Assessment in the Post-Method Era: Pedagogic Implications

This article aims at presenting an state of the art status of formative assessment as a pedagogic tool. To this end, a brief developmental account of different modes of assessment over the last decades will be presented first. Then, formative assessment will be discussed in its constructivist guise. The present literature on assessment suggests that assessment for learning (formative assessment) not only represents an assessment tool but it also serves as a pedagogic tool to enhance learning and thinking. It has also gone to lengths to affect the design of classroom tasks and activities. Attempts have been made to delineate the underlying principles of formative assessment which can be used to picture the formation process of learners’ knowledge and development. Subsequently, alternative assessment techniques of which the present article will give an account have been suggested by scholars to operationalize these principles. The article also presents some research findings on the use and outcomes of formative assessment procedures in Asian EFL context. Key words: Formative assessment; Cconstructivism; Pedagogic tool; Alternative assessment; EFL instructio

Sensitivity to Antibiotics of Bacteria Exposed to Gamma Radiation Emitted from Hot Soils of the High Background Radiation Areas of Ramsar, Northern Iran

Background: Over the past several years our laboratories have investigated different aspects of the challenging issue of the alterations in bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics induced by physical stresses. Objective: To explore the bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics in samples of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Typhimurium (S. typhimurium), Staphylococcus aureus, and Klebsiella pneumoniae after exposure to gamma radiation emitted from the soil samples taken from the high background radiation areas of Ramsar, northern Iran. Methods: Standard Kirby-Bauer test, which evaluates the size of the zone of inhibition as an indicator of the susceptibility of different bacteria to antibiotics, was used in this study. Results: The maximum alteration of the diameter of inhibition zone was found for K. pneumoniae when tested for ciprofloxacin. In this case, the mean diameter of no growth zone in non-irradiated control samples of K. pneumoniae was 20.3 (SD 0.6) mm; it was 14.7 (SD 0.6) mm in irradiated samples. On the other hand, the minimum changes in the diameter of inhibition zone were found for S. typhimurium and S. aureus when these bacteria were tested for nitrofurantoin and cephalexin, respectively. Conclusion: Gamma rays were capable of making significant alterations in bacterial susceptibility to antibiotics. It can be hypothesized that high levels of natural background radiation can induce adaptive phenomena that help microorganisms better cope with lethal effects of antibiotics

Combined Economic and Emission Dispatch Incorporating Renewable Energy Sources and Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles

Conventional transportation and electricity industries are considered as two major sources of greenhouse gases (GHGs) emission. Improvement of vehicle’s operational efficiency can be a partial solution but it is necessary to employ Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) and Renewable Energy Sources (RESs) in the network to slow the increasing rate of the GHGs emission. However, it is crucial to investigate the effectiveness of each solution. In this paper, a combination of generation cost and GHGs emission of the two mentioned industries, as economic and environmental aspects of using PHEVs and RESs will be analyzed. The effectiveness of five different scenarios of utilizing the mentioned elements is studied on a test system. To have a realistic evaluation, an extended cost function model of wind farm is employed in optimal power dispatch calculations. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) algorithm is applied to the combined economic and emission dispatch (CEED) non- linear problem

Barriers and Solutions to Commercialization of Research Findings in Schools of Agriculture in Iran: A Qualitative Approach

The transformation process from idea to product and finally to wealth creation is one of the major problems in the agriculture sector in Iran. This study used a qualitative-exploratory approach to investigate the barriers and the solutions, which were derived from the interview results of our study, to commercialization of research findings in Iranian schools of agriculture. The data was collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews. The results showed that the highest ranking barriers to commercialization were inappropriate perspectives and policy-making, financial-investment barriers, mistrust, and poor communication; the barriers related to the participation of the private sector were among the lowest ranking items. The top ranking solutions for commercialization were related to planning, legislation, policy-making, needs assessment, goal setting, and prioritization. The technical-specialized solutions were the lowest ranking items

Venous Thromboembolism Following Travel

International travel has become increasingly common and accessible, hence, about two billion passengers undertake international and domestic air travel each year. Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is a serious public health disorder which may occur following prolonged travel, especially after air travel. A direct relation between VTE development and prolonged travels has been documented, while some references did not confirm this relation. The travel-related VTE is a multi-factorial disorder, and the risk of thrombosis is higher in individuals with pre-existing risk factors. Some believe that hypobaric hypoxia was a more likely explanation for thrombus formation during prolonged travel. Other factors including immobilization, dehydration, excessive alcohol or coffee consumption, lower air pressure, and lower humidity can make the traveler prone to thrombus formation. Herein we tried to evaluate previous studies and available guidelines thereby providing information on the association of thrombosis and travel, risk factors, risk assessment, and strategies for the prevention of VTE following travel

Post-revascularization Ejection Fraction Prediction for Patients Undergoing Percutaneous Coronary Intervention Based on Myocardial Perfusion SPECT Imaging Radiomics:a Preliminary Machine Learning Study

In this study, the ability of radiomics features extracted from myocardial perfusion imaging with SPECT (MPI-SPECT) was investigated for the prediction of ejection fraction (EF) post-percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) treatment. A total of 52 patients who had undergone pre-PCI MPI-SPECT were enrolled in this study. After normalization of the images, features were extracted from the left ventricle, initially automatically segmented by k-means and active contour methods, and finally edited and approved by an expert radiologist. More than 1700 2D and 3D radiomics features were extracted from each patient’s scan. A cross-combination of three feature selections and seven classifier methods was implemented. Three classes of no or dis-improvement (class 1), improved EF from 0 to 5% (class 2), and improved EF over 5% (class 3) were predicted by using tenfold cross-validation. Lastly, the models were evaluated based on accuracy, AUC, sensitivity, specificity, precision, and F-score. Neighborhood component analysis (NCA) selected the most predictive feature signatures, including Gabor, first-order, and NGTDM features. Among the classifiers, the best performance was achieved by the fine KNN classifier, which yielded mean accuracy, AUC, sensitivity, specificity, precision, and F-score of 0.84, 0.83, 0.75, 0.87, 0.78, and 0.76, respectively, in 100 iterations of classification, within the 52 patients with 10-fold cross-validation. The MPI-SPECT-based radiomic features are well suited for predicting post-revascularization EF and therefore provide a helpful approach for deciding on the most appropriate treatment.</p

Use of Complementary Medicine in SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV: a Narrative Review

Severe acute respiration syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is characterized by severe cytokine storm syndrome following inflammation. SARS-CoV-2 is the 7th coronavirus that causes infection in human bodies; SARS-CoV, MERS-CoV, and SARS-CoV-2 can purpose severe diseases. SARS-CoV-2 at once interacts with angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE-2) receptors inside the body and causes respiratory problems. Interestingly, complementary medicines and herbal drugs affect the expression of IgE and IgG antibodies and improve the immune system; for that reason, complementary medicine could be beneficial for infectious diseases like SARS-COV-2. In this review, we assessed some related articles to evaluate the effect of complementary medicine on SARS-COV2 and MERS-COV