A Predictive Model for the Strength of a Novel Geopolymer Construction Material Produced by Autoclaved Aerated Concrete Waste

Carbon dioxide emission and consumption of large amounts of natural resources are the environmental hazards observed in the production process of various commonly used construction materials, like Portland cement and clay bricks. Also, debris from the demolition of old buildings and disposing of the waste of construction material factories also cause environmental pollution. Producing environmentally friendly geopolymer materials with recycling construction wastes containing aluminosilicate resources and alkaline activators could be an effective method for reduction of environmental hazards. This paper is an innovative feasibility study of geopolymer material production using the waste autoclaved aerated concrete (AAC) powder. Here, a mix of AAC powder together with activator solution containing sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate at different concentrations was used to prepare the geopolymer mortar samples. The specimens were oven-cured at different temperatures. The effects of sodium hydroxide concentration and curing temperature on the compressive, tensile, and flexural strengths, as well as water absorption of the samples, were investigated. The main contribution of this study is the feasibility of the successful fabrication of geopolymer material based on AAC waste powder with desirable mechanical properties. Namely, the compressive strength of the base AAC blocks used here was 3 MPa and the maximum strength of the produced geopolymer material using the AAC powder was about 21 MPa. The test results were used to develop a model to predict the compressive strength of the proposed geopolymer AAC material to the effective parameters by Gene Expression Programming. The model predictions were confirmed using an extra series of test results implemented by the authors

The Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Therapy Group on Difficulties in Emotion Regulation and Health Promoting Lifestyle in Obese Women

Background: Obesity is one of the most common problems between women, which leads to many chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Various factors, including emotional problems and lifestyle, play a special role in the obesity of women. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Therapy Group (EFT-G) on the difficulties in emotion regulation and the health-promoting lifestyle of obese women referred to nutrition clinics in Mashhad in 2018. Methods: In this study, twenty-four obese volunteer women were selected and assigned to two experimental (n =12) and control (n =12) groups. One meeting was held to explain the aims of the research and intervention. The experimental group received 90-minute weekly sessions for 2.5 months (10 sessions), while the control group did not receive any intervention. Before and after the training phase, all of the participants completed the demographic questionnaire. Finally, they had also completed the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale and the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile. Data were analyzed by using SPSS 22 software. Results: The outcomes of data analysis by using one-way and multivariate covariance analysis indicated that the EFT-G significantly reduced the overall score of difficulties of emotion regulation in obese women (Pvalue≤0.001).These outcomes also represented that the health Promotion lifestyle of mentioned women had significant improvement (Pvalue≤0.001). Conclusions: Generally, the results showed that the EFT-G leads to a decrease in the scores of difficulties in emotion regulation and an increase in the scores of health promotion lifestyle is relevant to obese women. Furthermore, this study illustrated that EFT-G can improve the difficulties in emotion regulation and the health promotion lifestyle of obese women. Keywords: Emotion-Focused Therapy Group, Obesity, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation, Health Promotion Lifestyle

The Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Therapy Group on Difficulties in Emotion Regulation and Health Promoting Lifestyle in Obese Women

Background: Obesity is one of the most common problems between women, which leads to many chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Various factors, including emotional problems and lifestyle, play a special role in the obesity of women. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Therapy Group (EFT-G) on the difficulties in emotion regulation and the health-promoting lifestyle of obese women referred to nutrition clinics in Mashhad in 2018. Methods: In this study, twenty-four obese volunteer women were selected and assigned to two experimental (n =12) and control (n =12) groups. One meeting was held to explain the aims of the research and intervention. The experimental group received 90-minute weekly sessions for 2.5 months (10 sessions), while the control group did not receive any intervention. Before and after the training phase, all of the participants completed the demographic questionnaire. Finally, they had also completed the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale and the Health-Promoting Lifestyle Profile. Data were analyzed by using SPSS 22 software. Results: The outcomes of data analysis by using one-way and multivariate covariance analysis indicated that the EFT-G significantly reduced the overall score of difficulties of emotion regulation in obese women (Pvalue≤0.001).These outcomes also represented that the health Promotion lifestyle of mentioned women had significant improvement (Pvalue≤0.001). Conclusions: Generally, the results showed that the EFT-G leads to a decrease in the scores of difficulties in emotion regulation and an increase in the scores of health promotion lifestyle is relevant to obese women. Furthermore, this study illustrated that EFT-G can improve the difficulties in emotion regulation and the health promotion lifestyle of obese women. Keywords: Emotion-Focused Therapy Group, Obesity, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation, Health Promotion Lifestyle

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Therapy Group and Schema Group Therapy on the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation and Health Promoting Lifestyle of Obese Women

Background: Obesity is one of the most common problem among women, leading to many chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Various factors such as emotional problems and lifestyle have a special role in women's obesity. The aim of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy group (EFT-G) and schema group therapy (SGT) on the difficulties in emotion regulation and the health-promoting lifestyle of obese women referred to nutrition clinics in Mashhad in 2018. Methods: Thirty-six obese volunteer women were selected and assigned into two experimental groups (each group consisted of 12 women) and a control group (n = 12). A meeting was held to explain the objectives of the research and intervention. Each one of the experimental groups received 90-minute weekly sessions for 2.5 months (10 sessions), while the control group did not receive any intervention. Before and after the training phase, all of the participants completed the demographic questionnaire. Finally, they had also completed the difficulties in emotion regulation scale and the health-promoting lifestyle profile. Data were analyzed by using SPSS 22 software. The significant level was set at 0.05. Results: The outcomes of data analysis by using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated that there is no significant difference between the two experimental groups on the research variables (Pvalue>0.05). The results also showed that EFT-G and SGT improved health promoting lifestyles and difficulties in emotion regulation in obese women (Pvalue<0.05). Also, the results showed that EFT-G was effective on difficulties in emotion regulation, but group schema therapy was not effective on emotional regulation difficulties in obese women (Pvalue>0.05). Conclusions: Generally, the results showed that there is no significant difference between the two experimental groups on the difficulties in emotion regulation and health-promoting lifestyle. The EFT-G decrease the difficulties in emotion regulation and increase the health promotion lifestyle in obese women. Furthermore, this study illustrated that the EFT-G can improve the difficulties in emotion regulation and the health promotion lifestyle of obese women. Keywords: Emotion-focused therapy, schema group therapy, Obesity, Difficulties in emotion regulation, Health promotion lifestyl

Clinical and Radiographic Alterations in Bilateral Avascular Necrosis of the Femoral Head Following Laser Acupuncture: A Case Report

Introduction: Avascular necrosis (AVN) of the femoral head is an increasingly common cause of musculoskeletal disability with unknown etiology. Traumatic and non-traumatic factors can be effective in its occurrence. About 50% of cases are bilateral. The underlying treatment is prosthetic replacement surgical procedure.Case Presentation: We report a case of bilateral AVN of femoral heads who was a candidate for prosthetic replacement surgery but improved significantly, using laser acupuncture. The patient was a 55-year-old woman with a diagnosis of bilateral osteonecrosis of the femoral head for five years. As the patient declined the surgical option, laser acupuncture was started for pain control. Regarding the signs of bilateral femoral head recovery (according to the MRI scan criteria), a total of 3 courses of laser acupuncture (each course was 20 sessions) with 2 months intervals was performed. Ten acupuncture points: Li4, Li11, St36, SP6, LIV3, GB4, GB5, GB6, GB13, GB14, GB20, GB30, GB31, GB34, were irradiated bilaterally using red 650 nm laser, 100 mW, 1505 Hz frequency, duty cycle 50 3 J/point and near infrared 810 nm laser, 100 mW, 1705 Hz frequency, duty cycle 50 3 J/point, for 2 minutes. The patient received 3 laser therapy courses. During the first-course, laser therapy was done every other day to reduce pain. For the second and third courses, according to pain decrease, therapy was done every week.Results: The results of the MRI scans and x-ray studies show progressive regeneration of the right femoral head from VI to B II and of the left from V to C II (based on the standard table of Pennsylvania).Conclusion: It seems that this procedure may be mentioned in future research projects, especially in cases with high risks of surgery

Comparison of the Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Therapy Group and Schema Group Therapy on the Difficulties in Emotion Regulation and Health Promoting Lifestyle of Obese Women

Background: Obesity is one of the most common problem among women, leading to many chronic diseases such as heart disease and cancer. Various factors such as emotional problems and lifestyle have a special role in women's obesity. The aim of the present study was to compare the effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy group (EFT-G) and schema group therapy (SGT) on the difficulties in emotion regulation and the health-promoting lifestyle of obese women referred to nutrition clinics in Mashhad in 2018. Methods: Thirty-six obese volunteer women were selected and assigned into two experimental groups (each group consisted of 12 women) and a control group (n = 12). A meeting was held to explain the objectives of the research and intervention. Each one of the experimental groups received 90-minute weekly sessions for 2.5 months (10 sessions), while the control group did not receive any intervention. Before and after the training phase, all of the participants completed the demographic questionnaire. Finally, they had also completed the difficulties in emotion regulation scale and the health-promoting lifestyle profile. Data were analyzed by using SPSS 22 software. The significant level was set at 0.05. Results: The outcomes of data analysis by using multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicated that there is no significant difference between the two experimental groups on the research variables (Pvalue>0.05). The results also showed that EFT-G and SGT improved health promoting lifestyles and difficulties in emotion regulation in obese women (Pvalue<0.05). Also, the results showed that EFT-G was effective on difficulties in emotion regulation, but group schema therapy was not effective on emotional regulation difficulties in obese women (Pvalue>0.05). Conclusions: Generally, the results showed that there is no significant difference between the two experimental groups on the difficulties in emotion regulation and health-promoting lifestyle. The EFT-G decrease the difficulties in emotion regulation and increase the health promotion lifestyle in obese women. Furthermore, this study illustrated that the EFT-G can improve the difficulties in emotion regulation and the health promotion lifestyle of obese women. Keywords: Emotion-focused therapy, schema group therapy, Obesity, Difficulties in emotion regulation, Health promotion lifestyl

Microsatellite analysis of Damask rose (Rosa damascena Mill.) accessions from various regions in Iran reveals multiple genotypes

BACKGROUND: Damask roses (Rosa damascena Mill.) are mainly used for essential oil production. Previous studies have indicated that all production material in Bulgaria and Turkey consists of only one genotype. Nine polymorphic microsatellite markers were used to analyze the genetic diversity of 40 accessions of R. damascena collected across major and minor rose oil production areas in Iran. RESULTS: All microsatellite markers showed a high level of polymorphism (5–15 alleles per microsatellite marker, with an average of 9.11 alleles per locus). Cluster analysis of genetic similarities revealed that these microsatellites identified a total of nine different genotypes. The genotype from Isfahan province, which is the major production area, was by far the most common genotype (27/40 accessions). It was identical to the Bulgarian genotype. Other genotypes (each represented by 1–4 accessions) were collected from minor production areas in several provinces, notably in the mountainous Northwest of Iran. CONCLUSION: This is the first study that uncovered genetic diversity within Damask rose. Our results will guide new collection activities to establish larger collections and manage the Iranian Damask rose genetic resources. The genotypes identified here may be directly useful for breeding