Domestic architecture in Safavid Iran, 1501-1737

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Design, Architecture and Building.This thesis reveals, for the first time, the significance, scope and achievements of Safavid (1501-1736) domestic architecture in Iran. Through extensive illustration and analyses the research details the construction of buildings such as palaces, houses and pavilions, as well as the gardens, gates and walls that defined their settings. The political, religious, economic and social circumstances of Safavid architecture are described and the impact of these circumstances upon the formal expression and spatial organisation of buildings is discussed. The key drivers of Safavid architectural development are found to lie in the conflicts between the Safavid and Ottoman Empires and in the reign of Shah Abbas 1. While most of the buildings examined in this thesis are located in Qazvin and Isfahan, buildings and gardens in the Caspian Sea area are also addressed. The research uses two quite distinct and different sources. The first source is existing buildings and ruins that have been measured, extensively photographed and empirically studied by the author during two field trips. The second source is significant information about Safavid architecture that has been gleaned from European travellers who visited Persia during the Safavid era, including the French jeweller and traveller Jean Chardin, Engelbert Kaempfer, Sir Thomas Herbert, Pietro Della Valle, Don Garcia de Silva y Figueroa and Cornelius de Bruin. This second body of material provides information about the ways in which Persian architecture was viewed by foreigners whose accounts are coloured by their expectations and the politics under which they made their visits as diplomats, traders and adventurers. Accounts of buildings from this source are necessarily interpreted against empirical evidence. The research identifies the key buildings and building types of the era and gives detailed accounts of their development, their importance during the Safavid period and their current condition and future. These include the Ali Qapu gateway and Chehel Sotun pavilion at Qazvin, Hasht Behesht pavilion, Ali Qapu and Chehel Sotun palaces in Isfahan, Annenian Marta Peters and Sookiassian houses of the Julfa suburb in Isfahan, and palaces of Far aha bad and (Ashraf) Behshar in the Caspian Sea area

Incorporation of an ultrasound and model guided permissible region improves quantitative source recovery in bioluminescence tomography

Bioluminescence imaging has shown great potential for studying and monitoring disease progression in small animal pre-clinical imaging. However, absolute bioluminescence source recovery through tomographic multi-wavelength measurements is often hindered through the lack of quantitative accuracy and suffers from both poor localisation and quantitative recovery. In this work a method to incorporate a permissible region strategy through not only a priori location (permissible region) but also based on a model of light propagation and hence light sensitivity is developed and tested using both simulations and experimental data. Reconstructions on two different numerical models (a simple slab, and the digital version of a heterogeneous mouse) show an improvement of localisation and recovery of intensity (around 25% for the slab model and around 10% for the digital mouse model). This strategy is also used with experimental data from a phantom gel, which demonstrated an improved recovered tomographic image

Long-term persistence of IgG antibodies in recovered COVID-19 individuals at 18 months and the impact of two-dose BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) mRNA vaccination on the antibody response

This era of emerging variants needs a thorough evaluation of data on the long-term efficacy of immune responses in vaccinated as well as recovered individuals, to understand the overall evolution of the pandemic. In this study, we aimed to assess the dynamics of IgG titers over 18 months in n=36 patients from the Umbria region in Italy, who had a documented history of COVID-19 infection in March 2020, and then compared the impact of two-dose BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) vaccination on the antibody titers of these patients with the ones who did not receive any dose of vaccine. This is the longest observation (March 2020-September 2021) for the presence of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in recovered individuals along with the impact of 2 dose-BNT162b2 vaccination on the titers. Fixed-effect regression models were used for statistical analysis which could be also used to predict future titer trends. At 18 months, 97% participants tested positive for anti-NCP hinting towards the persistence of infection-induced immunity even for the vaccinated individuals. Our study findings demonstrate that while double dose vaccination boosted the IgG titers in recovered individuals 161 times, this “boost” was relatively short-lived. The unvaccinated recovered individuals, in contrast, continued to show a steady decline but detectable antibody levels. Further studies are required to re-evaluate the timing and dose regimen of vaccines for an adequate immune response in recovered individuals

Septal flip flap per la ricostruzione del basicranio anteriore dopo resezione di tumori nasosinusali: risultati preliminari

Il trattamento chirurgico dei tumori maligni nasosinusali estesi al basicranio anteriore si è evoluto nel corso degli ultimi decenni, passando dalla resezione craniofacciale tradizionale agli approcci endoscopici endonasali. In questi approcci mini-invasivi, il basicranio anteriore viene generalmente ricostruito con tecnica multistrato, utilizzando innesti di materiale autologo (fascia lata o tratto ileo-tibiale), che determinano la produzione di abbondanti crostosità a livello della neocavità chirurgica con conseguente disagio e fastidio per il paziente. In casi selezionati, proponiamo di allestire un lembo di mucopericondrio e mucoperiostio di setto nasale controlateralmente rispetto alla neoplasia, peduncolato sui rami settali delle arterie etmoidali anteriore e posteriore (Septal Flip-Flap, SFF), che può essere ruotato a ricostruire il difetto del basicranio anteriore. Criteri di esclusione per l’allestimento di questo lembo locale sono: tumori con estensione bilaterale ad interessare entrambi i complessi etmoidali; infiltrazione neoplastica del setto nasale e/o del planum sfeno-etmoidale; tumore maligno nasosinusale con istologia potenzialmente multifocale. Nel nostro centro di riferimento di terzo livello, la ricostruzione del basicranio mediante SFF è stata eseguita in 4 pazienti affetti dalle seguenti patologie: teratocarcinosarcoma etmoidale in un caso, persistenza di carcinoma indifferenziato nasosinusale (in esiti di trattamento radio-chemioterapico) in un caso, estesioneuroblastoma della fessura olfattoria in un caso, e carcinoma spinocellulare etmoidale in un caso. Non si sono verificate complicanze intra/post-operatorie, ottenendo il successo della ricostruzione del basicranio nella totalità dei casi. Nel postoperatorio si è osservata una netta riduzione delle crostosità intranasali, con rapida guarigione della neocavità chirurgica. Attualmente, non si sono registrate recidive di malattia, con un follow-up medio di 15 mesi. La ricostruzione del basicranio anteriore mediante SFF si è dimostrata sicura ed efficace, con percentuali di successo elevate, simili a quelle ottenute con altri lembi locali peduncolati. Il SFF garantisce inoltre una maggiore rapidità nel processo di guarigione della plastica del basicranio, con una diminuzione delle crostosità nasali nel postoperatorio e conseguente miglioramento della qualità di vita del paziente. Questa tecnica appare essere valida anche dal punto di vista oncologico per casi estremamente selezionati di tumore maligno nasosinusale. Casistiche più ampie con follow-up a lungo termine sono necessarie per validare i risultati preliminari di questa innovativa e promettente tecnica chirurgica

Diagnostic therapeutic assistance pathway (PDTA) of type 2 chronic rhinosinusitis

Chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) is a complex and heterogeneous disorder whose etiopathogenetic picture is not yet completely known and is classically divided into CRS with (CRSwNP) and without nasal polyps (CRSsNP). But today the distinction is made with type 2 and nontype 2 variants. A rational and defined pathway for the diagnosis of chronic rhinosinusitis is an indispensable means to be able to arrive at a correct identification of the patient. This typing is essential to be able to arrive at the correct course of treatment, which turns out to be different for different types of patients. For this reason, the realization of a diagnostic therapeutic pathway represents a fundamental way for the otolaryngologist specialist but not only, since today diagnostics has a multidisciplinary framework. In the present work, precise indications have been developed to arrive at a correct diagnosis. The various diagnostic pathways and processes to arrive at a correct therapeutic framing have been highlighted. Therapy ranging from medical therapy to surgical therapy without neglecting the new biological therapies. It does not represent a guideline but a diagnostic method that can be adapted to all the various territorial realities

Does size matter? : A quantitative content analysis of Jönköpings-Posten and their transition to tabloid

Syfte: Studiens syfte är att undersöka om Jönköpings-Postens övergång till tabloid haft någon inverkan på tidningens innehåll. Frågeställningen som arbetet bygger på är om Jönköpings-Posten uppvisar tendenser på tabloidisering i sitt innehåll i samband med formatförändringen den 7 november 2013. Material och metod: Materialet utgörs av sex tidningar, totalt 12 delar, i tryckt format från Jönköpings-Posten kring tiden för formatbytet. En kvantitativ innehållsanalys har använts som metod där begreppet tabloidisering operationaliserats. Resultat: Sammantaget går det inte att utläsa en entydig ökning av tabloidiseringstendenserna. Det är först vid en närmare granskning av resultatet som det går att upptäcka tendenser på tabloidisering i tidningens innehåll. Resultaten är många gånger tvetydiga och skulle utifrån tidigare forskning och teorier tala både för och emot en tabloidisering på samma gång. En slutsats som dras gällande Jönköpings-Posten är att tidningen endast i viss mån uppvisar tecken på tabloidisering i sitt innehåll i samband med övergången till tabloid. Studien stödjer endast delvis den tidigare forskningens uppfattning om att ett förändrat format också innebär ett förändrat innehåll. Aim: The aim of this study is to examine if there´s been any affects in the content of the newspaper regarding the transition of Jönköpings-Posten going tabloid. The primary question that this study is based upon is if Jönköpings-Posten shows tendencies regarding tabloidization in the content due to the shift of the format 7th of November 2013. Material and method: The material contains of six newspapers from Jönköpings-Posten, totally 12 parts, in printed format around the time of the shift. A quantitative content analysis has been used as a method where the notion tabloidization has been operationalized. Conclusion: As a whole it is not possible to gather a straightforward increase of the tabloidization tendencies. It is not until a closer review of the result been made which tendencies of tabloidization in the content of the newspaper can be identified. The results are many times ambiguous and should regard to earlier research and theories speak for and against a tabloidization at the same time. One conclusion that is drawn concerning Jönköpings-Posten is that the newspaper only in a certain degree show signs of tabloidization in its content, in relation to the shift to tabloid. The study only partially supports the earlier opinion of previous research where a changed format also contributes to a changed content

Epidemiology of road traffic mortality and injuries in Yazd, Iran during 2003?008

【Abstract】Objective: Road traffic crashes (RTCs) are considered to be the second highest cause of mortality in Iran. The purpose of this study was to describe the morbidity and mortality of RTC during 2003-2008. Methods: Data were got from national health sources of Iran. These data included population, the number of RTCs, consequent fatalities, cause and place of death from 2003 to 2008. Results: RTC incidence rate increased from 868.5 per 100 000 population in the year 2003 to 1 643.6 in 2008. A total of 2 565 deaths from RTC were recorded in Yazd from 2003 to 2008. RTC mortality rate increased from 46.1 per 100 000 population in 2003 to 46.9 in 2006, then declined to 38.8 in 2008. During this time period, overall traffic injury incidence per 100 000 population increased from 368.8 in 2003 to 647.9 in 2006, then declined to 527.9 in 2008. Head injuries were the most common cause of road traffic-related mortality from 2003 to 2008. Following road traffic accidents, most of the deaths occurred before arriving hospital. Conclusions: Road traffic crash-related mortality and morbidity in Yazd in the recent six years are increased, but decreased in the last two years. This decline is most probably the result of a variety of interventions, including laws, police enforcement, improvements in traffic and transport, health care resources and media and public education. Key words: Accidents, traffic; Wounds and injuries; Mortalit

An Inquiry into The Development of the Self-Conscious Emotions of Shame and Guilt in Primary School Students: The Role of Parenting Dimensions, Child’s Mood, and Self-Concept

Self-conscious emotions play an important role in the health and adjustment of children. They are evoked by self-reflection and self-assessment. Shame and guilt are among the self-conscious emotions that need to be considered from early childhood; the purpose of the present study was to investigate the development of self-conscious emotions of shame and guilt and the role of parenting dimensions, and child's mood and self-concept in predicting these emotions. The moderating role of age was also explored in this regard. The statistical population of the present study included all the primary school students of Jam city, Iran and their families. From the given secondary schools, four classes were selected from the 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th grades through cluster random sampling. For each grade, 50 subjects were selected that counted up to a total of 200 students and their families. The families completed the Malhotra Temperament Scale (MTS), and the Alabama parenting questionnaire and the students completed the Test of Self-conscious Affects for children (TOSCA-C), and Piers-Harissis Self-conscious Scale for Children. To test the hypotheses, descriptive and inferential analysis including mean, standard deviation and multiple regression analysis were used. The results showed that parenting and mood variables significantly predicted self-conscious emotions of shame and guilty. The results also showed that relationships between the predictor variables, and the dependent variables partially varied across age