The induction and growth of potato (Solanum tuberosum. L) microtubers (sante cultivar) in response to the different concentrations of 6-benzylaminopurine and sucrose

The effects of different concentrations of 6-benzylaminopurine (BAP) and sucrose as induction combinations on microtuber formation and the time of this process, numbers and fresh and dry weight of microtubers were investigated. A two-stage culture was used to study the effect of hormonal and sucrose treatments. In the first stage, a liquid MS medium containing 0.5 mgl-1 BAP + 0.4 mgl-1 gibberellic acid (GA3) + 20 gl-1 sucrose was used for the increase of branches. The cultures of single node were grown against white light (4000 to 5000 LUX) and on sucrose for one month. In the second stage, microtuber formation induced on fluid MS medium containing different concentrations of sucrose (30, 40, 60, 80 mgl-1) and BAP (1, 2, 5, 10 mgl-1) was used in continuous darkness. Microtuber formation was investigated within 10 weeks after induction.Key words: Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.), 6-benzylaminopurine, sucrose, microtuber formation

Video Data Compression by Progressive Iterative Approximation

In the present paper, the B-spline curve is used for reducing the entropy of video data. We consider the color or luminance variations of a spatial position in a series of frames as input data points in Euclidean space R or R3. The progressive and iterative approximation (PIA) method is a direct and intuitive way of generating curve series of high and higher fitting accuracy. The video data points are approximated using progressive and iterative approximation for least square (LSPIA) fitting. The Lossless video data compression is done through storing the B-spline curve control points (CPs) and the difference between fitted and original video data. The proposed method is applied to two classes of synthetically produced and naturally recorded video sequences and makes a reduction in the entropy of both. However, this reduction is higher for syntactically created than those naturally produced. The comparative analysis of experiments on a variety of video sequences suggests that the entropy of output video data is much less than that of input video data

Spring search algorithm for simultaneous placement of distributed generation and capacitors

Purpose. In this paper, for simultaneous placement of distributed generation (DG) and capacitors, a new approach based on Spring Search Algorithm (SSA), is presented. This method is contained two stages using two sensitive index Sv and Ss. Sv and Ss are calculated according to nominal voltageand network losses. In the first stage, candidate buses are determined for installation DG and capacitors according to Sv and Ss. Then in the second stage, placement and sizing of distributed generation and capacitors are specified using SSA. The spring search algorithm is among the optimization algorithms developed by the idea of laws of nature and the search factors are a set of objects. The proposed algorithm is tested on 33-bus and 69-bus radial distribution networks. The test results indicate good performance of the proposed methodЦель. В статье для одновременного размещения распределенной генерации и конденсаторов представлен новый подход, основанный на "пружинном" алгоритме поиска (Spring Search Algorithm, SSA). Данный метод состоит из двух этапов с использованием двух показателей чувствительности Sv и Ss. Показатели чувствительности Sv и Ss рассчитываются в соответствии с номинальным напряжением и потерями в сети. На первом этапе определяются шины-кандидаты для установки распределенной генерации и конденсаторов согласно Sv и Ss. Затем, на втором этапе размещение и калибровка распределенной генерации и конденсаторов выполняются с использованием алгоритма SSA. "Пружинный" алгоритм поиска входит в число алгоритмов оптимизации, разработанных на основе идей законов природы, а факторы поиска представляют собой набор объектов. Предлагаемый алгоритм тестируется на радиальных распределительных сетях с 33 и 69 шинами. Результаты тестирования показывают хорошую эффективность предложенного метода

Psychometric properties of the king spiritual intelligence questionnaire (KSIQ) in physical veterans of Iran-Iraq warfare

Aims: The study's purpose was to determine reliability and validity of the King spiritual intelligence questionnaires in veterans of Iran-Iraq Warfare. Methods: In this cross sectional study, 300 veterans of the Iran-Iraq war completed the King spiritual intelligence questionnaires. Principal components analysis (PCA) with varimax rotation was used to assess domain structure of the King spiritual intelligence questionnaires. Internal and external consistency reliability was assessed with Cronbach's alpha and intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC). Results: Internal consistency of King spiritual intelligence questions estimated with Cronbach's alpha, 0.872 and intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC).872 (CI 95%: 0.84 -0.89). The construct validity of the questionnaire was calculated using exploratory factor analysis that showed 3 factors with Eigen values of greater than one, which explained in total 44.7% of the variance. (1, 8 items, α= 0.87; 2, 5. items; α = 0.89; 3, 2 items, α= 0.51). Conclusion: The Persian version of King spiritual intelligence questionnaire demonstrated suitable validity and reliability among the Veterans of Iran-Iraq Warfare. With the consideration of the proper psychometric characteristics, this questionnaire can be used to further research spiritual intelligence in this population

Developing and psychometric of an instrument for reproductive health need assessment related to HIV/Aids in Iranian adult men

Background: Due to the socio-cultural characteristics of Iranian adult men and lack of standardized questionnaires to assess their reproductive health associated with sexually transmitted diseases and HIV / AIDS, this study is done with the goal of development and psychometrics of a valid relevant instrument.Method: A mixed method was used in this study. The reproductive health needs of men were investigated using qualitative content analysis according to the views of 40 people who participated in the study and were chosen via purposive sampling. Accordingly, a psychometric questionnaire was designed and features of the questionnaire were determined using formal, content, and construct validity as well as internal consistency reliability and stability.Findings: The validity index (0.92) and construct validity was analyzed by exploratory factor analysis, which resulted in five factors. Its reliability was estimated using internal consistency, ndCronbach's alpha was 0.88. The analysis ofthe instrument consistency revealed that intraclass correlation index in two phases within two weeks was 0.98.Finally, a questionnaire with 43 items and 5 factors (required) consisting of "gender-based education and services", "overcoming the challenges of educational services", "adequate support", "correction of cultural beliefs" and "empowerment of women" was prepared.Conclusion: The designed instrument is valid and reliable. It is culturally appropriate. It is suggested to be used to assess reproductive health needs of adult men in relation to HIV / AIDS and sexually transmitted diseases.Keywords: men, needs assessments, psychometric tools, AIDS, sexually transmitted disease

Development of an Equivalent Porous Medium Model for a Tubular Receiver Equipped With Raschig Rings

The porous insert has become one of the promising methods for heat transfer enhancement in many industrial applications ranging from small electronic devices to nuclear reactors, and large solar fields. For the assessment of such systems, the CFD numerical studies are usually employed by scientists to investigate the heat and mass transfer inside the region in micro or macro scales. Although micro studies are accurate and provide a detailed analysis of the process, they cannot be used for every study due to complex and costly computational resource they may demand for the case under study. Therefore, sometimes macro-scale simulations become more favorable thanks to the reduction in time and cost as well as the simplification over the morphology of the porous medium they offer. For these reasons, this study aims at developing a macro model for a novel porous disc made of Raschig Rings, to be applied to the tubular solar absorber for future simulations. The methodology devised in this study was to exploit detailed micro-scale simulations, achieving the macro properties and then developing a new equivalent macro model of a porous medium, based on the obtained properties. Numerical data indicated that when the developed macro model is compared to the micro simulations, the thermo-hydraulic results are in good agreement. Applying the macro model to a solar absorber working under linear Fresnel heating showed that the proposed porous disc could reduce the temperature rise on the tube wall by 40%

Designing and Psychometric Evaluation of the Competency Inventory for Postgraduate Students of Intensive Care Nursing

Background: Today, the role of expert clinical nurses is highlighted because their presence is necessary for guaranteeing the quality of nursing care provided for the patients. However, there are no proper instruments for measuring the clinical competence of postgraduate students in intensive care nursing. Objectives: The present study aimed at development and psychometric evaluation of the clinical-competence inventory for postgraduate students of intensive care nursing. Patients and Methods: A methodological study was conducted at state nursing schools of Iran. The participants were postgraduate students of intensive care nursing, who were being trained at 16 nursing schools throughout Iran, during year 2014. After examining some relevant texts, the first draft of the inventory was designed with 60 items. In order to confirm its face and content validity, a panel of experts and students examined the inventory. The final draft, which contained 44 items, was distributed among postgraduate students of intensive care nursing, and 217 students answered the inventory. The construct validity was verified using exploratory factor analysis. The reliability of the inventory was verified using consistency tests. Results: Firstly an instrument with 60 items was developed. Next, the face and content validity of the instrument was assessed by 15 students and 11 experts. Overall, 16 items were removed through validity assessment and 44 items remained in the final draft. The content validity index of the final draft was 0.90. Moreover, the content validity ration of 44 items ranged between 0.75 and 1. The Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of the inventory was 0.95 and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) of the test-retest results was 0.96. To examine the construct validity of the final draft, it was administered for 217 postgraduate students of intensive care nursing and five factors, with Eigenvalues above one and loading level equal to or above 0.4, were extracted through exploratory factor analysis. Conclusions: The inventory developed in this study is a suitable index for evaluating the efficacy of postgraduate students in the field of intensive care nursing

Development and psychometric evaluation of the patient safety violation scale in medical oncology units in Iran

Background: Patient safety is one of the key components of nursing care for cancer cases. Valid and reliable context-based instruments are necessary for accurate evaluation of patient safety in oncology units. The aim of the present study was to develop and evaluate the psychometric properties of the Patient Safety Violation Scale in medical oncology units in Iran. Materials and Methods: In this methodological study, a pool of 58 items was generated through reviewing the existing literature. The validity of the 58-item scale was assessed through calculating impact score, content validity ratio, and content validity index for its items as well as conducting exploratory factor analysis. The reliability of the scale was evaluated by assessing its internal consistency and testretest stability. Study sample consisted of 300 oncology nurses who were recruited from thirteen teaching hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Results: Sixteen items were excluded from the scale due to having low impact scores, content validity ratios, or content validity indices. In exploratory factor analysis, the remaining 42 items were loaded on five factors including patient fall, verification of patientidentity, harm during care delivery, delay in care delivery, and medication errors. These five factors explained 62 of the total variance. The Cronbach's alpha of the scale and the test-retest interclass correlation coefficient were equal to 0.933 and 0.92, respectively. Conclusions: The 42-item Patient Safety Violation Scale is a simple and short scale which has acceptable validity and reliability. Consequently, it can be used for assessing patient safety in clinical settings such as medical oncology units and for research projects