Debating the Limits of Debate: Politics and Rhetorics of Dissent and Disagreement in the Islamic Republic of Iran

This dissertation evaluates the place of debate in contemporary Iranian political environment and discursive culture, the assumptions that ruling and opposition elites have about debate and about the opportunities it provides for politicking; and their ongoing negotiation over the definitions, configurations, and conditions of public debate and the discursive resolution of disputes. By studying three major sites of struggle – the print press, academia and the national television – the dissertation examines how the regime has tried to discipline various public spheres, maintain the appropriate form of discourse, and outline the condition of an institutionally mediated and contained dissent without being politically disruptive; and how dissidents have tried to utilize debate for their agenda and deployed rhetorical performances in state-controlled publics in order to navigate the limits, manifest dissent and disagreement, and expand the scope of subversive expression. The dissertation assesses the political circumstances, administrative decisions, governing ideas, habitual practices, and the social conditions that have constituted, and also become constitutive of, the advent and development of diverse forms and modes of public debate in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The dissertation contributes to the interplaying fields of rhetoric, media, religion and politics by exploring, critiquing and expanding the functions ascribed to debate usually manifested in and associated with Western democracies. It argues that debate and deliberation not only could be possible and permissible under nondemocratic settings, but could even be initiated and encouraged by authoritarian agents.Doctor of Philosoph

Technology Introduction as Social Interpretation by End-Users: Key Articulations in the Literature

What happens after new technologies have been rolled out in organisations? Current literature studying technology introduction often explicitly or implicitly focusses more on the adaptation of technologies than on the role of social interpretation of technology by end-users. Focusing specifically on how end-users, collectively and over time, respond to new technologies in organisational settings, we performed an extensive review of literature employing elements of structured and hermeneutical approaches. We identify 5 key dimensions employed by authors to conceptualise technology introduction and distinguish 3 major streams of literature using the particular positions that each paper takes along these dimensions. The streams are mainly distinguished by how they conceive the social aspects of the process and how they understand the effects of technology. This finding has implications for appropriate management of the process under each conception

Prevalence and molecular characterization of rotaviruses as causes of nosocomial diarrhea in children

Rotaviruses have been confirmed as causative agents of nosocomial gastroenteritis in children, but limited data exist concerning the epidemiology of nosocomial rotavirus gastroenteroentritis in Iran. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and molecular characteristics of rotavirus in children less than five years old with nosocomial diarrhea in Shahrekord (southwest of Iran). This cross-sectional study was conducted between December 2010 and October 2011. The study population consisted of children aged 6 to 60 months who were hospitalized in the pediatric ward of Hajar Hospital in Shahrekord, Iran, due to diseases other than diarrhea. Nosocomial diarrhea was defined as that occurring more than 48 hours after admission to the hospital for non-diarrheal causes. Rotavirus and G genotypes were determined by seminested reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction in 100 stool samples. In these 100 samples, the prevalence of rotavirus infection was 30%; the most common genotyes were G1 (20%) and G9 (20%). According to the findings of the study, genotyping of rotavirus is necessary to monitor changes in strain prevalence. Identifying strains over time could affect future vaccine strategies and detect any regional differences of genotype prevalence

The Association between Cerebroplacental Ratio (CPR) And Neonatal Outcome In Small Gestational Fetus

Background: Restriction of fetal growth is one of the major problems in gynecology and obstetrics for which no effective treatment has been proven so far. The disorder is associated with significant morbidity and perinatal mortality.Methods: In this study, 104 pregnant women with SGA fetuses (3-10%) between preterm (>28 weeks) to full term were evaluated. The patients were divided into two groups: group A, the group with normal CPR as the reference group, and group B with abnormal CPR (ratio <1ref with normal UMA PI and Normal caldopler that were IUGR). Their demographic data including maternal age, gestational age, BMI of the pregnant mother, birth weight, fetal sex, and number of deliveries were examined.Results: After collecting data and analyzing them, the results showed that the mean neonatal weight was 1432.81 (±560.81) in the abnormal CPR group, and 1845.42 (± 473.32) in the normal group. In addition, the mean Apgar scores of 5 and 1 minutes were significantly different between the groups, being lower in the abnormal CPR group (p-value <0.05). The results also revealed, Apgar scores of one and five minutes were significantly correlated with CPR and gestational age (p-value <0.05).Conclusion: Finally, according to the data obtained from this study, it has been shown that CPR can be helpful as a predictive index of neonatal outcomes in patients with SGA

Comparing the effect of unfractionated heparin and low molecular weight heparin in preventing of deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis after craniotomy in patients with brain tumor

کرانیوتومی با توجه به مستعد کردن بیماران به بی حرکتی، پس از عمل عاملی خطرساز برای ایجاد ترومبوز وریدی محسوب می شود. هدف از مطالعه حاضر مقایسه اثر دو روش درمان رایج برای پیشگیری از ترومبوز وریدی شامل هپارین معمولی ((unfractionated و هپارین با وزن مولکولی کم (کلگزان) در پیشگیری از این عارضه است. روش بررسی: در این کارآزمایی بالینی تصادفی و دوسوکور که از سال 1387 تا 1389 در اصفهان انجام شد، تعداد 154 بیمار که به علت تومور مغزی مورد عمل جراحی کرانیوتومی قرار گرفته در دو گروه تقسیم و مورد مطالعه قرار گرفتند. در گروه اول از 48 ساعت بعد از عمل کلگزان به میزان mg/d 40 به صورت زیرجلدی تجویز شد. بیماران در گروه دوم از 48 ساعت بعد از عمل، هپارین unfractionated به میزان IU/12h 5000 به صورت زیرجلدی دریافت کردند و نتایج در نرم افزار با کمک آزمون های T-test و Chi-Square مورد تجزیه و تحلیل قرار گرفتند. یافته ها:در این مطالعه تفاوت آماری معنی داری از نظر سن، جنس و بیماری های زمینه ای بین دو گروه مشاهده نشد (05/0P>). طی مطالعه 14 مورد (2/18) ترومبوز وریدهای عمقی تحت بالینی در گروه هپارین و 3 مورد (9/3) در گروه کلگزان مشاهده شد (011/0=P). هیچکدام از بیماران در پیگیری پس از کرانیوتومی دچار خونریزی داخل مغزی نشدند. نتیجه گیری: نتایج مطالعه حاضر نشان می دهد که کلگزان نسبت به هپارین unfractionated در پیشگیری از ترومبوز ورید عمقی پس از کرانیوتومی در بیماران مبتلا به تومور مغزی مؤثرتر و ایمن تر است

Molecular characterization of nosocomial Clostridium difficile infection in pediatric ward in Iran.

Clostridium difficile is recognized as a major cause of nosocomial acquired antibiotic-associated diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis. It is a significant financial burden on modern healthcare resources. This study aimed to assess the molecular characterization of C. difficile strains isolated from children under 5 years old suffered from nosocomial diarrhea. One hundred diarrheic and 130 non-diarrheic fecal samples were collected from pediatrics less than 5 years old. Samples were cultured and C. difficile isolates were subjected to the PCR technique to study the distribution of ribotypes of C. difficile using P3 and P5 primers. Fifty-two out of 100 samples (52 %) were positive for C. difficile. The prevalence of bacterium in healthy children was 4.61 %. Total prevalence of C. difficile in diarrheic girls and boys were 48.9 and 54.7 %, respectively. Thirteen to twenty-four month age children had the highest prevalence of C. difficile. The most commonly detected ribotypes in the C. difficile isolates of Iranian pediatrics were RT027 (11.52 %), R1 (9.61 %) and R13 (7.68 %). The ribotypes of all of the six bacterial isolates of healthy children was not diagnosed. According to the presence of C. difficile and R27 ribotype, a continued genotype surveillance of this bacterium is necessary to monitor changes in the prevalence of certain strains and to identify the emergence of new strains that could affect future vaccine strategies

Molecular characterization of nosocomial Clostridium difficile infection in pediatric ward in Iran

Clostridium difficile is recognized as a major cause of nosocomial acquired antibiotic-associated diarrhea and pseudomembranous colitis. It is a significant financial burden on modern healthcare resources. This study aimed to assess the molecular characterization of C. difficile strains isolated from children under 5 years old suffered from nosocomial diarrhea. One hundred diarrheic and 130 non-diarrheic fecal samples were collected from pediatrics less than 5 years old. Samples were cultured and C. difficile isolates were subjected to the PCR technique to study the distribution of ribotypes of C. difficile using P3 and P5 primers. Fifty-two out of 100 samples (52 %) were positive for C. difficile. The prevalence of bacterium in healthy children was 4.61 %. Total prevalence of C. difficile in diarrheic girls and boys were 48.9 and 54.7 %, respectively. Thirteen to twenty-four month age children had the highest prevalence of C. difficile. The most commonly detected ribotypes in the C. difficile isolates of Iranian pediatrics were RT027 (11.52 %), R1 (9.61 %) and R13 (7.68 %). The ribotypes of all of the six bacterial isolates of healthy children was not diagnosed. According to the presence of C. difficile and R27 ribotype, a continued genotype surveillance of this bacterium is necessary to monitor changes in the prevalence of certain strains and to identify the emergence of new strains that could affect future vaccine strategies

Leptospirosis in Slaughterhouse Personnel: A Seroepidemiologic Study Using Microscopic Agglutination Test

Background and Objective: Meat can be contaminated by Leptospira species. This bacterial pathogen causes severe leptospirosis disease in humans and animals. The major aims of this study were to assess seroepidemiological prevalence of leptospirosis in employees of a slaughterhouse in Guilan Province, Iran, using microscopic agglutination test and further investigate the positive samples using nested polymerase chain reaction method. Material and Methods: In this study, 150 employees of a slaughterhouse in Guilan Province, Iran, were participated after completing written consents and personal questionnaires. This sample size was calculated based on the mean prevalence of the pathogen in the region. After assessing sera of the participants for Leptospira antibody using microscopic agglutination test, urine samples were collected from the positive participant for further assessments using nested polymerase chain reaction. Results and Conclusion: Based on the results, microscopic agglutination test was positive for 10.7% of the participants. However, Nested-PCR was negative for the positive microscopic agglutination tests on sera collected from the participants with antibodies against Leptospira antigens. The current results demonstrate that Leptospira can occur in asymptomatic humans in slaughterhouses and highlight the high potential of the disease transmission to humans in the province. Therefore, further extended control and prevention measures for slaughterhouse workers are recommended to guarantee the food safety. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest