Relationship between Students’ Gender and their Use of Politeness Strategies in the “Results and Discussions Section” of PhD Dissertations

The researcher analyzed the Result and Discussion Sections of 10 dissertations of Iranian PhD students and 10 British PhD students by aiming to investigate their use of politeness strategies using Brown and Levinson’s (1987) taxonomy and its relationship with the gender of the authors. The results proved that Iranian writers most frequently used negative politeness strategies, followed by positive politeness strategies. British writers, like Iranians, used negative politeness strategies more than the others. The next frequent strategy was positive politeness strategies. Moreover, there was a significant difference between the frequency of politeness strategies used by Persian and British writers. Considering the gender, there is a significant difference between the positive strategies used by male and female Iranians. In fact, unlike the Male Iranian authors who used more positive strategies, the female Iranian authors used fewer strategies and this difference was significant. However, that there was no significant difference between the positive strategies used by British male and female participants. Also, there was a significant difference between the negative strategies used by male and female Iranians. In fact, the results show that the female Iranian authors used fewer strategies and this difference was significant. Moreover, there was a significant difference between the negative strategies used by British male and female participants

Assessment of Patient Radiation Dose in Interventional Procedures at Shahid Madani Heart Center in Khorramabad, Iran

Introduction: Coronary angiography is the most common angiographic procedure for diagnosis and treatment of the heart diseases. Herein, we aimed to evaluate the entrance surface dose (ESD), dose area product (DAP), as well as cancer risk in interventional cardiology procedures. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted during July-December 2015 at Shahid Madani Heart Center in Khorramabad, Iran. A total of 225 adult patients including 122 females and 103 males regardless of the risk factors for coronary diseases were participated. Of them, 199 and 26 patients underwent diagnostic coronary angiography (CA) and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), respectively. Each patient underwent CA or PTCA separately. All the procedures were carried out using Siemens angiography system with the pulsed fluoroscopy of 10-30 pulses/s and cine frame rate of 15 frames/s. DAP, ESD, fluoroscopy time (FT), as well as the number of sequences and frames per sequence were collected for each 199 CA and 26 PTCA procedures. Results: The median values of DAP were 19.77±14.88 and 57.11±33.36 Gy.cm2 in CA and PTCA, respectively. In addition, the median values of ESD were 323.12±245.39 and 1145.22±594.42 mGy in CA and PTCA, respectively. FTs were 114.59±74.33 s in CA and 424.15±292.93 s in PTCA. Conclusion: The average patient dose and cancer risk estimates in both CA and PTCA were consistent with the reference levels. However, in agreement with other interventional procedures, dose levels in the interventional cardiology are influenced by staff and clinical protocols, as well as the type of equipment

A randomized clinical trial on the anti-tumoral effects of low molecular weight heparin in the treatment of esophageal cancer

The current treatment approaches for esophageal cancer are associated with poor survival, and there are ongoing efforts to find new and more effective therapeutic strategies. There are several reports on the antitumoral effects of low‐molecular‐weight heparins (LMWHs). We have assessed the possible survival benefit of LMWHs in esophageal malignancies. This was a randomized, single‐blind, multicenter, Phase II clinical trial on nonmetastatic esophageal cancer candidate for neoadjuvant chemoradiotherapy. Patients were randomly assigned to the chemoradiotherapy‐only arm or chemoradiotherapy plus enoxaparin arm using 1:1 allocation. Radiotherapy was delivered in 1.8‐Gy daily fractions to a dose of 50.4 Gy in both groups. Paclitaxel 50 mg/m2 and carboplatin (AUC 2) were administered weekly, concurrent with radiotherapy. In the intervention group, patients received enoxaparin (40 mg) and chemoradiation daily. 4–6 weeks after treatment, all patients underwent esophagectomy. After a median follow up of 7 months, estimated 1 year disease‐free survival (DFS) in the intervention group was 78.9% and was 70% in the control groups ( p = 0.5). Toxicity from the experimental treatment was minimal, and there were no treatment‐related deaths. A pathologically complete response in intervention and control group was 64.8% and 62.5%, respectively ( p = 0.9). There was a nonsignificant trend toward improved survival by the addition of enoxaparin to the concurrent chemoradiotherapy regimen. However, 1 y DFS of both groups were high as expected. A longer follow‐up and a larger sample size are required.delivered in 1.8-Gy daily fractions to a dose of 50.4 Gy in both groups. Paclitaxel 50 mg/m2 and carboplatin (AUC 2) were administered weekly concurrent with radiotherapy. In the intervention group, patients received enoxaparin (40 mg) daily as well as chemoradiation. Four to six weeks after treatment, all patients underwent esophagectomy. After a median follow up of 7 months,estimated one year disease free survival (1y DFS) in the intervention group was 78.9% and in the control groups was 70% (p=0.5). Toxicity from the experimental treatment was minimal and there were no treatment-related deaths. A Pathologically complete response in intervention and control group was 64.8% and 62.5%, respectively (p=0.9). There was a non-significant trend toward improved survival by the addition of enoxaparin to the concurrent chemoradiotherapy regimen. However, 1y DFS of both groups were high as expected. A longer follow-up and larger sample size is required

The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Group Therapy on Pain in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain

Background: Most people who suffer from chronic pain are exposed to major physical and mental problems and general health disorders throughout their lives. The aim of this study was to determine the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment group therapy (ACT) based on pain in patients with chronic low back pain. Methods: This study was a clinical trial and statistical population included 116 patients with chronic low back pain who referred to pain clinic. The McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) was used for data collection with the aim of assessing people's perception of different dimensions (sensory perception of pain, emotional perception of pain, perception of pain assessment, and various pains). 28 out of 116 patients who had the inclusion citeria were selected and randomly divided into a test group and a control group, each with 14 members. Intervention based on ACT was done on test group for eight 1.5-hour sessions. Finally, data were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative tests for descriptive variables and Mann-Whitney test, chi-squared test, Fisher’s exact test, and Wilcoxon test with significant level of P < 0.05. Findings: A high percentage of both groups were women with average age of 40.80 ± 25.10. There was not any significant statistical difference between two groups in terms of pain score and its various dimensions before the intervention. The results of pain score in terms of sensory perception, pain assessment perception, and in general, before and after the intervention in the test group (P = 0.039) and the overall score between the two groups (P = 0.035) were statistically significant. However, there were not any significant statistical changes in pain score and its different dimensions before, after, and three months after intervention in experimental group. Conclusion: It seems that ACT has been able to affect sensory perception, pain assessment, and total score, and it may represent new horizons in clinical treatment and can be used as an effective intervention method

Phylogenetic analysis of avian schistosome Trichobilharzia regenti (Schistosomatidae, Digenea) from naturally infected hosts in northern Iran

Abstract Background Trichobilharzia regenti (T. regenti) is an avian schistosomatid fluke species that causes human cercarial dermatitis (HCD) in areas of aquaculture in northern Iran. Understanding the phylogenetic relationships and genetic diversity of this thread‐like fluke will deepen our thoughtful of avian schistosomiasis epidemiology and lead to more effective HCD control in the region. Objectives To determine the life cycle of nasal Trichobilharzia in aquatic birds as well as aquatic snails and also identify the haplotype diversity of the isolates in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran. Methods In the present study, adult or egg of Trichobilharzia isolated from aquatic birds as well as schistosomes cercariae isolated from aquatic snails in Mazandaran Province, northern Iran, belonged to the authors' previous research, were examined. Molecular studies and phylogenetic analysis were carried out on these schistosomes samples. Results The phylogenetic analysis of the ITS1 and COX1 genes in isolated schistosomes revealed that all samples belong to the T. regenti clade. Remarkably, based on phylogenetic results, these schistosomes samples from Anas platyrhynchos domesticus, A. platyrhynchos, Spatula clypeata and Lymnaea stagnalis grouped together with previously sequenced samples from Iran (Trichobilharzia cf. regenti). Unlike the phylogenetic tree and haplotype network of COX1 gene, ITS1 did not show distinct clusters. Conclusion This study completed the puzzle of the disease in Mazandaran Province by isolating and genotyping furkocercariae from L. stagnalis that was consistent with the isolated new genotype from ducks. For the first time in Iran, this confirmed the potential role of L. stagnalis snails in the transmission of the disease

Mandibular Metastasis of Silent Papillary Thyroid Carcinoma: A Rare Case Report with Review of the Literature

Metastasis to the jaws is a rare event; however, it has great importance because it may be the only symptom of an undiagnosed underlying malignancy. Papillary thyroid carcinoma, the commonest histopathologic variant of thyroid cancer, has minimal potential for distant metastasis, and most reported metastatic thyroid carcinomas of the oral cavity have been follicular thyroid carcinoma. The aim of this article is to present a rare case of metastatic papillary thyroid carcinoma, which presented itself as a painless expansion in the anterior region of the mandible in a 56-year-old female, and to review previously published cases of this type of cancer. Reporting rare cases such as this one, together with reviewing previous reports of related rare diseases, will expand the body of knowledge about these uncommon lesions

Anthropometric indices of obesity and the prediction of cardiovascular risk factors in an Iranian population

The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and metabolic syndrome are increasing globally. The present study was conducted in an attempt to define optimal cutoff values for several anthropometric variables in an Iranian population, as these may vary with ethnicity. Iranian subjects (2483 men and 2445 women), aged 15-65 years, were recruited using a cluster-stratified sampling method from rural and urban areas within the Khorasan province. Receiver operating characteristics (ROC) analysis was used to define optimal anthropometric cutoff values. The prevalence of hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and metabolic syndrome were 28, 5.5, 67, and 39.9%, respectively. The gender-specific cutoff values for waist:height ratio to predict hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and metabolic syndrome among men were 0.52 (sensitivity = 66%; specificity = 66%), 0.54 (sensitivity = 65%; specificity = 65%), 0.50 (sensitivity = 58%; specificity = 57%), and 0.53 (sensitivity = 73%; specificity = 70%), and for women were 0.59 (sensitivity = 61%; specificity = 61%), 0.61 (sensitivity = 64%; specificity = 64%), 0.57 (sensitivity = 61%; specificity = 61%), and 0.59 (sensitivity = 77%; specificity = 77%) (p < 0.05). Significant correlations were found between waist:height ratio and hypertension, diabetes mellitus, dyslipidemia, and metabolic syndrome, particularly in women. Waist circumference cutoffs were higher for women than men for hypertension, diabetes mellitus, and dyslipidemia

Cu2O-CuO@biochar composite: synthesis, characterization and its efficient photocatalytic performance

Summarization: This research focuses on the facile hydrothermal preparation of Cu2O-CuO@biochar (Cu2O-CuO@BC) compo-sites of different BC content (0.5, 1.0, and 2.0 g/L) as efficient photocatalysts for the decomposition and mi-neralization of Reactive Orange 29 (RO29). The textural and morphological properties of biochar-based com-posites were studied utilizing BET, TEM, and SEM analyses. Moreover, EDX, XRD, UV–Vis, DRS and FTIRcharacterization was carried out to evaluate the elemental composition, crystalline structure, optical char-acteristics and functional groups of the samples, respectively. The [email protected] composite with a BCcontent of 1.0 g/L exhibited superior photocatalytic performance than the individual counterparts BC and Cu2O-CuO, due to its narrow band gap and high surface area. These characteristics led to the synergetic ability of UVirradiation and photocatalytic performance of Cu2O-CuO@BC to generate oxidizing species and subsequentradical reactions. The generation of some by-products was verified using GC–MS analysis and accordingly, apossible pathway was proposed. 94.12% degradation efficiency of RO29 was obtained by [email protected] at the natural pH of RO29 solution (8.9) and initial RO29 concentration of 20 mg/L after 90 min ofphotocatalysis. Under identical conditions, 47.31% and 79.62% COD removal efficiencies were observed after 90and 180 min treatment, respectively.Παρουσιάστηκε στο: Applied Surface Scienc