The Role of Respiratory System Surface Area and Ventilation Volume in Severity and Mortality of COVID-19 Infection

According to epidemiologic and analytic studies of different countries during coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, high prevalence of the disease, more hospitalization, getting a more severe form of the disease, diffused peripheral distribution of opacities, more need to receiving ICU care, poor prognosis, and high mortality rate in men compared with women were obtained. The causes of the above gender differences in subsequent studies were attributed to several factors including behavioral use of masks or handwashing, as well as genetic, hormonal, and immunological factors. Also in the past epidemiologic studies, a higher prevalence of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) among men was shown than women. Despite the lack of accurate statistical studies, some evidence shows high severe COVID-19 incidence and mortality rate in athlete’s society compared with non-athletes. Respiratory sex-related differences in women include smaller lung volumes, smaller-diameter conducting airways, smaller radial rib cage dimensions, shorter diaphragm, and fewer lung function parameters such as ventilation volume. Originally and typically, athletes have high lung volumes and capacities such as forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), especially high ventilation volume. It is well-known that in COVID-19 infection, the main route of transmission is respiratory droplets and direct contact with infected people. Hence, this hypothesis is raised that higher lung ventilation volume ratio of men than women and athletes than non-athletes may be the major reason for the difference of COVID-19 infection based on sex. In other words, in the same condition, men expose more viral load than women, also athletes receive more viral load than non-athletes. Viral load is a critical parameter in the severity and mortality of COVID-19 infection. The offered hypothesis may recognize a potential approach in future studies and investigations of COVID-19 infection. Confirmation of this theory in comer studies may update health advice and improve precaution recommendations between athletes and non-athletes as well as men and women based on the surface area of the respiratory system

Strategic Alignment ITIL Perspective

The literature suggests that organizations cannot be competitive if their business and information technology strategies are not aligned. Yet achieving strategic alignment continues to be a major concern for business executives. A number of alignment models have been offered in the literature, primary among them the Strategic Alignment model (SAM) and IT Governance (via ITIL). As there is no published research that attempts to present how effective ITIL V3 is to align business and IT in strategic level, this paper reports on determining aligning roles of ITIL by applying it to the SAM framework. In this regard, the ITIL Strategic Alignment model is proposed to describe ITIL V3 approach of strategic aligning business and IT. The primary aims of this paper are to demonstrate that ITIL has conceptual and practical competencies to strategic alignment of business and IT. It is described that ITIL uses IT as a mean to meet business strategies and goals, support business maturity and recognize new initiatives for the business

Improving ITIL Strategic Alignment Approach Using COBIT Framework

IT Governance provides a business focus to enable alignment between business and IT objectives at high level COBIT framework and focused on IT operational levels, ITIL standard. COBIT and ITIL are not mutually exclusive and can be combined to provide a powerful IT governance, control and best-practice framework in IT service management. So ITIL business-IT strategic alignment perspective could be improved using COBIT framework. Focusing on COBIT processes which support (primarily and secondarily) strategic alignment, in this paper, first, we map COBIT 4.1 to ITIL v3 to identify how ITIL cover COBIT control objectives. Furthermore, based on control objectives which are not completely addressed by ITIL processes, the opportunities to improvement in ITIL strategic alignment activities, functionalities, and relationships are identified. Consequently, appropriate and adequate practices to improve strategic alignment approach of ITIL v3 are proposed

Improvement of imperialist colony algorithm by employment of imperialist learning operator and implementing in travel salesman problem

This study tries to enhance imperialist colony algorithm (ICA) in the context of travel salesman problem (TSP). By adding new learning operator, imperialist learns from colonies that have suitable cost in which manner that improves the solution of problems. We believe that controlled learning improvement is better than uncontrolled one. The efficiency of new operator represented with the variety of instances from TSPLIB. We evaluate the approach on standard TSP test problems and show that it performs better, with respect to solution quality and computation time than ICA without new learning operator

Prevalence of Zinc Deficiency in Obese Adults with Increased Appetite in Shiraz, Iran

Background: Low serum zinc concentration is associated with obesity,and its deficiency has been linked to many pathogenesis aspects of obesity. The present study was designed to evaluate the prevalence of zinc deficiency in the obese adults with increased appetite in Shiraz,Fars province, south of Iran. Furthermore, we aimed to evaluate the serum zinc correlation with some demographic and anthropometric indices. Methods: In this study, 260 adults with the ages ranged from 25 to 55 years old were selected for serum zinc concentration. Age, sex, job, education level, physical actively, weight, height, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), and waist to hip ratio (WHR) were also recorded for each participants. Using calorimeter method, we considered the serum level of zinc less than 70µg/dL as deficient. Results: Mean serum level of zinc was 96.37 ± 18.24 µg/dL. The prevalence rate of zinc deficiency was 8%, which was more prevalent among female participants than male ones with no significant difference (9.8% and 4.6%, respectively, Pvalue = 0.14). The participants’ characteristics were not statistically different between normal and deficient groups, and serum zinc concentration had no correlation with age, sex, height, weight, BMI, WC, HC, and WHR. Conclusions: Zinc deficiency in obese adults living in Shiraz is as prevalent as other population groups, and also other regions of Iran. Zinc deficiency is considered as a possible risk factor for obesityrelated diseases, and requires more investigations. Keywords: Zinc, Deficiency, Prevalence, Obesity, Iran

Prevalence of Zinc Deficiency in Obese Adults with Increased Appetite in Shiraz, Iran

Background: Low serum zinc concentration is associated with obesity,and its deficiency has been linked to many pathogenesis aspects of obesity. The present study was designed to evaluate the prevalence of zinc deficiency in the obese adults with increased appetite in Shiraz,Fars province, south of Iran. Furthermore, we aimed to evaluate the serum zinc correlation with some demographic and anthropometric indices. Methods: In this study, 260 adults with the ages ranged from 25 to 55 years old were selected for serum zinc concentration. Age, sex, job, education level, physical actively, weight, height, body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), hip circumference (HC), and waist to hip ratio (WHR) were also recorded for each participants. Using calorimeter method, we considered the serum level of zinc less than 70µg/dL as deficient. Results: Mean serum level of zinc was 96.37 ± 18.24 µg/dL. The prevalence rate of zinc deficiency was 8%, which was more prevalent among female participants than male ones with no significant difference (9.8% and 4.6%, respectively, Pvalue = 0.14). The participants’ characteristics were not statistically different between normal and deficient groups, and serum zinc concentration had no correlation with age, sex, height, weight, BMI, WC, HC, and WHR. Conclusions: Zinc deficiency in obese adults living in Shiraz is as prevalent as other population groups, and also other regions of Iran. Zinc deficiency is considered as a possible risk factor for obesityrelated diseases, and requires more investigations. Keywords: Zinc, Deficiency, Prevalence, Obesity, Iran

Developing a Method for Increasing Accuracy and Precision in Measurement System Analysis: A Fuzzy Approach

Measurement systems analysis (MSA) has been applied in different aspect of industrial assessments to evaluate various types of quantitative and qualitative measures. Qualification of a measurement system depends on two important features: accuracy and precision. Since the capability of each quality system is severely related to the capability of its measurement system, the weakness of the two mentioned features can reduce the reliance on the qualitative decisions. Consequently, since in the literature fuzzy MSA is not considered as an independent study, in this paper, a fuzzy method is developed for increasing method accuracy and precision by encountering the impreciseness of some measures of MSA. To do so, bias, capability, and gauge repeatability and reproducibility (GR&R) indices are considered as triangular fuzzy numbers. The application of the proposed method is illustrated through a case study taken from an automotive parts industry. All rights reserved

Poly (ɛ-caprolactone) nanofibrous ring surrounding a polyvinyl alcohol hydrogel for the development of a biocompatible two-part artificial cornea

The study aimed to fabricate and characterize a 2-part artificial cornea as a substitute for penetrating keratoplasty in patients with corneal blindness. The peripheral part of the artificial cornea consisted of plasma-treated electrospun poly (ɛ-caprolactone) (PCL) nanofibers, which were attached to a hydrogel disc of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as a central optical part. The physical properties of the prepared artificial cornea, including morphology, mechanical properties, light transmittance, and contact angle, were assessed. Cell attachment and proliferation studies were performed on rabbit limbal stem cells. The SEM image of the polymeric system showed that the peripheral part formed a highly porous scaffold that could facilitate tissue biointegration. Assessment of the mechanical properties of the peripheral nanofibrous part and the hydrogel optical part showed suitable elasticity. Young’s modulus values of the electrospun PCL skirt and PVA hydrogel core were 7.5 and 5.3 MPa, respectively, which is in line with the elasticity range of natural human cornea (0.3–7 MPa). The light transmittance of the central part was >85% when measured in the 400–800 nm wavelength range. The plasma-treated PCL nanofibrous scaffold promoted limbal stem cell adhesion and proliferation within 10 days. These results confirmed that the polymeric artificial cornea showed suitable physical properties and good biocompatibility and epithelialization ability

Medications Non-adherence Reasoning Scale (MedNARS): Development and psychometric properties appraisal

Background: Proper elucidation of medication non-adherence reasoning especially in older adults might pave the way for an auspicious therapeutic outcome. The main of this study was to develop and psychometrically test the Medications Non-adherence Reasoning (MedNARS) questionnaire for application in research and probably practice settings. Methods: A mixed methods design was utilized to develop the MedNARS. The item pool was mainly generated based on a qualitative query and literature review. The expert panel approved version of the MedNARS was psychometrically assessed on a convenience sample of 220 older patients with chronic disease. The internal consistency, test-retest reliability, content and face validity of the scale were appraised and its construct validity was assed using exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses. Results: A nine-item version of the MedNARS was drafted based on the classical item analysis procedures and its estimated internal consistency measure of the Cronbach’s alpha (0.85) and test-retest reliability (0.96) were in the vicinity of acceptable range. The exploratory factor analysis (EFA) output revealed a unidimensional structure for the MedNARS and the conducted confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) indicated an acceptable data fit for the extracted one-factor model. The goodness of fit indices were as the followings: χ2 /df=1.63(90% CI: 0.02 to 0.11), root mean squared error of approximation (RMSEA)=(0.07), comparative fit index (CFI)=0.95, Tucker–Lewis index (TLI)=0.93 and standardized root mean squared residual (SRMSR)=(0.05). Conclusion: The study findings were indicative of MedNARS’s applicability and feasibility for use in assessment of medication non-adherence reasoning among the elderly patients with chronic diseases. The MedNARS as a brief and elder-friendly instrument can be applied both in research and practice settings to enhance efficiency, safety, and health outcomes of the therapeutic recommendations

The global burden of cancer attributable to risk factors, 2010-19 : a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2019

Background Understanding the magnitude of cancer burden attributable to potentially modifiable risk factors is crucial for development of effective prevention and mitigation strategies. We analysed results from the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019 to inform cancer control planning efforts globally. Methods The GBD 2019 comparative risk assessment framework was used to estimate cancer burden attributable to behavioural, environmental and occupational, and metabolic risk factors. A total of 82 risk-outcome pairs were included on the basis of the World Cancer Research Fund criteria. Estimated cancer deaths and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) in 2019 and change in these measures between 2010 and 2019 are presented. Findings Globally, in 2019, the risk factors included in this analysis accounted for 4.45 million (95% uncertainty interval 4.01-4.94) deaths and 105 million (95.0-116) DALYs for both sexes combined, representing 44.4% (41.3-48.4) of all cancer deaths and 42.0% (39.1-45.6) of all DALYs. There were 2.88 million (2.60-3.18) risk-attributable cancer deaths in males (50.6% [47.8-54.1] of all male cancer deaths) and 1.58 million (1.36-1.84) risk-attributable cancer deaths in females (36.3% [32.5-41.3] of all female cancer deaths). The leading risk factors at the most detailed level globally for risk-attributable cancer deaths and DALYs in 2019 for both sexes combined were smoking, followed by alcohol use and high BMI. Risk-attributable cancer burden varied by world region and Socio-demographic Index (SDI), with smoking, unsafe sex, and alcohol use being the three leading risk factors for risk-attributable cancer DALYs in low SDI locations in 2019, whereas DALYs in high SDI locations mirrored the top three global risk factor rankings. From 2010 to 2019, global risk-attributable cancer deaths increased by 20.4% (12.6-28.4) and DALYs by 16.8% (8.8-25.0), with the greatest percentage increase in metabolic risks (34.7% [27.9-42.8] and 33.3% [25.8-42.0]). Interpretation The leading risk factors contributing to global cancer burden in 2019 were behavioural, whereas metabolic risk factors saw the largest increases between 2010 and 2019. Reducing exposure to these modifiable risk factors would decrease cancer mortality and DALY rates worldwide, and policies should be tailored appropriately to local cancer risk factor burden. Copyright (C) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 license.Peer reviewe