On Anosovity, divergence and bi-contact surgery

We discuss a metric description of the divergence of a (projectively) Anosov flow in dimension 3, in terms of its associated growth rates and give metric and contact geometric characterizations of when a projectively Anosov flow is Anosov. Then, we study the symmetries that the existence of an invariant volume form yields on the geometry of an Anosov flow, from various viewpoints of the theory of contact hyperbolas, Reeb dynamics and Liouville geometry, and give characterizations of when an Anosov flow is volume preserving in terms of those theories. We finally use our study to show that the bi-contact surgery operations of Salmoiraghi can be applied in an arbitrary small neighborhood of a periodic orbit of any Anosov flow. In particular, we conclude that the Goodman-Fried surgery of Anosov flows can be performed using a bi-contact surgery of Salmoiraghi.Comment: 21 page

Symplectic Geometry of Anosov Flows in Dimension 3 and Bi-Contact Topology

We give a purely contact and symplectic geometric characterization of Anosov flows in dimension 3 and develop a framework to systematically use tools from contact and symplectic geometry and topology in the study of Anosov dynamics. We also discuss some uniqueness results regarding the underlying (bi)-contact structures for an Anosov flow and give a characterization of Anosovity, based on Reeb flows.Comment: 31 pages, 3 figure

The epidemiology of dietary supplements consumption in the athletes of Karaj Iran

Background and aims: Nutrition has a determinant role in success of professional athletes and dietary supplements can play an important role for supplying the nutritional needs for them in some situations. Consumption of Dietary Supplements (DS) was significantly increased in recent years. Based on this fact, assessing the amount, purposes and type of the supplements are all as prior as the affective factors on the choice and preparation of that. Therefore, we are going to evaluate the consumption of dietary supplement among athletes of Karaj, a big city near Tehran, capital of Iran. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we enrolled 195 athletes that were randomly selected from 8 sport clubs of Karaj city between December 2014 and February 2015. A self-administered questionnaire containing 17 questions was used to evaluate the field of sport, history and reasons of consuming the supplements, source of information and providing centers. Validity and reliability of questionnaire determined through panel of experts and Cronbach’s alpha (N=25, α=0.85) respectively. Results: The mean age of the athletes was 24±7 years old. Thirty six percent of participants consumed the supplement during the study and 49 reported the previous use of it. The most important reasons of supplement’s consumption were empowering sport’s ability by 48. Also supplying needs of body by 39 and increasing muscle’s mass by 31 named the second and third reason of supplement use. For 64 of participants coach is the most important source of information and question about DS, and then nutritionists (24) and Internet (23) were after that in order. Sixty one percent of participants considered the coach as the most important source for buying supplements and then 51 of participants mentioned pharmacies as second main source for buying DS. Protein supplements, vitamins, creatine and glutamine were named as the most commonly used DS. Discussions: The results of this study indicate that dietary supplements usage is common among athletes. According to these results, coaches have a significant role in athlete information and supplying the required supplements of athletes. It is necessary to consider the appropriate policy to remove coaches from the supply chain of dietary supplements

Contact geometric theory of Anosov flows in dimension three and related topics

This thesis consists of the author's work on the contact and symplectic geometric theory of Anosov flows in low dimensions, as well as the related topics from Riemannian geometry. This includes the study of the interplay between various geometric, topological and dynamical features of such flows. After reviewing some basic elements from the theory of contact and symplectic structures in low dimensions, we discuss a characterization of Anosov flows on three dimensional manifolds, purely in terms of those geometric structure. This is based on the previous observations of Mitsumatsu and Eliashberg-Thurston in the mid 90s, and in the context of a larger class of dynamics, namely projectively Anosov flows. Our improvement of those observations, which have been left unexplored to a great extent in our view, facilitates employing new geometric tools to the study of questions about (projectively) Anosov flows and vice versa. We then discuss another characterization of Anosov three flows, in terms of the associated underlying Reeb dynamics. Beside the contact topological consequences of this result, it sheds light on contact geometric interpretation of the existence of an invariant volume form for these flows, a condition which is well known to have deep consequences in the dynamics of the flow from the viewpoint of the long term behavior of the flow (transitivity) and measure theory (ergodicity). The implications of these results on various related theories, namely, Liouville geometry, the theory of contact hyperbolas and bi-contact surgery, are discussed as well. As contact Anosov flows are an important and well studied special case of volume preserving Anosov flows, we also make new observation regarding these flows, utilizing the associated Conley-Zehnder indices of their periodic orbits, a classical tool from the field of contact dynamics. We finally discuss some Riemannian geometric motivations in the study of contact Anosov flows in dimension three. In particular, this bridges our study to the curvature properties of Riemannian structures, which are compatible with a given contact manifold. Our study of the curvature in this context goes beyond the study of Anosov dynamics, although has implications on the topic. In particular, we investigate a natural curvature realization for compatible Riemannian structures, namely Ricci-Reeb realization problem. The majority of the results in this manuscript, with the exception of some parts of Chapter 5, can be found in the author's previous papers.Ph.D

The effects of Nigella sativa L. seed oil on BMI, WC and FBS in overweight men: A randomized controlled clinical trial

Background and aims: In recent years, the wide usage of herbal drugs has encouraged the medical scientists to evaluate its effects on health. Nigella sativa L. seed (N. sativa) as an herbal drug has prescribed in some diseases such as hyperlipidemia and metabolic syndrome. This study was conducted to investigate the effects of N. sativa on weight, BMI (Body Mass Index) and FBS (Fasting Blood Sugar) in overweight men. Methods: In this randomized controlled trial, we enrolled seventy eight subjects in two groups to receive 2.5 mL N. sativa oil (n=37) or 2.5 mL paraffin oil as placebo (n=30) two times a day orally for 2 months. FBS, weight, height, and WC (Waist Circumference) of subjects were measured before and after intervention in both groups. Results: After intervention, in N. sativa group, weight, BMI, FBS, and WC were significantly reduced (P<0.01) compared with baseline and also compared with placebo group. Conclusion: Our results showed that daily intake of 5ml N. sativa oil for two months could significantly reduce weight, WC and FBS in over weight men

Barriers to Implementing Performance-Based Budgeting at Iranian Universities of Medical Sciences: A Qualitative Study

Introduction: A performance-based budgeting system provides the link between performance indicators and resource allocation. This study aimed to identify the barriers to implementing performance-based budgeting at Iranian universities of medical sciences. Method: In this qualitative study with the framework analysis approach, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 university professors and directors of the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education using purposive sampling and snowball model. MAXQDA-10 software was used to apply the codes and manage the data. The codes were extracted using deductive and inductive methods. Results: Barriers of performance-based budgeting were classified in three main areas including elements of environmental, human, and organizational management, and 14 themes. Conclusion: Having a deep understanding of the barriers to implementing evidence-based budgeting can help managers and policymakers to reach careful planning and successful implementation of budgeting. Paying attention to the environmental, human, and organizational infrastructure is essential for the successful deployment of performance-based budgeting at Iranian universities of medical sciences. Keywords: Budget, Budgeting, Universities, Ira

Feasibility of Implementing the Integrated Model of Biological Ethics and Strategic Intelligence: From Theory to Practice

Background and Aim: Organizations need reliable and robust strategies to survive and thrive in an unstable environment. Many authors believe that knowledge is the most important input to the process of strategy formulation, implementation and evaluation. As such, it is important to know how to collect, analyze and process the knowledge required. The purpose of this paper is to design a strategic intelligence process model at the organizational analysis level. Materials and Methods: The textual data of this study were collected in English and Persian through the databases of EBSCO, Google Scholar and Iran Doc. Findings: The findings of the study showed that the process of strategic intelligence for the experts in the state banking industry consists of eight stages. The two stages of "need determination" and "planning and organization" are process drivers, which through the "information gathering" phase lead to the following steps: "Purifying and storing useful information", "information analysis", "production Intelligence", "Distributing Intelligence and Ethics" and "Using Intelligence and Feedback". Conclusion: The results of this study provide insights into the implementation of the strategic intelligence process in organizations and evaluate its effectiveness. Because decision-making patterns follow value systems, these value systems give different ratings to different decisions and when referring to the system when a person, or social organization, faces multiple decisions at the same time. Governing value selects decisions that, overall, gain a higher rank in the accepted value system and those are decisions that ensure the utility of the individual or the social system. Therefore, mere review of policies, plans and operational plans (strategic levels) in strategic environmental assessment will not suffice in terms of their compliance with environmental criteria, as they may at some stage need to "formulate" the plan and its implementation is made; irreversible decisions are made that require a lot of costs to reform. &nbsp; Please cite this article as: Abbaspour A, AmirKhani AH, Pourezzat AA, Hozoori MJ. Feasibility of Implementing the Integrated Model of Biological Ethics and Strategic Intelligence: From Theory to Practice. Bioethics Journal, Special Issue on Bioethics and Citizenship Rights 2020; 81-103.زمینه و هدف: سازمان‌ها برای بقا و موفقیت در محیطی بی‌ثبات و آشفته، نیازمند استراتژی‌هایی قابل اطمینان و استوار هستند. مؤلفان زیادی بر این باورند که دانش، مهم‌ترین ورودی فرایند تدوین، اجرا و ارزیابی استراتژی‌ است. به این ترتیب دانستن چگونگی گردآوری، تحلیل و پردازش دانش مورد نیاز، اهمیت یافته است. هدف این مقاله طراحی مدل فرایندی هوش استراتژیک و اصول اخلاقی در سطح تحلیل سازمانی است. مواد و روش‌ها: داده‌های متنی این تحقیق به زبان‌های انگلیسی و فارسی و از طریق پایگاه داده‌های ای.بی.اس.سی.او (EBSCO)، گوگل محقق (Google Scholar) و ایران داک گردآوری شده است. یافته‌ها: یافته‌های تحقیق نشان دادند که فرایند هوش استراتژیک از نظر خبرگان صنعت بانکداری دولتی از هشت مرحله تشکیل شده است. دو مرحله «تعیین نیاز» و «برنامه‌ریزی و سازماندهی»، پیشران‌های فرایند هستند که از طریق مرحله «گردآوری اطلاعات» منجر به شروع مراحل وابسته به شرح ذیل می‌شوند: «تصفیه و انبارش اطلاعات مفید»، «تحلیل اطلاعات»، «تولید هوش»، «توزیع هوش و اصول اخلاقی» و «کاربرد هوش و بازخورگیری». نتیجه‌گیری: نتایج این تحقیق بینشی را برای پیاده‌سازی فرایند هوش استراتژیک در سازمان‌ها و ارزیابی اثربخشی آن، فراهم می‌کند. به دلیل این‌که الگوهای تصمیم‌گیری از نظام‌های ارزشی پیروی می‌كنند، این نظام‌های ارزشی، به تصمیمات مختلف، رتبه‌های متفاوتی می‌دهند و هنگامی كه یك فرد، یا سازمان اجتماعی با چند تصمیم به طور هم‌زمان مواجه باشد، با مراجعه به نظام ارزشی حاكم، تصمیماتی را انتخاب می‌کند كه در مجموع، رتبه بیشتری در نظام ارزشی پذیرفته‌شده كسب كند و آن‌ها، تصمیماتی هستند كه مطلوبیت آن فرد و یا نظام اجتماعی را تأمین می‌نمایند. بنابراین صرف بررسی خط مشی‌ها، طرح‌ها و برنامه‌های عملیاتی (سطوح راهبردی) در ارزیابی راهبردی محیطی، به لحاظ تطابق‌پذیری آن‌ها با معیارهای محیط زیستی كفایت نمی‌كند، زیرا ممكن است در مرحله‌ای كه باید در مورد ضرورت «تدوین» طرح و اجرای آن تصمیم‌گیری شود، تصمیمات غیر قابل برگشتی گرفته شود كه اصلاح آن‌ها مستلزم هزینه‌های بسیار می‌باشد