The Auditing of Tabriz General Dentistry Offices Based on Licensure Standards

Background & Objectives: Licensure is a healthcare evaluation approach which has particular importance in compliance with minimum requirements of healthcare centers for getting started and continuing their performance. The aim of this study was auditing of Tabriz general dentistry offices based on licensure standards. Methods: This descriptive- analytical study was done in 197 general dentistry offices in Tabriz city selected randomly. The required data were gathered using a researcher-made checklist with 75 questions in 7 main dimensions including physical environment, medical equipment, nonmedical equipment, human resources, medical records and informatics, policy consideration, and hygiene and infection control. Data analysis was done using t-test, ANOVA and Tukey statistical tests and through SPSS19 software package. Results: The total rate of compliance with licensure standards in Tabriz dentistry offices was 78.5%. The highest and lowest rates of compliance were respectively in dimensions of “medical records” (92.3%) and “non-medical equipment” (66.4%). There was significant relationship between “job experience of dentists” and standards compliance score in “law and policy consideration” and “hygiene and infection control” dimensions; so that, more job experience was associated with higher compliance score in these dimensions. Conclusion: Despite acceptable status of the assessed dentistry offices in regard to licensure requirements, there are still shortcomings in some dimensions. No doubt, the obtained results could help authorities to improve the status of dentistry offices and increase community satisfaction. Key¬words: Licensure, Audit, office, General dentists. Citation: Tabrizi SJ, Gharibi F, Kamkari M. The Auditing of Tabriz General Dentistry Offices Based on Licensure Standards. Journal of Health Based Research 2017; 3(2): 115-126

Physarum Inspired Dynamics to Solve Semi-Definite Programs

Physarum Polycephalum is a Slime mold that can solve the shortest path problem. A mathematical model based on the Physarum's behavior, known as the Physarum Directed Dynamics, can solve positive linear programs. In this paper, we will propose a Physarum based dynamic based on the previous work and introduce a new way to solve positive Semi-Definite Programming (SDP) problems, which are more general than positive linear programs. Empirical results suggest that this extension of the dynamic can solve the positive SDP showing that the nature-inspired algorithm can solve one of the hardest problems in the polynomial domain. In this work, we will formulate an accurate algorithm to solve positive and some non-negative SDPs and formally prove some key characteristics of this solver thus inspiring future work to try and refine this method

Enhancing thermal performance in shell-and-tube latent heat thermal energy storage units: An experimental and numerical study of shell geometry effects

This study investigates the influence of shell geometry on the thermal performance of latent heat storage (LHS) units. Three transparent shell-and-tube LHS units, featuring circular, horizontal, and vertical obround shell geometries, each possessing a similar shell volume, were fabricated and filled with paraffin as the phase change material (PCM). Employing a combination of visualization experiments and numerical simulations, the thermal performance of LHS units with horizontally and vertically oriented obround shell geometries was comprehensively analyzed and compared with conventional circular shell-and-tube heat exchangers (HX), commonly utilized in the industry. Data derived from image processing of photographs, coupled with recorded temperatures, were used to calculate liquid fractions, analyze heat transfer characteristics, and ascertain the dominant heat transfer mechanisms during the melting process. The results reveal that the utilization of a horizontal obround shell enhances the heat transfer rate, thereby expediting the melting process. A comparative analysis of melting photographs demonstrates that the horizontal obround shell reduces the melting time by 32% compared to the circular shell, while the vertical obround shell extends the total melting time by 13%. In contrast to the circular shell, the horizontal obround shell exhibits a substantial improvement of 41% in the time-averaged heat transfer rate, whereas the vertical obround shell shows a decrease of 12%.</p

Computer Games and Their Impact on Creativity of Primary Level Students in Tehran

Creativity is about being sensitive to dilemmas, losses, problems, and existing errors, making propositions about and examining such issues, which finally leads to innovative findings. On the other hand, it seems that games are important in this process; since they can improve creativity of the individuals. Thus, this research pays attention to the question that whether computer games affect creativity of students at primary level in schools or not? Moreover, in this study, students of 3 main districts of Tehran municipality were studied. Based on the available data of the ministry, there were 51740 students studying in these three districts. Thus, 381 students were randomly selected as the research sample. Findings revealed that all computer games, i.e. puzzle, intellectual, and enigma, affect creativity of students at primary level in schools to different extents.

Wedge-shaped fins to enhance thermal performance of shell and tube heat exchangers containing phase change material: An experimental study

This study addresses restricted thermal conductivity in phase change materials (PCMs) used in latent heat storage (LHS) systems, aiming to enhance heat transfer efficiency by intensifying convective flow using a novel wedge fin design. A comparative experimental analysis is performed between wedge-finned and annular-finned tube heat exchangers (HXs), assuming equal fin material. Results show that the wedge-finned tube HX achieves higher Nusselt numbers, improved heat distribution, and a remarkable 12.8% reduction in melting time compared to the annular-finned HX at a heat transfer fluid (HTF) temperature of 90℃. Furthermore, the wedge-finned tube HX exhibits a substantial 84.3% decrease in melting time compared to the bare tube HX. These findings highlight the practical significance of employing wedge fin design for improving heat transfer efficiency in LHS systems, offering valuable insights for the design and optimization of such systems

Experimental study on the influence of shell geometry and tube eccentricity on phase change material melting in shell and tube heat exchangers

This study experimentally investigates the combined effect of heat transfer fluid (HTF) tube eccentricity and shell geometry on the thermal performance of latent heat storage (LHS) units. Fifteen transparent shell and tube LHS units were designed and manufactured with circular, horizontal obround, and vertical obround shell geometries and various HTF tube eccentricities. All LHS units have an identical volume and were filled with paraffine as phase change material (PCM). By conducting visualization experiments, the effect of the HTF tube eccentricity (with values of 0, 0.2, 0.4, 0.6, and 0.8) on the thermal performance of LHS units was comprehensively analyzed. The melting process was photographed, and temperatures at predefined locations were recorded to determine the instantaneous liquid fractions and heat transfer characteristics of different systems. The findings revealed that the horizontal obround shell shortens the melting time compared to the traditional circular shell, while the vertical obround shell prolongs the melting time. It was observed that increasing the eccentricity factor from 0 to 0.8 leads to a reduction in melting time by up to 76 %, 72 %, and 60 % for vertical obround, circular, and horizontal obround shells, respectively, along with a substantial improvement of 304 %, 246 %, and 151 % in the time-averaged heat transfer rate. Moreover, the highest time-averaged heat transfer rate enhancements are achieved by the horizontal obround shell, which are 38 %, 77 %, 130 %, and 178 % for the eccentricity factors of 0, 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6, respectively, when compared with the concentric circular shell (base case). It has also been concluded that as the eccentricity factor increases from 0 to 0.8, the impact of the shell geometry on melting performance diminishes. At an eccentricity factor of 0.8, the difference in melting time among different geometries becomes negligible.</p

A cross-sectional study on the relationship between maternal attachment styles and child cognitive functions

BACKGROUND: The concept of attachment refers to how the infant emotionally communicates with the caregiver. Despite the importance of this concept, the relationship between the mother's attachment styles and the child's cognitive functions has not been investigated so far.METHODS: In a cross-sectional study during October to December 2019, 120 primary school girl students were selected by the convenience sampling method. Participants responded to the two scales of Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children, Fourth Edition (WISC®-IV), as well as the Experience in Close Relationship Scale (ECR-S). Data were analyzed using multivariate regression statistical model in SPSS softwareRESULTS: The results showed that five indices of verbal intelligence, knowledge intelligence, active memory intelligence, working memory (WM), and processing speed were predicted by parent's anxiety attachment style (P &lt; 0.050 for all). However, the relationship between the indices of total intelligence, non-verbal intelligence, fluid reasoning intelligence, quantitative reasoning intelligence, visual-spatial processing intelligence, verbal inteligence, perceptual reasoning, general ability, cognitive domination, and total scale of students with parent attachment styles were not significant (P &gt; 0.050).CONCLUSION: The findings of this study highlighted the role of maternal attachment styles in predicting child's psychological structures, which can be accompanied by clinical implications in planning interventions based on the intelligence quotient (IQ) promotion for the child

Experimental comparative study on thermal performance of latent heat storage tanks with pin, perforated, and rectangular fins at different orientations

The low thermal conductivity of phase change materials (PCMs) has limited their widespread use in practical applications. In the present study, different fin structures, namely, rectangular, perforated, and pin were examined to analyze the thermal performance of the melting process in rectangular latent heat storage tanks. Experiments were performed at both horizontal and vertical orientations to evaluate the effectiveness of different fin configurations. Visual observation of the phase change evolution at different time intervals was enabled through a transparent plexiglass shell. Instantaneous heat transfer rate and energy storage were measured using thermocouple readings and melting photographs. The results show that the maximum heat transfer coefficient between the heated wall and PCM is obtained by the pin-finned tank followed by perforated and rectangular-finned tanks. This thermal behavior is justified by the intensification of the upward convection flows through the voids provided by pin fins or perforated fins. Although the rectangular fin structure has the lowest convective heat transfer coefficient, its heat transfer rate is slightly higher than the other structures due to its larger heat transfer area. At a wall temperature of 70℃, the convective heat transfer coefficient and heat transfer rate obtained by the pin fin configuration are respectively 25% higher and 4% less than those of the rectangular fin. It reveals that the pin fin structure provides the most effective heat transfer area compared to its counterparts which have a significantly larger fin volume. In addition, it was found that regardless of the fin configuration, the melting rate in the horizontal tank was significantly higher than in the vertical tank due to the formation of more vortical flow structures within the molten PCM. The melting time in the unfinned horizontal tank was less than those of the vertical finned tanks implying that the tank orientation should be well-chosen to minimize the melting time along with adding fins of various configurations

OCDaf: Ordered Causal Discovery with Autoregressive Flows

We propose OCDaf, a novel order-based method for learning causal graphs from observational data. We establish the identifiability of causal graphs within multivariate heteroscedastic noise models, a generalization of additive noise models that allow for non-constant noise variances. Drawing upon the structural similarities between these models and affine autoregressive normalizing flows, we introduce a continuous search algorithm to find causal structures. Our experiments demonstrate state-of-the-art performance across the Sachs and SynTReN benchmarks in Structural Hamming Distance (SHD) and Structural Intervention Distance (SID). Furthermore, we validate our identifiability theory across various parametric and nonparametric synthetic datasets and showcase superior performance compared to existing baselines