Factors Affecting the Academic Performance of Students

Evaluation of the student’s academic experience is important to meet the goal of any educational institution in the world. It refers to the factors that affect the academic performance of students. The purpose of this study was to examine students' experiences regarding faculty members, faculty facility, and relationships to identify factors that affect student satisfaction. 355 students at a university in Rwanda and a university in Ghana (aged 22.83 years; SD = 2.52 years, range 18-42 Years) were examined with regard to the academic experiences, by the College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CSEQ) instrument. The sample consisted of 180 (50.70 %) females and 173 (48.73 %) males, enrolled in the bachelor’s classification programme of the two different universities of both countries: Rwanda and Ghana. The results of this research study showed a moderate level of student’s experiences by the two groups regarding faculty members and faculty facility. Furthermore, the subjects did not show high level of the relationship with the university in general. The results also showed a positive relationship between “being interested in university” and “feeling to attend the same institution if starting again”. Both groups of students evaluated their experiences with faculty members, faculty facility, and relationship with the university regarding faculty, administrative staff, and students at a moderate level. The positive evaluation and interest in the university are related to the positive feeling for the decision to enroll. Keywords: faculty members, faculty facility, relationship, academic performance DOI: 10.7176/JEP/14-15-04 Publication date:May 31st 202

ABCB1-C3435T polymorphism and breast cancer risk: A case-control study and a meta-analysis

Purpose: To investigate the association of ABCB1-C3435T transition with breast cancer risk which was followed by a meta-analysis. Methods: In a case-control study we collected blood samples from 290 women (including 150 breast cancer patients and 140 healthy controls). ABCB1-C3435T genotyping was performed by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. A meta-analysis was performed for a total of 13 eligible studies involving 5,835 cases and 8,178 controls. Results: The results of case-control study revealed a significant association between T allele (OR=1.770, 95%CI=1.236-2.535, p=0.002), CT genotype (OR=1.661, 95%CI=1.017-2.713, p=0.042), and TT genotype (OR=3.399, 95%C1=1.409-8.197, p=0.006) with breast cancer risk. Data from meta-analysis revealed a significant association between ABCB1-C3435T polymorphism and breast cancer risk in allelic (OR=1.243, 95%CI=1.079-1.432, p=0.003), co-dominant (OR=1.349, 95%CI=1.042-1.746, p=0.023), dominant (OR=1.204, 95%CI=1.019-1.422, p=0.029), and recessive (OR=1.226, 9S%C1-1.0U-1.488, p=0.039) models. Conclusions: The results suggest that the ABCB1-C3435T gene polymorphism might be a genetic risk factor and a potential biomarker for breast cancer

New Indirect Method for Calculation of Flow Forces on Immersed Bodies in Molecular Dynamics Simulation

This paper was presented at the 4th Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2014), which was held at University College, London, UK. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute, ASME Press, LCN London Centre for Nanotechnology, UCL University College London, UCL Engineering, the International NanoScience Community, www.nanopaprika.eu.In this paper, two different approaches of calculating forces in molecular dynamics simulation are investigated and a new method is presented. Drag force on a carbon nanotube in uniform liquid argon flow is evaluated using these three methods. Nanotube is modeled as a rigid cylinder and all the interactions are calculated by Lennard-Jones potential function. First of all common method of calculating drag by direct summation of forces in flow direction is used to verify the code and simulation. Then the continuum approach of calculating forces using momentum balance and change in flow velocity profile is implemented and investigated. Results of this approach show that the increase in number of bins used for velocity measurement will decrease the difference with direct method about 5%. Nevertheless the continuum approach at the best underestimate the drag force by about 20% of direct summation and confirm the fact that continuum approaches are not necessarily appropriate at nanoscale flows. Finally a molecular momentum balance method is presented and used for calculating drag force. The new presented method works properly and the difference with the direct summation method can be reduced from 30% to less than 1% by increasing the number of time steps used for data averaging

Details about pressure calculation in molecular dynamic analysis

This paper was presented at the 4th Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2014), which was held at University College, London, UK. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute, ASME Press, LCN London Centre for Nanotechnology, UCL University College London, UCL Engineering, the International NanoScience Community, www.nanopaprika.eu.Numerical modeling of nano/micro devices needs measurement of thermo-fluid properties in molecular simulations. Therefore, special attention has been paid to the method of numerical measurement of fluid properties. Details about pressure calculation in a molecular system and its sensitivity to approximations made are studied in this paper. Convergence behavior of kinetic and potential parts of pressure and the effect of cut-off distance on pressure calculation in different bin sizes are studied. Finally a method is introduced for the correct calculation of pressure. This method is based on the assumption that macroscopic properties should be independent from the bin sizes

Perfectionism Search Algorithm (PSA): An Efficient Meta-Heuristic Optimization Approach

This paper proposes a novel population-based meta-heuristic optimization algorithm, called Perfectionism Search Algorithm (PSA), which is based on the psychological aspects of perfectionism. The PSA algorithm takes inspiration from one of the most popular model of perfectionism, which was proposed by Hewitt and Flett. During each iteration of the PSA algorithm, new solutions are generated by mimicking different types and aspects of perfectionistic behavior. In order to have a complete perspective on the performance of PSA, the proposed algorithm is tested with various nonlinear optimization problems, through selection of 35 benchmark functions from the literature. The generated solutions for these problems, were also compared with 11 well-known meta-heuristics which had been applied to many complex and practical engineering optimization problems. The obtained results confirm the high performance of the proposed algorithm in comparison to the other well-known algorithms

Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Stationary and Rotating Nanotube in Uniform Liquid Argon Flow

This paper was presented at the 4th Micro and Nano Flows Conference (MNF2014), which was held at University College, London, UK. The conference was organised by Brunel University and supported by the Italian Union of Thermofluiddynamics, IPEM, the Process Intensification Network, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Heat Transfer Society, HEXAG - the Heat Exchange Action Group, and the Energy Institute, ASME Press, LCN London Centre for Nanotechnology, UCL University College London, UCL Engineering, the International NanoScience Community, www.nanopaprika.eu.In this paper molecular dynamics (MD) simulation is used to investigate the liquid argon flow past a stationary and rotating carbon nanotube. The main purpose of this work is to estimate flow forces on the nanotube and compare them with classical continuum results. The simulation is 3D and consists of 33,700 liquid argon atoms as fluid and 240 atoms of carbon as the nanotube. The single walled nanotube is simulated as a rigid cylinder of fixed carbon atoms. For simulation of rotating carbon nanotube, carbon atoms are rotated around center axes of the nanotube in each times step according to the desired angular velocity. Both argon-argon and carbon-argon interactions are modeled by Lennard-Jones potential function. Periodic boundary condition is used for the whole system. Flow is driven by rescaling velocities at the inlet each 50 time steps. The results show that the rotation of nanotube causes a reduction in drag force, up to rotation rate of 3.0 where the drag force is about 78% of the stationary one. Above the rotation rate of 3.0 drag coefficient is almost constant. Lift coefficient of stationary nanotube is negligible in comparison with drag coefficient and the rotation of nanotube has a little influence on the lift coefficient

Protective effects of forced exercise against nicotine-induced anxiety, depression and cognition impairment in rat

Nicotine is one of the psychostimulant agents displaying parasympathomimetic activity; the chronic neurochemical and behavioral effects of nicotine remain unclear. Exercise lowers stress and anxiety and can act as a non-pharmacologic neuroprotective agent. In this study, the protective effects of exercise in nicotine withdrawal syndrome-induced anxiety, depression, and cognition impairment wereinvestigated. Methods: Seventy adult male rats were divided randomly into five groups. Group 1 served as negative control and received normal saline (0.2 mL/rat, i.p.) for 30 days, whereas group 2 (as positive control) received nicotine (6 mg/kg/day, s.c.) for the first 15 days. Groups 4, 5, and 6 were treated with nicotine (6 mg/kg/day, s.c.) for the first 15 days and then were treated with forced exercise, bupropion (20 mg/kg/day, i.p.), or a combination of the two for the following 15 days. Between day 25 and day 30, Morris water maze was used to evaluate spatial learning and memory. From days 31 to 35, the elevated plus maze (EPM), open field test (OFT), forced swim test (FST), and tail suspension test (TST) were used to investigate the level of anxiety and depression in the subjects. Results: Nicotine-dependent animals indicated a reflective depression and anxiety in a dose-dependent manner in FST, EPM, and TST, which were significantly different from the control group and also can significantly attenuate the motor activity and anxiety in OFT. Conclusions: Forced exercise, bupropion, or their combination can attenuate nicotine cessation-induced anxiety, depression, and motor activity in the mentioned behavioral assay. We conclude that forced exercise can protect the brain against nicotine withdrawal-induced anxiety, depression, and cognitive alteration. © 2016 by De Gruyter

Herbalism in Iran: A systematic review

Historically because of safety of use, efficiency, cultural acceptability, and fewer side effects, herbal drugs have been frequently used in most communities. In light of acceptability of use and convenient accessibility to these plants among Iranians as well as possible side effects due to inappropriate use of them, this review article sought to investigate the attitudes toward use of herbal drugs and the used doses and methods of preparation and use of these plants among Iranians. In this review article, firstly 55 articles in Persian and English languages were examined and 30 articles were excluded from the study because of containing irrelevant content. After detailed analysis of 25 articles, 15 articles were selected and their findings were presented with regards to the purposes of this review article. Overall, 73.5% of women and 72% of men in Iran (totally 71.5% of Iranians) use herbal drugs, 82.9% of the people consider use of herbal drugs as effective, and 41.8% use them as tea. The sources of information are relatives and acquaintances for 37.5% of the Iran and Echium L., Valerianaceae officinalis L. Sisymbrium L. were the most frequently used herbal drugs. Herbal drugs are used mostly for gastrointestinal problems followed by respiratory problems, neurological problems, genitourinary problems and metabolic diseases. In view of high consumption of herbal drugs in Iran, potential side effects due to their excessive use, and current campaigns encouraging further use of them, it is necessary for experts, to offer necessary training on the preparation, dosage, maintenance, and side effects of herbal drugs to Iranians at various classes

The effect of psychical stress on cause and exacerbation of diabetes mellitus, serum glucose and cortisol levels, and body weight in rats

زمینه و هدف: در تحقیق حاضر تأثیر استرس روانی مزمن بر تغییرات سطح سرمی گلوکز وکورتیزول و همچنین اختلاف وزن ابتدا و انتهای آزمایش و تأثیر آن در بروز و یا تشدید دیابت شیرین بررسی گردید. مواد و روشها: بدین منظور در طی یک سری آزمایشات این متغیرها در 7 گروه هشــت تایی (8n=) از رات نر نژاد Wistar با وزن ابتدایی (250-200 گرم) تحت سنجش قرار گرفتند. در این تجربه از استرس روانی ترس از خفگی در آب به مدت یک دقیقه در هر ساعت و چهار ساعت در هر روز در طی 14 روز استفاده گردید. نتایج: این تحقیق نشان داد که: 1) اگرچه این نوع استرس تکراری و مزمن باعث تغییر معنی داری حدود22 در سطح گلوکز سرم شد (01/0

Association analysis of rs1049255 and rs4673 transitions in p22phox gene with coronary artery disease: A case-control study and a computational analysis

Background The p22phox gene encodes the main subunit of NADH/NADPH-oxidase. This enzyme is expressed in smooth muscle cells of arteries, and it produces the reactive oxygen species. On the other hand, oxidative stress plays a main role in the pathogenesis of coronary artery disease (CAD). Aim The aim of this study is to evaluate the association between rs4673 and rs1049255 polymorphisms of p22phox gene with CAD in an Iranian population which was followed with a computational analysis approach. Methods In a cross-sectional study, we collected blood samples of 302 Iranian Caucasian including 143 patients and 159 healthy controls. Genotype of the polymorphisms was detected through PCR-RFLP method. A computational analysis was also performed using SNAP, Polyphen-2, Chou-Fasman, RNAsnp, and miRNA SNP databases. Results Data of case control study demonstrated that CT genotype (R = 1.84, 95% CI = 1.13–3.00, p = 0.014) and T allele (OR = 1.53, 95% CI = 1.09–2.15, p = 0.013) of rs4673 polymorphism, have a significant association with enhanced risk of CAD. But rs1049255 analysis demonstrated the absence of such an association with CAD. Indeed, in silico data analysis demonstrated that rs4673 transition could impact on function of p22phox protein (SNAP score 56, expected accuracy 75%; Polyphen-2 score 0.99, sensitivity 0.09, specificity 0.99). Data derived from miRNA SNP database demonstrated that rs1049255 polymorphism increases the affinity of attachment between has-miR-3689a-3b with 3′-UTR of p22phox gene. Conclusion Our data demonstrated that rs4673 transition may be involved in susceptibility to CAD and could be applied as a potential biomarker for this disease