Explaining the mutual relationship between board gender diversity and corporate social responsibility using the simultaneous equations system

One of the issues that have gained a lot of attention in recent years is the board gender diversity. Many researchers believe that gender diversity in the board reinforces corporate social responsibility and on the other hand, gender diversity is one of the signs and effects of corporate social responsibility in the board, so there is a mutual relationship between board gender diversity and corporate social responsibility that has not been noticed up to this time. Our study fills this gap in literature by using the Simultaneous equations system. We use data from 110 companies listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange during the 2012 to 2017 period. The results indicate that board gender diversity and corporate social responsibility have a positive and significant effect on each other. As a result, companies can improve their social responsibility by increasing gender diversity in the board, and on the other hand to prove their social responsibility, it is better to use women on the board

¿Qué es Astragalus wiesneri? Delimitando una nueva especie en la sección Anthylloidei

Here, we describe and illustrate a new alpine species of Astragalus sect. Anthylloidei from Iran. Astragalus wiesneri sp. nov., an interesting and rare species, is only known from the type locality in the Bul Mountain (near Eghlid city) in the southern Zagros Mountains. The new species is compared with close relatives, including A. nigrohirsutus and A. lalesarensis, which are also endemic to Iran. In addition, we assembled a dataset of nrDNA ITS sequences of 21 species (22 accessions) representing A. sect. Anthylloidei and ten species of other related spiny-cushion forming sections. Maximum likelihood methods and Bayesian Inference retrieved A. wiesneri sister to A. nigrohirsutus, a species growing in the same area as the new species. The description of A. wiesneri is presented along with a distribution map, some ecological information, field images, conservation status, and pertinent notes.Se describe e ilustra una nueva especie alpina de Irán, perteneciente a Astragalus sect. Anthylloidei. Astragalus wiesneri sp. nov., una especie hasta ahora desconocida, crece en las zonas altas del Monte Bul al sur de los Montes Zagros. La nueva especie se comparó con especies afines incluyendo A. nigrohirsutus y A. lalesarensis, también endémicas de Irán. Además del examen morfológico, se construyó una matriz de datos moleculares representando 21 especies (22 especímenes) de A. sect. Anthylloidei y 10 especies de otras secciones del género que incluyen arbustos almohadillados espinosos. Se realizaron análisis filogenéticos de secuencias de la región ITS del ADN ribosómico nuclear. Los análisis moleculares indican que A. wiesneri es hermana de A. nigrohirsutus, una especie con la que vive en simpatría. La descripción morfológica de A. wiesneri va acompañada de un mapa de distribución, información ecológica, imágenes de campo, estado de conservación y comentarios relevantes

Designing a model of professional ethics excellence for clinical librarians

Objective: Developing and promoting professional ethics principles for clinical librarians can help the health care system balance the interests of all stakeholders, including clinical librarians, health care professionals, and patients. Therefore, the goal of this study was to design a model of professional ethics excellence for clinical librarians. Methods: The authors conducted a descriptive applied study using literature review and the delphi method. The delphi panel included eleven experts in medical librarianship, library and information sciences, or information sciences and knowledge studies. Results: After the delphi rounds, five concepts and forty-six components were identified and confirmed to provide a model of professional ethics excellence for clinical librarians. The highest-rated concept was excellence in communication. The highest-rated component was mastery in developing search strategies in information resources and databases. Conclusions: Identifying and applying principles of professional ethics among clinical librarians can enhance the professionalization of clinical librarians and result in better information services for physicians. Furthermore, incorporating these principles into the curriculum for health sciences library and information sciences students or into workshops for active clinical librarians can further formalize the profession and practice of evidence-based medicine. © 2020, Medical Library Association. All rights reserved

Effect of passive exposure to cigarette smoke on blood pressure in children and adolescents: A meta-analysis of epidemiologic studies

Background: Hypertension is an emerging disease in children and adolescents resulting in future morbidities. Cigarette smoking is one of the most studied contributing factors in this regard; however, there are contradictory results among different studies. Therefore, the present meta-analysis tends to assess the relationship between passive exposure to cigarette smoke and blood pressure in children and adolescents. Method: Medline, Embase, Scopus, EBSCO, and Web of Sciences were systematically reviewed for observational studies up to May, 2017, in which the relationship between cigarette smoking and hypertension were assessed in children and adolescents. The meta-analysis was performed with a fixed effect or random effects model according to the heterogeneity. Results: Twenty-nine studies were included in present meta-analysis incorporating 192,067 children and adolescents. Active smoking (pooled OR = 0.92; 95 CI: 0.79 to 1.05) or passive exposure to cigarette smoke (pooled OR = 1.01; 95 CI: 0.93 to 1.10) were not associated with developing hypertension in the study population. Despite the fact that active cigarette smoking did not significantly affect absolute level of systolic and diastolic blood pressure, it was shown that passive exposure to cigarette smoke leads to a significant increase in absolute level of systolic blood pressure (pooled coefficient = 0.26; 95 CI: 0.12 to 0.39). Conclusion: Both active and passive cigarette smoking were not associated with developing hypertension in children and adolescents. However, passive cigarette smoke was associated with higher level of systolic blood pressure in children and adolescents. © 2019 The Author(s)

Band structure and optical properties of antimony-sulfobromide: Density functional calculation

The electronic structure, linear, and non-linear optical properties of ferroelectric-semiconductor SbSBr are investigated in the non-polar (paraelectric) and polar (ferroelectric) phase, using the density functional methods in the generalized gradient approximation. The electronic band structure obtained shows that SbSBr has an indirect forbidden gap of 2.16 and 2.21 eV in the paraelectric and ferroelectric phase, respectively. The linear photon-energy dependent dielectric functions and some optical functions, such as absorption and extinction coefficients, refractive index, energy-loss function, reflectivity, and optical conductivity in both phases and photon-energy dependent second-order susceptibilities in the ferroelectric phase are calculated. Moreover, some important optical parameters, such as the effective number of valence electrons and the effective optical dielectric constant, are calculated in both phases. © Versita Warsaw and Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2008.Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics Isfahan University of TechnologyThe authors would like to thank the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) and the Isfahan University of Technology (IUT) for financial support during the realization of this work

Band structure and optical properties of SbSeI: Density-functional calculation

The electronic structure and linear optical properties of the ferroelectric semiconductor SbSeI are calculated in the nonpolar phase using the density functional methods in the generalized gradient approximation. The obtained electronic band structure shows that SbSeI has an indirect forbidden gap of 1.65 eV. The linear photon-energy-dependent dielectric functions and some optical functions such as absorption and extinction coefficients, refractive index, energy-loss function, reflectivity and optical conductivity are calculated. Moreover, some important optical parameters such as the effective number of valence electrons and the effective optical dielectric constant are calculated. © 2007 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA

Isolation and identification of bacterial glum blotch and leaf blight on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in Iran

Basal glume blotch and leaf blight of wheat caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. atrofaciens and P. syringae pv. syringae respectively are the bacterial diseases of wheat in Iran. The disease causes damage on wheat which leads to lots of yield and crop losses in the host plants. During the spring and summer of 2005-2006 different wheat fields in Guilan province (Roodsar, Langrud, Rostamabad, loshan, and Roodbar) were surveyed. Samples were collected from infected wheats with glumes blotch and leafblight. Infected tissues were washed with sterile distilled water and crushed in peptone water. Then 50 ìl of the extract were cultured on King’s B and NA media containing cyclohexamide (50 ìg/ml). After 48 to 72 h, bacterial colonies were selected and purified. On the basis of morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics, pathogenicity and PCR with specific primers, the isolated were placed in two groups. The first group consists of 20 isolates that caused leaf blight, identified as P. syringae pv.Syringae, while the second group is made up of 18 isolates that caused basal glumes blotch identified as P. syringae pv. atrofaciens. This is the first report of the existence of P. syringae pv. atrofaciens on wheat in Iran

Przeciwbakteryjne i przeciwutleniające działanie Epimedium pinnatum

Epimedium pinnatum (Berberidaceae family) is used as an aphrodisiac in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM). The aim of this study was to evaluate the antimicrobial and antioxidant activity of E. pinnatum extracts (ethanol, methanol and aqueous extracts). Total phenolic (TPC) and flavonoid contents (TFC) of each extract were assessed by spectrophotometric methods. It was exhibited that methanol extract had better antimicrobial activity than those of ethanolic extract or aqueous extract. The TPC and TFC of E. pinnatum extracts was higher in methanol extract (149 and 36.6 mg/g) than that of ethanolic extract (137.2 and 19.5 mg/g) and aqueous extract (86.2 and 8.4 mg/g). The methanol extract had lower IC50 value (200 µg/ml) than ethanolic (250 µg/ml) and aqueous extract (400 µg/ml). There was a positive correlation between TPC, TFC in E. pinnatum extract and their antioxidant and antimicrobial activity.W tradycyjnej medycynie chińskiej Epimedium pinnatum (rodzina Berberidaceae) używa się jako afrodyzjaku. Celem niniejszej pracy była ocena działania przeciwbakteryjnego i przeciwutleniającego wyciągów: etanolowego, metanolowego i wodnego z Epimedium pinnatum. Całkowita zawartość fenoli i całkowita zawartość flawonoidów w każdym z wyciągów została oznaczona metodami spektrofotometrycznymi. Wykazano, że wyciąg metanolowy miał lepsze działanie przeciwbakteryjne niż wyciąg etanolowy i wodny. Całkowita zawartość fenoli i całkowita zawartość flawonoidów była wyższa w wyciągu metanolowym (149 i 36,6 mg/g) niż etanolowym (137,2 i 19,5 mg/g) i wodnym (86,2 i 8,4 mg/g). Wyciąg metanolowy miał niższą wartość IC50 (200 µg/ml) niż wyciąg etanolowy (250 µg/ml) i wodny (400 µg/ml). Zauważono pozytywną korelację między całkowitym stężeniem fenoli i całkowitym stężeniem flawonoidów w wyciągach z E. pinnatum, a ich działaniem przeciwutleniającym i przeciwbakteryjnym