Comparing the Effects of E-Learning and Conventional Training on Learning and Motivation in Continuing Medical Education

Abstract: this study is carried out to investigate the effect of application of computer-assisted concept mapping on high school students’ immediate and long-term geology learning compared to conventional (Paper & pen) method. “pretest-post-test” semi experimental design with control group has been used at the study. Two classes of G11 grade students were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. Participants in Experimental group were asked to create several concept-maps with use of C-map software on Geology topics and students in control group were asked to do the same with conventional (Paper & Pen) method of concept mapping. After performing pre-test, students in both groups were asked to create concept map diagrams for 6 sessions (2 hours length), and then immediately the first post-test and after three weeks the second post-test were performed to assess their immediate and long-term learning on geology concepts and topics. Three teacher-made tests each contain 25 questions were used to assess students’ learning. The cronbach alpha reliability coefficient was 0.79. Analysis of covariance and t-test were performed to analyze the data. Results revealed that the mean scores of both students’ immediate and long-term learning in experimental group were significantly higher than the control group. Considering Eta square coefficient indicates that implementing computer-assisted concept mapping in geology education can account for 33 percent of students’ immediate and 49 percent of their longterm learning. It can be concluded that computer-assisted mapping can improve students’ learning

Plasma Paraoxonase, Sphingosine-1-phosphate, Total Sialic Acid, and Heat Shock Protein-27 in the Liver of the Sheep Naturally Infected with Cysticercus Tenuicollis: Evidence on Pathological Changes

The present study aimed to investigate whether sphingosine 1 phosphate (S1P), paraoxonase (PON), total sialic acid (TSA), and heat shock protein-27 (HSP27) are altered in the sheep during infection of the liver with Cysticercus tenuicollis. This study was conducted on40 healthy sheep and40 sheep with Cysticercus tenuicollis infection. The infected and non-infected animals were selected based on the observation of severe Cysticercus tenuicollis infection in the liver and absence of any hepatic cysts, respectively. All parameters were measured in serum and plasma. The results revealed a significant decrease (

Evaluation of Antioxidant and Antibacterial Activities of Apis florea Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Apidae) Honey on Helicobacter pylori

Iranian men are at risk of developing gastrointestinal cancer caused by H. pylori. It is very imperative to find effective methods to control this bacterium as there are currently no very effective treatments for it. Honey has been shown to have antimicrobial properties against various pathogens. This study analyzed 15 honey samples from A. florea bees, collected from different floral and geographical origins, for their antimicrobial efficacy against H. pylori. Using atomic absorption measurements, the honey samples were also tested for their phenolic and flavonoid content, protein concentration, and mineral content. Antioxidant activity was determined using the FRAP, DPPH, and ABTS methods. The antibacterial activity of honey samples was investigated both in-vitro and in-vivo in the gastrointestinal tract of mice. Statistical analysis revealed a significant positive correlation between antioxidant activity and antibacterial activity. All honey samples showed antimicrobial activity in-vitro, among which jujube honey from Bushehr exhibiting the highest activity. Differences in antioxidant and antimicrobial activities were likely due to the flora of the plants and the geographic region from which the honey was harvested. Based on these results, A. florea honey may be used in the prevention and treatment of H. pylori-associated infections and inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract. This feature can be applied to the control of Helicobacter pylori along with other available measures

A comparison of virulence of intraperitoneal infection of Burkholderia mallei strains in guinea-pigs

Male guinea pigs show high susceptibility to Burkholderia mallei and have been used as animal models in glanders studies. The purpose of our study was to elucidate glanders comparative pathogenesis in guinea pigs. We present here the histological changes and bacterial isolation that develop over time in guinea pigs inoculated intraperitoneally (IP) with two strain of B. mallei. Ten male guinea pigs were inoculated intraperitoneally with either the standard strain of Burkholderia mallei or B. mallei strain from Siberian tiger at the Tehran zoo individually, then euthanized at multiple time points post inoculation. Histopathologic changes were similar in both groups and consisted of pyogranulomatous inflammation. In the standard strain study guinea pigs, changes were first seen at 48 hours in liver and heart then in spleen, lung, and kidney at day 3. These changes generally reached maximal incidence and severity by day 3 but decreased by comparison in all tissues except the liver, lung and kidney. Changes were first seen in Siberian tiger strain study guinea pigs also at 48 hours in lung, liver and spleen. At day 3, changes were present in liver, spleen and mediastinal lymph nodes. These changes were maximal at day 4 and 5. In contrast there are differences in incidence and severity between the two strain study guinea pigs. Our findings based on histopathological study indicate that Siberian tiger strain has more severity in gross and necropsy examination but in pathologic lesion was qualitatively similar generally. Additionally, by bacterial isolation, we confirmed the presence of B. mallei

A cloud and contiki based fire detection system using multi-Hop wireless sensor networks

International Association of Researchers (IARES)4th International Conference on Engineering and MIS, ICEMIS 2018 -- 19 June 2018 through 20 June 2018 -- 138526In this study, a ContikiOS based Library Fire Detection System proposed to provide coverage for a large physical area and to increase throughput by using multi-hop wireless sensor network. Moreover, the system has clouding feature of Google’s Firebase for online data storing and Android application to notify the users in case of emergency. Furthermore, the network can be expanded without adding extra sink nodes to collect data. Benefiting from a multi-hop network, additional source nodes can send temperature values via relay nodes in case of low transmission power with sink node. According to the test results, the system has responded to the changes in temperature and prompted warning/alarm message in approximately 4 seconds using multi-hop network. Additionally, the system can notify the users in case of emergency. © 2018 Association for Computing Machinery

Adaptive duplexing for transceivers supporting aggregated transmissions

Wireless systems employing frequency-division duplexing (FDD) must use duplexing filters to isolate the sensitive receiver from its own strong transmission. The number of filters in the duplexer is equal to the total number of aggregated transmit and receive bands. These filters are nontunable; therefore, a separate duplexer is required for each combination of operating bands. This paper presents an adaptive duplexer architecture capable of handling more than one receiver channel and tunable over a wide frequency range. The structure uses a combination of a low-isolation device with multiple analog canceling loops controlled by a normalized least mean squares (N-LMS) algorithm to track changes in signal leakage. The control is a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) problem. This paper shows that modeling the inverse plant can orthogonalize the problem and dramatically improve convergence times with reduced complexity over previous search algorithms. Low-power pseudonoise (PN) pilot signals are proposed to detect and cancel the transmitter noise. Simulations show that 50 dB of isolation is possible with 20-MHz Long-Term Evolution (LTE)-like channels. Convergence takes 80 iterations (10 ms) from cold or 15 iterations (1.5 ms) for changes in carrier frequency or antenna loading. © 2015 IEEE

A Survey on the Gastrointestinal Parasites of Rabbit and Guinea Pig in a Laboratory Animal House

There is documented evidence that infection in laboratory animals can often influence the outcome of experiments. All infections, apparent or inapparent, are likely to increase biological variability. As a research project concerning the diversity and distribution of parasites of rabbit and guinea pig in a conventional laboratory animal house, about 87 rabbits (from 700 ) and 105 guinea pigs (from 1500 ) were selected randomly from a Research, Production & Breeding of Laboratory Animals Department. Samples were collected between 19.02.2010 and 20.05.2011. The samples and animals were examined by dissection and flotation methods. In this study only one species of nematodes (Passalorus ambiguus: 6.9%); one species of protozoa (Eimeria spp.: 21.8%) in rabbits and one species of nematodes (Paraspidodera Uncinata: 24.7%); one species of protozoa (Balantidium coli: 11.4%) in guinea pigs were identified. However, there was not any cestodes or trematodes identified from this group of laboratory animals

RF modulator design for a low level pilot sub-system

peer reviewedThis paper presents an adaptive duplexer using cancelling instead of filtering to obtain sufficient transmitter (Tx) leakage and noise isolation in the receiver. A low level pseudo-noise (PN) pilot signal is introduced in order to adjust the cancelling coefficients. To modulate the pilot signal to radio frequencies a straightforward direct up-conversion mixer with low carrier feedthrough has been designed. This structure has been implemented in the silicon-on-sapphire (SOS) 250 nm GC process. © 2014 IEEE