Mechanistic Studies of Reducible Metal Oxides as Hydrodeoxygenation Catalysts

Hydrodeoxygenation of phenol to benzene using ruthenium supported titania catalysts strongly varies depending on the support crystal structure and preparation conditions. Here, we performed spectroscopic characterization of titania supports to identify the surface impurities common to commercial and synthesized titania samples using a variety of spectroscopic methods. Sulfate impurities were detected for the commercial anatase samples and a procedure for their elimination was proposed so that inactive catalysts gained reactivity. Surface hydroxyls of different TiO2 samples (anatase, rutile, and pyrogenic) were identified using diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) experiments performed on vigorously cleaned surfaces and a facet-specific assignment was proposed using DFT calculations performed by our collaborators. In addition, the electronic structure of TiO2 samples were studied using the reaction of vigorously cleaned TiO2 samples with H2/D2. Our results revealed that sulfate impurities of the commercial anatase samples change their electronic structure consistent with creation of deep electronic trap states within the band gap. Our results are used to derive structure-activity relationships for the Ru/titania catalyzed hydrodeoxygenation reactions of phenol

Investigating the Impact of Modern Educational Technology on Improving Human Resources with the Mediating Role of Information Literacy of Physical Education Teachers in the 2nd District of Karaj

The aim of the research was the effect of modern educational technology on the improvement of human resources with the mediating role of information literacy of physical education teachers in the 2nd district of Karaj. The descriptive-analytical research method was field method. The current research community is 265 physical education teachers of Karaj District 2. The sample size of the present study was determined to be 265 people. The measurement tools included modern educational technology questionnaires (Yavuz, 2005), human resource improvement questionnaire (Volba & Jansen, 2010) and information literacy questionnaire (Siamak & Daverpanah, 2015). The content and form validity of the questionnaires were confirmed by the professors, and then Cronbach’s alpha reliability of the modern educational technology questionnaire was 0.70, Cronbach’s alpha reliability of the human resource improvement questionnaire was 0.81, and Cronbach’s alpha reliability of the information literacy questionnaire was 0.76. In order to analyze the data of the present research, structural equation modeling method was used. The entire process of analysis was done using spss19 and Amose23 software. The findings of the research showed that information literacy plays a mediating role in the impact of modern educational technology on the improvement of human resources. Therefore, it can be concluded that if human resources have sufficient information literacy, modern educational technology can create an environment that enriches the educational environment, skills, behavior, learning style and improvement of human resources

Investigating the Effect of Advertising on Attracting Customers of Sports Clubs in Karaj City

The purpose of this research was to investigate the mediating role of charitable marketing in the effect of advertising on attracting customers of sports clubs in Karaj city. The research method was applied descriptive which was conducted by field method using questionnaire. The statistical population included the athletes of sports clubs in Karaj city. The sample size was determined as 332 people based on Morgan’s table. The measurement tools included advertisement questionnaire (Moghimi & Ramezani, 2007) and customer attraction questionnaire (Ravanbakhsh, 2019). Content and face validity of questionnaires were confirmed by management professors and Cronbach’s alpha reliability was reported as 0.72 for advertisement questionnaire and Cronbach’s alpha reliability of customer attraction questionnaire was reported as 0.71. To analyze the research hypotheses, the structural equation model was used by spss19 and Amos23 software. The findings of the research showed that charitable marketing has a mediating role in the effect of advertising on the attraction of customers of sports clubs in Karaj city, and this type of mediating is a partial mediating type. Therefore, it can be concluded that by using charitable marketing, new customers can be attracted to sports clubs, and charitable marketing is also a kind of advertisement for the club

Investigating the Impact of Modern Educational Technology on Improving Human Resources with the Mediating Role of Information Literacy of Physical Education Teachers in the 2nd District of Karaj

The aim of the research was the effect of modern educational technology on the improvement of human resources with the mediating role of information literacy of physical education teachers in the 2nd district of Karaj. The descriptive-analytical research method was field method. The current research community is 265 physical education teachers of Karaj District 2. The sample size of the present study was determined to be 265 people. The measurement tools included modern educational technology questionnaires (Yavuz, 2005), human resource improvement questionnaire (Volba & Jansen, 2010) and information literacy questionnaire (Siamak & Daverpanah, 2015). The content and form validity of the questionnaires were confirmed by the professors, and then Cronbach’s alpha reliability of the modern educational technology questionnaire was 0.70, Cronbach’s alpha reliability of the human resource improvement questionnaire was 0.81, and Cronbach’s alpha reliability of the information literacy questionnaire was 0.76. In order to analyze the data of the present research, structural equation modeling method was used. The entire process of analysis was done using spss19 and Amose23 software. The findings of the research showed that information literacy plays a mediating role in the impact of modern educational technology on the improvement of human resources. Therefore, it can be concluded that if human resources have sufficient information literacy, modern educational technology can create an environment that enriches the educational environment, skills, behavior, learning style and improvement of human resources

Investigating the Impact of Neuromarketing on Consumer Purchase Intention (Case Study of Sports Goods Customers in Ardabil City)

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of neuromarketing on consumer purchase intention (a case study of sports goods customers in Ardabil city). The current research is applied research in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of nature and content. Also, the present research is of causal modeling type or structural equation modeling type. The statistical population of this research includes all private sports clubs and sellers of sports goods in Ardabil city, which due to the unavailability of the study population, the statistical population was determined to be unlimited. Considering that the statistical population is unlimited, the sample size was determined to be 352 people. Also, the sampling method of the present study was clustered. The measurement tools include neuromarketing questionnaire (Azeimi et al., 2014) and consumer purchase intention questionnaire (Mahdavi, 2015). The content and form validity of the questionnaires were confirmed by the management professors and then Cronbach’s alpha reliability (AVE) was reported as 0.83 for the neuromarketing questionnaire and 0.88 for the consumer purchase intention questionnaire, respectively. The method of analyzing the information and data of this research is using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics and In order to analyze the hypotheses of the research, the method of structural equations was used using Imus version 23 and SPSS version 19 software. The findings of the research showed that neuromarketing has an effect on the purchase intention of sports goods consumers. Therefore, it can be concluded that the use of neuromarketing can affect the senses and minds of customers and prepare the minds of consumers for repeat purchases so that they intend to buy sports products again

Investigating the Impact of Neuromarketing on Consumer Purchase Intention--Case Study of Sports Goods Customers in Ardabil City

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of neuromarketing on consumer purchase intention (a case study of sports goods customers in Ardabil city). The current research is applied research in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of nature and content. Also, the present research is of causal modeling type or structural equation modeling type. The statistical population of this research includes all private sports clubs and sellers of sports goods in Ardabil city, which due to the unavailability of the study population, the statistical population was determined to be unlimited. Considering that the statistical population is unlimited, the sample size was determined to be 352 people. Also, the sampling method of the present study was clustered. The measurement tools include neuromarketing questionnaire (Azeimi et al., 2014) and consumer purchase intention questionnaire (Mahdavi, 2015). The content and form validity of the questionnaires were confirmed by the management professors and then Cronbach’s alpha reliability (AVE) was reported as 0.83 for the neuromarketing questionnaire and 0.88 for the consumer purchase intention questionnaire, respectively. The method of analyzing the information and data of this research is using descriptive statistics and inferential statistics and In order to analyze the hypotheses of the research, the method of structural equations was used using Imus version 23 and SPSS version 19 software. The findings of the research showed that neuromarketing has an effect on the purchase intention of sports goods consumers. Therefore, it can be concluded that the use of neuromarketing can affect the senses and minds of customers and prepare the minds of consumers for repeat purchases so that they intend to buy sports products again

Investigating the Impact of Neuromarketing on Consumer Purchase Intention (Case Study of Sports Goods Customers in Ardabil City)

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of neuromarketing on consumer purchase intention (a case study of sports goods customers in Ardabil city). The current research is applied research in terms of purpose and descriptive-analytical in terms of nature and content. The statistical population of this research includes all private sports clubs and sellers of sports goods in Ardabil city, the sample size was 352 people considering that the statistical population is unlimited and the sampling method was clustered. The measurement tools include neuromarketing questionnaire (Azeimi et al., 2015) and consumer purchase intention questionnaire (Mahdavi, 2015). The content and form validity of the questionnaires were confirmed by the management professors and then Cronbach’s alpha reliability (AVE) was reported as 0.83 for the neuromarketing questionnaire and 0.88 for the consumer purchase intention questionnaire, respectively. The structural equation method was used for analysis using Imus version 23 and SPSS version 19 software. The findings of the research showed that neuromarketing has an effect on the purchase intention of sports goods consumers. Therefore, it can be concluded that the use of neuromarketing can influence the senses and minds of customers and make consumers’ minds ready for repeat purchases

The effect of aqueous and ethanolic extract of Iranian propolis on Candida Albicans isolated from the mouth of patients with colorectal malignancy undergone chemotherapy: An in-vitro study

Background: Candidiasis is one of the most common fungal infections in immunosuppressed patients. The condition is usually treated with local and systemic antifungal agents. Given the antifungal properties of propolis, it appears this natural resin material can be effective in treating this infection. The aim of the present in vitro study was to compare the effect of Iranian propolis with those of routine antifungal agents on Candida species isolated from the oral candida lesions of patients with cancer, who had undergone chemotherapy, and a standard strain of Candida albicans. Methods: A total of 23 samples were collected from the oral cavities of patients with colorectal cancer, who had undergone chemotherapy with 5-fu. The fungal species were determined based on the results of culture in C. albicans chromagar medium, formation of the germ tube and formation of vesicles. The MIC of aqueous extract propolis (AEP) and ethanolic extract of propolis (EEP) and amphotericin B (AMP-B), fluconazole (FL) and nystatin (NYS) were compared. Results: A total of 23 oral C. albicans samples were isolated. The MICs of FL and AMP- B were similar and less than those of EEP, AEP and NYS (P<0.001). In addition, the MIC of AEP was higher than EEP (P<0.001). The MIC of AMP- B on the strains isolated from the patients was more than that of the standard strain (P=0.012). Conclusion: The aqueous and ethanolic extracts of Iranian propolis exhibited antifungal activity, with a greater effect of the EEP compared to the AEP. &#160

Consequences of Lethal-Whole-Body Gamma Radiation and Possible Ameliorative Role of Melatonin

Gamma radiation induces the generation of free radicals, leading to serious cellular damages in biological systems. Radioprotectors act as prophylactic agents that are administered to shield normal cells and tissues from the deleterious effects of radiation. Melatonin synergistically acts as an immune-stimulator and antioxidant. We investigated the possible radioprotective role of melatonin (100 mg/kg i.p.) against lethal-whole-body radiation-(10 Gy) induced sickness, body weight loss, and mortality in rats. Results of the present study suggest that exposure to lethal-whole-body radiation incurred mortality, body weight loss, and apoptosis and it also depleted the immunity and the antioxidant status of the rats. Our results show that melatonin pretreatment provides protection against radiation induced mortality, oxidative stress, and immune-suppression. The melatonin pretreated irradiated rats showed less change in body weight as compared to radiation only group. On the other hand, melatonin appeared to have another radioprotective role, suggesting that melatonin may reduce apoptosis through a caspase-3-mediated pathway by blocking caspase-3 activity

Decomposing disparity in adult individual’s mental health in Tehran among lower and higher economic groups; an Oaxaca- Blinder analysis on urban HEART Survey- round 2

Background: Mental health is one of the main aspects of social well-being. Tehran -capital of Iran- is metropolitan, where the mental health status of citizens is not prioritized effectively. Objectives: The purpose of this study was identifying contributors of mental health inequality between lower and higher economic groups in Tehran through Oaxaca- Blinder method. Methods: The study was conducted by the data of Tehran’s Urban Heart Survey- Round 2 (2012). Through a three- stage stratified and clustered sampling method, 34,700 were selected  as samples. The mental health status was measured by the General Health Questionnaire 28- items (GHQ- 28) and the quantity of the inequality in mental health was measured by corrected concentration index. The Fairlie’s decomposition approach was performed in STATA 14.Results: The corrected concentration index were: -0.0967 and -0.1004 by Erreyger’s and Wagstaff’s approaches. Being of the Iranian origin, disability conditions, employment status and smoking were identified as the main contributors of inequality in mental health among lower and higher economic groups.Conclusion: Thus, re-organizing strategies and plans on promoting the socio- economic status of non-Iranian residents, improving employment opportunities, developing well-designed environment for disabled individuals and supporting plans to reduce smoking is recommended to the urban policy makers. Keywords: Mental health, decomposing inequality, urban heart survey, Tehran