Comparison of Phonemic Fluency Test Results Using Different Letters among Persian Speakers

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the results obtained from phonemic fluency test using “F”1 , “A”2 , “S”3 and “L”4 , “T”5 ,”M”6 among Persian Speakers aged between 20 and 30 years. Methods: In this applied study, 76 subjects were randomly chosen. The data was analyzed separately for each subject according to the three letters: “F”, “A”, and “S” by using the routine phonemic fluency subtest of verbal fluency test and then phonemic fluency performance was gathered by using the three letters: “L”, “T” and “M” and after scoring according to Troyer method, the resultant numbers were reported after statistical analyses. For statistical analysis using SPSS 19, the distribution of data was firstly evaluated. Due to the fact that the data distribution was normal, Bonferroni test was used to compare the scores of the letters. Results: No significant gender and educational level effects were found and therefore, all further analyses were conducted without taking gender and educational level into account. Also, when the results of the three letters: “F”, “A” and “S” as a group for phonemic fluency performance and “L”, “T” and “M” letters as a different group, were integrated, a significant difference was found between the mean cluster size and switching between these two groups, while there was no significant difference between the average cluster size and cluster number. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this research, it can be concluded that the results of phonemic fluency test in each of the six letters are significantly different. Therefore, when using the special letters in the Persian language, it is necessary to examine all the letters for phonological sub-tests and use the simplest letters to study this function

Toll-like receptors signaling pathways as a potential therapeutic target in cardiovascular disease

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is one of the most important causes of morbidity and mortality, and associated with an important economic burden globally. Over the last decade, the prevalence of CVD has been rising globally, and is now associated with millions of death annually in both developed and developing countries. There is good evidence that the immune system is involved in the pathophysiology of CVD. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) and their down-stream signaling pathways play an important role in the immune system. Recent studies have suggested that the TLRs are involved in atherogenesis, including stroke, myocardial infarction, ischemia-reperfusion injury, cardiac remodeling and development of heart failure (HF). In this review we have summarized the recent studies investigating the role of TLRs in CVD and the potential for using TLRs signaling pathways as a therapeutic target in CVD

An integrated Multi-Criteria Decision Making Model for Sustainability Performance Assessment for Insurance Companies

To stay competitive in a business environment, continuous performance evaluation based on the triple bottom line standard of sustainability is necessary. There is a gap in addressing the computational expense caused by increased decision units due to increasing the performance evaluation indices to more accuracy in the evaluation. We successfully addressed these two gaps through (1) using principal component analysis (PCA) to cut the number of evaluation indices, and (2) since PCA itself has the problem of merely using the data distribution without considering the domain-related knowledge, we utilized Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to rank the indices through the expert’s domain-related knowledge. We propose an integrated approach for sustainability performance assessment in qualitative and quantitative perspectives. Fourteen insurance companies were evaluated using eight economic, three environmental, and four social indices. The indices were ranked by expert judgment though an analytical hierarchy process as subjective weighting, and then principal component analysis as objective weighting was used to reduce the number of indices. The obtained principal components were then used as variables in the data envelopment analysis model. So, subjective and objective evaluations were integrated. Finally, for validating the results, Spearman and Kendall’s Tau correlation tests were used. The results show that Dana, Razi, and Dey had the best sustainability performance.This article belongs to the Special Issue Sustainability Assessmen

Computational Fluid Dynamics Simulation of Tubular Scaffold Re-cellularization inside Perfusion Bioreactors

Humans suffer from tracheal pathologies such as malignancy, traumatic injury, and stenosis. Tissue engineering provides a viable treatment method by substituting a damaged trachea with an engineered graft that uses the recipient’s own cells to reduce the rate of transplant rejection by the recipient’s immune system. This requires a re-cellularization with cells harvested from the recipient. Bioreactors are designed to assist us in re-cellularization to distribute cells uniformly on the lumen tracheal. Currently, a lack of understanding of the bioreactor hydrodynamic and cell-seeding environment is a major obstacle for obtaining viable tracheal grafts. The complexity of cell behavior and modelling assumptions have led to significant differences between experimentally observed and computationally predicted results. In this study, we implement and compare a series of computational models of increasing complexity, incorporating previously neglected physical mechanisms, to improve the predictive ability of the models.M.A.S

A New Algorithm for Digital Image Encryption Based on Chaos Theory

In recent decades, image encryption, as one of the significant information security fields, has attracted many researchers and scientists. However, several studies have been performed with different methods, and novel and useful algorithms have been suggested to improve secure image encryption schemes. Nowadays, chaotic methods have been found in diverse fields, such as the design of cryptosystems and image encryption. Chaotic methods-based digital image encryptions are a novel image encryption method. This technique uses random chaos sequences for encrypting images, and it is a highly-secured and fast method for image encryption. Limited accuracy is one of the disadvantages of this technique. This paper researches the chaos sequence and wavelet transform value to find gaps. Thus, a novel technique was proposed for digital image encryption and improved previous algorithms. The technique is run in MATLAB, and a comparison is made in terms of various performance metrics such as the Number of Pixels Change Rate (NPCR), Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR), Correlation coefficient, and Unified Average Changing Intensity (UACI). The simulation and theoretical analysis indicate the proposed scheme’s effectiveness and show that this technique is a suitable choice for actual image encryption

Synthesis and characterization of additive graphene oxide nanoparticles dispersed in water: Experimental and theoretical viscosity prediction of non-Newtonian nanofluid

© 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Graphene oxide (GO) is a mixture of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. GO sheets used to make tough composite materials, thin films, and membranes. GO-water nanofluid\u27s rheological behavior was investigated in this research. Various mass fractions: 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, and 3.5 mg/ml; different temperature ranges: 25°C, 30°C, 35°C, 40°C, 45°C, and 50°C; and several shear ranges: 12.23, 24.46, 36.69, 61.15, 73.38, and 122.3 s−1 were studied. X-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), dynamic light scattering analysis (DLS), and Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) tests studied to analyze phase and structure. Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) tests studied for microstructural observation. The stability of nanofluid was checked by the zeta-potential test. Non-Newtonian behavior of nanofluid, similar to power-law model (with power less than one), revealed by results. Also, results showed that viscosity increased by increment of mass fraction, and on the contrary, increment of temperature, caused a decrease in viscosity. Then, to calculate nanofluid\u27s viscosity, a correlation presented 1.88% (for RPM = 10) and 0.56% (for RPM = 100) deviation. Finally, to predict nanofluid\u27s viscosity in other mass fractions and temperatures, an artificial neural network has been modeled by R2 = 0.99. It can be concluded that GO can be used in thermal systems as stable nanofluid with agreeable viscosity

An integrated Multi-Criteria Decision Making Model for Sustainability Performance Assessment for Insurance Companies

To stay competitive in a business environment, continuous performance evaluation based on the triple bottom line standard of sustainability is necessary. There is a gap in addressing the computational expense caused by increased decision units due to increasing the performance evaluation indices to more accuracy in the evaluation. We successfully addressed these two gaps through (1) using principal component analysis (PCA) to cut the number of evaluation indices, and (2) since PCA itself has the problem of merely using the data distribution without considering the domain-related knowledge, we utilized Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) to rank the indices through the expert’s domain-related knowledge. We propose an integrated approach for sustainability performance assessment in qualitative and quantitative perspectives. Fourteen insurance companies were evaluated using eight economic, three environmental, and four social indices. The indices were ranked by expert judgment though an analytical hierarchy process as subjective weighting, and then principal component analysis as objective weighting was used to reduce the number of indices. The obtained principal components were then used as variables in the data envelopment analysis model. So, subjective and objective evaluations were integrated. Finally, for validating the results, Spearman and Kendall’s Tau correlation tests were used. The results show that Dana, Razi, and Dey had the best sustainability performance

Humeral metastasis from a sacrococcygeal chordoma: a case report

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Chordomas are rare tumors of the skeletal system that arise from an intra-osseous benign precursor of notochordal cells. They are mainly locally aggressive. However, metastases to other sites, including the humeri, resulting in pathological fractures have been reported. We report the case of a patient with a metastatic chordoma that produced a pathologic fracture of the humerus.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report the case of a 60-year-old Iranian woman who presented with a fracture of her right humerus following a minor trauma. She had a history of a sacrococcygeal chordoma. Histological and immunohistochemical studies of the fracture site suggested the diagnosis of a chordoma.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Chordoma is a rare tumor and rarely metastasizes, but it should be considered in the differential diagnosis of epithelioid bone tumors. The only current effective treatment for this type of tumor is carbon ion therapy. There is currently no effective medical therapy available for advanced chordoma, and this type of tumor is not very responsive to radiotherapy.</p