Cultural-context Adaptation in Translation of Children's Short Stories from English to Persian

The importance of children’s literature in comparison with the traditional form of translation is something trivial and this is regrettable since translating for children should be done so skillfully that there may be no mental or emotional harm for children. Puurtinen (1994) believes that writing and translating for children which is often regarded as a simple and insignificant matter will be governed by numerous constraints, which normally vary from culture to culture. The present study makes an effort to examine the implications of different adaptation methods proposed by Klingberg (1986) in children’s literature to investigate the claim that the process of translation in children’s literature should consider the level of target text reader’s knowledge and their understanding. In this study, the level of adaptation is evaluated through Klingberg’s theories, in which undue adaptation is disparaged since an undue adaptation keeps children away from new world knowledge

Polar Coding for Achieving the Capacity of Marginal Channels in Nonbinary-Input Setting

Achieving information-theoretic security using explicit coding scheme in which unlimited computational power for eavesdropper is assumed, is one of the main topics is security consideration. It is shown that polar codes are capacity achieving codes and have a low complexity in encoding and decoding. It has been proven that polar codes reach to secrecy capacity in the binary-input wiretap channels in symmetric settings for which the wiretapper's channel is degraded with respect to the main channel. The first task of this paper is to propose a coding scheme to achieve secrecy capacity in asymmetric nonbinary-input channels while keeping reliability and security conditions satisfied. Our assumption is that the wiretap channel is stochastically degraded with respect to the main channel and message distribution is unspecified. The main idea is to send information set over good channels for Bob and bad channels for Eve and send random symbols for channels that are good for both. In this scheme the frozen vector is defined over all possible choices using polar codes ensemble concept. We proved that there exists a frozen vector for which the coding scheme satisfies reliability and security conditions. It is further shown that uniform distribution of the message is the necessary condition for achieving secrecy capacity.Comment: Accepted to be published in "51th Conference on Information Sciences and Systems", Baltimore, Marylan

Production and purification of anti-VEGFR2 single chain fragment variable antibody

Introduction: The antibody display technology (ADT) such as phage display (PD) has substantially improved the production of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) and Ab fragments through bypassing several limitations associated with the traditional approach of hybridoma technology. In the current study, we capitalized on the PD technology to produce high affinity single chain variable fragment (scFv) against Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor 2 (VEGFR2). VEGFR and its receptor (VEGFR2) play an important role in angiogenesis associated with tumor growth and metastasis. Methods and Results: To pursue production of scFv antibody fragments against human VEGFR2, we performed four rounds of biopanning using stepwise decreased amount of VEGFR2 peptide (1 to 0.1 μg), a semi-synthetic phage antibody library (Tomlinson I + J) and TG1 cells. Antibody clones were isolated and selected through enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) screening. The selected scFv antibody fragments were further characterized by means of ELISA, PCR and Western blot analyses as well as fluorescence microscopy and Wound healing assay. Based upon binding affinity to VEGFR2, 5 clones were selected out of 30 positive clones enriched from PD in vitro selection. The selected scFvs displayed high specificity and binding affinity with Kd values at nm range to human VEGFR2. The immunofluorescence analysis revealed significant binding of the selected scFv antibody fragments to the HUVEC cell line. The effectiveness of the selected scFv fragments was further validated by Western blot analyses and Wound healing assay. Conclusions: Based on these findings, we propose the selected fully human anti- VEGFR2 scFv antibody fragments as potential immunotherapy agents that may be translated into preclinical/clinical applications

A novel hybrid method of β-turn identification in protein using binary logistic regression and neural network

From both the structural and functional points of view, β-turns play important biological roles in proteins. In the present study, a novel two-stage hybrid procedure has been developed to identify β-turns in proteins. Binary logistic regression was initially used for the first time to select significant sequence parameters in identification of β-turns due to a re-substitution test procedure. Sequence parameters were consisted of 80 amino acid positional occurrences and 20 amino acid percentages in sequence. Among these parameters, the most significant ones which were selected by binary logistic regression model, were percentages of Gly, Ser and the occurrence of Asn in position i+2, respectively, in sequence. These significant parameters have the highest effect on the constitution of a β-turn sequence. A neural network model was then constructed and fed by the parameters selected by binary logistic regression to build a hybrid predictor. The networks have been trained and tested on a non-homologous dataset of 565 protein chains. With applying a nine fold cross-validation test on the dataset, the network reached an overall accuracy (Qtotal) of 74, which is comparable with results of the other β-turn prediction methods. In conclusion, this study proves that the parameter selection ability of binary logistic regression together with the prediction capability of neural networks lead to the development of more precise models for identifying β-turns in proteins

Assessment Criteria of Effective teaching of Expert Teachers based on occupational health students’ viewpoints in Tehran University of Medical Sciences

Notating the criteria of an expert teacher based on the  students’ viewpoints and using them in teaching process has a prominent role in enhancing the education quality. This study aims at identifying those characteristics in occupational health students' opinions. In this cross-sectional study in 2012, using random sampling method, 200 of occupational health students in Tehran University of Medical Sciences were selected. Requirement data collection was using a questionnaire with α= 0.85. The questions were designed in two domains, demographic and expert teacher criteria. Finally, data analysis was carried out through SPSS software version 16. Results showed that before, after and current education of four domains ability, features such as analysis method and text selection (81.4%), accurate and comprehensive examination in final (80.2%), dominance over the scientific subjects (91%) and in general, abilities, educational discipline and manual (86.4%) were respectively recognized as important factors for experted teacher. Moreover, no significant relationship was found among gender and field of study and the above mentioned four domains (p> 0/05). In this study, teaching ability was the most important factor in students’ viewpont; hence, it is recommended that the mentioned points should be taken inro more consideration in this domain for enhanced teachers’ operation

Anti-atherogenic potential of jujube, saffron and barberry: anti-diabetic and antioxidant actions

Atherogenic dyslipidemia, characterized by an increased level of lipoprotein (a) and a decreased level of adiponectin, is a major risk factor for cardiovascular diseases in diabetic patients. To reduce cardiovascular risk in diabetic patients, use of agents with antidiabetic and anti-atherogenic potential is required. Using an animal model of diabetes, we investigated the antiatherogenic potential of extracts of three medicinal plants: jujube, barberry, and saffron. For this, serum level of fasting blood glucose, lipid profile, malondialdehyde, total antioxidant capacity, adiponectin and lipoprotein (a) in diabetic control and extract treated groups were measured. Statistical analysis of measurements showed that serum levels of fasting blood glucose, triglyceride, and VLDL decreased significantly (P < 0.05) in all treated groups. Treatment with all extracts reduced lipid peroxidation and increased antioxidant capacity of the experimental diabetic groups. Serum adiponectin levels increased in all treated groups, whereas lipoprotein (a) levels decreased, most markedly when treated with jujube extract. Jujube, saffron, and barberry extracts are beneficial in ameliorating oxidative stress and atherogenic risk of diabetic rats. This highlights the benefits of further investigating the cardio-protective potential of medicinal plant extracts and evaluating their usefulness as cardio protective agents in clinical practice

Respiratory effects of exposure to flour dust: A case study among workers of flour production factories in Arak

      Flour dust has been introduced as one of the effective factors in the prevalence of respiratory disorders among the workers of the flour production factories. The purpose of the present study is to examine the effects of this pollutant on the pulmonary functions and survey the prevalence of respiratory symptoms among workers of flour production factories in Arak, Iran.  Exposure to flour dust is used to classify subjects into exposed (38 male workers of production plant) or unexposed groups (37 male employee from administrative section). Exposure level to flour dust, the prevalence of respiratory symptoms and pulmonary function in two group were studied using air sampling (based on method NIOSH 0600), a researcher made questionnaire on respiratory symptoms and Spirometer, respectively. The results indicated that workers of the production plant are exposed to high concentration of flour, which causes a decrease in the ratio of FEV1 / FVC compared to the unexposed ones. Among study respiratory symptoms, subjects had reported significantly more sputum secretion than that in control group. Furthermore intervening parameters, including age, work experience, body mass index and smoking didn’t show a significant effect on the pulmonary function of the individuals. Exposure to flour dust concentration with higher than threshold level values causes a decrease in workers respiratory capacity. Therefore, it is recommended that the reduction of both exposure risk and the 8-hour time-weighted average concentration of flour dust should be considered.

Investigation of Workers’ Sleep Quality in GoleGohar Mineral Industries Co., Sirjan

Sleeping is an important physiological process, wielding deep effect on the spiritual and physical health of individuals. The present study has been carried out to investigate workers’ sleep quality in GoleGohar Mineral Industries Co., Sirjan, Iran. This cross-sectional and descriptive-analytical study has been carried out in 2012. The statistical society included 345 workers in of psychological health of workers in Hematite and Pelletizing section in GoleGohar Mineral Industries Co., Sirjan. The sampling method was simple random selection. Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was applied in the study, with the Cronbach validity of 0.83.  Analysis of data was carried out under SPSS 19 software using descriptive and inferential statistics tests. Workers averaged 30.92±4.78 years of age and their working experience averaged 5.47±3.24 years. 82.9 percent of the workers responding to the questionnaire were satisfied with their jobs, and 17.1 percent were not satisfied. Body Mass Index (BMI) for workers averaged 24.5±3.51 Kg/m3.51 Kg/m2 46.9 percent of workers experienced satisfactory sleep and 53.1 percent of them experienced unsatisfactory sleep. The present study has reported workers’ sleep quality in a modest level. With high influence of sleep quality on individual performance and on their general health, and high incidence of workplace events, this aspect of workers’ health should be in the focus of policy-makers and relevant authorities in health sector

Relationship between Job Stress, Job Satisfaction, and Related Factors among Health Center Employees

Background and Objective: Job satisfaction and occupational stress are two factors affecting employees’ productivity at the workplace in developed organizations. Occupational stress causes various prevalent physical and psychological effects, which in turn leads to poor job satisfaction. Despite many studies in this field on health groups, less attention has been paid to health workers. Further research is thus needed to explore and explain how job stress and job satisfaction are related to personal work and organizational factors among health center workers. Materials and Methods: This analytic cross-sectional study was performed from winter 2018 to spring 2019 among health workers of a city in Markazi province, Iran. Data collection tools were demographic and individual characteristics questionnaire, Job Description Index (JDI) questionnaire, and Occupational Stress Questionnaire (OSQ, Davies). Data were analyzed using the SPSS software (version 20). Results: The results showed that occupational stress is generally higher in women (119/848) than in men (108/122), and women’s job satisfaction (242/450) is lower than that of men (262/682). In addition, there was a negative and significant relationship between occupational stress and job satisfaction (r=0.001, P=0.783) at the significance of level P<0.05. Multivariate regression findings also revealed that occupational stress can predict job satisfaction (β=-0.783, P=0.001). Moreover, the highest occupational stress and the lowest job satisfaction were related to healthcare workers. Conclusion: In general, stress and job satisfaction were obtained at a moderate level in this study, and there was a negative relationship between the two variables. Given that dissatisfaction is mainly seen in the discussion of promotions, salaries, and benefits, it is necessary to take measures to reduce stress, improve economic conditions, and create fair promotion conditions