Photosynthetic responses of durum wheat to chemical/microbiological fertilization management under salt and drought stresses

AbstractThe current research was carried out to evaluate the stress tolerance potential of durum wheat plants, in response to the inoculation of native plant growth-promoting bacteria (PGPB), through assessing PSII photochemistry and photosynthetic traits, as well as grain yield and plant height, and to investigate the possibility of using PGPB as a sustainable alternative or in combination with traditional fertilization plans. A greenhouse experiment included chemical/microbiological fertilization and stress (salinity and drought) treatments. The results indicated that the application of bacterial consortium of four PGPB markedly augmented some biochemical and functional traits in photosystem II, such as effective quantum yield of PSII photochemistry (Y(II)), electron transport rate of PSII (ETR), photosynthesis capacity, transpiration rate and stomatal conductance in unstressed plants, and prevented severe changes in the mentioned traits under drought and salinity conditions. The application of PGPB contributed to enhanced grain yield, too. Furthermore, a better performance of the PGPB inoculation was found in combination with half-dose of the recommended chemical fertilizers. In conclusion, PGPB inoculants maintain or improve the photosynthesis efficiency of durum wheat, grain yield and plant height, particularly under stress conditions, and can help to minimize the consumption of chemical fertilizers

The relationship between serum levels of fibroblast growth factor 21 and diabetic retinopathy

Fibroblast growth factor 21 (FGF21) is a major metabolic regulator that has been shown to be elevated in a number of metabolic disturbances including type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and the metabolic syndrome, but few studies about the relationship between serum FGF21 and the complications of diabetes have been done. Since the association between FGF21 and diabetic retinopathy is not clear, this study was conducted to investi- gate this relationship. In this cross-sectional study, 61 subjects (14 healthy controls, 22 diabetic patients without retinopathy, and 25 patients with diabetic retinopathy) were evaluated. All patients in the study were examined for the presence of diabetic retinopathy. Various clinical and biochemical parameters including FGF21 were evaluated and analyzed and compared between the study groups. Serum levels of FGF21 showed a significant difference between the three groups (P=0.003) but the difference between diabetic patients with and without ret- inopathy was not significant (P=0.122). Regression model was used to evaluate the role of FGF21 in predicting diabetic retinopathy. In the multivariate logistic regression model after adjustment of systolic blood pressure and fasting blood glucose, the level of FGF21 was not associated with diabetic retinopathy. In the multivariate mod- el, only fasting blood glucose was associated with diabetic retinopathy (P=0.009). According to the results of this study, serum levels of FGF21 in diabetic patients was higher than the control group but these raised levels could not predict the presence of diabetic retinopathy

The Effect of Electronic Commerce in Business Value and Supply Chain Process: Evidence from Iran

This paper aims to develop and test a model to analyze the relationships between three aspects of technical electronic commerce (EC)-based information system (IS) resources and, the supply chain process integration, and business value. The paper is consistent with the perspective on IS-enabled organizational capabilities and resource based view of the firm. A questionnaire-based survey was conducted to collect data from 204 supply chain, logistics, or procurement/ purchasing managers of manufacturing firms. Findings show that supply chain process integration, a key EC-enabled organizational capability, can enhance business value. Additionally, the capability serve as a catalyst in transforming technical EC-based IS resources (technical quality of EC applications, EC advancements, EC alignment and E-branding) into higher value for a firm. Our results suggest that supply chain process integration is an important intermediate organizational capability through which value of EC-based IS resources can be materialized. However, the technical aspects of EC-based IS resources needs to developed to effectively form supply chain capabilities.Key words: Supply chain integration; Business value; Electronic commerce; Business performance; Resource-based view; Information system; E-brandin

A Survey of Relationship Between Emotional Intelligence and Organizational Citizenship Behavior in Iran

This study examines the relationship of Emotional Intelligence (EI) with Organizational Citizenship Behavior (OCB). In that respect paper also presents the verification of the method. The population of research statistics includes the staffs and employees of Medical Science University, the number of research population is 225 and from the number 122 subjects are selected as the sample by using the method of simple random sampling. The diagnosis of relationship between EI and OCB is accomplished by multi- factors regression analysis. The result shows that there is strong statistical relation between EI and OCB. We also find that conscientiousness and altruism are the variables from OCB which have strong relation to EI.Key words: Emotional intelligence; Organizational citizenship behavior; Conscientiousness; Altruis

Assessing the questionnaires on perceived oral healthcare need: A systematic review

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Perception of the need for oral healthcare plays a key role in creating motivation and demand for utilization of oral healthcare services. Furthermore, people with perceived needs to oral healthcare, due to the higher profit potential of services, will be on higher priority for services. The aim of this study was to undertake a systematic review of the existing literature about questionnaires used for assessing the perceived oral healthcare needs. METHODS: The search was conducted in PubMed, ISI and Scopus databases in March 2016. Questionnaire-based and the papers which aimed to determine the perceived need for any type of oral healthcare and dental treatment were included to this study. After determining the appropriate papers, related data were extracted and reviewed. RESULTS: Out of 7069 records found, 190 questionnaire-based papers were included in the review. Ninety-four papers were related to the overall evaluation of oral healthcare need, which did not ask the need for types of oral healthcare service. Sixty-six papers studied the need for a specified dental service, and thirty papers recorded the types of oral healthcare service via asking the open or multiple choices questions. There were not comprehensive and standard questionnaires covering all the common types of oral healthcare services. CONCLUSION: Despite the importance of considering the perception of needs for oral healthcare, there is a lack of the comprehensive and standard questionnaires. Studies aimed to assess perceived oral healthcare needs should use questionnaires which include appropriate items on common types of oral healthcare services based on the characteristics of the target group. Concordance with perceived and normative need is an issue that should be addressed in future researches. KEYWORDS: Oral Health; Surveys and Questionnaires; Review; Nee