Application of visible and near-infrared spectrophotometry for detecting salinity effects on wheat leaves (Triticumasativum L.)

Soil and water salinity is the most limiting factor for plant growth and productivity. Due to a high rate of evaporation, agricultural lands become saline in arid regions after a while. This leads to a decline in plant production. The present study investigated the capability of visible and near infrared (VNIR) spectrophotometry as a non-destructive method in detecting salinity effect on wheat leaves. A completely randomized design was work out with four salinity levels and three replicates. Wheat seeds were planted in plastic pots and irrigated with four levels of saline water [0 (control), 4, 8 and 12 dSm-1] Leaf spectrophotometry at VNIR (190-1100 nm) wavelength was performed on wheat leaves at the nodule-formation growth stage. The results indicated that treatments are discriminated mostly by reflectance and absorption spectra of 530-660 nm although a difference existed between the control treatment and the other treatments at 700-1100 nm. The difference between the treatments of T0, T4 and T12 was found to be significant (

Evaluation of Apical Leakage in Root Canals Obturated with Three Different Sealers in Presence or Absence of Smear Layer

Introduction: Microleakage can result in failure of endodontic treatment. An important characteristic of endodontic sealer is sealing ability. The aim of this experimental study was to compare the apical leakage of teeth obturated with gutta-percha and three different sealers (resin- and zinc oxide eugenol-based) with/without smear layer (SL). Materials and Methods: In this study, 100 single-rooted teeth were used after cutting off their crowns. Cleaning and shaping was carried out with step-back technique and the samples were randomly divided into three groups (n=30) which were then divided into two subgroups (n=15) according to the presence/absence of SL. Two negative and positive control groups (n=5) were also prepared. In the various groups, the canals were obturated with gutta-percha and either of the test sealers (AH-26, Adseal or Endofill). The samples were submerged in India ink for 72 h. Then they were longitudinally sectioned and observed under a stereomicroscope at 20× magnification. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistical methods and one-way ANOVA. The significance level was set at 0.05. Results: The mean penetration length of dye in AH-26, Adseal and Endofill samples were 2.53, 2.76 and 3.03 mm, respectively. The differences between three groups were not significant (P>0.05); also, the mean dye penetration in AH-26, Adseal and Endofill samples in presence or absence of the SL was not significantly different. Conclusion: AH-26, Adseal and Endofill were similarly effective in prevention of apical microleakage. Differences in the mean dye penetration between the groups with/without the SL were not statistically significant

Bond Strength of White Mineral Trioxide Aggregate with and without Disodium Hydrogen Phosphate with Different Liquid-to-Powder Ratios

Introduction: Mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) can be used in the treatment of irritated vital pulp and repair of root perforations. However, the initial reaction of inflammatory cells to this material and also its setting time are not ideal. Studies have shown that disodium hydrogen phosphate (DHP), decreases the setting time of MTA, with no effect on its pH. This study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of DHP on push-out bond strength of MTA at different liquid-to-powder ratios. Methods and Materials: A total of 120 samples were prepared from the middle third of the roots of single-rooted teeth for evaluation of push-out bond strength. The push-out bond strength was measured in both groups after 72 h at different liquid-to-powder ratios, including 0.33:1, 0.5:1 and 0.6:1. Factorial ANOVA and Tukey’s HSD post-hoc tests were used to compare the differences between the independent groups. Statistical significant was set at P<0.05. Results: The push-out bond strengths of pure MTA and MTA+DHP groups were 10.96±5.78 and 13.32±5.03, respectively. Tukey’s HSD post-hoc test revealed significant differences between the two groups. Furthermore, there were no interactive effect between material and the liquid: powder ratio. Conclusion: Incorporation of DHP into MTA resulted in an increase in push-out bond strength of MTA, and an increase in liquid-to-powder ratio resulted in a decrease in push-out bond strength.Keywords: Disodium Hydrogen Phosphate; Mineral Trioxide Aggregate; Push-Out Test; Root Canal Filling Materials; Root Canal Therapy

Effect of Self-Citation on H-Index: A Study of Top 1% Highly Cited Iranian Scientists in Medical Sciences

Background: H-index is one of the main bibliometric indicators for evaluating researchers. It has been criticized due to the effect of self-citation rate on its increase. Aim: This study aimed at analyzing the state of top 1% highly-cited Iranian scientists in medical sciences in ESI for investigating the effect of their self-citations on their h-indices. Methods: Iranian Medical Science Scientometric Information Database, Essential Science IndicatorsTM (ESI) and Scopus indexing/abstracting database were used for data extraction. Data analysis was conducted in Excel and SPSS.. Results: In total, 6.15% of citations were self-citations that resulted in increase in h-index by 2.49 units. After excluding self-citations, the h-indexes of 23.4% of the studied scientists did not change and the mean rate of h-index decreased by 2.49. A correlational test showed the strong correlation between self-citation count and h-index rate (r=.718). Conclusion: Self-citation is present as a common phenomenon in all scientific communities and increases in h-index. If not used for manipulating bibliometric indicators, it can make the scientific works more visible for potential readers and consequently receiving more citations

Comparing sexual dysfunction in maintenance therapy with Methadone and Buprenorphine in married male

Background and aims: Sexual dysfunction is a common complaint among drug abusers in the treatment with Methadone and Buprenorphine. The aim of this study was to assess sexual dysfunction in patients undergoing Methadone or Buprenorphine for maintenance therapy. Methods: This research was a cross-sectional study. A 3-parts questionnaire (demographic questions, international index of erectile function questionnaire (IIEF) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI-II)) was used for data collection. Results: Overall, 3.5% reported no Erectile Dysfunction (ED), 79.9 % reported mild to moderate ED, and 10% reported severe ED. There were no statistical differences in the components of the IIEF questionnaire between Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) and Buprenorphine maintenance treatment (BMT) group. Statistical analysis show that depressed subjects has a higher sexual dysfunction (r= -0.435, P<0.001). The results showed no significant relation between drug dose and sexual function (r= 0.031, P= 780). Conclusions: Based on our findings, sexual dysfunction was relatively high among males who received MMT and BMT and the disorder was more prevalent in depressed people. As the results, the problem needs more attention and should be offered the right solution to solve it

Evaluating the Speed and Performance of the Websites of Hospitals and Specialty and Super-specialty Clinics of Hamadan University of Medical Sciences by GTmetrix

Objective: Medical websites are useful tools for training and informing patients, their families, and the public about diseases, procedures, drugs, and healthy life. Speediness and performance are of main criteria for evaluating these websites. This study aimed to evaluate the speed and performance of the websites of hospitals and specialty and super-specialty clinics of Hamadan University of Medical Science by GTmetrix. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional descriptive study, the speed and performance of 15 websites of hospitals and specialty and super-specialty clinics affiliated with the Hamadan University of Medical Science, Hamadan, Iran, were analyzed by using GTmetrix tool and extracting data in its two sections: GTmetrix Grade and Web Vitals. Data were described and analyzed in SPSS and Excel. Results: 14 studied websites (93%) were very weak in page loading speed scores. In performance scores, all websites were rated fewer than 50 percent. The first and last ranks in the structure score belonged to Imam Hasan Mojtaba Hospital and Omid Clinic in common with 55 percent and Besat Hospital with 26 percent, respectively. All studied cases (but Shahid Heidari Hospital of Nahavand) ranked much longer than recommended in their LCPs. All cases were within the good threshold in their TBT scores. The majority of the cases (13 out of 15) are in the CLS threshold of much longer than recommended. Conclusion: It is suggested that website designers and ICT administrators in hospitals and medical clinics in Iran, especially ones affiliated with UMSHA, be familiar with website measures such as GTmetrix and train in detecting the defects causing low performance, speed, and structure of websites as well as the procedures for removing them

Publication Performance and Trends in Altmetrics: A Bibliometric Analysis and Visualization

Bibliometric analysis of different fields of knowledge leads to a better understanding of the trend and quality of scientific products. The present study examined the publications on Altmetrics through bibliometric analysis and knowledge mapping. In this survey research, using quantitative indicators of scientometric, scientific developments in the field of altmetrics have been evaluated. The study population included all articles in the field of altmetrics (1077 documents) indexed in the Scopus database from the beginning to the end of 2020. The Excel and VOSviewer software packages were used to analyze the data. The findings show that scientific products in the field of altmetrics indexed in Scopus have been published since 2012; the quantitative trend of publications has been upward; Most of the scientific products in the field of altmetrics were original articles and in English. The United States, the United Kingdom, and Spain were the top and most productive countries in publishing documents in the field. Iran was ranked ninth with 52 documents. Regarding the number of publications, the University of Wolverhampton, the Administrative Headquarters of the Max Planck Society, and Leiden University were ranked first to third, respectively. Thelwall, M., with 42 articles, Bornmann, L., with 32 articles, and Haunschild, R., with 25 articles, were the most active authors. The most frequently used keywords were "Altmetrics", "bibliometrics" and "Social media". The highest number of documents in the field of Altmetrics has been published in the journal "Scientometrics". The most cited author was Thelwall, M., with 2691 citations. Due to the upward trend of scientific publications in Altmetrics and the beginning of its way, this upward trend will continue. Also, most of the top authors in the field are from universities and countries active in this field

Developmental periods of Oenopia conglobata contaminata (Col.: Coccinellidae) reared on eggs of Sitotroga cerealella (Lep.: Gelechiidae) and Ephestia kuehniella (Lep.: Pyralidae) at constant temperatures

The coccinellid Oenopia conglobata contaminata (Menteries) is one of the most important predators of orchard pests in Iran. The effect of eggs of Sitotroga cereallela Olivier (Lep.: Gelechiidae) and Ephestia kuehniella Zeller (Lep.: Pyralidae) on development and survival of this beetle was studied and compared under laboratory conditions (five constant temperatures i.e., 22.5 ± 1, 25 ± 1, 27.5 ± 1, 30 ± 1 and 32.5 ± 1 °C 55 ± 5% relative humidity (R. H.) and a 16:8 h light: dark photoperiod). Total developmental time at the above-mentioned temperatures were 28.83 ± 0.17, 24.52 ± 0.37, 21,39 ± 0.21 17.92 ± 0.16 and 18.22 ± 0.29 days on S. cereallelaand27 ± 0.38, 23.32 ± 0.14, 19.57 ± 0.28, 16.14 ± 0.17 and 16.33 ± 0.05 days on E. kuehniella. The lower developmental thresholds (T0) of egg, larva, pupa and egg to adult on E. kuehniella were estimated15.02, 8.6, 7.48 and 8.55 ºC and the thermal constant for these periods calculated as 38.16, 222.22, 71.9 and 370.37 DD. The lower developmental thresholds on S. cereallela were found to be 13.79, 5.6, 5.82 and 6.54 ºC andthermal constant for the mentioned periods were 41.15, 277.77, 91.7, 454.54 DD, respectively. Although significant differences between developmental times at different temperatures exist, no significant differences was observed between 30 and 32.5 °C for two prey species. The results suggest that E. kuehniella serves as a more effective host than S. cereallela for rearing of coccinellid O. conglobata

IMPROVEMENT OF LOADABILITY IN DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM USING GENETIC ALGORITHM

Abstract -Generally during recent decades due to development of power systems, the methods for delivering electrical energy to consumers, and because of voltage variations is a very important proble