A new method in data envelopment analysis to find efficient decision making units and rank both technical efficient and inefficient DMUs together

The inefficient DMUs are usually arranged after the technical efficient ones byDEA methods, however, it is possible that a technical efficient DMU neither beefficient nor be more efficient than some inefficient ones. This studydistinguishes between the terms ‘technical efficiency’ and ‘efficiency’ anddemonstrates that the technical efficiency is a necessary condition for beingefficient and it is not an enough condition to call a DMU as efficient DMU. Thestudy identifies the definitions of those terms and gives a new strong method tocharacterize efficient DMUs among the technical efficient ones. The new method,although, avoids the need for recourse to prices, weights or other assumptionsbetween inputs and outputs of DMUs, it is also able to consider the prices andweights. A numerical example is also characterized the worth and benefits of thenew proposed model in comparison with all current DEA models

Development of luminescent photobioreactors for improved cultivation of microalgae

This study investigated the effects of light quality, culture density, and carbon dioxide aeration on the biomass production, lipid accumulation, elemental contents, and photosynthetic pigment production of microalgae. The microalgae Chlorella vulgaris and Gloeothece membranacea were cultivated either in static (flask) or aerated and mixed (photobioreactor) cultivation modes. The highest biomass productivities in the static mode for both microalgae strains were achieved using violet luminescent filters which emitted the photosynthetic active radiation ranges. In the static mode, red wavelength ranges had a major influence on pigmentation of C.vulgaris, although they were the least efficient light condition for cultivation of G.membranacea. Red light was particularly inefficient to support growth in static cultures. Luminescent bubble column photobioreactors (PBRs) were constructed and used for the aerated mode in the blue, green, yellow, orange, and red wavelength-emitting ranges. Biomass production in both strains was enhanced in the red PBR. Lipid accumulation was significantly enhanced in high culture density groups, low light intensity, and 15% CO2 aeration conditions which all represented a form of stress to the culture. The highest biomass density of 2.12 and 2.52 g L-1 were achieved at high light intensity in the red PBR for C.vulgaris and G.membranacea respectively. The blue PBR was the least efficient light condition for biopigment production, whilst it improved lipid accumulation. Chlorophyll production in C.vulgaris was promoted by the green PBR, although it was less influenced by the light condition or culture density in G.membranacea cultures. Phycobiliproteins were the dominant pigments in G.membranacea and red light favoured synthesis of these pigments. Compared to C.vulgaris, the G.membranacea cells showed higher tolerance to 15% CO2 aeration by growing in this condition over a period of two weeks. At the 15% CO2 aeration condition G.membranacea accumulated the highest lipid content of 36.6% in the blue PBR. However, due to their lower carbon content and biomass productivity, G.membranacea was less efficient than C.vulgaris in sequestrating carbon dioxide. C.vulgaris sequestrated carbon dioxide up to 363 mg L-1 day-1 in the red PBR when aerated with 15% CO2. These results have significant implications for improved photobioreactor design for cultivation of microalgae under natural light. The proposed photobioreactor design can also tailor and improve the composition of lipids and photosynthetic compounds, using variation in light

“How to publish”: the Journal of Health Policy and Economics’ first seminar

On May 4th, 2021, the Journal of Health Policy and Economics (JOHPEC) held its first seminar, “How to Publish”, coordinated and chaired by Amir Mohsenpour, an Assistant Editor of the JOHPEC. This blog shares an overview of the seminar, which welcomed guest speakers Dr. Edgar Whitley (Department of Management), Lucy Lambe (LSE Library, Houghton Street Press), and Hannah Boroudjou (LSE Library), as well as 44 attendees who tuned in from around the world. With consent from all speakers and attendees, the seminar was recorded. The link and password to the full recording can be found in the blog. If you have suggestions for future events, please fill in this form: https://forms.office.com/r/nN87zubvi

Estimating the performance evaluation of international airports of Iran using kam in data envelopment analysis

Islamic Republic of Iran has 8 international airports. This paper reports the performance evaluation of these airports in the end of forth development plan of Iran in 2009 by applying Kourosh and Arash Model (KAM) in Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The area of airport, apron, terminal and runway are considered as inputs and the number of flights, the number of passengers and cargo are three selected outputs for each airport. Several scenarios are considered to rank and benchmark these airports without concerning about the number of airports. In other words, the scenarios are when inputs/outputs are controllable, when some of them are non-controllable and when the number of flights and passengers are restricted to the set of integer numbers and so on while the number of inputs and outputs are approximately the same as the number of airports. The results of these scenarios not only show the robustness of KAM to assess the performance evaluation of Decision Making Units (DMUs), but they also suggest the best international airports of Iran in 2009 as well as rank and benchmark them for each scenario

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease in a young female with discoid lupus and alopecia

Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease is an uncommon, benign, autoimmune condition characterized by lymphadenopathy, fever, and neutropenia. It is a self-contained condition of unidentified etiology. A 38-year-old female of Iranian Kurdish origin referred to us with multiple neck swellings, fever, and generalized arthropathy. There was no weight loss and no history of tuberculosis, medication intake, or allergy. Clinical examination revealed bilateral large, mobile, and tendercervical lymphadenopathy. Cardiovascular, respiratory, and neurological examination was normal. The patient had leucopenia and thrombocytopenia. Kikuchi-Fujimoto disease must be considered in the differential diagnosis of a female patient with fever and cervical lymphadenopathy

Cognitive Diagnostic Assessment: Critical Review of Iranian Studies

Over the past decade, cognitive diagnostics has been favored by educational researchers as an approach to assessing student achievement, but the use of DCMs has been criticized. Due to the tendency of Iranian researchers towards this type of assessment, this study was conducted with the aim of critically reviewing Iranian research in this field in order to analyze its methodology. For this purpose, the main relevant Iranian databases including SID, Google Scholar, Scopus, Noormags, Magiran, and Elmnet were searched, and 32 studies were considered. Considering the criteria for inclusion and exclusion of studies, 20 studies in this field that were conducted between 2015 and 2020 were selected. In the next step, the selected studies were critically reviewed independently by the researchers using the indicators recommended by Sessoms & Henson (2018). The indicators included the thematic focus of the research, the number of competencies, the constructs measured, the structure of the test items, the Q matrix, the statistical model type, the model fit, the item fit, the question type, the sample size, the evidence of reliability and validity, the description of the competencies (latent categories, the correlation between competencies, the competency profile), and the application of the results.The results showed that a large number of the research conducted did not provide empirical support for general assumptions such as correlation between attributes, did not provide sufficient evidence for reliability and validity, did not report on the competency profile, and did not provide feedback to stakeholders. We provide some guidelines to improve the quality of such models

A CRITICAL REVIEW OF A SET OF MASTER'S THESES AS MANIFESTATION OF RESEARCH LITERACY AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS IN IRAN

From a constructivist point of view, the identification of any shortcomings in the educational process would be the first step towards its reconstruction and improvement. Although, to do so require an evaluation of the whole system and its processes and products.  However, an evaluative analysis of its products can help identify some of the deficiencies and ways of overcoming them. To this end, given the realities of the Iranian scene in regard to graduate studies, a set of master's theses in educational psychology was evaluated in terms of having the very basic characteristics of a research report in both structure and content. Given that previous research has shown major shortcomings in these respects, it was suspected that the mushrooming of institutions granting graduate degrees, and the increase in admissions, may have exacerbated the problem. The current findings show that the shortcomings have increased both in scope and depth, implying that the quality of both teaching and learning how to research has declined.  Article visualizations

Evaluation of the status of antibiotic prescription in patients admitted to a teaching hospital in west of Iran

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the status of the appropriate use of antibiotics by type, dosage, and length of treatment and the route of administration in Tohid teaching hospital, Sanandaj, Iran.METHODS: In a retrospective descriptive study, 400 patients were systematically selected from patients receiving antibiotics hospitalized in Tohid hospital from March 2016 to March 2017. Demographic characteristics, hospitalization ward, diagnosis, antibiotic prescribed, dosage, length of treatment, the route of administration, and prescribing physician were recorded. The treatments were compared with standard treatment based on Harrison reference. The data were analyzed using STATA software.RESULTS: Out of total patients, 54% were men and 46% were women with a mean age of 57.87 ± 9.87 years. The mean duration of hospitalization was 6.37 ± 2.69 days. More and less numbers of patients were admitted in the internal medicine ward (23.75%) and intensive care unit (ICU) (1.00%), respectively, The highest antibiotics were administered by internal medicine specialists (40.25%), the most commonly prescribed antibiotic was ceftriaxone (34.59%), and the most common cause of antibiotic therapy was pneumonia (20.50%). Out of 595 antibiotics prescribed, 28.50% of the administrations were inappropriate. In addition, the objective for the prescription of the first and second antibiotic was inappropriate in 27.50% and 33.70% of cases, respectively. Dosage, route of administration, and the length of treatment of the prescribed antibiotic was inappropriate in 9.00%, 0.50%, and 41.00% of cases, respectively. The highest and lowest rate of inappropriate antibiotic prescription was observed in surgical (51.31%) and infectious diseases (12.90%) wards.CONCLUSION: Due to the increase inappropriate administration of antibiotics, it is necessary to train the specialists about the planning, appropriate medical consultations for antibiotic therapy, and limitation of the new antibiotics prescription.