Physico-mechanical properties of rough rice (Oryza sativa L.) grain as affected by variety and moisture content

 M. Sadeghi, H. Ashtiani Araghi, A. Hemmat(Department of Farm Machinery, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran) Abstract: Rice varieties in Isfahan Province (central Iran) have high breakage losses during processing.  In order to optimize the design of machinery used for milling of these varieties it is quite important to determine their engineering properties.  In this study, physical and mechanical properties of Sorkheh and Sazandegi varieties were determined at three moisture content levels.  To determine the mechanical properties, compression and three-point bending tests were conducted.  It was observed that, by increasing moisture content, geometric mean diameter, sphericity, true density, and angle of repose were all increased, whereas bulk density decreased.  In contrary to the moisture content at the tested range, variety had a significant effect on rough rice mechanical properties.  For Sorkheh, the average fracture force, fracture energy, modulus of elasticity, and toughness obtained by compression test, were 169.1 N, 44.2 J×10-3, 996.1 MPa, and 1.88 MJ/m3, respectively.  The corresponding values for Sazandegi were 125.1 N, 24.4 J×10-3, 555.6 MPa, and 1.11 MJ/m3.  In three-point bending test, the average fracture force, fracture energy, and bending strength of Sorkheh were 24.2 N, 5.1 J×10-3, and 23.4 MPa, respectively.  For Sazandegi, these values were 19.1 N, 3.7 J×10-3, and 17.7 MPa, respectively.  Comparison of obtained mechanical properties with the literature revealed that the high milling losses of Isfahan province rice varieties could be due to the methods and devices used for their processing operations.Keywords: mechanical characteristic, milling, moisture content, physical property, Iran Citation: Sadeghi M, H. Ashtiani Araghi, A. Hemmat.  Physico-mechanical properties of rough rice (Oryza sativa L.) grain as affected by variety and moisture content.  Agric Eng Int: CIGR Journal, 2010, 12(3): 129-136. &nbsp

A scientometric study of media literacy literature based on Scopus record through 2011

The present research is an attempt to describe the quantity and quality of publication trends of media literacy based on Scopus reports. The population under study was composed of 510 documents on media literacy published through 2011. The results were analyzed based on date of publication, type of document, language of the documents, source of publications, subject areas, authors and their affiliations, and the countries involved in developing the articles. Citation indicators formed the second phase of investigation in the present study. With a negligible amount of fluctuation, the number of publications on media literacy has increased steadily over the years, with the greatest number occurring in 2011.  The analysis of data based on document types indicated that, of the 510 documents, 330 were articles (64.70%), 85 were reviews (16.66%), and 64 were conference papers (12.54%). 446 documents (84.45%) were published in English and the rest presented in other languages. The United States with 190 documents (37.25%), the United Kingdom with 43 documents (8.43%), and Australia with 14 documents (2.74%) were the most represented countries, with the most prolific authors known as Austin, Hobbs, and Cheung. Thematically, the greatest number of documents were produced in Social Sciences with 360 documents (70.57%), followed by Medicine with 92 documents (18.03%). The largest number of documents has been published in Comunicar followed by American Behavioral Scientist, and Simile.  The most cited articles from 1996 up to 2011 included 22 documents on the H-index zone. Analysis of the results of H-index zone by subject categories indicated that most documents on h-index zone belonged to social sciences and Medicine areas. Psychology had the most influence on media literacy, as was shown by the ratio of most cited documents to total number of documents on media literacy in any of the subject categories. The results highlight the multidisciplinary nature of media literacy. As for the H-index zone, 16 documents (73.91%) belonged to the United States. Overall, the United States, with 190 (37.25%) publications (out of a total of 510), had an important role in enhancing the quantity and quality of the media literacy literatur

A Review of Future Studies in the Field of Health Information Technology

Introduction: In order to adopt the right technologies, policy makers should have adequate information about the present and future advances. This study aimed to review future studies in the field of health information technology. Method: This review study was conducted in 2015. The databases including Scopus, Web of Science, ProQuest, Ovid Medline, and PubMed were sought between 2000 and 2015. Results: 11 papers were selected for the study. The papers were divided into two groups: forecasting the future of health information technology (n=7) and health information technology foresight (n=4). According to the results, it is better to use foresight approach for big and long-term goals. Conclusion: The results of foresight studies can be useful for making decision and policy-making in the field of health information technology, particularly at the national level

Improving the Distribution of Rural Health Houses Using Elicitation and GIS in Khuzestan Province (the Southwest of Iran)

Abstract Background: Rural health houses constitute a major provider of some primary health services in the villages of Iran. Given the challenges of providing health services in rural areas, health houses should be established based on the criteria of health network systems (HNSs). The value of these criteria and their precedence over others have not yet been thoroughly investigated. The present study was conducted to propose a model for improving the distribution of rural health houses in HNSs. Methods: The present applied study was conducted in Khuzestan province in the southwest of Iran in 2014-2016. First, the descriptive and spatial data required were collected and entered into ArcGIS after modifications, and the Geodatabase was then created. Based on the criteria of the HNS and according to experts’ opinions, the main criteria and the sub-criteria for an optimal site selection were determined. To determine the criteria’s coefficient of importance (ie, their weight), the main criteria and the sub-criteria were compared in pairs according to experts’ opinions. The results of the pairwise comparisons were entered into Expert Choice and the weight of the main criteria and the sub-criteria were determined using the analytic hierarchy process (AHP). The application layers were then formed in geographic information system (GIS). A model was ultimately proposed in the GIS for the optimal distribution of rural health houses by overlaying the weighting layers and the other layers related to villages and rural health houses. Results: Based on the experts’ opinions, six criteria were determined as the main criteria for an optimal site selection for rural health houses, including welfare infrastructures, population, dispersion, accessibility, corresponding routes, distance to the rural health center and the absence of natural barriers to accessibility. Of the main criteria proposed, the highest weight was given to “population” (0.506). The priorities suggested in the proposed model for establishing rural health houses are presented within five zoning levels –from excellent to very poor. Conclusion: The results of the study showed that the proposed model can help provide a better picture of the distribution of rural health houses. The GIS is recommended to be used as a means of making the HNS more efficient

Neocentric X-chromosome in a girl with Turner-like syndrome

Abstract Background Neocentromeres are rare human chromosomal aberrations in which a new centromere has formed in a previously non-centromeric location. We report the finding of a structurally abnormal X chromosome with a neocentromere in a 15-year-old girl with clinical features suggestive of Turner syndrome, including short stature and primary amenorrhea. Result G-banded chromosome analysis revealed a mosaic female karyotype involving two abnormal cell lines. One cell line (84% of analyzed metaphases) had a structurally abnormal X chromosome (duplication of the long arm and deletion of the short arm) and a normal X chromosome. The other cell line (16% of cells) exhibited monosomy X. C-banding studies were negative for the abnormal X chromosome. FISH analysis revealed lack of hybridization of the abnormal X chromosome with both the X centromere-specific probe and the “all human centromeres” probe, a pattern consistent with lack of the X chromosome endogenous centromere. A FISH study using an XIST gene probe revealed the presence of two XIST genes, one on each long arm of the iso(Xq), required for inactivation of the abnormal X chromosome. R-banding also demonstrated inactivation of the abnormal X chromosome. An assay for centromeric protein C (CENP-C) was positive on both the normal and the abnormal X chromosomes. The position of CENP-C in the abnormal X chromosome defined a neocentromere, which explains its mitotic stability. The karyotype is thus designated as 46,X,neo(X)(qter- > q12::q12- > q21.2- > neo- > q21.2- > qter)[42]/45,X[8], which is consistent with stigmata of Turner syndrome. The mother of this patient has a normal karyotype; however, the father was not available for study. Conclusion To our knowledge, this is the first case of mosaic Turner syndrome involving an analphoid iso(Xq) chromosome with a proven neocentromere among 90 previously described cases with a proven neocentromere.</p

Telehealth Business Models and Their Components: Systematic Review

BackgroundTelehealth technology is an excellent solution to resolve the problems of health care delivery. However, this technology may fail during large-scale implementation. As a result, business models can be used to facilitate commercialization of telehealth products and services. ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to review different types of business models or frameworks and their components used in the telehealth industry. MethodsThis was a systematic review conducted in 2020. The databases used for searching related articles included Ovid, PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Emerald, and ProQuest. Google Scholar was also searched. These databases and Google Scholar were searched until the end of January 2020 and duplicate references were removed. Finally, articles meeting the inclusion criteria were selected and the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklist was used for appraising the strengths and limitations of each study. Data were extracted using a data extraction form, and the results were synthesized narratively. ResultsInitially, 4998 articles were found and after screening, 23 were selected to be included in the study. The results showed that new telehealth business models were presented in 13 studies, and the applications of the existing business models were reported in 10 studies. These studies were related to different types of services, namely, telemonitoring (4 studies), telemedicine (3 studies), mobile health (3 studies), telerehabilitation (3 studies), telehealth (2 studies), assisted living technologies (2 studies), sensor-based systems (2 studies), and mobile teledermoscopy, teleradiology, telecardiology, and teletreatment (1 study related to each area). In most of the business models, value proposition, financial variables, and revenue streams were the main components. ConclusionsApplying business models in the commercialization of telehealth services will be useful to gain a better understanding of the required components, market challenges, and possible future changes. The results showed that different business models can be used for different telehealth technologies in various health systems and cultures. However, it is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of these models in practice. Moreover, comparing the usefulness of these models in different domains of telehealth services will help identify the strengths and weaknesses of these models for future optimization

Influence of Blend Composition and Silica Nanoparticles on the Morphology and Gas Separation Performance of PU/PVA Blend Membranes

Polymer blending and mixed-matrix membranes are well-known modification techniques for tuning the gas separation properties of polymer membranes. Here, we studied the gas separation performance of mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) based on the polyurethane/poly(vinyl alcohol) (PU/PVA) blend containing silica nanoparticles. Pure (CO2, CH4, N2, O2) and mixed-gas (CO2/N2 and CO2/CH4) permeability experiments were carried out at 10 bar and 35 &deg;C. Poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) with a molecular weight of 200 kDa (PVA200) was blended with polyurethane (PU) to increase the CO2 solubility, while the addition of silica particles to the PU/PVA blend membranes augmented the CO2 separation performance. The SEM images of the membranes showed that the miscibility of the blend improved by increasing the PVA contents. The membrane containing 10 wt % of PVA200 (PU/PVA200&ndash;10) exhibited the highest CO2/N2~32.6 and CO2/CH4~9.5 selectivities among other blend compositions, which increased to 45.1 and 15.2 by incorporating 20 wt % nano-silica particles

Epidemiological study of snakebites in Ardabil Province (Iran)

Background: The level of knowledge and using health information technology by clinicians, students and staff has always been one of the essential issues in the field of health. Objective: The objective of the present study was to evaluate HIT knowledge, attitude, and practice habits among health care professionals and students in educational hospitals in Iran. Methods: This case study was carried out in 2016 on 539 personnel of 65 educational hospitals in Iran entailing three subgroups of physicians (n=128), medical students (n=97), and health record staff (n=314). A pretested self- administered questionnaire was designed to evaluate the knowledge, attitude and practice of health information technology. It was comprised of three parts of "baseline general characteristics", "knowledge categories", and "attitude and practice". Results: In total, 28.8% of participants had a good level of knowledge about computer science, whereas 37.7% had a poor level of knowledge. A total of 40% showed good attitude and practice, while 25.6% had poor attitude and practice. Furthermore, 16.4% of physicians, 32% of students and 33.1% of health record staff had good knowledge, while poor knowledge was reported in 45.3% of physicians, 25.8% of students, and 37.6% of staff (p=0.304). The trend of good attitude and practice habits were respectively 28.9%, 50.5%, and 40.8% in physicians, students, and staff, whereas these trends were respectively 30.5%, 4.1%, and 29.9% for poor attitude and practice (p=0.163). Generally, the knowledge level of participants was positively related to the rate of attitude and practice (r=0.847, p<0.001), so the higher knowledge level brought about the higher score in attitude and practice. Conclusion: The level of knowledge and practice of HIT was low among the physicians, students, and staff. Our university can provide a plenary program to promote the level of knowledge and information on practice of HI

Geographic Information System (GIS) capabilities in traffic accident information management: a qualitative approach

Background: Traffic accidents are one of the more important national and international issues, and their consequences are important for the political, economical, and social level in a country. Management of traffic accident information requires information systems with analytical and accessibility capabilities to spatial and descriptive data. Objective: The aim of this study was to determine the capabilities of a Geographic Information System (GIS) in management of traffic accident information. Methods: This qualitative cross-sectional study was performed in 2016. In the first step, GIS capabilities were identified via literature retrieved from the Internet and based on the included criteria. Review of the literature was performed until data saturation was reached; a form was used to extract the capabilities. In the second step, study population were hospital managers, police, emergency, statisticians, and IT experts in trauma, emergency and police centers. Sampling was purposive. Data was collected using a questionnaire based on the first step data; validity and reliability were determined by content validity and Cronbach's alpha of 75%. Data was analyzed using the decision Delphi technique. Results: GIS capabilities were identified in ten categories and 64 sub-categories. Import and process of spatial and descriptive data and so, analysis of this data were the most important capabilities of GIS in traffic accident information management. Conclusion: Storing and retrieving of descriptive and spatial data, providing statistical analysis in table, chart and zoning format, management of bad structure issues, determining the cost effectiveness of the decisions and prioritizing their implementation were the most important capabilities of GIS which can be efficient in the management of traffic accident informatio