Analysis of Students’ Desired and Fulfilled Expectations from the Future of Academic Studies: Educational Effectiveness for Prosperous Life

Universities and higher education institutions (HEIs) aim to provide the maximum support for the community. Hence, to obtain the optimum results, the educational policies must be in alignment with the societies’ needs and prerequisites. The present research investigated the undergraduates’ expectations of studying at university and the fulfillment of those expectations prior and after being accepted into the university. 600 first-year undergraduates were selected based on cluster sampling from 2783 first-year undergraduates at Allameh Tabataba’i University, Iran. The data were gathered through deep interviews and cross-sectional survey. We emphasize that the centralized educational system in Iran works as a speed bump to obtain the goals and ambitions as portrayed in the HEIs’ mottos. The findings remind the educational policy-makers that success does not happen in a vacuum; rather, it is a collaborative joint practice among all members of the HE sector. The novelty of the research is its applicability to those centralized systems of policy-making worldwide specifically with engagement of students which adds to the literature and can urge the authorities of the HE sector to modify their earlier policies in the short run; and work toward decentralized system of educational leadership as the main panacea in the long run

Numerical Investigation Of Nanofluids Flow and Heat Transfer in 90 Elbow With square Cross-Section

In this article, forced convective heat transfer of nanofluid flow in a horizontal tube with a square cross-section and 90-degree elbow under heat flux was investigated in a numerical method. The homogeneous nanofluid of aluminum oxide and water (Al2O3) was used as the working fluid. For the numerical solution of continuity, momentum and energy equations, the finite volume method was used. In this study, the effect of Reynolds number and the solid volume fraction and the impact of the elbow on the flow field and the heat transfer rate and pressure drop was investigated. The results were presented in the form of flow and temperature contours and the Nusselt diagrams, which have a good relation with the experimental results, and showed that by increasing the solid volume fraction and Reynolds number, the heat transfer in the elbow increases. Also the concave surface from inside the tubes had a greater impact on heat transfer than the convex surface

A Systematized Review of the Effective Leadership in Medical Universities

Medical universities as suppliers of health system human resources need effective leaders to promote medical education status in the country. The present study is an attempt to review the literature on academic leadership and to identify research gaps related to this issue in medical universities. This systematized review was conducted by searching databases of ERIC, Pubmed, SID, Scopus, Web of Science, Emerald Proquest, and Google Scholar by appropriate keywords selected from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) documents related to academic leadership that were published between 2009- 2020. The retrieved articles were reviewed (n=505), and after deletion of duplicates, and according to the research inclusion and exclusion criteria 20 articles were reviewed. The quality of selected documents was appraised by MERSQI. Reviewing the selected studies indicated that the leadership studies are mostly conducted in Humanities universities. The studies on academic leadership in medical universities are mostly dealt with the relationship of characteristics of academic leaders and leadership styles. In medical universities, most of the managers who are physicians has not attended management and leadership programs and believe that they do not need to attend these programs. According to the findings of this study, only one research studied challenges and requirements of effective academic leadership in the country. Therefore, conducting qualitative studies on leadership in universities of medical sciences that provide an opportunity for deep study of experiences, beliefs and attitudes of academic leaders deem necessary

Cytotoxic Flavonoids from the Aerial Parts of Stachys lavandulifolia Vahl

Background: Stachys lavandulifolia Vahl is a herbaceous plant distributed in the west and south western Asia. Despite of the wide medicinal uses, there are some reports on toxicity potential of this plant. In present study we attempted to evaluate the toxicity and to characterize the cytotoxic principles of S. lavandulifolia. Methods: Brine shrimp lethality test (BSLT) was used to evaluate the general toxicity of the extracts and essential oil obtained from the aerial parts of S. lavandulifolia. Phytochemical constituents of the active extract were investigated using various chromatographic and spectroscopic methods. GC and GC-MS were also used to analyze the plant essential oil. GC and GC-MS were used to analyze the plant essential oil. Cytotoxic activities of the isolated compounds were also evaluated using MTT assay method. Results: In brine shrimp lethality test (BSLT), chloroform extract and the plant essential oil exhibited the most toxicity against Artemia salina larvae (LD50: 121.8±5.6 and 127.6±14.7 µg ml-1, respectively). GC and GC-MS analyses of essential oil led to the characterization of forty compounds of which α-bisabolol (23.85%) and thymol (17.88%) were identified as the main constituents. Nine flavonoids, Pachypodol (1), chrysosplenetin (2), kumatakenin (3), velutin (4), penduletin (5), viscosine (6), chrysoeriol (7), hydroxygenkwanin (8) and apigenin (9) were isolated from the chloroform extract of S. lavandulifolia. Among the isolated compounds, chrysosplenetin (2), a polymethoxylated flavonoid, was found as the most toxic compound toward MDA-MB-23 and HT-29 cells, with IC50 values of 88.23 and 116.50 µg ml-1, respectively. Furthermore, chrysosplenetin (2), kumatakenin (3) and viscosine (6) with selectivity indices of 2.70, 2.59 and 3.33, respectively, showed higher preferential toxicity against MDA-MB-23 cells in comparison with tamoxifen (SI:2.45). Conclusion: This study reports methoxylated flavonoids as compounds which could be involved in toxicity of S. lavandulifolia. The results of MTT assay also suggest some of these compounds as appropriate candidates for anti-cancer drug development research

Intracellular ROS Induction by Ag@ZnO Core–Shell Nanoparticles: Frontiers of Permanent Optically Active Holes in Breast Cancer Theranostic

In this study, we investigated whether ZnO coating on Ag nanoparticles (NPs) tunes electron flux and hole figuration at the metal–semiconductor interface under UV radiation. This effect triggers the photoactivity and generation of reactive oxygen species from Ag@ZnO NPs, which results in enhanced cytotoxic effects and apoptotic cell death in human breast cancer cells (MDA-MB231). In this context, upregulation of apoptotic cascade proteins (i.e., Bax/Bcl2 association, p53, cytochrome c, and caspase-3) along with activation of oxidative stress proteins suggested the occurrence of apoptosis by Ag@ZnO NPs in cancer cells through the mitochondrial pathway. Also, preincubation of breast cancer cells with Ag@ZnO NPs in dark conditions muted NP-related toxic effects and consequent apoptotic fate, highlighting biocompatible properties of unexcited Ag@ZnO NPs. Furthermore, the diagnostic efficacy of Ag@ZnO NPs as computed tomography (CT)/optical nanoprobes was investigated. Results confirmed the efficacy of the photoactivated system in obtaining desirable outcomes from CT/optical imaging, which represents novel theranostic NPs for simultaneous imaging and treatment of cancer

A multi-objective robust algal biofuel supply chain under uncertainty

Advisors: Reinaldo J. Moraga; Shi-Jie Chen.Committee members: Christine Nguyen; Ziteng Wang.Includes bibliographical references.Includes illustrations.Energy has historically been of great importance to the world. Depletion of fossil fuels, growing demand, global warming, and etc. have even accentuated this importance more. Amongst the biomass for production of biofuel which is one of the most promising renewable energy options, algae have been gaining a lot of attention in recent years. This thesis will propose a Biofuel Supply Chain Network Design for the development of algal biofuels. In order to do so, a Mixed Integer Linear Program will be created to design and optimize a biofuel supply chain from raw material procurement to biofuel distribution. Furthermore, a robust optimization method will be utilized to enable the model to cope with uncertainties of the biofuel supply chain. In addition, an environmental objective would be considered alongside an economic objective both of which are optimized by augmented [epsilon]-Constraint method to address issues such as global warming.M.S. (Master of Science

Government and university autonomy

"University autonomy" is considered as the cornerstone of the university system and it means that universities are to be free in the setting of their goals and priorities and implementation of them. University autonomy is significantly dependent on the university overall perspective and the degree of political interference. Despite the fact that securing the independence of universities in higher education is relative, it has not been fully realized in any higher education institution. But this concept in its lifetime, has always been faced with two major problems; misunderstanding of dimensions and indicators, and particularly, the different obstacles and barriers to it especially those that are affected by government interference. Thus, this study is aimed to assess different aspects of university autonomy and the role of government in achieving its obstacles and barriers and qualitative approach based on structuralism method and used the documentary analysis as the means for data collection. The findings suggest experts on the four dimensions of organizational autonomy, financial, academic and staffing as the main dimensions of independence, most opinions are, Political processes of countries, the rule of political thought, decision making centralized system of government, financial constraints and recruitment, particular bias or sectarian factions of the most important obstacles and barriers on the path to achieve university autonomy which in formation of all these obstacles and barriers, governments play an essential role

Hernia Following Blunt Abdominal Trauma

Traumatic abdominal wall hernia is a rare type of hernia, which follows blunt trauma to the abdomen, where disruption of the musculature and fascia occurs with the overlying skin remaining intact. Diagnosis of this problem is very difficult and delayed. Traumatic hernia is often diagnosed during laparatomy or laparascopy, but CT scan also has a role in distinguishing this pathology. Delay in diagnosis is very dangerous and can result in gangrene and necrosis of the organs in the hernia. The case report of a 35 years old man with liftruck blunt trauma is reported. His vital signs were stable. On physical examination, tenderness of RUQ was seen. He underwent Dpl for suspected hemoprotein. Dpl was followed up by laparatomy. Laparatomy revealed that the transverse and ascending colon partially herniated in the abdominal wall defect. The colon was reduced in the abdomen and repair of abdominal hernia was done. The patient was discharged after 5 day. The etiology, pathogenesis and management are discussed

Overhearing gain analysis in low-traffic CDMA wireless sensor networks

There have been trends in using spread spectrum channel accessing techniques in wireless sensor networks to mitigate the effect of potential collisions in concurrent transmissions and to increase the throughput as well as countering jamming-like noises. Overhearing of the data has been previously analyzed in cellular CDMA networks as this technique was first introduced for mobile communications with multiple transmitting users sending their data to a single base station which controls their transmission power. But sensor (and ad hoc) networks are usually devoid of any coordinating devices and the transmission is usually done toward different local destinations using distributed power controlling methods. This paper provides a systematic analysis of overhearing performance in low-traffic sensor networks especially when the sensing point is located somewhere at the middle of the network which is not necessarily near the sink. The distributed code assignment which is a key issue in infrastructureless CDMA networks has been taken into account in the development of a theoretical model. The result of this analysis shows that the higher the number of used codes, the higher is the gain of overhearing. Thus using this parameter, the network designer has statistical control over the amount of potential overheard data. We have also developed simulations of the proposed model and the results support the predictions of the theoretical model.6 page(s

Designing a Model for Integrating Succession and Career Planning of the Managers of Iranian Public Universities

This research has been conducted to design a model for integrating succession planning and career planning in Iranian Public Universities via the viewpoints of higher education managers and elites, based on the systematic design of Strauss and Corbin’s Grounded Theory method. Method: Therefore, using the purposive sampling method, 15 interviewees including universities’ executive and middle managers, authors in aforementioned field, key informants in the fields of human resource management and higher education were interviewed through semi-structured interviews, and data were extracted from the interviews. Data were analyzed through three steps of coding (open, axial and selective). Findings: The result was 25 core categories placed in a paradigmatic model consisting of the approaches of establishing an integration model (Familiarization, Participation, Organizational learning, Trust-Making, Forethought, Academic Autonomy, and Systemic vision), environmentally intervening conditions (political, Circumstantial, Socio-cultural, International, Legal and policy-making environments), contextual properties (Organizational structure, Organizational climate and culture, Managerial consistency, Resistance against change), causal conditions (Talent pool, Efficient promotion system, Human resource management, Integrating succession planning and career planning, Organizational advocacy of individual attempts, Professionalism), main phenomenon (Meritocracy), and outcomes (Individual and organizational outcomes). This model portrays the implementing process of the model for integrating succession planning and career planning Iranian Public Universities’ and the relations within categories and their dimensions