Scattering and Bound State Solutions of the Yukawa Potential within the Dirac Equation

In the presence of spin symmetry case, we obtain bound and scattering states solutions of the Dirac equation for the equal scalar and vector Yukawa potentials for any spin-orbit quantum number κ. The approximate analytical solutions are presented for the bound and scattering states and scattering phase shifts

Short communication: A study of food consumption of the deepwater goby, Ponticola bathybius (Kessler, 1877), during spring migration in the southern Caspian Sea

The gobies exhibit a main role in the general production of the Caspian Sea due to their species diversity and unexploited stocks. So, of the 80 fish species known from Iranian part of the Caspian Sea, 10 of them are gobies. The deepwater goby, Ponticola bathybius (Kessler, 1877), Gobiidae, is a native species in the Caspian Sea which settles on sandy and shelly substrates and, in a few numbers, on firm silt down to 75 meters. The presence of predators such as Acipenseridae and prey items as Clupeonella sp. could be effective in the abundance of gobies. Gobies fishes are known as the great consumers of food resources and the considerable competitors for other species. ... In Iranian coastal waters of the Caspian Sea, there are differences in some important ecological factors including substrate type, slope and light intensity which may affect the prey community. Therefore, this study was carried out to compare dietary composition of P. bathybius at three different localities (Bandar-e-Anzali, Salmanshahr and Miankaleh) along the southern Caspian Sea coastal waters

New evidence for Dicke's superradiance in the 6.7 GHz methanol spectral line in the interstellar medium

We present new evidence for superradiance (SR) in the methanol 6.7 GHz spectral line for three different star-forming regions: S255IR-NIRS3, G24.329+0.144, and Cepheus A. Our analysis shows that some of the flux–density flares exhibiting fast rise times and asymmetric light curves reported in these sources can naturally be explained within the context of SR. When a threshold for the inverted population column density is exceeded in a maser-hosting region, the radiation mode switches from one regulated by stimulated emission (maser) to SR. Superradiance, as a more efficient energy release mechanism, manifests itself through strong bursts of radiation emanating from spatially compact regions. Elevated inverted population densities and the initiation of SR can be due to a change in radiative pumping. Here, we show that an increase in the pump rate and the inverted population density of only a factor of a few results in a significant increase in radiation. While the changes in the pump rate can take place over a few hundred days, the rise in radiation flux density when SR is initiated is drastic and happens over a much shorter time-scale

Assessing mental health literacy: What medical sciences students' know about depression

Background: Mental health literacy is an individual's knowledge and belief about mental disorders which aid their recognition, management and prevention. The aim of this study was to investigate mental health literacy among students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, data were collected by the anonymous self-administered questionnaires and finally 324 students participated in the study. Random cluster sampling was used. Questions were in different areas of the mental health literacy for depression include recognition of disorder, intended actions to seek help and perceived barriers, beliefs about interventions, prevention, stigmatization and impact of media. T-test was used for statistical analysis. Results: The mean (±SD) age was 23.5±2.8. The participants were 188 (58.1) females and 136 (41.9) males. In response to the recognition of the disorder 115 (35.6) students mentioned the correct answer. In help-seeking area, 208 (64.3) gave positive answer. The majority of affected students sought for help from their friends and parents. Stigma was the greatest barrier for seeking help. Television and Internet were the most common sources of information related to mental health. Conclusion: Generally students' mental health literacy on depression was low in some areas. Appropriate educational programs specifically for reducing mental disorders stigma seems necessary. Organizing networks of co-helper students for mental health could be considered

Allometric Scaling Reveals Evolutionary Constraint on Odonata Wing Cellularity via Critical Crack Length

Scaling in insect wings is a complex phenomenon that seems pivotal in maintaining wing functionality. In this study, the relationship between wing size and the size, location, and shape of wing cells in dragonflies and damselflies (Odonata) is investigated, aiming to address the question of how these factors are interconnected. To this end, WingGram, the recently developed computer‐vision‐based software, is used to extract the geometric features of wing cells of 389 dragonflies and damselfly wings from 197 species and 16 families. It has been found that the cell length of the wings does not depend on the wing size. Despite the wide variation in wing length (8.42 to 56.5 mm) and cell length (0.1 to 8.5 mm), over 80% of the cells had a length ranging from 0.5 to 1.5 mm, which was previously identified as the critical crack length of the membrane of locust wings. An isometric scaling of cells is also observed with maximum size in each wing, which increased as the size increased. Smaller cells tended to be more circular than larger cells. The results have implications for bio‐mimetics, inspiring new materials and designs for artificial wings with potential applications in aerospace engineering and robotics

Application of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument, Short Form (WHOQOL-BREF) to patients with cataract

OBJECTIVES: Cataract is a prevalent disease in the elderly, and negatively influences patients' quality of life. This study was conducted to study the application of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument, Short Form (WHOQOL-BREF) to patients with cataract. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 300 patients with cataract were studied in Neyshabur, Iran from July to October 2014. The Iranian version of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire was used to measure their quality of life. Cronbach's alpha coefficient, Pearson's correlation coefficient, the paired t-test, the independent t-test, and a linear regression model were used to analyze the data in SPSS version 16.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 68.11±11.98 years, and most were female (53). The overall observed Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the WHOQOL-BREF was 0.889, ranging from 0.714 to 0.810 in its four domains. The total mean score of the respondents on the WHOQOL-BREF was 13.19. The highest and lowest mean scores were observed in the social relationship domain (14.11) and the physical health domain (12.29), respectively. A backward multiple linear regression model found that duration of disease and marital status were associated with total WHOQOL scores, while age, duration of disease, marital status, and income level were associated with domains one through four, respectively (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The reliability analysis conducted in this study indicated that the WHOQOL-BREF scale exhibited an acceptable degree of internal consistency in the measurement of the quality of life of patients with cataract. It was also found that the patients with cataract who were surveyed reported a relatively moderate quality of life

Optimized energy window configuration for201Tl imaging

A poor signal-to-noise ratio attributable to a low injected dose of thallium and the presence of scattered photons are the major impediments in the use of thallium as an imaging agent. Thallium decays in a complicated way and emits photons in a wide range of energies (68-82 keV). To increase the ratios of primary photons to scatter photons (primary-to-scatter ratios) and possibly increase system sensitivity, a new energy window for thallium was investigated. Methods: The NCAT phantom was used to simulate the distribution of activity and the attenuation coefficient in a typical patient torso. The phantom was imaged with a SPECT simulator in different energy window configurations. The energy spectra for primary photons and scatter photons were generated, and the most suitable energy windows were investigated. To evaluate the results of the simulation study, a physical phantom was imaged in different energy windows with a SPECT system. The images of the physical phantom were analyzed for the best-quality image and the corresponding window setting. To evaluate the windows determined in the simulation and phantom studies, SPECT images of 7 patients who had angiographically confirmed myocardial defects were acquired in different energy windows. The images were quantitatively compared on the basis of the calculated contrast, scatter-to-noise ratio, and sensitivity. The images were also qualitatively evaluated independently by 4 nuclear medicine specialists. Results: The simulation study showed that the conventional window setting (68 ± 10 keV) is not the most suitable window configuration for 201Tl imaging and that the optimum energy window is 77 ± 15 keV. The images acquired in the latter window configuration yielded higher primary-to-scatter ratios, higher sensitivity (total counts), and better contrast than the images acquired in the conventional window configuration. The phantom study confirmed the results of the simulation study. In the clinical study, the images acquired in the suggested window showed a considerable increase in myocardium-to-defect contrast (1.541 ± 0.368) and myocardium-to-cavity contrast (1.171 ± 0.099) than those acquired in the conventional window configuration. Conclusion: The energy window configuration of 77 ± 15 keV yields higher-quality images than the conventional window configuration. COPYRIGHT © 2008 by the Society of Nuclear Medicine, Inc