Quantum Correlations in Neutrino Oscillation: Coherence and Entanglement

In this paper, we consider the quantum correlations, coherence and entanglement, in neutrino oscillation. We find that the $l_{1}$-norm as a coherence measure is equal to sum of the three possible concurrences for measuring the entanglement among different flavor modes which were calculated in the paper by (M. Blasone et al., Europhys. Lett., {\bf 112}, 20007). Our result shows that the origin of the flavor entanglement in neutrino oscillation is the same as that of quantum coherence. Furthermore, in the wave packet framework, the variation of $l_{1}$-norm is investigated by varying the wave packet width $\sigma_{x}$. As it is expected the amount of coherence increases by $\sigma_{x}$ due to the increase in the overlapping of the mass eigenstates.Comment: 12 pages; 1 figur

Effect of educational program on milk consumption based on the theory of planned behavior among girl students

Background An adequate level of calcium intake during growth years can extensively help to stabilize calcium level and increase bone density. However, calcium intake in female school-age students is low. This study aimed to determine effect of educational programs on milk consumption based on the theory of planned behavior among 7th grade girl students in Kashan city, Iran. Materials and Methods: This studywas interventional quasi‑experimentalresearch. 220 girl students (110 for interventional group and 110 for control group), were selected by simple random sampling from schools in Kashan city, Iran. The researcher-made questionnaire based on theory of planned behavior used for data collection. Interventional programs were performed using lectures, poster, and pamphlet. The questionnaire was completed by the students twice, before and two months after the implementation of educational program. Data were analyzed by SPSS version 20.0 using descriptive statistics and independent t-test. Results: After the implementation of the educational programs, the rate of milk consumption at home significantly increased among the interventional group (P<0.05). Also, there was a significantly increase in the mean scores of attitude (P < 0.05), subjective norms (P< 0.05), perceived behavioral control (P< 0.05), and intention of milk consumption (P < 0.001) in the interventional group. Conclusion Educational programs based on the theory of planned behavior led to an increase in the scores of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and milk consumption intention among girl students. Thus, educational interventions and programs should be designed and implemented based on the theories of health education

Epidemiology of Poisonings in Shahid Beheshti Hospital in Kashan, Iran

Background: Poisoning is a major public health problem and is one of the most common causes of referral to emergency departments. The aim of this study was to evaluate and define clinical and demographic details of poisoned patients who were admitted to Shahid Beheshti Hospital, Kashan, Iran in 2010.Methods: In this descriptive-analytical and retrospective study, necessary data were collected from medical records of admitted poisoned patients and were evaluated prospectively and statistically analyzed and presented in the form of tables and graphs.Results: Of 163 poisoned patients in this study, 47.6% were females and 52.4% were male. 88% of patients were from urban areas and the rest from rural areas. The most common reason of poisoning was suicide 50.6%, while 38.1% were accidental, and 11.3% had a variety of different reasons. Age group of 0-10 years was the most predominant affected group with 26.8% poisoned patients. The most common poisoning agents were clonazepam, acetaminophen, diazepam and methadone. Four patients in the study population died (2.4%).Conclusion: The medications are the leading causes of poisoning, especially in children. Therefore, parents are advised to keep the medicines correctly, out of sight and reach of children, read the label carefully; learn about their safety and the right way of their use. It is also recommended to immediately dispatch the poisoned child to the emergency department. Giving the crucial information about the poisoning to help the medical staff to treat the child effectively and quickly, reduce the hospitalization period, and possibility of child death

A suggested prototype for assessing bone health

Background- Osteoporosis is becoming a health concern worldwide. Considering the fact that prevention plays an important role in reducing the burden of this silent disease and in view of the limited resources available, many countries have adopted certain programs to fight osteoporosis through shifting their attention towards at-risk individuals. The Iranian Multicenter Osteoporosis Study (IMOS) is one of these programs. The program aims to assess bone health and the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in different parts of Iran with various altitudes, latitudes and lifestyle habits in a way that the results could be generalized to the country. Method- The present article presents the protocol used in the third phase of the study. It was designed based on the experiences gathered in the previous phases to overcome the shortcomings particularly subject loss. The questionnaire applied in this study was developed based on a thorough literature review of the risk factors and secondary causes of osteoporosis and was approved by an expert panel. It should be added that while the majority of the existing studies aim to study a certain aspect of osteoporosis, the present protocol provides the information needed for policy makers and researchers to study different osteoporosis-related issues. Conclusion- The authors believe the protocol, to be implemented with small modifications, can help policymakers in different parts of the world, particularly developing countries, gather accurate information on different aspects of bone health at the national level. © 2015, Academy of Medical Sciences of I.R. Iran. All rights reserved

Pterostilbene increases Fas expression in T-lymphoblastic leukemia cell lines

Treatment of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) has been promising in last decades, but side effects still persist and searching for the least toxic agents continue. Pterostilbene (PTE) is a natural compound with several anti-cancer and anti-oxidant properties. Fas, as a member of death inducing family of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) receptors with an intracellular death domain, can initiate the extrinsic apoptosis signaling pathway. Here after the half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC 50 ) determination in cell lines, we searched for PTE effects on Fas, both in mRNA and surface levels in two ALL cell lines, Jurkat and Molt-4. After harvesting cells in optimum situations, MTS assay was used to determine IC 50 concentrations. Real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and flow cytometry were performed for Fas mRNA and surface expression variations after exposure to PTE. The findings showed that PTE decreases cell viability with different extent in two ALL cell lines. In addition to inducing apoptosis, it can increase Fas in both gene and cell surface expression in the same concentrations. Pterostilbene as a natural anti-cancer agent can increase Fas expression both in mRNA and surface levels that results in apoptosis signal transduction improvement which sensitizes cells to apoptosis by immune effector cells. As a result, abnormal cells removal would be more efficiently with the minimum side effects on normal cell

PT-Symmetric Electronics

We show both theoretically and experimentally that a pair of inductively coupled active LRC circuits (dimer), one with amplification and another with an equivalent amount of attenuation, display all the features which characterize a wide class of non-Hermitian systems which commute with the joint parity-time PT operator: typical normal modes, temporal evolution, and scattering processes. Utilizing a Liouvilian formulation, we can define an underlying PT-symmetric Hamiltonian, which provides important insight for understanding the behavior of the system. When the PT-dimer is coupled to transmission lines, the resulting scattering signal reveals novel features which reflect the PT-symmetry of the scattering target. Specifically we show that the device can show two different behaviors simultaneously, an amplifier or an absorber, depending on the direction and phase relation of the interrogating waves. Having an exact theory, and due to its relative experimental simplicity, PT-symmetric electronics offers new insights into the properties of PT-symmetric systems which are at the forefront of the research in mathematical physics and related fields.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figure

Use of Equivalent Hermitian Hamiltonian for PTPT-Symmetric Sinusoidal Optical Lattices

We show how the band structure and beam dynamics of non-Hermitian $PT$-symmetric sinusoidal optical lattices can be approached from the point of view of the equivalent Hermitian problem, obtained by an analytic continuation in the transverse spatial variable $x$. In this latter problem the eigenvalue equation reduces to the Mathieu equation, whose eigenfunctions and properties have been well studied. That being the case, the beam propagation, which parallels the time-development of the wave-function in quantum mechanics, can be calculated using the equivalent of the method of stationary states. We also discuss a model potential that interpolates between a sinusoidal and periodic square well potential, showing that some of the striking properties of the sinusoidal potential, in particular birefringence, become much less prominent as one goes away from the sinusoidal case.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure

Occult Hepatitis B Infection in Patients With Cryptogenic Liver Cirrhosis in Southwest of Iran

Background: Chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has a broad spectrum of manifestation, ranging from silent carrier state to advanced cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. The persistence of HBV DNA in serum and hepatocytes of the cirrhotic patient could be detected by molecular techniques in spite of negative HBV serologic markers. Objectives: This case-control study was designed to evaluate the prevalence of occult HBV infection (OBI) in patients with cryptogenic liver cirrhosis in comparison with healthy subjects. Patients and Methods: Of 165 patients with liver cirrhosis, 50 consecutive patients with cryptogenic cirrhosis and 80 healthy individual without any risk factors as a control group were enrolled in this study. Their sera were tested for HBV DNA using nested PCR method. Results: Of 50 patients with cryptogenic cirrhotic, 36 (72%) were male. The mean age of patients was 53.34 ± 14.73 years; 80 healthy subjects were selected as control group with mean age of 32.65 ± 8.51 years; 7 (14%) of the patients with cryptogenic cirrhosis showed positive HBV DNA by PCR, while HBV DNA was negative for the control group (P = 0.0001); 4 (57%) cases with positive HBV shown by PCR were negative for anti-HBc and anti-HBs tests. The mean level of transaminases was significantly higher in patients with cirrhosis. There were no significant differences in demographic parameters, transaminases level and degree of hepatic failure among cirrhotic patients with and without OBI. Conclusions: The prevalence of OBI was relatively high in patients with cryptogenic cirrhosis. OBI was found among the patients above 40 years old. Prospective cohort studies are needed to evaluate the clinical significance of OBI

Drug-related mutational patterns in hepatitis B virus (HBV) reverse transcriptase proteins from Iranian treatment-Naïve chronic HBV patients

Background: Immunomodulators and Nucleotide analogues have been used globally for the dealing of chronic hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection. However, the development of drug resistance is a major limitation to their long-term effectiveness. Objectives: The aim of this study was to characterize the hepatitis B virus reverse transcriptase (RT) protein variations among Iranian chronic HBV carriers who did not receive any antiviral treatments. Materials and Methods: Hepatitis B virus partial RT genes from 325 chronic in active carrier patients were amplified and directly sequenced. Nucleotide/amino acid substitutions were identified compared to the sequences obtained from the database. Results: All strains belonging to genotype D.365 amino-acid substitutions were found. Mutations related to lamivudine, adefovir, telbivudine, and entecavir occurred in (YMDD) 4% (n = 13), (SVQ) 17.23% (n = 56), (M204I/V + L180M) 2.45% (n = 8) and (M204I) 2.76% (n = 9) of patients, respectively. Conclusions: RT mutants do occur naturally and could be found in HBV carriers who have never received antiviral therapy. However, mutations related to drug resistance in Iranian treatment-naïve chronic HBV patients were found to be higher than other studies published formerly. Chronic HBV patients should be monitored closely prior the commencement of therapy to achieve the best regimen option. © 2013, KOWSAR Corp