Immersion in VR News Pieces Focusing on Cognitive Factors Based on Grounded Theory

Considering that the users are the main focus of immersive journalism, any study in this field without understanding and recognizing them is incomplete. The quality of the VR news experience depends on many parameters, the most important of which are related to the cognitive and behavioral science of the users, apart from the technological factors that are prerequisites for making VR. In this regard, through interviews with experts in journalism and cognitive sciences, this research identified the categories that influence the depth of user’s immersion based on the Grounded Theory methodology and finally presented a conceptual model. The phenomenon of the model is “user involvement”. This category is affected by contextual factors such as "user’s demographic characteristics" and "type of news", as well as the intervening factors of "trauma" and "preventing factors of using virtual reality". In addition, the three categories of "cognition", "narrative" and "crafting pieces" provided the causal conditions that are the basis for the immersion in the news narrative. Finally, "focusing on user’s cognitive factors" in creating VR pieces is the interaction strategy that brought two consequences of "increasing immersion" and "changing norms and behaviors"

Cryotherapy for anogenital warts: factors affecting therapeutic response

Human papilloma virus genital infection remains a treatment dilemma; there is still no gold standard therapy, treatment options are limited, expensive and often ineffective, and recurrence rates are relatively high. The primary objective of this study is to establish the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of cryotherapy in the treatment of these lesions. From 1999 to 2003, 100 consecutive patients with at least ten genital warts were treated with liquid nitrogen cryotherapy using a cotton-tipped applicator and two freeze-thaw cycles at the outpatient dermatology clinic of Hazrat-e Rasool University Hospital. Treatment was repeated every 3 weeks until the disappearance of all visible lesions was achieved. Patients were followed up every 4 months for 18 months. Complete clinical cure (CCC) was defined as complete clearance of all lesions and no evidence of disease for a minimum of 18 months. The CCC and relapse rate were evaluated based on different demographic and clinical characteristics. Overall, 86 percent of the patients achieved CCC after an average of 3.31 treatment sessions. All of the failed cases were attributed to recurrence of warts in new sites. The cure rate increased in parallel with increasing treatment sessions until the 6th session, after which it remained constant. The cure rate was lower and the number of treatment sessions higher in older patients. The age of the patient and number of treatment sessions affect the cure rate. The recurrence rate was significantly higher for the married or multi-partner group than for unmarried patients. We concluded that cryotherapy is an effective method for treatment of anogenital warts. The age of the patient and size of the lesions affect the cure rate. However, the most important factor in relapse of the lesions is unprotected sexual contact during and after treatment. © 2007 Dermatology Online Journal

Leech therapy for epidermoid cysts and review of the literature

Hirudo medicinalis sucks blood directly through the external mammalian skin. We recently observed a healthy 64-year-old Iranian man, who presented with numerous asymptomatic multilobular oval-to-round well-defined 0.5 to 1.5 cm cystic lesions with central umbilication (central black eschar) over the upper portion of his chest. We made the diagnosis of epidermoid cyst, giant comedone and leech bite on the basis of the constellation of clinical features. The patient was treated with oral ciprofloxacin at a dose of 2 g daily, and 2% topical erythromycin solution. Despite improvement, the evidence of cystic lesions persisted. There was no history of similar lesions in any other family member. There was no history of trauma. The patient was not using any topical or systemic medication. Two weeks before his visit, he had a history of leech therapy under the supervision of a general practitioner. His medical history was significant for leech therapy of the lesions, five days previously. He was followed up for another two weeks and after disappearance of the inflammation, with the patient under local anesthesia, the well-circumscribed mass was completely evacuated with a sharp curette and comedone extractor. The patient was subsequently lost to follow-up. Conclusion: Considering the efficacy of leeches, it would be favorable to breed a germ-free leech. In Iran, the use of the leeches in surgery, in recent years, has been infrequent. It appears that the positive effects of this ancient remedy may now be explained through scientific methods, promising potentially even more uses of this admirable creature in medicine

A comparison study of lipid profile levels between skin tags affected people and normal population in Tehran, Iran

Background: For many years the association of skin tags and endocrynopathies has been postulated, although many reports are available but it has never been evaluated to mean normal population. Dyslipidemia is a frequent disorder among people and seemed to be necessary for screening within skin tag condition. This study is designed to find any possible association between skin tags and dyslipidemia. Materials and Methods: From April 2009 to June 2011, 168 patients enrolled the study. Among the remaining 152 patients, there were 89 females (58.5%) and 63 males (%41.5). Based on the TLGS study 136 men and 220 women enrolled the control group of study. The mean age was 28.4 years. Patients trained to have normal free diet for at least 1 month then referred to the laboratory. Blood samples were taken over 12 hours fasting with 2 hours intervals. Hypertriglyceridemia was defined as plasma level ≥160 mg/dl for men and ≥130 mg/dl for women. Hypercholesterolemia pointed at its value >200 mg/dl. Normal HDL levels was defined as >39 mg/dl for men and >35 mg/dl to women. Results: Mean skin tag number was 12.6 per subject. The most frequent localizations of skin tags were neck and upper chest (mean number: 13.4, 48.9%) followed by axilla (mean number: 11.6, 33%) and breast (10.2, 10.1%) in the patient group. The mean cholesterol level of case group was 192.2 ± 33.1 mg/dl, while it was 187.0 ± 42 mg/dl in the control group). The mean ± SD for triglyceride was 132.1 ± 69 mg/dl in comparison to 129 ± 74 in the control group. Conclusion: The study showed no significant differences between normal population and patients′ lipid profile

Efficacy of fixed daily 20 mg of isotretinoin in moderate to severe scar prone acne

Background: Despite advances in acne therapy in recent years, treatment failure is common. Isotretinoin is the only drug that affects almost all factors in acne pathogenesis, but side-effects are common at the doses reported in published studies in the literature. The aim of this study was to investigate the efficacy of low daily dose isotretinoin in moderate to severe acne patients. The secondary objective was to measure the rate of relapse 5 years after the completion of therapy. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective, noncomparative study, 146 patients with moderate to severe scare prone acne. Treatment regimen consisted of isotretinoin, fixed 20 mg daily, and duration of treatment-based on the weight of patient, until total cumulative dose of 120 mg/kg of body weight is achieved. No topical or other systemic therapy was allowed during the trial. Liver function tests (serum glutamic-oxalocetic transaminase, serum glutamate pyruvate transaminase, direct and total bilirubin), and lipid profiles (total cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein, high-density lipoprotein, triglyceride) were evaluated for all patients, before the initiation of treatment and again after the 2 nd month of treatment. All data analyzed by Microsoft Office Excel 2007; in descriptive statics frequency and SPSS.18 software. Results: At the end of treatment course, (96.4%) demonstrated complete clearing of their acne, defined as no acne or occasional isolated lesions. In 5-year follow-up, relapse accrued in 11 (7.9%) of patients. All adverse effects were mild, and discontinuation of treatment was not necessary. Conclusion: Low dose isotretinoin was found to be a safe and effective choice for patients with moderate to severe scar prone acne vulgaris

A novel metric of measuring performance for supply chain risk management drawbacks and qualities of good performance

The aim of this study is to consider the purposes, weakness and qualities of good performance measures and also to briefly explain various approaches and frameworks for supply chain performance for risk management and propose a new metric that measures overall performance for supply chain risk management. This is a conceptual paper, a content analysis approach have been operationalized for the literature review. This study concludes that a good metric for measuring performance for supply chain risk must contain seven indicators that are cost, quality, flexibility, customer satisfaction, capacity, time and consistency. This study will help managers to understand what they should consider, while developing key performance indicators. In addition, for future study empirical and theoretical support is require