The effect of the collaborative infertility counseling model on coping strategies in infertile women undergoing in vitro fertilization: A randomized controlled trial

Objectives: Infertility is a stressful condition influencing interpersonal and social relationships among infertile couples. Various strategies have been suggested for coping with infertility. This study examined the effect of the collaborative infertility counseling model on coping strategies in infertile women undergoing in vitro fertilization (IVF) in an urban area of Iran. Materials and Methods: This clinical controlled trial was conducted on 60 women with primary infertility selected from Milad Infertility Center in Mashhad, Iran. They were randomly allocated to the intervention and control groups with 29 and 31 samples in each group. The intervention group received individual counseling based on the collaborative reproductive healthcare model. The counseling was provided with the collaboration of a midwife, a gynecologist and a clinical psychologist in 5 sessions during a 2-month period. The control group received only routine care. The fertility problem inventory (FPI) and general health questionnaire were used to measure perceived fertility-related stress and general health, respectively. Moreover, the ways of coping-revised questionnaire was used to collect data regarding the women’s coping strategies at the beginning of the study and at the day of the embryo transfer. The student t test, Fisher exact test, Mann-Whitney U test and analysis of variance (ANOVA) were used for data analysis. Results: A statistically significant difference was reported between the two groups in terms of problem-focused coping strategies (P = 0.037). However, no statistically significant difference was reported between the groups with regard to emotion-focused coping strategies (P = 0.947). There were statistically significant differences between the 2 groups in the mean scores of seeking social support (P = 0.022) and planful problem-solving strategies (P = 0.045) as the subscales of problem-focused coping strategies. Conclusion: The collaborative reproductive healthcare model promoted the use of problem-focused coping strategies. Therefore, the use of collaborative counseling approaches by healthcare professionals is suggested for assisting infertile women to cope with infertility. © 2018 The Author (s)

Shape Reconstruction of Trapezoidal Surfaces

A smooth T-surface can be thought of as a generalization of a surface of revolution in such a way that the axis of rotation is not fixed at one point but rather traces a smooth path on the base plane. Furthermore, the action, by which the aforementioned surface is obtained does not need to be merely rotation but any ``suitable" planar equiform transformation applied to the points of a certain smooth profile curve. In analogy to the smooth setting, if the axis footpoints sweep a polyline on the base plane and if the profile curve is discretely chosen then a T-hedra (discrete T-surface) with trapezoidal faces is obtained. The goal of this article is to reconstruct a T-hedron from an already given point cloud of a T-surface. In doing so, a kinematic approach is taken into account, where the algorithm at first tries to find the aforementioned axis direction associated with the point cloud. Then the algorithm finds a polygonal path through which the axis footpoint moves. Finally, by properly cutting the point cloud with the planes passing through the axis and its footpoints, it reconstructs the surface. The presented method is demonstrated on base of examples. From an applied point of view, the straightforwardness of the generation of these surfaces predestines them for building and design processes. In fact, one can find many built objects belonging to the sub-classes of T-surfaces such as \emph{surfaces of revolution} and \emph{moulding surfaces}. Furthermore, the planarity of the faces of the discrete version paves the way for steel/glass construction in industry. Finally, these surfaces are also suitable for transformable designs as they allow an isometric deformation

Strokes2Surface: Recovering Curve Networks From 4D Architectural Design Sketches

We present Strokes2Surface, an offline geometry reconstruction pipeline that recovers well-connected curve networks from imprecise 4D sketches to bridge concept design and digital modeling stages in architectural design. The input to our pipeline consists of 3D strokes' polyline vertices and their timestamps as the 4th dimension, along with additional metadata recorded throughout sketching. Inspired by architectural sketching practices, our pipeline combines a classifier and two clustering models to achieve its goal. First, with a set of extracted hand-engineered features from the sketch, the classifier recognizes the type of individual strokes between those depicting boundaries (Shape strokes) and those depicting enclosed areas (Scribble strokes). Next, the two clustering models parse strokes of each type into distinct groups, each representing an individual edge or face of the intended architectural object. Curve networks are then formed through topology recovery of consolidated Shape clusters and surfaced using Scribble clusters guiding the cycle discovery. Our evaluation is threefold: We confirm the usability of the Strokes2Surface pipeline in architectural design use cases via a user study, we validate our choice of features via statistical analysis and ablation studies on our collected dataset, and we compare our outputs against a range of reconstructions computed using alternative methods.Comment: 15 pages, 14 figure

Evaluating the Least Cost Selection of Agricultural Management Practices in the Five-Mile Creek Area of Fort Cobb Watershed

One of the main causes of water quality impairment in the United States is human induced Non-Point Source (NPS) pollution through intensive agriculture. The Fort Cobb Reservoir (FCR) watershed located in southwestern Oklahoma, United States is a rural agricultural catchment with known issues of NPS pollution including suspended solids, siltation, nutrients, and pesticides. The FCR watershed with an area of 813 km2 includes one major lake fed by four tributaries. Despite efforts and research to improve water quality in the FCR watershed through the implementation of varieties of Best Management Practices (BMPs) for decades, there are still problems of sediment and phosphorous loads in this catchment, which demonstrates the need for research. Since the cost of implementing some BMPs can be expensive, the cost effective selection and location of BMPs can aid in increasing both the efficiency of public funds and the total income of farmers. The major goal of this study was to identify optimal selection and location of livestock-crop-BMPs including crop types, production methods, and agricultural management practices that could further reduce sediment and phosphorous loss from the agricultural fields in Five-Mile Creek (FMC) sub-watershed of FCR watershed at the least-cost to producers and the public in both the dry and irrigated areas with consideration of existing BMPs. For this, a hydrological model of the study area was developed using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT). The model was calibrated and validated satisfactorily for streamflow, crop yield, sediment, and phosphorous. The verified model was used to simulate 22 crop-BMP combinations over the 1989-2016 period. A Linear Programming (LP) model was used to determine the crop-BMP choice that would maximize income and minimize public cost while abating sediment and phosphorous under two different scenarios: market solution (maximize revenue with no constraints on sediment and phosphorous production) and tax solution (discourage sediment and phosphorous production through incentive programs).The model was capable of providing precise information for stakeholders to prioritize ecologically sound and economically feasible BMPs that are capable of mitigating human induced impacts at the watershed scale based on soil texture, land slope and dryland and irrigated areas.Biosystems and Agricultural Engineerin

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ONLINE ENVIRONMENTS AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION (IRAN COMPUTER HARDWARE INDUSTRY)

In this quantitative article research first, the main factors in customer satisfaction in online environment of Iran in hardware industry with process based-view are identified. Secondly relationships between identified factors in online environment of Iran and customer satisfaction are investigatedOnline Environment, Customer satisfaction, and Process Based-View

HR PRACTICES AND STRATEGIC CONTRIBUTIONS IN EDUCATIONAL INDUSTRY (ISLAMIC AZAD UNIVERSITY)

This paper attempts to identify the current policies and problems of IAU (Islamic Azad University) in HR practices. On the other hand this research offers new HR practices according to experts and different persons in different levels of IAU. Finally, offered HR practices are in line with strategic contributions in educational industryHuman Resources, Human Resources Practices, and Knowledge Sharing