Reproductive biology of Rachycentron canadum in the Persian Gulf (Hormozgan Province waters)

We collected 478 specimens of Cobia, Rachycentron canadum, from Hormozgan province waters during October 2005 till September 2006, and studied reproductive parameters such as spawning season, sex ratio, maturity stages, fecundity and ova diameter. The maturity and spawning season were investigated through macroscopic and microscopic (ovarians histology) observation. Studying average gonadosomatic index (GSI), the percent of maturity stages and ova diameter average changes revealed that the spawning occurred from July to the beginning of September

Analyzing the two-dimensional plot of the interannual climate variability for detection of the climate change in the Large Karoun River Basin, Iran

In most studies on climate change, the first problem often faced by the researcher is detecting the climate change of the study area during the past periods and attributing it to the greenhouse gases. In this study, an attempt has been made to introduce a method for detecting the climate change during the past periods in regional scale and attributing it to greenhouse gases with regard to climate processes in a region. For this purpose, at first it is necessary to calculate the interannual variability range of the region climatic variables, resulting from the interaction between the climate systems of the ‘earth’ (atmosphere, biosphere, etc.). Hence, long-term statistics (1000 years) of the temperature and precipitation, resulting from control run (fix greenhouse gases) of AOGCM models (HadCM3 and CGCM3), were used for Large Karoun River Basin. Then, based on the two-variant normal distribution, the interannual climate variability range of the study area was plotted as two-dimensional temperatureprecipitation graphs. Next, the annual temperature and precipitation anomaly values of the observation stations in different regions of Large Karoun River Basin were compared with the region interannual variability range for detecting the climate change of the study area during the past and attributing it to greenhouse gases. The results show increase in temperature and decrease in precipitation trends, denoting the fact that the temperature variable has been influenced by the climate change. So, in all regions of the Large Karoun River Basin, the final years of the period (1971 to 2009) have almost been located outside the interannual climate variability range, indicating the effect of climate change on the climatic variables of the said years.Key words: Interannual climate variability, detecting the climate change, AOGCM models, Large Karoun River Basin

Barrier tuning of atomic layer deposited Ta2O5 and Al2O3 in resonant tunnelling diodes for terahertz applications

The performance of double dielectric (MIIM) resonant tunneling diodes using atomic layer deposited oxides of low (Al2O3) and high (Ta2O5) electron affinity (χ) is investigated. Varying the individual layer thickness of Ta2O5 with a 1 nm thick Al2O3, evidence for resonant tunneling is observed and related to the bound states in the quantum well established between the oxide layers. The results show good rectifying capability of resonant tunneling diodes at low turn-on voltage enabling their potential use for terahertz applications

The Study of Nursing Personnel, s Workload Caused by Patient Transferring

Background and aims: One of the nursing staff’s responsibilities is patient transferring. The disproportionate burden imposed on the person according to his ability is the most important causes of occupational accidents and injuries. This study was aimed to evaluate nurses' workload caused by patient transferring in khatam ol anbiya hospital (s) in Tehran. Methods: This was a descriptive- analytic study. Its research community is all Khatam (s) nursing staff 260 of which were selected using convenience sampling and Morgan table. Using patient transfer assessment index (PTAI), the staff’s scores were calculated in terms of transfer and finally the data were analyzed using descriptive statistics (average and standard deviation), inferential statistics (Pearson correlation coefficient, Anova) and SPSS. Results: The people involved in the study had the average age (35.40±6.65yrs), work experience (11.36±5.71yrs), hight (1.73±5.79m) and weight (73.82±8.72kg), and body mass index (24.57±2.4). Statistical test results showed that none of the participants uses relocation equipment when transferring patients and based on PTAI, workload at danger level equaled to 0% at level 1, 8.07% at level 2, and 91.93% at level 3. Besides, nurse and nurse aid’s average PTAI score was equal to (32.83±17.14) and (42.25±12.46), respectively, which was significantly related to workload (P=0.001). Conclusion: The results showed that the workload caused by patient transferring in nursing personnel is at a high risk. Thus, it is recommended to teach proper ergonomics principles and to use transfer equipment (non-mechanical and mechanical) in order to reduce the workload caused by patient transferring

A qualitative study on personal information management (PIM) in clinical and basic sciences faculty members of a medical university in Iran

Background: Personal Information Management (PIM) refers to the tools and activities to save and retrieve personal information for future uses. This study examined the PIM activities of faculty members of Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS) regarding their preferred PIM tools and four aspects of acquiring, organizing, storing and retrieving personal information. Methods: The qualitative design was based on phenomenology approach and we carried out 37 interviews with clinical and basic sciences faculty members of IUMS in 2014. The participants were selected using a random sampling method. All interviews were recorded by a digital voice recorder, and then transcribed, codified and finally analyzed using NVivo 8 software. Results: The use of PIM electronic tools (e-tools) was below expectation among the studied sample and just 37 had reasonable knowledge of PIM e-tools such as, external hard drivers, flash memories etc. However, all participants used both paper and electronic devices to store and access information. Internal mass memories (in Laptops) and flash memories were the most used e-tools to save information. Most participants used "subject" (41.00) and "file name" (33.7 ) to save, organize and retrieve their stored information. Most users preferred paper-based rather than electronic tools to keep their personal information. Conclusion: Faculty members had little knowledge about PIM techniques and tools. Those who organized personal information could easier retrieve the stored information for future uses. Enhancing familiarity with PIM tools and training courses of PIM tools and techniques are suggested

Hafnia and alumina on sulphur passivated germanium

In this work hafnia (HfO2) and alumina (Al2O3) films were deposited on germanium, using either water or oxygen plasma as the oxidant, by atomic layer deposition at 250 °C with and without sulphur passivation of the substrate. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was carried out to investigate the interface between both HfO2 and Al2O3 films and germanium. The results show that for hafnia and alumina deposited with water on pre-sulphur treated germanium there is negligible GeOx formation when compared to films grown using oxygen plasma. The results support the case for sulphur passivation of the interface