Effect of Country of Manufacture and Brand Image on Iranian Customers’ Purchase Intention Case Study: Foreign Made Home Appliances

With the removal of trade barriers between countries and spread of network mechanisms, today’s world is witness to globalization of international trade which, in a sense, is equivalent to establishment of multinational companies and consumers’ direct encounter with the products of these companies. As a result, facing a large volume of products manufactured in various countries around the world, consumers would have to turn to important information sources and symbols in an effort to simplify their buying decisions and to ensure they have made correct decisions. Country of manufacture (COM) and product brand image are among the established information symbols which customers have come to rely on. In other words, country of manufacture and brand image can play a significant role in the acceptance of a product by consumers. Moreover, international producers are well aware that country of manufacture and brand image are counted on as distinctive features of products. For this reason, they take sufficient care in selecting the country which is to manufacture their products and, thus, try to create a favorable mental image of their brand in their customers. A theoretical framework was proposed in the present study to describe the effects of country of manufacture and brand image on customers’ decision to buy. Although the influencing factors of “country of manufacture” and “brand image” depend on the specific product type, the findings in this study showed that, in general, brand image had a stronger influence than country of manufacture on Iranian customers as far as hybrid products were concerned. Keywords: Country of manufacture (COM), brand image, quality dimensions, purchase attitude, purchase intentio

Diagnostic Value of Clinical Findings in Evaluation of Thoracolumbar Blunt Traumas

Introduction: Necessity of imaging for symptom-free conscious patients presented to emergency department (ED) following traumatic thoracolumbar spine injuries has been a matter of debate. The present study was aimed to evaluate the diagnostic value of clinical findings in prediction of traumatic thoracolumbar injuries compared tocomputed tomography (CT) scan. Methods: The present diagnostic value study was carried out using non-random convenience sampling during the time between October 2013 and March 2014. All trauma patients > 15 years old underwent thoracolumbar CT scan were included. Correlation between clinical and CT findings was measured using SPSS 21.0 and screening performance characteristics of clinical findings in prediction of thoracolumbar fracture were calculated. Results: 169 patients with mean age of 37.8 ± 17.3 years (rage: 15-86) were evaluated (69.8% male). All fracture patients had at least 1 positive finding in history and physical examination. The fracture was confirmed in only 24.6% of the patients with positive findings in history or physical examination. In 37.5% of patients the location of fracture, matched the area of positive physical examinations. Sensitivity, specificity, PPV, NPV, PLR, and NLR of clinical findings in comparison to thoracolumbar CT scan were 100 (95% CI: 89 - 100), 1.5 (95% CI: 0.2-6), 24.5 (95% CI: 18.3-31.9), 100 (95% CI: 19.7-100), 32.5 (95% CI: 24.6-43.03), and infinite, respectively. Conclusion: The results of the present study, show the excellent screening performance characteristics of clinical findings in prediction of traumatic thoracolumbar fracture (100% sensitivity). It could be concluded that in conscious patients with stable hemodynamic, who have no distracting pain and are not intoxicated, probability of thoracolumbar fracture is very low and near to zero in case of no positive clinical finding

Effect of a participatory intervention to reduce the number of unnecessary cesarean sections performed in Shahrekord, Iran

چکیده: زمینه و هدف: در سال های اخیر در کل جهان و از جمله ایران روند رو به رشد سزارین به چشم می خورد. در شهرکرد در سال 1380 سزارین 49 زایمان ها را به خود اختصاص داده است. در دنیا رویکرد جدیدی جهت کمک گرفتن از نیروهای مردمی در حل مشکلات سلامتی بوجود آمده است. در این تحقیق نقش مشارکت گروههای مردمی در کاهش میزان سزارین مورد بررسی قرار گرفته است. روش بررسی: در یک مطالعه میدانی (فیلد تریال) 171 زن باردار که سابقه قبلی سزارین نداشتند و کمتر از 3 بار زایمان داشته اند از زنان باردار به صورت تصادفی انتخاب شدند. ساختار یک گروه مردمی متشکل از پزشکان، ماماها، پرستاران علاقمند، زنان خانه دار، معلمین، رابطین بهداشتی، پرسنل بهداشت خانواده، خانم های فروشنده و نمایندگانی از سازمان های غیر دولتی فعال شهر شکل گرفت. این گروه، زنان باردار انتخاب شده را از طریق آموزش ترغیب به انجام زایمان طبیعی نمود. رضایت زنان باردار از آموزش ها و فراوانی سزارین قبل و بعد از مداخلات جمع آوری و با استفاده از آزمون های آماری t زوجی و مک نمار تجزیه و تحلیل گردید. یافته ها: در این مطالعه 70 زنان باردار از آموزش های ارائه شده راضی بودندو فراوانی سزارین از63 قبل از اجرای طرح به 52 بعد از انجام مداخلات کاهش داشت (05/0

Molecular screening of SARS‐CoV‐2 in dogs and cats from households with infected owners diagnosed with COVID‐19 during Delta and Omicron variant waves in Iran

Abstract Objective The emergence of SARS‐CoV‐2 infection in dogs and cats in different countries worldwide raises concerns that pets are at a higher risk for spreading or transmitting of SARS‐CoV‐2 to humans and other pets and increased the research works about the zoonotic aspects and natural routes of infection in companion animals. The current study aimed to detect the SARS‐CoV‐2 in household dogs and cats living with COVID‐19 positive owners. Methods Deep oropharyngeal and rectal swabs were collected from 30 household pets (20 cats and 10 dogs) living with COVID‐19 positive owners from April 2021 to 2022 in Kerman, Iran. All dogs’ and cats’ samples were tested by real‐time reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction for detection of SARS‐CoV‐2. Results Two household cats out of 20 examined (10%) were positive for SARS‐CoV‐2, whereas none of the examined dogs were positive for SARS‐CoV‐2. The two cats positive for SARS‐CoV‐2 were symptomatic and suffered from severe anorexia with maximum contact with their infected owners. Conclusion This study reported the presence of SARS‐CoV‐2 in household cats in close contact with COVID‐19 positive owners during the circulation of new SARS‐CoV‐2 variants (Delta and Omicron) in Iran and suggested that the transmission may have occurred from owners to their cats. Therefore, infected owners should eagerly limit close contact with their pets during COVID‐19 illness