Psychometric properties of Persian version of the multifactor leadership questionnaire (MLQ)

Background: Outstanding leadership is one of the important and vital concepts in management and educational leadership debates especially in educational organizations such as universities. Thus, effective educational leadership and adopting an appropriate tool to assess leadership in education are crucial in these institutions. The present study was conducted to develop an instrument for measuring the leadership style in faculty members. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, content and face validity of Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ) was examined using the opinions of 10 experienced faculty members as a panel of experts. For construct validity, 210 questionnaires were administered to faculty members of Tehran University of Medical Sciences. Confirmatory factor analysis was run using principal component analysis and Varimax rotation method. The reliability of the scale was measured through internal consistency using Cronbach's alpha formula. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to examine the construct validity of the questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS v.16 and LISREL software. Results: Factor analysis and expert opinion resulted in a questionnaire with 18 items across six subscales including idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, individualized consideration, contingent reward, and management by exception. The reliability coefficient of the questionnaire was acceptable (0.90). Confirmatory factor analysis showed that the scale had appropriate goodness of fit. Conclusion: The 18-item Educational Leadership Questionnaire was found to have acceptable validity and reliability for measuring leadership style in the faculty. It is recommended that the questionnaire be administered to a larger sample

Date-Driven Approach for Identifying State of Hemodialysis Fistulas: Entropy-Complexity and Formal Concept Analysis

The paper explores mathematical methods that differentiate regular and chaotic time series, specifically for identifying pathological fistulas. It proposes a noise-resistant method for classifying responding rows of normally and pathologically functioning fistulas. This approach is grounded in the hypothesis that laminar blood flow signifies normal function, while turbulent flow indicates pathology. The study explores two distinct methods for distinguishing chaotic from regular time series. The first method involves mapping the time series onto the entropy-complexity plane and subsequently comparing it to established clusters. The second method, introduced by the authors, constructs a concepts-objects graph using formal concept analysis. Both of these methods exhibit high efficiency in determining the state of the fistula.Comment: Accepted in AIST-2023 conference. Yerevan, Armeni

The effect of magnesium on bioactivity, rheology and biology behaviors of injectable bioactive glass-gelatin-3-glycidyloxypropyl trimethoxysilane nanocomposite-paste for small bone defects repair

Injectable bioactive glass-based pastes represent promising biomaterials to fill small bone defects thus improving and speed up the self-healing process. Accordingly, injectable nanocomposite pastes based on bioactive glass-gelatin-3-glycidyloxypropyl trimethoxysilane (GPTMS) were here synthesized via two different glasses 64SiO2. 27CaO. 4MgO. 5P2O5 (mol.%) and 64SiO2.31CaO. 5P2O5 (mol.%). In particular, the effects of MgO on bioactivity, rheology, injectability, disintegration resistance, compressive strength and cellular behaviors were investigated. The results showed that the disintegration resistance and compressive strength of the composite were improved by the replacement of MgO; thus, leading to an increase in the amount of storage modulus (G′) from 26800 to 43400 Pa, equal to an increase in the viscosity of the paste from 136 × 103 to 219 × 103 Pa s. Since the release rate of ions became more controllable, the formation of calcite was decreased after immersion of the Mg bearing samples in the SBF solution. Specimens’ cytocompatibility was firstly verified towards human osteoblasts by metabolic assay as well as visually confirmed by the fluorescent live/dead staining; finally, the ability of human fibroblasts to penetrate within the pores of 3D composites was verified by a migration assay simulating the devices repopulation upon injection in the injured site

The effect of LINC01296 expression in patients with cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Recently has been suggested that LINC01296 has an important role in tumor-promoting in different malignancies. We performed first meta-analysis to assess the association between the LINC01296 expression and clinicopathological criteria and the survival of patients with cancers. Methods: Relevant articles Identified by PubMed, EMBASE, Web of Science, and Scopus searching between December 2000 and 28 December 2018. Binomial data were evaluated by the odds ratio (OR) as the rapid statistic. The association between overall survival (OS) and the LINC01296 expression was evaluated using pooling the hazard ratio (HR) with its corresponding 95 confidence interval (CI). Results: Finally, 9 studies with 720 patients with cancer were included. The expression of LINC01296 showed a significant positive association with TNM stage (OR = 2.67, 95 CI = 1.83-3.88), tumor stage (OR= 2.22, 95 CI= 1.34-3.66) and lymph node metastasis (OR = 3.07, 95 CI = 2.23-4.21). A shorter OS was significantly associated with the expression of LINC01296 (HR = 3.95, 95 CI = 2.65-5.25) and lymph node metastasis (HR = 2.39, 95 CI =1.16-3.63). The OS did not show significant association with gender (HR = 0.83, 95 CI =-0.63-2.30) and tumor stage (HR= 2.66, 95 CI=-0.22-5.54). Conclusion: In conclusion, the results of this meta-analysis suggest that the expression of LINC01296 might be considered as a potential biomarker in patients with cancer. © 2020 Asian Pacific Organization for Cancer Prevention

Different effects of aerobic exercise and diaphragmatic breathing on lower esophageal sphincter pressure and quality of life in patients with reflux: A comparative study

BACKGROUND Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is a worldwide disorder with an increasing prevalence. The quality of life (QOL) of the patients may be influenced by reflux disease. Diaphragmatic breathing (DB), as well as aerobic exercise (AE), may improve the symptoms of reflux disease, although it remains a controversial issue. The aim of this study was to compare the effects of AE and DB on QOL and lower esophageal sphincter (LES) pressure of patients with moderate to severe reflux. METHODS This was a case-control study that was conducted for 8 weeks among patients with moderate to severe GERD. The block randomization method was designed to randomize patients into three groups (AE, DB, and control) to achieve equal sample sizes. The control group received omeprazole 20 mg once daily. The other groups, in addition to omeprazole, received AE and DB. QOL and LES pressure were measured before and after the study by Questionary and Manometry method, respectively. RESULTS 75 patients were enrolled in this study. Positive effects of DB on LES pressure was approved (p = 0.001). DB had significantly more effects on QOL than aerobic exercise (p = 0.003). AE can significantly improve QOL in patients (p = 0.02) but no significant change in LES pressure (p = 0.38). There was no change in the control group for both variables. CONCLUSION AE had no effects on LES pressure but can improve QOL of the patients. DB had more effects on QOL than AE, so injured or disable patients with reflux who cannot do AE, can benefit from DB to improve their reflux symptoms. © 2021 The Author(s)

Mdscs in Infectious diseases: regulation, roles, and readjustment

Many pathogens, ranging from viruses to multicellular parasites, promote expansion of MDSCs, which are myeloid cells that exhibit immunosuppressive features. The roles of MDSCs in infection depend on the class and virulence mechanisms of the pathogen, the stage of the disease, and the pathology associated with the infection. This work compiles evidence supported by functional assays on the roles of different subsets of MDSCs in acute and chronic infections, including pathogen-associated malignancies, and discusses strategies to modulate MDSC dynamics to benefit the host

Investigation of the peroxide value of oils used in bistros (West of Iran)

Abstract Frying food is one of the most admired methods to make instant cuisine among people because of its taste and color, as well as the crispy texture creation. Hydrogen peroxide which is the result of frying, causes various diseases, including cancer, atherosclerosis, cardiac and cerebral ischemia, aging and liver disorders. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the amount of peroxide in the oils used in bistros in western Iran. This descriptive cross-sectional study carried out in the restaurants in western Iran. In this study, 81 samples of consumable oils gathered according to the standard of 493 Iranian Institute of Standards and Industrial Research. After transferring the samples to the laboratory, there peroxide value was measured according to the standard number 4179 and data was entered in Excel and SPSS version 16 for further analyses. Out of 81 samples, 59% (48 samples) from consumable samples at the standard level and 41% (33 samples) of the non-consumable samples higher than the standard rate of the Institute of Standards and Industrial Research of Iran. While cooking, the consumable oil average peroxide value was 5.72, without a night and day breakdown (in general). In addition, the lowest and highest peroxide oxidation was 0 and 29 mEq/kg. According to Mann-Whitney test, there was no significant difference between the amounts of peroxide in consumable oils. Some evidence shows the non-compliance with hygiene issues that are related to oil consumption. This requires more supervision and continuous sampling and testing. © 2018, Advanced Scientific Research. All rights reserved

The association between ATM variants and risk of breast cancer: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Ataxia telangiectasia-mutated (ATM) gene contributes to repair damaged DNA and to regulate cell cycle; therefore, ATM variants seem to increase breast cancer risk; however, the results are controversial. So we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to clarify the pooled association between various ATM variants and the risk of breast cancer. Methods: The relevant studies were searched through Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed and Cochrane. Stratified and subgroup analyses were performed to explore heterogeneity between studies and assess effects of study quality. The pooled estimates logarithm with standard error logarithm of odds ratio and relative risk with confidence interval were calculated. Results: This study revealed that there is association between ATM variants and the risk of breast cancer; according to the seven adjusted case-control studies, OR of this association was estimated as 1.67 (95CI: 0.73�3.82), according to nine unadjusted case-control studies, the crude OR was 2.27 (95 CI: 1.17�4.40) and according to two cohorts, the RR was estimated as 1.68 (95 CI: 1.17�2.40). Conclusions: The ATM variants are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer that ATM V2424G mutation is detected as the most predisposing factor while ATM D1853V, L546V, and S707P variants have the least predictive ability. © 2021, The Author(s)