A critical study of Taha Hussein’s reading on Ibn Khaldun’s thoughts (Ibn Khaldun, A Modern Sociologist or an Ashari thinker?)

The present work aims to study and critically analyse Taha Hussein’s reading on Ibn Khaldun’s thoughts. To this end, by employing the documentary and historical methods, we give a comprehensive review and analysis of the Taha Hussein’s readings on Ibn Khaldun’s contemplations. Furthermore, we evaluate and criticize Taha Hussein’s account of Ibn Khaldun based on the theoretical, social and intellectual backgrounds of both. It is argued that Taha Hussein has carried out his critiques from his modern and positivistic point of view, while Ibn Khaldun had been highly influenced by the Ashari tradition atmosphere of his time which comprises a completely distinguished idea on society, history, causality, etc., than the modern one. Consequently, our analysis leads to the conclusion that Taha Hussein’s critiques dismiss Ibn Khaldun's distinctive social and intellectual backgrounds and hence in many cases appear to be arguably imprecise and incorrect. In other words, Ibn Khaldun’s works and thoughts have to be read and perceived based on his own Ashari worldview

Health literacy and its influencing factors in Iranian diabetic patients

Acknowledgements We would like to present our special thanks to all participants of this study. This study was supported by the Institute of Endocrinology and Metabolism (IEM) in Iran University of Medical Sciences.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Borna disease virus (BDV) infection in psychiatric patients and healthy controls in Iran

Background Borna disease virus (BDV) is an evolutionary old RNA virus, which infects brain and blood cells of humans, their primate ancestors, and other mammals. Human infection has been correlated to mood disorders and schizophrenia, but the impact of BDV on mental-health still remains controversial due to poor methodological and cross-national comparability. Method This first report from the Middle East aimed to determine BDV infection prevalence in Iranian acute psychiatric disorder patients and healthy controls through circulating immune complexes (CIC), antibodies (Ab) and antigen (pAg) in blood plasma using a standardized triple enzyme immune assay (EIA). Samples of 314 subjects (114 psychiatric cases, 69 blood donors, and 131 healthy controls) were assayed and data analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively. Results CICs revealed a BDV prevalence of one third (29.5%) in healthy Iranian controls (27.5% controls; 33.3% blood donors). In psychiatric patients CIC prevalence was higher than in controls (40.4%) and significantly correlating with bipolar patients exhibiting overt clinical symptoms (p = 0.005, OR = 1.65). CIC values were significantly elevated in bipolar (p = 0.001) and major depressive disorder (p = 0.029) patients as compared to controls, and in females compared to males (p = 0.031). Conclusion This study supports a similarly high prevalence of subclinical human BDV infections in Iran as reported for central Europe, and provides again an indication for the correlation of BDV infection and mood disorders. Further studies should address the morbidity risk for healthy carriers and those with elevated CIC levels, along with gender disparities

catena-Poly[[bis­(pyrazine-2-carbox­amide-κN 4)mercury(II)]-di-μ-bromido]

In the crystal structure of the title compound, [HgBr2(C5H5N3O)2]n, the HgII cation is located on an inversion center and is coordinated by two N atoms from the pyrazine rings and four bridging Br− anions in a distorted octa­hedral geometry. The Br− anions bridge the HgII cations with significantly different Hg—Br bond distances of 2.4775 (8) and 3.1122 (8) Å, forming polymeric chains running along the a axis. Inter­molecular N—H⋯O and N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds are effective in the stabilization of the crystal structure

catena-Poly[[bis­(pyrazine-2-carbox­amide)mercury(II)]-di-μ-chlorido]

In the polymeric title compound, [HgCl2(C5H5N3O)2]n, the HgII atom (site symmetry ) adopts a distorted trans-HgN2Cl4 octa­hedral coordination geometry. In the crystal, adjacent mercury ions are bridged by pairs of chloride ions, generating infinite [100] chains, and N—H⋯O and N—H⋯(N,N) hydrogen bonds help to consolidate the packing

2-Phenyl-1H-imidazole

In the title compound, C9H8N2, a mirror plane lies perpendicular to the phenyl and imidazole rings and passes through the bridging C—C bond, so that the imidazole ring is disordered over two sites about the mirror plane with the equal site occupancy; the asymmetric unit contains one half-mol­ecule. In the crystal, adjacent mol­ecules are linked via N—H⋯N hydrogen bonds

The prevalence of polycystic ovary syndrome in adolescents: A systematic review and meta-analysis

Background: Polycystic ovarian syndrome is an endocrine disorder with many complications. This syndrome is a growing concern among adolescents around the world, with varying reports of its prevalence in different parts of the world. Objective: This study aimed to determine the prevalence of polycystic ovary syndrome in adolescents by a systematic review and meta-analysis. Materials and Methods: In this study, a search for published articles with an English language limitation and without a time limit was done in different databases (Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science, Emabse and Cochrane) in January 2019. The 12 studies that met the criteria for entering a qualitative assessment scale of 5 and higher were subjected to systematic review and meta-analysis. Egger and Begg’s tests were used to check the publication bias. Data were analyzed with STATA software, version 11.1. Results: Twelve studies were included for meta-analysis. The total number of participants in the study was 149,477. The average quality score of all studies was 8.67 (range: 5–10). The prevalence of polycystic ovarian syndrome in adolescents based on the Rotterdam criteria was 11.04% (95% CI: 6.84–16.09%), based on the National Institute of Health criteria, it was 3.39% (95% CI: 0.28–9.54%), and based on Androgen Excess and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome Society, it was 8.03% (95% CI: 6.24–10.01%). Conclusion: The result of this study showed that there is a variation in the prevalence of PCOS in adolescents based on different criteria; we suggest more community-based studies among adolescences in different parts of the world

Estimation and prediction of avoidable health care costs of cardiovascular diseases and type 2 diabetes through adequate dairy food consumption: a systematic review and micro simulation modeling study

Background: Recent evidence from prospective cohort studies show a relationship between consumption of dairy foods and cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). This association highlights the importance of dairy foods consumption in prevention of these diseases and also reduction of associated healthcare costs. The aim of this study was to estimate avoidable healthcare costs of CVD and T2D through adequate dairy foods consumption in Iran. Methods: This was a multistage modelling study. We conducted a systematic literature review in PubMed and EMBASE to identify any association between incidence of CVD and T2DM and dairy foods intake, and also associated relative risks. We obtained age- and sex-specific dairy foods consumption level and healthcare expenditures from national surveys and studies. Patient level simulation Markov models were constructed to predict the disease incidence, patient population size and associated healthcare costs for current and optimal dairy foods consumption at different time horizons (1, 5, 10 and 20 years). All parameters including costs and transition probabilities were defined as statistical distributions in the models, and all analyses were conducted by accounting for first and second order uncertainty. Results: The systematic review results indicated that dairy foods consumption was inversely associated with incidence of T2DM, coronary heart disease (CHD) and stroke. We estimated that the introduction of a diet containing 3 servings of dairy foods per day may produce a $0.43 saving in annual per capita healthcare costs in Iran in the first year due to saving in cost of CVD and T2DM treatment. The estimated savings in per capita healthcare costs were$8.42, $39.97 and$190.25 in 5, 10 and 20-years’ time, respectively. Corresponding total aggregated avoidable costs for the entire Iranian population within the study time horizons were $33.83,$661.31, $3,138.21 and$14,934.63 million, respectively. Conclusion: Our analysis demonstrated that increasing dairy foods consumption to recommended levels would be associated with reductions in healthcare costs. Further randomized trial studies are required to investigate the effect of dairy foods intake on cost of CVD and T2DM in the population

The possibility production of food pellets for common carp (Cyprinus carpio) in the rearing stage with emphasis on attractiveness and strength

This study was to investigate the possibility of pellet production for grow out common carp considering attractiveness and stability of the pellets. The experiment consisted of two periods and was conducted at the Caspian Sea ecology research center in 2011 and 2012. In period one, two types of pellet with similar protein level (31%) and different energy contents (3000 and 3500 cal/g) were formulated by the ingredients used in fish feed industry. In period two, 316 juvenile carp with initial weight of 27.9g were assigned randomly to 9 fiberglass tanks (4×4×1 m), with three replicates for each treatment. The fish were fed by three diets throughout the eight weeks study, two diets were formulated in the current study and third one was a commercial carp diet with 25% protein. The results showed that feeding with diet containing 31% protein and 3500 cal/g energy led to a feed conversion ratio of 3, but this value was recorded 1.9 for commercial diet. The type of diets was also influenced (P<0.05) average final weight of the fish. Fish fed diet containing 31% protein and 3500 cal/g energy showed largest weight gain and this value was significantly different from the other treatments. Pellet stability test showed that commercial pellet water stability was 3 min, but this value for the two formulated pellet were 12 min. There was a highly significant difference for water stability between the commercial pellet and the formulated pellet. The result suggests that the formulated pellet in the current study can be easily replaced by commercial pellet

Comparison of Psychopathologic Characteristics between Individuals Undergoing Methadone Maintenance Treatment, Opioid Dependents, and Control Group

Background: Methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) can theoretically reduce the psychosocial harms of opioid dependency. The increasing number of MMT clinics in Iran during the last two decades was not accompanied by a reduction in addiction rates. Therefore, this study was conducted to compare the psychopathological characteristics of individuals on MMT, opioid dependents, and a control group in the Iranian population. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Mashhad to evaluate the psychopathological profile of 99 participants (33 opioid-dependent individuals [ODI], 33 MMT clients, and 33 controls) using the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R) questionnaire and demographic form. Parametric and non-parametric tests were used to compare the mean score of symptoms between the three groups. The Spearman correlation test was used to test the correlation of psychological features with age anddependency duration.  Findings: There was no significant difference between MMT clients and ODI regarding the Global Severity Index (GSI) and nine items of the SCL-90-R questionnaire. However, a significant difference was found between the controls and two other groups (P<0.001). Paranoid ideation in the ODI was more frequent compared to MMT clients significantly (P=0.015). Psychological characteristics had a direct correlation with dependency duration and an inverse correlation with age (P<0.05). Conclusion: Psychopathologic features observed in the dependent patients and MMT clients were significantly higher than in the control group. It seems that the psychopathology profile in MMT clients was not better than dependent individuals in Ira