Effects of feeding dry glycerol on milk production, nutrients digestibility and blood components in primiparous Holstein dairy cows during the early postpartum period

The aim of this study was to evaluate the glucogenic property of glycerol supplementation in the dairy cow’s diet. Sixty primiparous cows (control, n=30, and glycerol supplemented, n=30) were used to measure milk yield and components, blood hormone and metabolite profiles, and body condition score. Feed intake and apparent total-tract digestibility were also measured using 10 primiparous cows (control, n=5, and glycerol supplemented, n=5). Dry glycerol was top dressed at 250 g/day/cow from parturition to 21 days postpartum. Average feed intake, milk yield and components were not affected by glycerol supplementation. Apparent total–tract digestibility of organic matter and neutral detergent fibre were not influenced by dry glycerol supplementation, but lipid digestibility was greater (p=0.01) in cows fed glycerol. The serum concentration of glucose and insulin tended to be higher in dry glycerol-supplemented cows (p=0.1; p=0.06, respectively). While, serum concentrations of nonesterified fatty acids and β-hydroxybutyrate were not affected. Supplemented cows had lower body condition loss during weeks 1 to 5 after calving (p=0.09). The glucogenic effect of glycerol did not affect milk yield during the first 3 weeks of lactation. However, daily milk yield during the 13 weeks recording period was higher in the glycerol-supplemented cows (28.5 vs. 30.3 kg, p<0.001). Percentages of cows cycling at the planned breeding date was greater (p=0.01) for cows fed dry glycerol. The results demonstrated that feeding dry glycerol as a glucogenic supply could be useful in saving body reserves and improving energy balance of primiparous Holstein dairy cows during the early postpartum period

Radiological protection in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs): a retrospective and observational audit at two teaching hospitals

Introduction: Portable chest and abdomen x-rays are the most common x-ray procedures performed during hospitalization in the Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICUs). These x-rays contribute to radiation exposure to several radiosensitive tissues, causing increased concerns about patients’ safety. This study aims to assess the status of radiological protection in the NICUs at two teaching hospitals supervised by Dezful University of Medical Sciences (DUMS), Dezful, Iran. Methods: A retrospective and observational study was performed at two teaching hospitals of DUMS comprising three NICUs. Six radiologic technology students were invited and agreed to participate in this audit. The students were asked to attend as observers in the NICUs and record the radiation safety principle observances specified in the checklist. We also supplemented data from an observational study with a retrospective survey of the images at the picture archiving and communication system (PACS) database. Results: 230 neonatal chest and abdomen x-rays from 65 hospitalized neonates were investigated during 57 work shifts in the observational survey. In all, 90.1%, 80% and 13% of the chest, abdomen and chest/abdomen x-rays had unsatisfactory beam restriction, respectively. The protective shielding tools were available; however, they were not commonly applied to the patients. Most of the personnel used fixed exposure parameters of 42 kVp and 3.2 mAs. In the retrospective study, 498 portable x-rays were retrieved from the PACS database, in which only 17.5% and 0.4% of images have adequate beam restriction and evidence of shielding, respectively. Conclusion: Our study is commensurate with previous literature and emphasizes that neonates in the investigated hospitals are receiving avoidable excessive radiation exposure, mainly due to inappropriate beam restriction

Screening of the aerodynamic and biophysical properties of barley malt

An understanding of the aerodynamic and biophysical properties of barley malt is necessary for the appropriate design of equipment for the handling, shipping, dehydration, grading, sorting and warehousing of this strategic crop. Malting is a complex biotechnological process that includes steeping; ger-mination and finally, the dehydration of cereal grains under controlled temperature and humidity conditions. In this investigation, the biophysical properties of barley malt were predicted using two models of artificial neural networks as well as response surface methodology. Stepping time and germination time were selected as the independent variables and 1 000 kernel weight, kernel density and terminal velocity were selected as the depen-dent variables (responses). The obtained outcomes showed that the artificial neural network model, with a logarithmic sigmoid activation function, presents more precise results than the response surface model in the prediction of the aerodynamic and biophysical properties of produced barley malt. This model presented the best result with 8 nodes in the hidden layer and significant correlation coefficient values of 0.783, 0.767 and 0.991 were obtained for responses one thousand kernel weight, kernel density, and terminal velocity, respectively. The outcomes indicated that this novel technique could be successfully applied in quantitative and qualitative monitoring within the malting process

Poor mental health status and aggression are associated with poor driving behavior among male traffic offenders

In Iran, traffic accidents and deaths from traffic accidents are among the highest in the world, and generally driver behavior rather than either technical failures or environmental conditions are responsible for traffic accidents. In the present study, we explored the extent to which aggressive traits, health status, and sociodemographic variables explain driving behavior among Iranian male traffic offenders.; A total of 443 male driving offenders (mean age: M =31.40 years, standard deviation =9.56) from Kermanshah (Iran) took part in the study. Participants completed a questionnaire booklet covering sociodemographic variables, traits of aggression, health status, and driving behavior.; Poor health status, such as symptoms of depression, anxiety, insomnia, and social dysfunction, and also higher levels of trait aggression explained poor driving behavior. Multiple regressions indicated that poor health status, but not aggression, independently predicted poor driving behavior.; Results suggest that health status concerns are associated with poor driving behavior. Prevention and intervention might therefore focus on drivers reporting poor mental health status

The Farsi version of the Juvenile Arthritis Multidimensional Assessment Report (JAMAR)

The Juvenile Arthritis Multidimensional Assessment Report (JAMAR) is a new parent/patient reported outcome measure that enables a thorough assessment of the disease status in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). We report the results of the cross-cultural adaptation and validation of the parent and patient versions of the JAMAR in the Farsi language. The reading comprehension of the questionnaire was tested in 10 JIA parents and patients. Each participating centre was asked to collect demographic, clinical data and the JAMAR in 100 consecutive JIA patients or all consecutive patients seen in a 6-month period and to administer the JAMAR to 100 healthy children and their parents. The statistical validation phase explored descriptive statistics and the psychometric issues of the JAMAR: the three Likert assumptions, floor/ceiling effects, internal consistency, Cronbach\u2019s alpha, interscale correlations, test\u2013retest reliability, and construct validity (convergent and discriminant validity). A total of 102 JIA patients (14.7% systemic JIA, 67.6% oligoarticular, 15.7% RF negative polyarthritis, 2.0% other categories) and 198 healthy children, were enrolled in three paediatric rheumatology centres. Notably, none of the enrolled JIA patients is affected with enthesitis-related arthritis or undifferentiated arthritis. The JAMAR components discriminated healthy subjects from JIA patients. All JAMAR components revealed satisfactory psychometric performances. In conclusion, the Farsi version of the JAMAR is a valid tool for the assessment of children with JIA and is suitable for use both in routine clinical practice and clinical research

Mental health status, aggression, and poor driving distinguish traffic offenders from non-offenders but health status predicts driving behavior in both groups

In Iran, traffic accidents and deaths from traffic accidents are among the highest in the world, and generally, driver behavior rather than technical failures or environmental conditions are responsible for traffic accidents. In a previous study, we showed that among young Iranian male traffic offenders, poor mental health status, along with aggression, predicted poor driving behavior. The aims of the present study were twofold, to determine whether this pattern could be replicated among non-traffic offenders, and to compare the mental health status, aggression, and driving behavior of male traffic offenders and non-offenders.; A total of 850 male drivers (mean age =34.25 years, standard deviation =10.44) from Kermanshah (Iran) took part in the study. Of these, 443 were offenders (52.1%) and 407 (47.9%) were non-offenders with lowest driving penalty scores applying for attaining an international driving license. Participants completed a questionnaire booklet covering socio-demographic variables, traits of aggression, health status, and driving behavior.; Compared to non-offenders, offenders reported higher aggression, poorer mental health status, and worse driving behavior. Among non-offenders, multiple regression indicated that poor health status, but not aggression, independently predicted poor driving behavior.; Compared to non-offenders, offenders reported higher aggression, poorer health status and driving behavior. Further, the predictive power of poorer mental health status, but not aggression, for driving behavior was replicated for male non-offenders

Mental health status, aggression, and poor driving distinguish traffic offenders from non-offenders but health status predicts driving behavior in both groups

BACKGROUND: In Iran, traffic accidents and deaths from traffic accidents are among the highest in the world, and generally, driver behavior rather than technical failures or environmental conditions are responsible for traffic accidents. In a previous study, we showed that among young Iranian male traffic offenders, poor mental health status, along with aggression, predicted poor driving behavior. The aims of the present study were twofold, to determine whether this pattern could be replicated among non-traffic offenders, and to compare the mental health status, aggression, and driving behavior of male traffic offenders and non-offenders. METHODS: A total of 850 male drivers (mean age =34.25 years, standard deviation =10.44) from Kermanshah (Iran) took part in the study. Of these, 443 were offenders (52.1%) and 407 (47.9%) were non-offenders with lowest driving penalty scores applying for attaining an international driving license. Participants completed a questionnaire booklet covering socio-demographic variables, traits of aggression, health status, and driving behavior. RESULTS: Compared to non-offenders, offenders reported higher aggression, poorer mental health status, and worse driving behavior. Among non-offenders, multiple regression indicated that poor health status, but not aggression, independently predicted poor driving behavior. CONCLUSION: Compared to non-offenders, offenders reported higher aggression, poorer health status and driving behavior. Further, the predictive power of poorer mental health status, but not aggression, for driving behavior was replicated for male non-offenders

Fungal contamination of indoor public swimming pools and their dominant physical and chemical properties

Introduction: Considering to the existence of both parasitic and fungal pathogens in the indoor public swimming pools and non-utilization of suitable filtration and disinfection systems in these places, this research aimed to determine the relationship between the indoor public swimming pools and possible pollution with parasitic and fungal agents, as well as physical and chemical characteristics of these pools and compare the results with national standards. Methods: In this study, 11 active indoor swimming pools of Zahedan city were sampled, using plastic pumps techniques, at the middle of winter to the late summer season. A total of 88 water samples (eight water samples from each pool) were examined to determine the residual chlorine, contamination with parasitic and fungal agents, using culture media and slide culture techniques. Results were analyzed with SPSS software (V16) and, Microsoft Excel (V2010). Results: The findings revealed parasitic fungal contamination with Cladosporium, Penicillium, Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus fumigatus, etc. and the physicochemical factors comply with the minimum standards had which indicates the need for continuous monitoring and control of water filtration and disinfection of water is swimming. Conclusion: The results show reasonable derangement of physicochemical and microbial factors of the evaluated pools. Efforts shall be made by the concerned authorities to provide health education to users, quality water at the pools and to maintain the safety and quality of the water through proper and adequate chlorination

Auto Calibration and Optimization of Large-Scale Water Resources Systems

Water resource systems modelling have constantly been a challenge through history for human being. As the innovative methodological development is evolving alongside computer sciences on one hand, researches are likely to confront more complex and larger water resources systems due to new challenges regarding increased water demands, climate change and human interventions, socio-economic concerns, and environment protection and sustainability. In this research, an automatic calibration scheme has been applied on the Gilan's large-scale water resource model using mathematical programming. The water resource model's calibration is developed in order to attune unknown water return flows from demand sites in the complex Sefidroud irrigation network and other related areas. The calibration procedure is validated by comparing several gauged river outflows from the system in the past with model results. The calibration results are pleasantly reasonable presenting a rational insight of the system. Subsequently, the unknown optimized parameters were used in a basin-scale linear optimization model with the ability to evaluate the system's performance against a reduced inflow scenario in future. Results showed an acceptable match between predicted and observed outflows from the system at selected hydrometric stations. Moreover, an efficient operating policy was determined for Sefidroud dam leading to a minimum water shortage in the reduced inflow scenario