The impact of customer assisted knowledge production capacity on customer capital in a knowledge-based center

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to investigate the impact of customer-assisted knowledge production capacity on customer capital. Research methodology: The statistical population of the study consisted of 70 managers, researchers and experts of a scientific center and the statistical sample was counted and estimated 70 persons. The research instrument of the researcher-made questionnaire consists of six dimensions: ability to identify customer needs, create and manage a customer information system, customer loyalty, market share, customer service capability and target customer identification. The validity of the questionnaire was estimated 0.94%. Results: The results show that the impact of customer knowledge production capacity on all dimensions of customer capital is significant. Also, most influential among customer capital factors is customer service capability. Finally, by confirming the research hypotheses, suggestions were made based on the results of the research to improve the client's capital of the statistical society. Limitation: This research only described Knowledge Based Center. Contribution: Organizations realized that relying on existing knowledge alone was not enough to compete in a competitive environment, and went beyond the boundaries of their organization to acquire knowledge. Organizations considered customers as a very useful and knowledgeable resource, and activities should be done to interact with customers in leading organizations. Keywords: Customer assisted knowledge production capacity, Customer capital, Intellectual capital, Knowledge managemen

Employing data mining to explore association rules in drug addicts

Drug addiction is a major social, economic, and hygienic challenge that impacts on all the community and needs serious threat. Available treatments are successful only in short-term unless underlying reasons making individuals prone to the phenomenon are not investigated. Nowadays, there are some treatment centers which have comprehensive information about addicted people. Therefore, given the huge data sources, data mining can be used to explore knowledge implicit in them, their results can be employed as a knowledge base of decision support systems to make decisions regarding addiction prevention and treatment. We studied participants of such clinics including 471 participants, where 86.2% were male and 13.8% were female. The study aimed to extract rules from the collected data by using association models. Results can be used by rehab clinics to give more knowledge regarding relationships between various parameters and help them for better and more effective treatments. E.g. according to the findings of the study, there is a relationship between individual characteristics and LSD abuse, individual characteristics, the kind of narcotics taken, and committing crimes, family history of drug addiction and family member drug addiction

Status of soluble ST2 levels in serum of HTLV-1 infected individuals

ST2 is a member of IL-1 receptor family expressed on Th2 cells and regulates Th2 responces. The gene of ST2 encodes soluble ST2 (sST2) and the transmembrane ST2 (ST2L) isoforms through alternative mRNA splicing. The discovery of IL33/ ST2 signaling pathway, has drawn a great scientific attention to this system. sST2 has been shown to be an indacating factor in various infl ammatory conditions. This study aims to evaluate serum sST2 levels in HTLV-1 infected patients. This study included 49 HTLV-1 seropositive cases of which 14 were sympthomatic. Controls consisted of 30 healthy volunteers. sST2 level was measured using a quantitative ELISA assay and the results of the study groups were compared. Corroborating the previous reports, sST2 was lower in females (P = 0.003). The sST2 levels was slightly increased in HTLV-1 patients, though such increase was not statistically significant (P = 0.91), in addition sST2 level did not correlate significantly to the disease duration (P = 0.78). Despite some other chronic viral infection, HTLV-1 seems not to induce high serum sST2. However owing to relatively high normal variation of sST2 levels and rather small sample size, we stongly recommend further reseach with preferably larger sample size to evalute sST2 in HTLV-1 infected patients

Effect of Rheum Ribes Hydro-Alcoholic Extract on Memory Impairments in Rat Model of Alzheimer's Disease.

Some animal models have been used to study Alzheimer's disease (AD). AD is an irreversible progressive neurodegenerative disease and the most common cause of dementia. Animal studies have shown that there is a relation between decrease in cholinergic functions in the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) and loss of learning capability and memory. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Rheum ribes extract (RR) on memory deficit in one of the rat models of AD. Plant (1500gr) was collected from Saman (kahkesh) region of Chaharmahal Va Bakhtiari province in Iran. RR hydro-alcoholic extracts were prepared using maceration method. Rat model of Alzheimer was induced by Nucleus Basalis of Meynert lesions (NBML). Animals (n = 32) received extracts for 20 days and then passive avoidance and Morris water maze tasks were performed for memory evaluation. FRAP and HPLC methods were used for measurement of the antioxidant and Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in blood. In water maze experiment, probe trial results showed that NBML group spent significantly less time in target quadrant, in which the platform was located on the preceding day. In addition, the time spent in target quadrant was significantly increased in NBML + RR groups (250 and 500 mg/kg) compared to the NBML group. In passive avoidance task, mean initial latency time and step-though latency were significantly decreased in NBML group. RR extracts significantly prolonged step-through latency in NBML + RR groups. Results of this study suggest that Rheum ribes extracts can improve memory deficits induced by bilateral NBM lesions in rats

Investigation of Epidemiological, Anatomical, and Risk Factors of the Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm and Dissection, in Mazandaran Heart Center

AbstractBackground: Aortic aneurysm is one of the most common cardiovascular diseases that can lead to numerous challenges for patients. The mortality rate of ruptured Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm (TAA) is observed to be high. In order to reduce this high rate, appropriate methods to diagnose TAA as well as its useful and aggravating factors are to be developed and/or identified. The objective of this study is the evaluation of the thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection, in Mazandaran Heart Center.Method: This cross-sectional study with a census design was performed on all patients with thoracic aortic aneurysm and dissection who have undergone aneurysm surgery, from December 2010 to January 2019. Patients’ information was extracted from their medical records archive. SPSS 16.0 was used for statistical analysis.Result: From 53 patients with a thoracic aortic aneurysm, 77.4% were male. The mean age of patients was 59.70±12.07 years. 21 (39.6%) patients were more than or equal to 60 years old, while the remaining 32 (60.4%) were less than 60 years of age. The overall mortality rate was 11.3%. The mean aortic diameter of the patients was 5.42 cm. All patients had type A dissection. In other words, type B was not seen.Conclusion: Given the high prevalence and high mortality rate of thoracic aortic aneurysm, early screening can be beneficial and can increase the survival rate of patients. Laboratory and pathologic findings, along with clinical findings, can be very beneficial in early diagnosis.Keywords: Aneurysm aorta; thoracic aortic aneurysm; aneurysm dissection; risk facto

Association between Rotavirus Infection and Irritable Bowel Syndrome: A Case-control Study in Kerman - Iran

Background: Irritable bowel syndrome is a functional gastrointestinal disease of unknown etiology. Researchers have recently drawn attention to the possible role of viruses in the development of IBS and provided evidence in this regard. In this study, it was decided to investigate the possible role of rotavirus infection in the onset of IBS.Methods: Stool and serum samples were collected from 40 patients with IBS and 40 healthy individuals. To evaluate the previous exposure to rotavirus we checked the presence and concentration of anti-rotavirus IgG by ELISA. ELISA test was performed on the serum samples. Real-time PCR test was also used to measure the viral load in the stool. Finally, the data were analyzed by SPSS-22 software.Results: No significant relationship was found between anti-rotavirus IgG presence and Level in the serum of case and healthy individuals (p-value > 0.05) . Moreover, there was no significant difference between the viral genome load in the stool samples of the two groups (p-value > 0.05).Conclusion: According to the results, it seems unlikely that a link exists between rotavirus infection and the onset of irritable bowel syndrome, but the possible role of other gastrointestinal viruses, including coronavirus, remains

Identifying the Challenges of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran, in Achieving the Goals of Iran’s Health Scientific Road Map and Providing Strategies

Background & Objective: After preparing the health scientific road map, universities of medical sciences should play their role in this regard. This study aimed to identify the main challenges of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Iran, in achieving the goals of the health scientific road map. Methods: This study was conducted as a qualitative study. The study population consisted of KMU`s top managers and experts. Purposeful and snowball sampling methods were used. 25 interviews were conducted in 2012. Using a semi-structured interview, the challenges of Kerman University of Medical Sciences in achieving the goals of health scientific road map were investigated. A framework method was applied for the data analysis. Results: At the end of this qualitative study, 10 basic concepts consisting of policy making and management, financing and facilitating processes, development and promotion of human resources, development and promotion of education, research, dissemination of knowledge, entrepreneurship, services provision, culture and norms, and facilitating communication, and 46 subgroups of challenges were identified. Conclusion: Given the importance of achieving the goals of health scientific road map and the importance of medical sciences universities in this regard, Kerman University of Medical sciences must develop a comprehensive plan to reduce the challenges. Keywords Health scientific road map Kerman University of Medical Sciences Iran Innovation syste

A randomized clinical trial on the effect of honey in the acute gastroenteritis

Acute gastroenteritis is one of the hygienic challenges of the 21st century and one of the 6 major causes of death in children and adults in developed and developing countries. With respect to prevalence of this illness in Iran, the purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of honey in treating diarrhea in Kashan, Iran. In this randomized clinical trial study, the participants were chosen from the children who were admitted to pediatric clinics. 150 children who met the criteria were divided into 3 groups. After a systematic treatment process and writing down the details, the first group received honey added to ORS (dissolved in ORS), the second group received honey separate from ORS and the control group received ORS with no honey. All the patients were under the close watch of the researchers until complete recovery. Then the data were analyzed with statistical tests and SPSS18 software. In general, among the 150 children who were studied there were 80 boys with the average age of 33.19 months and 70 girls with the average age of 29.84 months. The average diarrhea period from the beginning of treatment until complete recovery was 4.68 days for the first group, 3.725 for the second group and 5.60 for the control group. Thus there was a significant difference between the groups that received honey and the control group (p=0.001). The average number of bowel movements from the beginning of treatment until complete recovery was 4.22 for the first group, 3.50 for the second group and 4.90 for the control group. There was a significant difference in this respect (p<0.001). Generally, with regard to the findings of this study prescription of honey for diarrhea can reduce the number of bowel movements and diarrhea period. Similar studies could be done about other diseases to further investigate the effectiveness of honey in treating other health problems, not necessarily as a substitute treatment, but a supplementary treatment