Kinetic study of crystallisation of sol-gel derived calcia-alumina binary compounds

In-situ High Temperature X-ray Diffraction (HTXRD) and Differential Scanning Calorimetric (DSC) studies were performed on a sol-gel derived binary compound of a calcia-alumina (C12A7) system consisting of calcium oxide (CaO) and aluminium oxide (Al2O3) in a ratio of 12:7 for in situ investigation into the phase transformations under progressively increasing thermal activation from roomerature to 1200 °C. The crystallisation of amorphous samples formulated at roomerature on magnesium oxide (MgO) single crystal (100) substrates was found to be complete on heat treatment at 1100 °C for 3 h. This observation was further supported by independent Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) and Raman Spectroscopies. Values of 348 kJ/mol and 375 kJ/mol were estimated from Kissinger plots for activation energies of crystallisation of CaO and Al2O3 constituents, respectively

Different features in Wegener's granulomatosis: Report of five cases

Wegener's granulomatosis (WG) is an autoimmune inflammatory condition. It is often a rapidly progressive and potentially fatal disease. The clinical presentation of WG can be so diverse that the list of its differential diagnosis is vast, ranging from infectious diseases to other vasculitis (e.g. Behcet's disease), as well as malignancies. The exact aetiology of WG remains unclear. The upper airway diseases including sinusitis, oral lesions and otitis media are the most common presenting features of WG. In this paper, we have described 5 WG cases. They had different presentations and chief complaints. Some of them presented with upper airways diseases, while the others mainly suffered from the manifestations of pulmonary involvement. Although all of them were finally diagnosed as WG cases, the processes of the work up for the diagnosis as well as the outcome of the disease were not the same. So, the diversities in the presentation should be mentioned in the management of the WG suspected patients

A review of the molecular epidemiology of Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia duodenalis in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region

Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia duodenalis are important protozoan parasites which are associated with diarrheal diseases in humans and animals worldwide. Relatively little is known about the molecular epidemiology of Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia duodenalis in the Middle East Countries and North Africa (MENA region). Therefore, this review aimed to inspect published genotyping and subtyping studies on Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia duodenalis in the MENA region. These studies indicate that both anthroponotic and zoonotic transmission of Cryptosporidium occurs with the predominance of zoonotic transmission in most countries. Seven Cryptosporidium species were identified in humans (C. parvum, C. hominis, Cryptosporidium meleagridis, C. felis, Cryptosporidium muris, C. canis and C. bovis), with C. parvum by far being the most prevalent species (reported in 95.4% of the retrieved studies). Among C. parvum gp60 subtype families, IIa and IId predominated, suggesting potential zoonotic transmission. However, in four MENA countries (Lebanon, Israel, Egypt and Tunisia), C. hominis was the predominant species with five subtype families reported including Ia, Ib, Id, If and Ie, all of which are usually anthroponotically transmitted between humans. In animals, the majority of studies were conducted mainly on livestock and poultry, 15 species were identified (C. parvum, C. hominis, C. muris, Cryptosporidium cuniculus, C. andersoni, C. bovis, C. meleagridis, C. baileyi, C. erinacei, C. ryanae, C. felis, C. suis, Cryptosporidium galli, C. xiaoi and C. ubiquitum) with C. parvum (IIa and IId subtypes) the dominant species in livestock and C. meleagridis and C. baileyi the dominant species in poultry. With G. duodenalis, five assemblages (A, B, C, E and F) were identified in humans and six (A, B, C, E, D and F) in animals in MENA countries with assemblages A and B commonly reported in humans, and assemblages A and E dominant in livestock. This review also identified a major knowledge gap in the lack of Cryptosporidium spp. and Giardia duodenalis typing studies in water and food sources in the MENA region. Of the few studies conducted on water sources (including drinking and tap water), ten Cryptosporidium species and four genotypes were identified, highlighting the potential role of water as the major route of Cryptosporidium spp. transmission in the region. In addition, three G. duodenalis assemblages (A, B and E) were detected in different water sources with AI, AII and BIV being the main sub-assemblages reported. More research is required in order to better understand the molecular diversity and transmission dynamics of Cryptsporidum spp. and Giardia duodenalis in humans, animals, water and food sources in MENA region

A Theory of Cheap Control in Embodied Systems

We present a framework for designing cheap control architectures for embodied agents. Our derivation is guided by the classical problem of universal approximation, whereby we explore the possibility of exploiting the agent's embodiment for a new and more efficient universal approximation of behaviors generated by sensorimotor control. This embodied universal approximation is compared with the classical non-embodied universal approximation. To exemplify our approach, we present a detailed quantitative case study for policy models defined in terms of conditional restricted Boltzmann machines. In contrast to non-embodied universal approximation, which requires an exponential number of parameters, in the embodied setting we are able to generate all possible behaviors with a drastically smaller model, thus obtaining cheap universal approximation. We test and corroborate the theory experimentally with a six-legged walking machine. The experiments show that the sufficient controller complexity predicted by our theory is tight, which means that the theory has direct practical implications. Keywords: cheap design, embodiment, sensorimotor loop, universal approximation, conditional restricted Boltzmann machineComment: 27 pages, 10 figure

Microwave-promoted solvent free one-pot synthesis of triazolo[1,2-a] indazole-triones catalyzed by silica-supported La0.5Ca 0.5CrO3 nanoparticles as a new and reusable perovskite-type oxide

Microwave assisted solvent free synthesis of triazolo[1,2-a]indazole-1,3,8-triones through one-pot three-component reaction of dimedone, phenyl urazole and aromatic aldehydes is presented. The reaction process was catalyzed by La0.5Ca0.5CrO3 and silica-supported La0.5Ca0.5CrO3 nanoparticles as new perovskite-type catalysts. The nano catalyst was studied by XRD, SEM and IR characterization tools. Some advantages of the proposed approach include high yield, being eco-friendly, procedure convenience and reusability of the catalyst.               KEY WORDS: One-pot reaction, Triazolo[1,2-a]indazole trione, Perovskite oxide, Nano catalyst, Microwave, Solvent-free Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2018, 32(2), 239-248.DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v32i2.

Knowledge of Type II Diabetic Patients About Their Diabetes: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Introduction: Knowledge is the critical component to counter the harmful side-effects of chronic diseases. Diabetic patients can manage their disease based on their diabetes knowledge and following good self-care behavior. Various studies about patients' knowledge of diabetes show different results. The purpose of this study is to estimate the overall knowledge score of Iranian patients about diabetes. Methods: In the current study, ten papers published by September 2018 were identified without time limitation. A literature search for the papers was conducted using the keywords: Iran, diabetes, knowledge, and their combinations. The necessary data were extracted and analyzed through meta-analysis using the random-effects model. The I2 statistic was used to measure the heterogeneity among the studies. The data were analyzed using Stata software (Version 11). Results: The pooled estimate of the knowledge score of type II diabetes patients about their diabetes was 64% (95% CI: 52%-76%). According to the meta-regression results, there was no relationship between the knowledge score with age (P = 0.487), duration of disease (P = 0.406), and the sample size (P = 0.146). The patients' knowledge score had experienced an uptrend between 2004 and 2017, the years at which the oldest and the most recent articles were published (P = 0.06). Conclusions: Iranian patients' knowledge about their diabetes was at an average level. Education, along with medication, can significantly reduce short and long-term complications of diabetes

High temperature optical absorption investigation into the electronic transitions in sol–gel derived C12A7 thin films

Optical absorption into 6 mm thick sol–gel derived films, annealed at 1300 °C of 12CaO·7Al2O3 calcium aluminate binary compound on MgO〈100〉 single crystal substrates was studied at temperatures ranging from room temperature to 300 °C. Experimental data were analysed in both Tauc and Urbach regions. The optical band gap decreased from 4.088 eV at 25 °C to 4.051 eV at 300 °C, while Urbach energy increased from 0.191 eV at 25 °C to 0.257 eV at 300 °C. The relationship between the optical band gap and the Urbach energy at different temperatures showed an almost linear relationship from which the theoretical values of 4.156 and 0.065 eV were evaluated for the band gap energy and Urbach energy of a 12CaO·7Al2O3 crystal with zero structural disorder at 0 K

Quantitative growth of I.R Iran’s TVE graduates and skilled human resources with the aim of revising and reinforcing the curriculum

Background and Objectives:Education has been considered as the most basic factor of sustainable development in our country. Increasing acceptance of education at all levels increases the need to pay attention to superior quality, effective management and adaptation of education to the needs of society and the characteristics of the twenty-first century. Development of technical and vocational education needs special attention due to the limitations of universities and ways to achieve higher education and the need for youth employment, and especially the unemployment of university graduates. In addition, at this time, special attention should be paid to technical and vocational training as the main weapon of global competition. In addition to the secondary and associate level, technical and vocational training programs in Iran have been officially upgraded to the level of bachelor degree. Social demand for these trainings, especially at the associate level, has led to areas of development and special attention to these trainings. Given the importance of endogenous development and reliance on domestic forces in various aspects of economic, social and cultural development as a result of sustainable development, training skilled and efficient forces that can accelerate the movement of economic wheels and the country from dependence on skilled forces and foreign expert, technical and vocational training is of particular importance. But technical and vocational training can claim to fulfil this mission when its products are in harmony with the needs of the labour market, both quantitatively and qualitatively. In other words, the technical and professional graduate has been trained in the fields that the labour market needs and is equipped with techniques and skills that can meet the needs of companies and employers. If education development programs are carefully and quantitatively and qualitatively evaluated, they would clarify valuable issues whose results due to the long-term impact of education on society, can help education planners and decision makers and foster help to use the results of this review and evaluation in order to develop better and more complete programs for the development of education. Consequently, the present study compares the supply of technical and vocational graduates with the demand for manpower in this sector and includes examining the external efficiency and employment of graduates and comparing the supply and demand of trained personnel in the technical and vocational associate sector, disciplines and specialized groups. Methods: In this research, a descriptive survey method has been used. The graduate research questionnaire in collaboration with Colombo College was selected as the basis for this evaluation. The statistical population consisted of colleges and technical and vocational schools under the Ministry of Education at the time. In sampling, 24 fields and 69 centres (using multi-stage cluster sampling) were sampled. Findings: According to the research results, there is a moderate significant relationship between the job and gender of graduates. Also, 76% of employees have found jobs related to their education and only 22% of employees are self-employed; Cramer’s correlation coefficient has reported very high and effective. The relationship between gender and employment problems has also been reported to be significant. The results also show that in order to achieve the employment of technical and vocational graduates, another 63% of job opportunities are needed for 163 thousand people. Conclusion: The results show that in order to increase the real effectiveness of technical and vocational education in the country, the curriculum should include changes tailored to the needs and requirements. Some suggested changes according to the results of this research are: More practical units should be included in technical and vocational courses and disciplines. In theoretical discussions in the technical and professional field, more attention should be paid to issues related to entrepreneurship; and the activities and disciplines that are most attractive in the job market should be expanded. The results of the study show that the retraining ability of graduates is at a low level, so more attention should be paid to the basic courses in the curriculum. Planning for disciplines and centres should be based on land management. Centres should be considered as the centre of integration that have the highest rate of graduate attraction. According to the research results, there is a moderate significant relationship between the job and gender of graduates, that is, although there is a significant relationship between these two components, but it is necessary to make efforts to increase this relationship

Pelvic floor dysfunction and polycystic ovary syndrome

Objectives: To compare the prevalence of pelvic floor muscle dysfunction (PFMD) in patients with and without polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS); to test PFMD in women with different PCOS phenotypes. Methods: This was a case-control study of 202 women who were recruited in an infertility clinic in Hormozgan, Iran: PCOS (n=103) and control groups who were healthy women whose husbands were diagnosed with male infertility (n=99). According to the presence or absence of menstrual dysfunction (M), hyperandrogenism (HA) and polycystic ovaries on ultrasonoghraphy (PCO), patients with PCOS were divided into three phenotypes: HA+PCO, M+PCO and M+HA+PCO. PFMD was assessed by the Pelvic Floor Distress Inventory-20 (PFDI-20. Results: The reported PFMD symptoms were higher in PCOS (P=0.05) than the non-PCOS group. The mean PFDI score in the HA+M+PCO was higher compared to other phenotypes, although the difference did not reach significance level (P>0.05). The mean LH level was higher in HA+M+PCO than the two other phenotypes. There was a significant positive correlation between LH level and PFDI score (P<0.04). Conclusion: The findings suggest that a high level of LH may cause PFMD. Further studies are needed to determine the precise role of LH levels and potential treatment options in women with PCOS and PFMD. Keywords: polycystic ovary syndrome, pelvic floor distress inventory, pelvic floor muscle dysfunctio