A Time-Aware Approach to Improving Ad-hoc Information Retrieval from Microblogs

There is an immense number of short-text documents produced as the result of microblogging. The content produced is growing as the number of microbloggers grows, and as active microbloggers continue to post millions of updates. The range of topics discussed is so vast, that microblogs provide an abundance of useful information. In this work, the problem of retrieving the most relevant information in microblogs is addressed. Interesting temporal patterns were found in the initial analysis of the study. Therefore the focus of the current work is to first exploit a temporal variable in order to see how effectively it can be used to predict the relevance of the tweets and, then, to include it in a retrieval weighting model along with other tweet-specific features. Generalized Linear Mixed-effect Models (GLMMs) are used to analyze the features and to propose two re-ranking models. These two models were developed through an exploratory process on a training set and then were evaluated on a test set

The effect of some flavonoids on paraoxonase-1 activity

زمینه و هدف: پاراکسوناز-1 آنزیم وابسته به کلسیم می باشد که با HDL باند می گردد و با داشتن قابلیت جلوگیری از اکسیداسیون LDL نقش مهمی در پیشگیری از اترواسکلروزیس ایفا می کند. به نظر می رسد که آنتی اکسیدان های مختلف مثل فلاونوئیدها بر میزان فعالیت آنزیم پاراکسوناز موثر می باشند. این مطالعه با هدف بررسی اثر برخی از فلاونوئیدها بر میزان فعالیت سرمی آنزیم پاراکسوناز انجام شده است. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه تجربی، ابتدا تعداد 45 عدد موش صحرایی از نژاد ویستار به 9 گروه 5 تایی تقسیم شدند. به گروه 1 به عنوان گروه های شاهد روزانه 1 میلی لیتر محلول آب و اتانول 25 داده شد. به گروه های 2 تا 5 مقدار 5/7 میلی گرم و گروه های 6 تا 9 مقدار 15 میلی گرم از یکی از فلاونوییدهای کوئرستین، میریستین، گالانژین و کامپفرول به ازای هر کیلوگرم وزن بدن به علاوه 1 میلی لیتر اتانول 25 خورانده شد. میانگین تغییرات فعالیت آنزیم بین گروه ها در اثر مداخلات انجام شده در بین گروه ها مقایسه گردید. یافته ها: تفاوت میانگین تغییرات فعالیت آنزیم PON-1 قبل و بعد از تیمار بین همه گروه ها در هر دو دوز 5/7 و 15 میلی گرم به ازای کیلوگرم وزن بدن معنی دار بود (

Association of regional cerebral perfusion impairment with gait and balance performance in dizzy patients using brain perfusion spect: Voxel-based analysis of a pilot sample

Objective(s): The purpose of this study was to investigate regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) reduction in patients with dizziness and perfusion-related clinical impairment using brain perfusion single photon emission tomography (SPECT). Methods: Thirty-four patients with subjective dizziness and 13 age-and sexmatched healthy controls were studied. Dizziness-related impairments were assessed using the Dizziness Handicap Inventory (DHI) and Short Physical Performance Battery (SPPB). Brain perfusion SPECT scan was acquired from all participants. The carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) was also measured. Brain perfusion data were qualitatively interpreted in all cases. Voxel-wise analysis was also conducted in 11 patients compared to healthy controls. Results: Thirty-four patients (mean age=53.8±13.4 years, m/f: 19/15) and 13 ageand sex-matched controls (mean age=51.5±13.1, m/f: 7/6) were included. The dizziness severity was mild in 58.8% (n=20), moderate in 26.5% (n=9), and severe in 14.7% (n=5). Qualitative interpretation of SPECT images showed normal scans in 4 (11.2%) patients and abnormal scans in 30 (88.2%) patients. Patients with dizziness showed a significantly decreased brain perfusion in the precuneus, cuneus, occipital lobe (superior and inferior parts), frontal lobe (inferior and middle parts), temporal lobe, parietal lobe (inferior and superior parts), cerebellum, insula, and putamen nucleus. Based on both qualitative SPECT interpretation and voxel-wise analysis, perfusion defect had a significant association with the total SPPB score and the scores of two sub-domains (p[removed]0.05) score . Conclusion: The perfusion-and atherosclerosis-related impairments of gait and balance were largely independent of subjective dizziness and dizziness severity. Moreover, this study provided support for contribution of perfusion impairment to the disturbance of gait and balance in older populations along with other pathologic processes. © 2021 mums.ac.ir All rights reserved

Physicians’ and nurses’ decision making to encounter neonates with poor prognosis in the neonatal intensive care unit

This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Sage in Clinical Ethics on 03/06/2020. Available online: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1477750920927173This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Sage in Clinical Ethics on 03/06/2020.Available online: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1477750920927173acceptedVersio

Enhancement of immune responses by vaccine potential of three antigens, including ROP18, MIC4, and SAG1 against acute toxoplasmosis in mice

Toxoplasma gondii (T. gondii) causes considerable financial losses in the livestock industry and can present serious threats to pregnant women, as well as immunocompromised patients. Therefore, it is required to design and produce an efficient vaccine for controlling toxoplasmosis. The present study aimed to evaluate the protective immunity induced by RMS protein (ROP18, MIC4, and SAG1) with Freund adjuvant, calcium phosphate nanoparticles (CaPNs), and chitosan nanoparticles (CNs) in BALB/c mice. The RMS protein was expressed in Escherichia coli (E. coli) and purified using a HisTrap HP column. Thereafter, cellular and humoral immunity was assessed by injecting RMS protein on days 0, 21, and 35 into four groups [RMS, RMS-chitosan nanoparticles (RMS-CNs), RMS-calcium phosphate nanoparticles (RMS-CaPNs), and RMS-Freund]. Phosphate buffered saline (PBS), CNs, CaPNs, and Freund served as the four control groups. The results displayed that vaccination with RMS protein and adjuvants significantly elicited the levels of specific IgG antibodies and cytokines against toxoplasmosis. There were high levels of total IgG, IgG2a, and IFN-γ in vaccinated mice, compared to those in the control groups, especially in the RMS-Freund, indicating a Th-1 type response. The vaccinated and control mice were challenged intraperitoneally with 1 × 103 tachyzoites of the T. gondii RH strain four weeks after the last injection, and in RMS-Freund and RMS-CaPNs groups, the highest increase in survival time was observed (15 days). The RMS can significantly increase Th1 and Th2 responses; moreover, multi-epitope vaccines with adjuvants can be a promising strategy for the production of a vaccine against toxoplasmosis

Application placement in fog computing with AI approach : taxonomy and a state of the art survey

With the increasing use of the Internet of Things (IoT) in various fields and the need to process and store huge volumes of generated data, Fog computing was introduced to complement Cloud computing services. Fog computing offers basic services at the network for supporting IoT applications with low response time requirements. However, Fogs are distributed, heterogeneous, and their resources are limited, therefore efficient distribution of IoT applications tasks in Fog nodes, in order to meet quality of service (QoS) and quality of experience (QoE) constraints is challenging. In this survey, at first, we have an overview of basic concepts of Fog computing, and then review the application placement problem in Fog computing with focus on Artificial intelligence (AI) techniques. We target three main objectives with considering a characteristics of AI-based methods in Fog application placement problem: (i) categorizing evolutionary algorithms, (ii) categorizing machine learning algorithms, and (iii) categorizing combinatorial algorithms into subcategories includes a combination of machine learning and heuristic, a combination of evolutionary and heuristic, and a combinations of evolutionary and machine learning. Then the security considerations of application placement have been reviewed. Finally, we provide a number of open questions and issues as future works

Pathology of apprenticeships for masters of nursing critical care

Introduction: The increasing complexity of patient care conditions in intensive care units, along with the development of these units, has increased the need for qualified nurses and health professionals. Therefore, due to recent changes and in response to the shortage of capable nurses, a master’s major in intensive care nursing has been created. One of the main challenges of this curriculum is to ensure that graduates have the required competencies. The current study aimed to explain the pathology of apprenticeships for a masters in nursing critical care. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted for masters in nursing critical care students of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in 2014-2015. The sampling was purposeful. Data were collected through face-to-face interviews with 15 students. Conventional content analysis was used to analyze the data. Results: Three categories “ineffective management, unfavorable context for achieving skills, and lack of clinical instructors and sufficient competence” were extracted. Conclusion: Preparing settings for entering students such as having an adequate training field and expert educators, providing conditions for orientation of educators and participation in the related workshops, and recruitment of experienced instructors in the apprenticeships field can increase the quality of MS levels

The study of work-family conflict and job satisfaction among nurses’ state hospitals in Tehran city

Introduction: Since nurses work in various wards, job satisfaction evaluation and work-family conflict investigation among them regarding the ward they work in is highly crucial, because on one hand, there are ample requests for changes in wards, shifts, hospitals, and even job abandonment, and on the other hand, family conflicts and clashes have increased among nurses. Methods: This correlational research was conducted on 280 nurses who worked in special and general wards of state hospitals in Tehran in 2015. In this study, samples were selected randomly among state hospitals subsidiary to Tehran and Shahid Beheshti universities and social security hospitals in Tehran. Data were collected by means of demographic questionnaire, Smith’s job satisfaction questionnaire, and Net Mayer and Mc Marian's Work- Family conflict questionnaire. In order to analyze the data, SPSS version 21 software was employed and also descriptive statistics methods, correlation coefficient, t-test, regression, and ANOVA were applied. Results: According to the study’s findings, job satisfaction average scores in the supervisor dimension in special and general wards were medium (44.15, 43.868) (p=0.771), job satisfaction average scores in the work dimension in both special and general wards were relatively medium (30.869, 31.520), job satisfaction scores in promotion opportunity aspect in both special and general wards were weak (14.31, 14.187), also work-family conflict average score was 26.07 in special wards and 25.51 in general wards (p=0.519), and work-family conflict average scores in special wards was 15.71 and in general wards was 14.87 (p=0.420), these differences were not significant. Conclusion: The study outcomes reveal that nurses’ job satisfaction is at the medium level. It is noteworthy that the highest percentage of nurses’ job satisfaction in both general wards and special wards are associated with being satisfied with their head nurse, and work-family conflict is equal in both sets of wards (general and special). It is recommended that more studies in the realm of nurses’ job satisfaction and work-family conflict should be done

Use of immunoinformatics and the simulation approach to identify Helicobacter pylori epitopes to design a multi-epitope subunit vaccine for B- and T-cells

Abstract Background Helicobacter pylori cause a variety of gastric malignancies, gastric ulcers, and cause erosive diseases. The extreme nature of the bacterium and the implantation of this bacterium protects it against designing a potent drug against it. Therefore, employing a precise and effective design for a more safe and stable antigenic vaccine against this pathogen can effectively control its associated infections. This study, aimed at improving the design of multiple subunit vaccines against H. pylori, adopts multiple immunoinformatics approaches in combination with other computational approaches. Results In this regard, 10 HTL, and 11 CTL epitopes were employed based on appropriate adopted MHC binding scores and c-terminal cut-off scores of 4 main selected proteins (APO, LeoA, IceA1, and IceA2). An adjuvant was added to the N end of the vaccine to achieve higher stability. For validation, immunogenicity and sensitization of physicochemical analyses were performed. The vaccine could be antigenic with significantly strong interactions with TOLK-2, 4, 5, and 9 receptors. The designed vaccine was subjected to Gromacs simulation and immune response prediction modelling that confirmed expression and immune-stimulating response efficiency. Besides, the designed vaccine showed better interactions with TLK-9. Conclusions Based on our analyses, although the suggested vaccine could induce a clear response against H. pylori, precise laboratory validation is required to confirm its immunogenicity and safety status