A Framework For Evaluating Information Quality Of Persian Weblogs

The World Wide Web is a great tool for exploring all kinds of information. Unlike books and journals, most of this information is unfiltered, i.e. not subject to editing or peer review by experts. This lack of quality control and the large increase in number of web sites make the task of finding quality information on the web especially critical. Meanwhile, new facilities for producing web pages such as weblogs make this issue more significant because Blogs are simple content management tools that enable non-experts to build easily updatable web diaries or online journals. Despite a decade of active research, a comprehensive methodology for the assessment of Information Quality (IQ) is lacking. Specifically, no framework for measuring information quality on the weblogs is currently available.After identifying and prioritizing IQ criteria on Weblogs, a Weblog management system that automatically calculates and collects IQ scores for created Weblogs is developed. The system is implemented on Persian Weblogs. Results of analysis of data collected by the Weblog management system show that there are significant correlations between many of the information quality variables. In addition, an analysis of the data revealed seven IQ dimensions on the Weblogs. Each of the dimensions was comprised of related IQ variables. Coefficients are identified for each variable in order to facilitate IQ measurement on the Weblogs. Moreover, statistical analysis shows that three specific sub-criteria for Weblogs; namely the number of written comments, number of received comments and comment per entry influence information quality on the Weblogs and interestingly fall into same dimension

The Contribution of Lexicon to the Language Attrition of Iranian Immigrants to Canada

AbstractThe present research, investigated whether the domain of lexicon could undergo first language attrition after the first language has been fully acquired, when learning of second language takes place in adulthood in a migrant context. This study mainly aimed to focus on the attrition of the first language (Persian) among adults in an L2 environment. The study focused on a diverse population of Iranian immigrants of Canada. Altogether, 51 participants participated in this study. The instruments adopted involved a Picture Naming Task, and the AMTB questionnaire modified by (Gardner, 1985). The initial results indicate that bilinguals had no difficulty in managing lexical naming tasks

High Frequency of Class 2 and 3 Integrons Related to Drug-Resistance in Clinical Isolates of Diarrheagenic E. coli in Iran

Background: Integrons are mobile genetic elements able to obtain the antibiotic resistance gene cassettes. The prevalence of integrons in the Enterobacteriaceae family has been varied and played an important role in the development of the drug resistant bacteria. The present study aimed to investigate the contribution of class 2 and 3 integrons in drug resistant Diarrheagenic Escherichia coli strains.Materials and Methods: The 164 Diarrheagenic E. coli collected from feces samples of children in the Yasuj –Iran and all isolates were identified by standard biochemical tests. The antimicrobial susceptibility for 14 antibiotics, which are used conventionally was determined by disk diffusion. The presence of class 2 and 3 integrons in all isolates was investigated by PCR.Results: Of 164 E. coli isolates from children, 80.49% carried class 2 integron and the length of the amplicons ranged from 800 bp to 2 kb. Class 3 integrons were identified among 24 E. coli isolates. All the E.coli isolates were susceptible to imipenem and the greatest resistance was correspondent to nalidixic acid. A significant correlation was revealed between Class 2 integron and resistance to kanamycin, amikacin, gentamicin, ceftazidime, chloramphenicol and cephalexin. The presence of class 3 integron was significantly associated with resistance to ampicillin, gentamicin, streptomycin, kanamycin, tetracycline and trimetoprime-sulfametoxazol.Conclusion: The results indicated that integrons are widespread in Diarrheagenic E. coli and its carriage contributed significantly to the emergence of resistance among Diarrheagenic E. coli. However, factors leading to the wide spread of integrons are still to be determined.

Genotypic distribution of rotavirus strains causing severe gastroenteritis in children under 5 years old in Borazjan, Iran

Objective This study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence of rotavirus disease and to investigate the genotypes of rotavirus strains causing acute gastroenteritis among children aged <5 years old in Marvdasht, Iran. Methods One hundred and forty-one children, aged 1 month to 5 years, afflicted with severe diarrhea were enrolled during January 2007 to December 2008. Their stool samples were studied with enzyme immunoassays (EIA) for group A rotaviruses. Rotavirus-positive specimens were genotyped by the Nested RT-PCR using different types of specific primers. Findings Out of total collected samples rotavirus infection was detected in 40 (28.37%). Of the rotavirus episodes, 72.91% occurred during the first 2 years of life (P=0.038). The highest prevalence of infection was identified in summer (52.50%) and the lowest in winter (7.50%). The most common clinical features included diarrhea (96.25%), vomiting (82.50%) and fever (45.0%). Mixed genotypes were the predominant G type (60.0%), followed by non-typeable (12.50%), G2 (12.50%), G4 (10.0%) and G1 (5.0%) genotypes. G3/G8 mixed infection is the first of these rotavirus genotypes to be reported in Iran. Conclusion Regarding high frequency of rotavirus infection, continuous surveillance is needed to inform diarrhea prevention programs as well as to provide information about the occurrence of new rotavirus strains. This will assist policy makers in decision making on rotavirus vaccine introduction. Keywords: Rotavirus, Gastroenteritis, Genotyping, Children, Epidemiolog

Molecular and serological characterization of group A rotavirus isolates obtained from hospitalized children in Jahrom

زمینه و هدف: روتاویروس ها به عنوان یکی از مهمترین عوامل ایجاد کننده گاستروانتریت حاد در کودکان و نوجوانان محسوب می شوند. سازمان بهداشت جهانی در سال 2005 به تمامی کشورهای در حال توسعه شناسایی سروتایپ ها و ژنوتایپ های شایع این ویروس (پایش بیمارستانی) را پیشنهاد نموده است. هدف از این پژوهش، تعیین ژنوتایپ شایع روتاویروس ها با روش RT-PCR در کودکان بستری شده در بیمارستان های شهرستان جهرم به مدت یک سال است. روش بررسی: در این پژوهش توصیفی-تحلیلی، 163 نمونه مدفوع از کودکان زیر 5 سال مبتلا به اسهال شدید بستری شده در دو بیمارستان شهرستان جهرم جمع آوری شد. ابتدا گروه A روتاویروسی با روش آنزیم ایمونواسی (EIA) شناسایی و سپس ژنوتایپ نمونه های مثبت با استفاده از 9 پرایمر اختصاصی با روش RT-PCR تعیین گردید. نتایج با استفاده از آزمون های مربع کای، t-test و آزمون دقیق فیشر مورد تجزیه و تحلیل قرار گرفت. یافته ها: از مجموع 163 نمونه جمع آوری شده 75 (2/46) مورد با روش الایزا از نظر وجود روتاویروس مثبت ارزیابی شدند. فراوانی ژنوتایپ های G1، G2، G3، G4، G9 و مخلوط (MIX) به ترتیب: 13 (33/17)، 10 (34/13)، 2 (67/2)، 23 (66/30)، 2 (67/2) و 2 (67/2) بود. بیشترین شیوع مربوط به فصل زمستان با فراوانی 69/22 و کمترین شیوع مربوط به فصل تابستان با فراوانی 29/4 بود (05/0

Mapping the intellectual structure of the coronavirus field (2000-2020): a co-word analysis

Over the two last decades, coronaviruses have affected human life in different ways, especially in terms of health and economy. Due to the profound effects of novel coronaviruses, growing tides of research are emerging in various research fields. This paper employs a co-word analysis approach to map the intellectual structure of the coronavirus literature for a better understanding of how coronavirus research and the disease itself have developed during the target timeframe. A strategic diagram has been drawn to depict the coronavirus domain’s structure and development. A detailed picture of coronavirus literature has been extracted from a huge number of papers to provide a quick overview of the coronavirus literature. The main themes of past coronavirus-related publications are (a) “Antibody- Virus Interactions,” (b) “Emerging Infectious Diseases,” (c) “Protein Structure-based Drug Design and Antiviral Drug Discovery,” (d) “Coronavirus Detection Methods,” (e) “Viral Pathogenesis and Immunity,” and (f) “Animal Coronaviruses.” The emerging infectious diseases are mostly related to fatal diseases (such as Middle East respiratory syndrome, severe acute respiratory syndrome, and COVID-19) and animal coronaviruses (including porcine, turkey, feline, canine, equine, and bovine coronaviruses and infectious bronchitis virus), which are capable of placing animal-dependent industries such as the swine and poultry industries under strong economic pressure. Although considerable research into coronavirus has been done, this unique field has not yet matured sufficiently. Therefore, “Antibody-virus Interactions,” “Emerging Infectious Diseases,” and “Coronavirus Detection Methods” hold interesting, promising research gaps to be both explored and filled in the future

Microencapsulation and Fermentation of Lactobacillus acidophilus LA-5 and Bifidobacterium BB-12

Because of poor survival of probiotic bacteria, microencapsulation evolved from the immobilized cell culture technology used in the biotechnological industry. Two probiotic strains, Bifidobacterium (BB-12) and Lactobacillus acidophilus (LA-5) were immobilized in calcium alginate by extrusion method. Encapsulation parameters and efficacy of this method were evaluated. Growth factors of these two bacteria were also measured by culturing in 10-L fermenter. Growth curves were obtained with respect to optical density and dry biomass weight. Encapsulation yield was over than 60% in each experiment. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of Entrapment of cells in alginate matrix and cross-sections of dried bead were obtained and illustrated. Bifidobacterium have been shown better biotechnological properties

Electrokinetic Remediation of Zinc and Copper Contaminated Soil: A Simulation-based Study

Electrokinetic is an effective and innovative method to remediate different kinds of soils, especially low permeable fined-grain soils such as silty and clayey soils. In this method, by applying a direct-current electric field into a contaminated soil resulted in different transport phenomena, the soil is remediated. This paper’s objective is to propose a numerical model for Electrokinetic remediation of zinc and copper contaminated soils. Different transport phenomena including ion migration, electroosmosis flow, and diffusion were taken into account in the model. Chemical reactions such as precipitation/dissolution, adsorption onto the soil surface, and water chemical equilibrium were considered as well. Furthermore, instead of simplified boundary conditions (Neumann or Dirichlet) that cannot properly reflect the reality of the Electrokinetic remediation process, the realistic boundary conditions were used with consideration of flux and electrolysis reaction at the electrodes. The simulation results compared with the available experimental data in the literature. The coefficient of determination and the index of agreement indicated that the present model is consistent with the tests’ results. Thus, the assumptions considered in the present study are acceptable