Collocation Method using Compactly Supported Radial Basis Function for Solving Volterra's Population Model

In this paper, indirect collocation approach based on compactly supported radial basis function is applied for solving Volterras population model. The method reduces the solution of this problem to the solution of a system of algebraic equations. Volterras model is a non-linear integro-differential equation where the integral term represents the effect of toxin. To solve the problem, we use the well-known CSRBF: Wendland3,5. Numerical results and residual norm 2 show good accuracy and rate of convergence.Comment: 8 pages , 1 figure. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1008.233

Numerical investigation of Differential Biological-Models via GA-Kansa Method Inclusive Genetic Strategy

In this paper, we use Kansa method for solving the system of differential equations in the area of biology. One of the challenges in Kansa method is picking out an optimum value for Shape parameter in Radial Basis Function to achieve the best result of the method because there are not any available analytical approaches for obtaining optimum Shape parameter. For this reason, we design a genetic algorithm to detect a close optimum Shape parameter. The experimental results show that this strategy is efficient in the systems of differential models in biology such as HIV and Influenza. Furthermore, we prove that using Pseudo-Combination formula for crossover in genetic strategy leads to convergence in the nearly best selection of Shape parameter.Comment: 42 figures, 23 page

Effects of intrathecal opioids use in cesarean section on breastfeeding and newborns’ weight gaining

Objective: To assess the association between intrapartum intrathecal opioid use and breastfeeding and weight gain following cesarean section. Materials and methods: The prospective double-blinded study was conducted on term pregnant women, undergoing elective cesarean section under spinal anesthesia. They divided into two groups. In the first group, intrathecal Morphine was used to achieve analgesia during or after the operation. The remainder divided into two subgroups, those who did not receive any opioid or those received systemic opioids. Following labor breastfeeding accessed in a follow-up, two month latter. Results: There was no difference between the demographic variables of the mothers and newborns APGAR score and weight at the time of birth. Breastfeeding rate was similar in intrathecal group in compare with other patents (P value = 0.518). While, the infants’ weight at the end of second month was lower in spinal opioid group (P value = 0.036). Conclusion: The present study was the first to suggest that spinal (intrathecal) opioids do not have any impact on breastfeeding. However the relationship between spinal anesthesia on weight gaining needs more investigation

The reliability and validity of the persian version of sinonasal outcome test 22 (Snot22) questionnaires

Background: The quality of life (QOL) is an important indicator for disease-severity classification and outcome measurement in obtaining treatment sinonasal diseases. The sinonasal outcome test 22 (SNOT 22) questionnaire has been introduced as the best specific sinonasal instrument for QOL measurement. Objectives: To prepare a valid and reliable Persian language version of SNOT 22 questionnaire. Patients and Methods: After forward and backward translation of the original version of SNOT 22 questionnaire from English to Persian, a group of patients with nasal septal deviation who need septal surgery and another group of healthy volunteers answered the Persian version of the questionnaire. The responsiveness rate, validity (Pearson correlations and differential validity) and reliability (internal consistency and test-retest reliability) of the 22 items of the questionnaire was calculated. P value < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Thirty adults with nasal septal deviation need surgical correction and 30 healthy volunteers were included (mean age 30.4 ± 7.1 vs. 33 ± 6.7, P value = 0.148). The questionnaire was introduced to subjects two times with a two-week-period gap. Total responsiveness rate for 22 items was more than 97%. The total Cronbach's Alfa coefficient was 0.898 (ranging 0.890-0.903). The Pearson correlations were 0.85 and 0.96 for patients and healthy volunteers, respectively. The mean total score were 25.6 ± 13.3 (range 6-52) and 7.6 ± 9.1 (range 0-45) in patients and healthy volunteers, respectively (P < 0.0001). The subscales scores were also significantly different between two groups. Conclusions: The Persian version of SNOT 22 questionnaire is a valid and reliable instrument for accessing sinonasal diseases in Persianspeaking people

Agreement between Lenstar and Pentacam in Keratometry and Anterior Chamber Depth Measurements

Purpose:  To compare keratometry and anterior chamber depth (ACD) measurements performed using Lenstar LS 900 (Haag-Streit AG, Switzerland) and the Pentacam (Oculus, Weltzar, Germany) devices in healthy eyes.Method: Sixty eyes of 30 healthy volunteers were included in this prospective study. Keratometry and ACD measurements were obtained using Lenstar, followed by Pentacam on the same day.  The readings of the two instruments were compared to evaluate their agreement.Results: The mean age of participants was 40.01 ± 12.29 years (Range 10 to 65years).  The mean ACD was 2.762 ± 0.281 millimeters when measured using Lenstar and 2.801 ± 0.273 millimeters when measured with Pentacam (P = 0.03). The average mean keratometry was 44.45 ± 1.65 diopter when measured with Lenstar and 44.16 ± 1.55 diopter when measured using  Pentacam (P < 0.001). The Bland-Altman plots demonstrated a wide range of inter-device differences in mean keratectomy and also ACD measurements between the two devices.Conclusion: Our findings suggest that the ACD and keratometry measurements obtained using the Lenstar and Pentacam devices might not be interchangeable.Key words: Anterior Chamber; Cornea; Pentacam; Lenstar

Direct Electron Transfer of Hemoglobin on Manganese III Oxide-Ag Nanofibers Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode

We investigated the electrochemical behavior of hemoglobin by glassy carbon electrode modified with Mn2O3-Ag nanofibers. The Mn2O3-Ag nanofibers were used as facilitator electron transfer between Hb and glassy-carbon-modified electrode. The Mn2O3-Ag nanofibers are studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The hemoglobin showed a quasireversible electrochemical redox behavior with a formal potential of −49 mV (versus Ag/AgCl) in 0.1 M potassium phosphate buffer solution at pH 7.0. The designed biosensor possesses good stability and reproducibility and achieves 95% of the steady-state current in less than five seconds

Guardianship Prevention Strategies of the Believers from the Infidels based on the Structural Interpretation of Surah Al-Mumtahanah

One of the destructive and important harms that is always in the forefront of any Islamic society is accepting the guardianship of the infidel enemies. Believers at first glance believe that the infidels do not have guardianship over them, but sometimes the infidels' guardianship over them is achieved through the intangible "induction of friendship and friendly relations with infidels." and The Holy Qur'an states this in Surah Al-Mumtahanah 'and Allah's prohibition from these friendly relations, the committing of which is considered disobedience to divine commands and sin. Since structural interpretation plays an important role in understanding the divine verses and applying the teachings of the Holy Quran, the structural interpretation of Surah Al-Mumtahanah 'was used to show Allah has not limited himself to the introduction of sin of, "accepting the guardianship of the infidel enemies through friendly relations with them. And in order to protect society and prevent that sin, he has stated the Insight, tendency and action strategies in the text of Surah Al-Mumtahanah

MaxEnt brings comparable results when the input data are being completed; Model parameterization of four species distribution models

Abstract Species distribution models (SDMs) are practical tools to assess the habitat suitability of species with numerous applications in environmental management and conservation planning. The manipulation of the input data to deal with their spatial bias is one of the advantageous methods to enhance the performance of SDMs. However, the development of a model parameterization approach covering different SDMs to achieve well‐performing models has rarely been implemented. We integrated input data manipulation and model tuning for four commonly‐used SDMs: generalized linear model (GLM), gradient boosted model (GBM), random forest (RF), and maximum entropy (MaxEnt), and compared their predictive performance to model geographically imbalanced‐biased data of a rare species complex of mountain vipers. Models were tuned up based on a range of model‐specific parameters considering two background selection methods: random and background weighting schemes. The performance of the fine‐tuned models was assessed based on recently identified localities of the species. The results indicated that although the fine‐tuned version of all models shows great performance in predicting training data (AUC > 0.9 and TSS > 0.5), they produce different results in classifying out‐of‐bag data. The GBM and RF with higher sensitivity of training data showed more different performances. The GLM, despite having high predictive performance for test data, showed lower specificity. It was only the MaxEnt model that showed high predictive performance and comparable results for identifying test data in both random and background weighting procedures. Our results highlight that while GBM and RF are prone to overfitting training data and GLM over‐predict nonsampled areas MaxEnt is capable of producing results that are both predictable (extrapolative) and complex (interpolative). We discuss the assumptions of each model and conclude that MaxEnt could be considered as a practical method to cope with imbalanced‐biased data in species distribution modeling approaches

Prevalance and pattern of antimicrobial resistance of shigella species among patients with acute diarrhoea in Karaj, Tehran, Iran

The study was carried out to determine the prevalence and pattern of antimicrobial resistance of Shigella species among patients with acute diarrhoea in Karaj, Tehran, Iran. The study included all acute diarrhoea patients who visited the hospitals and treatment centres of Karaj during November 2001-October 2002. Of 734 stool samples collected from patients with acute diarrhoea and analyzed for Shigella spp., 123 (16.8%) yielded Shigella spp. (7.5% Shigella flexneri, 5.2% S. sonnei, 2.6% S. dysenteriae, and 1.5% S. boydii). Of the Shigella isolates, 90.8% were resistant to one or more antimicrobial agent(s), and 87.8% were multidrug resistant. The most common resistance was to tetracycline (73.5%), trimethoprim-sulphamethoxazole (70.4%), and amoxicillin-clavulanic acid (50.0%). Resistance to cefixime, ciprofloxacin, ceftriaxone, and nalidixic acid was observed in 6.1%, 3.1%, 2.0%, and 1.0% of the isolates respectively. These findings suggest that Shigella spp. may be an important aetiological agent of diarrhoea with a high rate of drug resistance in this region, which requires further