Comparative evaluation of soy and fenugreek seed on hot flashes in menopausal women: a randomized clinical tria

Background and aims: Hot flashes are common and distressing symptoms in postmenopausal women that its major treat is replacement therapy hormone. In order to its various complications, these hormones discuss and the use of phytoestrogens proposes. Due to rich sources of phytoestrogens in herbal plants such as soy and fenugreek, a comparative study of soybean and fenugreek seeds was aimed on hot flashes in postmenopausal women. Methods: This randomized, controlled, double-blind clinical trial was conducted on 60 postmenopausal women with hot flashes who were referred to the clinic centers in Arak city and they had written satisfaction, and included the entrance criteria. They were divided randomly into two groups and in each group, 30 postmenopausal women. One group used fenugreek seeds (6 gr daily) and another group used soy (25 mg daily). Before the intervention and at the end of the second month (8 weeks), the severity and frequency of hot flashes were evaluated and were analyzed using paired t- test and independent t-test. Results: 60 postmenopausal women continued the study to the end in total. There was no significant difference in the intensity and frequency between two groups before the intervention P>0.05). Following the intervention in two groups reduced significantly both the severity and number of hot flushes at the end of the second month (P0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study seem to have a daily intake of 25 grams of soy or 6 gr of fenugreek seeds after two months is effective in reducing the number and severity of hot flashes, although there was no difference between the two groups. Moreover, no specific complication was observed using these herbal plants under study

Cost-Effective Scheduling and Load Balancing Algorithms in Cloud Computing Using Learning Automata

Cloud computing is a distributed computing model in which access is based on demand. A cloud computing environment includes a wide variety of resource suppliers and consumers. Hence, efficient and effective methods for task scheduling and load balancing are required. This paper presents a new approach to task scheduling and load balancing in the cloud computing environment with an emphasis on the cost-efficiency of task execution through resources. The proposed algorithms are based on the fair distribution of jobs between machines, which will prevent the unconventional increase in the price of a machine and the unemployment of other machines. The two parameters Total Cost and Final Cost are designed to achieve the mentioned goal. Applying these two parameters will create a fair basis for job scheduling and load balancing. To implement the proposed approach, learning automata are used as an effective and efficient technique in reinforcement learning. Finally, to show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms we conducted simulations using CloudSim toolkit and compared proposed algorithms with other existing algorithms like BCO, PES, CJS, PPO and MCT. The proposed algorithms can balance the Final Cost and Total Cost of machines. Also, the proposed algorithms outperform best existing algorithms in terms of efficiency and imbalance degree

A relação entre a atitude com a publicidade em sms e a intenção de compra de clientes (estudo de caso; saman insurance co)

This research tries to investigate the application of mobile phones for marketing (via SMS) in the insurance industry according to the rapid progress at the used technologies in mobile phones and their increasing use in various industries. In fact, its aim was to investigate the effect of an SMS advertising on the individual attitude of the advertising, their attitude to the brand and their attitude effect on purchase intention. So, a model includes the components of an advertising message which may affect the attitude toward advertising has been presented. These components were; advertising perceived as valid, the attitude to mobile advertising, the quality of the argument, the incentive, attractiveness, interaction, the perceived attempt, the perceived emotional involvement and the perceived cognitive involvement. A questionnaire has been provided based on these factors and has been distributed among 384 of the sample sizes. The collected data have been analyzed by Smart PLS 2.0 software. The results indicated that the attitude to advertising has a direct effect on the attitude to the brand, attitude to the brand has a direct effect on the attitude to purchase intention and attitude to advertising has a direct and positive effect on purchase intention. Also, all the above-mentioned components have positive effect on attitude to advertising.investigación hace un esfuerzo en investigar la aplicación de teléfonos móviles para la comercialización (a través de SMS) en la industria de seguros de acuerdo con el rápido progreso de las tecnologías utilizadas en teléfonos móviles y su creciente uso en diversas industrias. De hecho, su objetivo era investigar el efecto de una publicidad SMS sobre la actitud individual hacia la publicidad, su actitud hacia la marca y su efecto de actitud sobre la intención de compra. Por lo tanto, un modelo incluye los componentes de un mensaje publicitario que puede afectar la actitud ante la publicidad. Estos componentes fueron; Publicidad percibida como válida, la actitud hacia la publicidad móvil, la calidad del argumento, el incentivo, el atractivo, la interacción, el intento percibido, la implicación emocional percibida y la implicación cognitiva percibida. Se ha proporcionado un cuestionario basado en estos factores y se ha distribuido entre 384 del tamaño de la muestra. Los datos recopilados han sido analizados por el software Smart PLS 2.0. Los resultados indicaron que la actitud hacia la publicidad tiene un efecto directo sobre la actitud hacia la marca, la actitud hacia la marca tiene un efecto directo sobre la actitud hacia la intención de compra y la actitud hacia la publicidad tiene un efecto directo y positivo en la intención de compra. Además, todos los componentes mencionados anteriormente tienen un efecto positivo en la actitud hacia la publicidad.Esta pesquisa tenta investigar a aplicação de telefones celulares para marketing (via SMS) no setor de seguros, de acordo com o rápido progresso das tecnologias usadas em telefones celulares e seu crescente uso em diversos setores. De fato, seu objetivo foi investigar o efeito da propaganda por SMS na atitude individual em relação à publicidade, sua atitude em relação à marca e seu efeito de atitude sobre a intenção de compra. Portanto, um modelo inclui os componentes de uma mensagem publicitária que podem afetar a atitude em relação à publicidade. Esses componentes eram; publicidade percebida como válida, a atitude em relação à publicidade móvel, a qualidade do argumento, o incentivo, a atratividade, a interação, a intenção percebida, o envolvimento emocional percebido e o envolvimento cognitivo percebido. Um questionário baseado nesses fatores foi fornecido e distribuído entre 384 do tamanho da amostra. Os dados coletados foram analisados pelo software Smart PLS 2.0. Os resultados indicaram que a atitude para com a publicidade tem um efeito direto sobre a atitude da marca, a atitude para com a marca tem um efeito direto sobre atitudes em relação a intenção de compra e atitude em relação a publicidade tem um efeito direto e positivo na Intenção de compra Além disso, todos os componentes mencionados acima têm um efeito positivo na atitude em relação à publicidade

Relationship between human chorionic gonadotrapin (HCG) level in second trimester pregnancy and preeclampsia.

Background and aim: Many researches have shown a relationship between levels of βHCG in pregnancy and preeclampsia which can be used as a method for early diagnosis. The aim of this study was to determine relationship between levels of HCG in second trimester of pregnancy and preeclampsia. Methods: This study was conducted as a Nested case control study. Blood samples were taken from 1200 pregnant women who were in their second trimester of pregnancy and were admitted for prenatal care in Arak prenatal clinics. After isolation of serums blood samples were stored in -20◦C until delivery time. Finally serum HCG levels blood pressure proteinurea edema seizure and neonate statue were analyzed in 50 preeclamptic women (case group) and were compared with 50 normotensive women (control group). Results: All women were complicated with mild preeclampsia. The mean of the βHCG in preeclamptic women was 43.08±32.56 Iu/ml and means of HCG in normotensive women was 27.48±25.97 mu/ml (

Outage Probability Performance in Mobile Indoor Optical Wireless Communication Environment

3pagesInternational audienceIn this paper, we study an Optical Wireless Communication system for indoor healthcare monitoring application, taking into account the impact of indoor environment. We consider a diffuse link between an emitter placed on a mobile monitored patient and a base station located on the ceiling considering a one-bounce model. Thanks to Ray Propagation Simulator (RaPSor) developed at the Xlim-SIC laboratory, wall, floor and ceiling reflections are taken into account so that the system is more accurately designed, even for low data rates. This is of main concern for healthcare application because it is important to evaluate the required emitter power, related to the power autonomy of monitoring system

Readiness Assessment of Iran’s Insurance Industry for E-Commerce and E-Insurance Success

This paper attempts to develop a method for readiness assessment of potential electronic commerce (e-commerce) success of Iran’s insurance industry. This method can expand in other industries. Key factors impacting e-commerce are identified from Wells, D. and Thomann, j. (2006) researches. This model is a two-dimension 3*4 matrix. Each dimension consists of variables that influence on insurance industries readiness. These variables on horizontal dimension are: People Readiness, IT Readiness, and Business Readiness and on vertical dimension are: Business Imperative, Executive Sponsorship, Development Method and Business Process Orientation. Each cells of this matrix evaluated by 5 questions. This research’s data are collected via a 60-questions questionnaire-based survey from Iranian insurance companies. At the end of the research, the Iranian insurance companies were strongly recommended by us to invest on e-commerce and e-insurance area

Designing a Comprehensive Internet Banking Website Usability Model

Nowadays Due to the increasing advances in technology in the banking industry and changes in the expectations of bank customers, especially the desire to eliminate unnecessary face-to-face Services and the need to receive 24-hour banking services, virtual portals, especially Internet banking websites have been welcomed. According to many experts success of websites is closely related to their degree of usability, so ease of use can act as a powerful leverage to attract customers to a bank that has a more usable website. In this study, after a comprehensive review of the literature, interviews with 41 experts in this field and then by a qualitative method of theme analysis, a comprehensive model of internet banking website was presented. In this model, usability is affected by two groups of external dimensions and internal dimensions, which in case of compatibility with users' expectations, the website is evaluated as usable and as a result, user satisfaction is achieved. Due to the wide range of customers of commercial banks, in addition to traditional segmentation, it is recommended that intelligent segmentation of target users done to improve the usability of Internet banking websites