Classification of natural flow regimes in Iran to support environmental flow management

Development of environmental flow standards at the regional scale has been proposed as a means to manage the influence of hydrological alterations on riverine ecosystems in view of the rapid pace of global water resources management. Flow regime classification forms a critical part in such environmental flow assessments. We present a national-scale classification of hydrological regimes for Iran based on a set of hydrological metrics. It describes ecologically relevant characteristics of the natural hydrological regime derived from 15- to 47-year-long records of daily mean discharge data for 539 streamgauges within a 47-year period. The classification was undertaken using a fuzzy partitional method within Bayesian mixture modelling. The analysis resulted in 12 classes of distinctive flow regime types that differ in various hydrological aspects. This classification is being used for further research in regional-scale environmental flow studies in Iran

Reviewing traffic conflict techniques for potential application to developing countries

The economic and social costs due to road crashes are disproportionately higher in developing countries. In addition, underreporting, coupled with an incomplete and inconsistent recording of reported crashes is a major issue in such settings. A brief outline of the dimension of road safety problems in developing countries and the most common limitations of existing crash databases is given in the paper. The challenges in applying traditional approaches for traffic safety evaluation and initiatives are also discussed. Diagnosis of road safety problems using traffic conflict techniques has received considerable research interest and has gained acceptance as a proactive surrogate measure in developed countries. Significant studies have been accomplished to develop, validate and apply different surrogate indicators for the estimation of traffic conflicts, as well as an assessment of the safety problem in different road geometric and operating conditions. This has provided a substitute for the historical crash records in traffic safety research. The main objective of this paper is to assess the application potentiality of this surrogate safety measures to address safety issues in developing countries. To do that, this paper critically reviews and synthesizes the different indicators of surrogate safety measures. The main principles, as well as advantages and disadvantages of the major indicators and prospects of application, are presented here. Finally, future research directions for road traffic safety assessment are outlined in the perspective of understanding the most concerning human issue due to traffic crashes in developing countries

REVIEWING TRAFFIC CONFLICT TECHNIQUES FOR POTENTIAL APPLICATION TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

The economic and social costs due to road crashes are disproportionately higher in developing countries. In addition, underreporting, coupled with an incomplete and inconsistent recording of reported crashes is a major issue in such settings. A brief outline of the dimension of road safety problems in developing countries and the most common limitations of existing crash databases is given in the paper. The challenges in applying traditional approaches for traffic safety evaluation and initiatives are also discussed. Diagnosis of road safety problems using traffic conflict techniques has received considerable research interest and has gained acceptance as a proactive surrogate measure in developed countries. Significant studies have been accomplished to develop, validate and apply different surrogate indicators for the estimation of traffic conflicts, as well as an assessment of the safety problem in different road geometric and operating conditions. This has provided a substitute for the historical crash records in traffic safety research. The main objective of this paper is to assess the application potentiality of this surrogate safety measures to address safety issues in developing countries. To do that, this paper critically reviews and synthesizes the different indicators of surrogate safety measures. The main principles, as well as advantages and disadvantages of the major indicators and prospects of application, are presented here. Finally, future research directions for road traffic safety assessment are outlined in the perspective of understanding the most concerning human issue due to traffic crashes in developing countries

Clinical and Para clinical Manifestations of Tuberous Sclerosis: A Cross Sectional Study on 81 Pediatric Patients

How to Cite this Article: Tonekaboni SH, Tousi P, Ebrahimi A, Ahmadabadi F, keyhanidoust Z, Zamani Gh, Rezvani M, Amirsalari S, Tavassoli A, Rounagh A, Rezayi A. Clinical and Para clinical Manifestations of Tuberous Sclerosis: A Cross Sectional Study on 81 Pediatric Patients. Iran J Child Neurol 2012; 6(3): 25-31.ObjectiveMigraine is a disabling illness that causes absence from school andaffects the quality of life. It has been stated that headache may representan epileptic event. EEG abnormality is a prominent finding in childrenwith migraine. The aim of this study was to evaluate EEG abnormalitiesin children with migraine.Materials & MethodsTwo-hundred twenty-eight children were enrolled into the study.Evaluation and following of cases was performed by one physician,paraclinical tests were used to increase the accuracy. The study wasconducted under the supervision of pediatric neurology masters and theselected cases were from different parts of the country.ResultsComparing EEG abnormalities in different types of migraine revealedthat there is an association between them. There was also a significantdifference between EEG abnormalities in different types of aura. Migrainetype was associated with the patient’s age. Sleep disorders were morecommon in patients with a positive family history of seizure.ConclusionOur study dosclosed migraine as a common problem in children withabnormalities present in approximately 20% of the patients. Migraineand abnormal EEG findings are significantly associated.RefrencesBundey S, Evans K. Tuberous sclerosis: a genetic study. J Neurol Neurosurg. Psychiatry 1969 Dec;32(6):591-603.Staley BA, Vail EA, Thiele EA. Tuberous sclerosis complex: diagnostic challenges, presenting symptoms,and commonly missed signs. Pediatrics 2011 Jan;127(1):e117-25.Thiele EA, Korf BR. Phakomatoses and allied conditions.In: Swaiman KF, Ashwal S, Ferriero DM. Swaimans pediatric neurology. 5th ed. China: Elsevier Saunders;2012. p. 504-9.Lendvay TS, Marshall FF. The tuberous sclerosis complex and its highly variable manifestations. J Urol2003 May;169(5):1635-42.Curatolo P, Jóźwiak S, Nabbout R; on behalf of the participants of the TSC Consensus Meeting for SEGA and Epilepsy Management. Management of epilepsy associated with tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC):Clinical recommendations. Eur J Paediatr Neurol 2012Jun;16(1):83-5.Jansen FE, Van Huffelen AC, Van Rijen PC, LeijtenFS,Jennekens-Schinkel A, Gosselaar P et al. Epilepsy surgeryin tuberous sclerosis: the Dutch experience. Seizure 2007Jul;16(5):445-53.Turgut M, Akalan N, Ozgen T, Ruacan S, Erbengi A. Subepandymal giant cell astrocytoma associated with tuberous sclerosis: diagnostic and surgical characteristics of five cases with unusual features. Clin Neurol Neurosurg1996 Aug;98(3):217-21.Coppola G, Klepper J, Ammendola E, Fiorillo M, dellaCorte, Capano G. The effects of the ketogenic diet in refractory partial seizures with reference to tuberous sclerosis. Eur J Pediatr Neurol 2006 May;10(3):148-51.Jozwia S, Kotulska K, Domanska-Pakiela D, LojszczykB, Syczewska M et al. Antiepileptic treatment before the onset of seizure reduces epilepsy severity and risk of mental retardation in infants with tuberous sclerosis complex. Eur J Paediatr Neurol 2011 Sep;15(5):424-31.Konishi Y, Ito M, Okuno T, Hojo H, Okuda R, Nakano Yet al. Tuberous sclerosis: early neurologic manifestations and CT features in 18 patients. Brain Dev 1979;1(1):31-7.Gerard G, Weisberg L. Tuberous sclerosis: CT findings and differential diagnosis. Comput Radiol 1987 Jul-Aug;11(4):189-92.Pompili G, Zirpoli S, Sala C, Flor N, Alfano RM, Volpi A et al. Magnetic resonance imaging of renal involvementin genetically studied patients with tuberous sclerosis complex. Eur J Radiol 2009 Nov;72(2):335-41.Fleury P, de Groot Wp, Delleman JW, Verbeeten B Jr,Frankenmolen-Witkiezwicz IM. Tuberous sclerosis: theincidence of sporadic cases versus familial cases. BrainDev 1980;2(2):107-17.Saadat M, Ansari-Lari M, Farhud DD. Consanguineous marriage in Iran. Ann Hum Biol 2004 Mar-Apr;31(2):263-9.Roach ES, Sparagana SP. Diagnosis of tuberous sclerosis complex. J Child Neurol 2004 Sep;19(9):643-9.

Double-strand break repair and homologous recombination in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

In recent years our understanding of double strand break repair and homologous recombination in Schizosaccharomyces pombe has increased significantly, and the identification of novel pathways and genes with homologues in higher eukaryotes has increased its value as a model organisms for double strand break repair. We will review the S. pombe literature on double strand break repair, mainly focussing on homologous recombination in mitotic cells

Gender Differences in Obesogenic Behaviour, Socioeconomic and Metabolic Factors in a Population-based Sample of Iranians: The IHHP Study

This study investigated the gender differences in association of some behavioural and socioeconomic factors with obesity indices in a population-based sample of 12,514 Iranian adults. The mean body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC), and the waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) were significantly higher in women than in men. Current and passive smoking had an inverse association with BMI among males whereas current smoking, transportation by a private car, and longer duration of watching television (TV) had a positive association with BMI among females. Current and passive smoking, cycling, and Global Dietary Index (GDI) had an inverse association with WC among males. Higher consumption of fruits and vegetables, current and passive smoking, duration of daily sleep, and GDI had an inverse association with WC among females. Using a private car for transportation had a significant positive association with WHR among both males and females. Living in an urban area, being married, and having a higher education level increased the odds ratio of obesity among both the genders. Non-manual work also increased this risk among males whereas watching TV and current smoking increased this risk among females. Such gender differences should be considered for culturally-appropriate interventional strategies to be implemented at the population level for tackling obesity and associated cardiometabolic risk factors

Incidence of Sarcoma Histotypes and Molecular Subtypes in a Prospective Epidemiological Study with Central Pathology Review and Molecular Testing

International audienceBACKGROUND: The exact overall incidence of sarcoma and sarcoma subtypes is not known. The objective of the present population-based study was to determine this incidence in a European region (Rhone-Alpes) of six million inhabitants, based on a central pathological review of the cases. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: From March 2005 to February 2007, pathology reports and tumor blocks were prospectively collected from the 158 pathologists of the Rhone-Alpes region. All diagnosed or suspected cases of sarcoma were collected, reviewed centrally, examined for molecular alterations and classified according to the 2002 World Health Organization classification. Of the 1287 patients screened during the study period, 748 met the criteria for inclusion in the study. The overall crude and world age-standardized incidence rates were respectively 6.2 and 4.8 per 100,000/year. Incidence rates for soft tissue, visceral and bone sarcomas were respectively 3.6, 2.0 and 0.6 per 100,000. The most frequent histological subtypes were gastrointestinal stromal tumor (18%; 1.1/100,000), unclassified sarcoma (16%; 1/100,000), liposarcoma (15%; 0.9/100,000) and leiomyosarcoma (11%; 0.7/100,000). CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The observed incidence of sarcomas was higher than expected. This study is the first detailed investigation of the crude incidence of histological and molecular subtypes of sarcomas

Future growth strategies: final report

This report introduces and discusses strategies by which Australian urban passenger rail operators and transport planning agencies can reduce urban rail’s existing reliance on substantial government subsidies. In particular, the report looks closely at achieving this through five separate but inter-related strategies, these being: 1) Growing patronage; 2) Road-user charging; 3) Network optimisation; 4) Spreading peak demand; and 5) Asset productivit

Designing a framework to improve time series data of construction projects: application of a simulation model and singular spectrum analysis

During a construction project life cycle, project costs and time estimations contribute greatly to baseline scheduling. Besides, schedule risk analysis and project control are also influenced by the above factors. Although many papers have offered estimation techniques, little attempt has been made to generate project time series data as daily progressive estimations in different project environments that could help researchers in generating general and customized formulae in further studies. This paper, however, is an attempt to introduce a new simulation approach to reflect the data regarding time series progress of the project, considering the specifications and the complexity of the project and the environment where the project is performed. Moreover, this simulator can equip project managers with estimated information, which reassures them of the execution stages of the project although they lack historical data. A case study is presented to show the usefulness of the model and its applicability in practice. In this study, singular spectrum analysis has been employed to analyze the simulated outputs, and the results are separated based on their signal and noise trends. The signal trend is used as a point-of-reference to compare the outputs of a simulation employing S-curve technique results and the formulae corresponding to earned value management, as well as the life of a given project