The Role of Designers in Promoting Healthy Masculinity With an Approach to Stopping Violence Against Women and Girls

While awareness about violence against women and girls is growing, there is still a lack of evidence about what changes behavior to prevent it from happening. As a graphic designer, I wanted to find the root problem of this issue and work towards a solution. Through my research and questioning, I concluded that this problem begins with men’s thoughts on hierarchy, language, and behavior, and supported by a prevalence of toxic masculinity in men’s culture. Where does this violence come from? What has society done to raise this kind of man? Violence against women and girls is being couched in ideas about masculine superiority and natural dominance. Most expressions of masculinity, whether in the images we see of how ‘real men’ should look or the stories we tell about how ‘real men’ should behave, are often violent and aggressive. Sadly, when changing the story, including women’s empowerment initiatives, we do not engage with men as part of the solution. As half the world’s population, effective interventions must involve men to address the underlying discriminatory social norms that promote male power, control, and use of violence (Virtual Knowledge Center to End Violence against Women and Girls 2010). When discussing the subject at hand, the lack of public and visual design educating men and boys about their role in stopping violence against women and girls has moved me as a designer to provide avenues to solutions through my interactive pieces. Although organizations work with and educate boys and men in a preventative manner, these activities are held as classes, workshops, and conferences in private places with no public visual campaign raising the awareness about this issue in our communities. My designs make use of physical interactions to link the viewer to the information through action and response, making them aware of the effects of their presence has in a space

COMPRESSIVE IMAGING AND DUAL MOIRE´ LASER INTERFEROMETER AS METROLOGY TOOLS

Metrology is the science of measurement and deals with measuring different physical aspects of objects. In this research the focus has been on two basic problems that metrologists encounter. The first problem is the trade-off between the range of measurement and the corresponding resolution; measurement of physical parameters of a large object or scene accompanies by losing detailed information about small regions of the object. Indeed, instruments and techniques that perform coarse measurements are different from those that make fine measurements. This problem persists in the field of surface metrology, which deals with accurate measurement and detailed analysis of surfaces. For example, laser interferometry is used for fine measurement (in nanometer scale) while to measure the form of in object, which lies in the field of coarse measurement, a different technique like moire technique is used. We introduced a new technique to combine measurement from instruments with better resolution and smaller measurement range with those with coarser resolution and larger measurement range. We first measure the form of the object with coarse measurement techniques and then make some fine measurement for features in regions of interest. The second problem is the measurement conditions that lead to difficulties in measurement. These conditions include low light condition, large range of intensity variation, hyperspectral measurement, etc. Under low light condition there is not enough light for detector to detect light from object, which results in poor measurements. Large range of intensity variation results in a measurement with some saturated regions on the camera as well as some dark regions. We use compressive sampling based imaging systems to address these problems. Single pixel compressive imaging uses a single detector instead of array of detectors and reconstructs a complete image after several measurements. In this research we examined compressive imaging for different applications including low light imaging, high dynamic range imaging and hyperspectral imaging

No Evidence of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Individuals with Cardiovascular Disease in Mashhad

Background and Aim: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is one of the leading causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. It has been hypothesized that a number of bacteria and viruses might be involved in the pathogenesis of cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to define the prevalence of HCV in patients with cardiovascular disease in comparison with a control group. Methods: In this study, 281 individuals including 143 cardiovascular patients and 138 healthy controls were assessed for identification of HCV antibodies. The data collection was done between April 2016 and February 2017. The prevalence of HCV antibodies was determined by the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Results: There was no HCV infection in both patients with or without cardiovascular disease. There was a significant direct correlation between cardiovascular diseases and mean level of FPG (Fasting plasma glucose) (p<0.001). Also the Systolic and Diastolic blood pressures were significantly higher in the patients with cardiovascular disease (p<0.001 and p=0.005, respectively). Conclusion: The results of this study show that no evidence of HCV infection is found among a group of cardiovascular patients in the city of Mashhad. *Corresponding Author: Zahra Meshkat; Email: [email protected] Please cite this article as: Shakeri Hoseinabad M, Aryan E, Ghayour Mobarhan M, Moohebati M, Abolbashari S, Gholoobi A, Houshyar Chechaklou A, Yaghoubi A, Meshkat M, Meshkat Z. No Evidence of Hepatitis C Virus Infection in Individuals with Cardiovascular Disease in Mashhad. Arch Med Lab Sci. 2021;7:1-5 (e13). https://doi.org/10.22037/amls.v7.3344

Serum anti-hsp27 antibodies concentration in diabetes mellitus; population based case-control study

Background: Diabetes mellitus is an important risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Different biomarkers have been investigated for the diagnosis of diabetes pathogenesis or its complications. There are also reports regarding an increased level of anti-HSP27 antibodies in atherogenesis. We aimed to evaluate serum anti-heat shock protein 27 antibodies level in subjects with diabetes mellitus and undiagnosed individuals.  Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted on 6447 MASHAD study subjects, including four groups with diabetes mellitus (n=610), undiagnosed diabetes (n=162), impaired fasting glucose (IFG) (n=619) and normal (n=5056) subjects. Demographic and anthropometric data were obtained from all participants. Fasting serum glucose (FSG) and other parameters were measured. In-house enzyme-linked immune sorbent assay method was used for measuring Anti-HSP27 antibodies levels. Results: There were significant differences in weight (p=0.034), body mass index, waist, and hip circumference, systolic and diastolic blood pressure, fasting serum glucose, lipid profile and high sensitive- C reactive protein (p<0.001) between four groups of diabetes mellitus, undiagnosed diabetes, impaired fasting glucose, and normal subjects. The serum anti-HSP27 antibody titer did not show a significant difference between studied groups. Conclusion: Serum antibody titers to HSP27 were not significantly different between four groups categorized based on their FSG levels in a large population

Homotopy study of magnetohydrodynamic mixed convection nanofluid multiple slip flow and heat transfer from a vertical cylinder with entropy generation

Stimulated by thermal optimization in magnetic materials process engineering, the present work investigates theoretically the entropy generation in mixed convection magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow of an electrically-conducting nanofluid from a vertical cylinder. The mathematical includes the effects of viscous dissipation and second order velocity slip and thermal slip. The cylindrical partial differential form of the two-component non-homogenous nanofluid model has been transformed into a system of coupled ordinary differential equations by applying similarity transformations. The effects of governing parameters with no-flux nanoparticle concentration have been examined on important quantities of interest. Furthermore the dimensionless form of the entropy generation number has also been evaluated using the powerful homotopy analysis method (HAM). The present analytical results achieve good correlation with numerical results. Entropy is found to be an increasing function of second order velocity slip, magnetic field and curvature parameter. Temperature is elevated with increasing curvature parameter and magnetic parameter whereas it is reduced with mixed convection parameter. The flow is accelerated with curvature parameter but decelerated with magnetic parameter. Heat transfer rate (Nusselt number) is enhanced with greater mixed convection parameter, curvature parameter and first order velocity slip parameter but reduced with increasing second order velocity slip parameter. Entropy generation is also increased with magnetic parameter, second order slip velocity parameter, curvature parameter, thermophoresis parameter, buoyancy parameter and Reynolds number whereas it is suppressed with higher first order velocity slip parameter, Brownian motion parameter and thermal slip parameter

Numerical study of heat source/sink effects on dissipative magnetic nanofluid flow from a non-linear inclined stretching/shrinking sheet

This paper numerically investigates radiative magnetohydrodynamic mixed convection boundary layer flow of nanofluids over a nonlinear inclined stretching/shrinking sheet in the presence of heat source/sink and viscous dissipation. The Rosseland approximation is adopted for thermal radiation effects and the Maxwell-Garnetts and Brinkman models are used for the effective thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity of the nanofluids respectively. The governing coupled nonlinear momentum and thermal boundary layer equations are rendered into a system of ordinary differential equations via local similarity transformations with appropriate boundary conditions. The non-dimensional, nonlinear, well-posed boundary value problem is then solved with the Keller box implicit finite difference scheme. The emerging thermo-physical dimensionless parameters governing the flow are the magnetic field parameter, volume fraction parameter, power-law stretching parameter, Richardson number, suction/injection parameter, Eckert number and heat source/sink parameter. A detailed study of the influence of these parameters on velocity and temperature distributions is conducted. Additionally the evolution of skin friction coefficient and Nusselt number values with selected parameters is presented. Verification of numerical solutions is achieved via benchmarking with some limiting cases documented in previously reported results, and generally very good correlation is demonstrated. This investigation is relevant to fabrication of magnetic nanomaterials and high temperature treatment of magnetic nano-polymers

Combined heat and mass transfer and thermodynamic irreversibilities in the stagnation-point flow of Casson rheological fluid over a cylinder with catalytic reactions and inside a porous medium under local thermal nonequilibrium

The transport of heat and mass from the surface of a cylinder coated with a catalyst and subject to an impinging flow of a Casson rheological fluid is investigated. The cylinder features circumferentially non-uniform transpiration and is embedded inside a homogeneous porous medium. The non-equilibrium thermodynamics of the problem, including Soret and Dufour effects and local thermal non-equilibrium in the porous medium, are considered. Through the introduction of similarity variables, the governing equations are reduced to a set of non-linear ordinary differential equations which are subsequently solved numerically. This results in the prediction of hydrodynamic, temperature, concentration and entropy generation fields, as well as local and average Nusselt, Sherwood and Bejan numbers. It is shown that, for low values of the Casson parameter and thus strong non-Newtonian behaviour, the porous system has a significant tendency towards maintaining local thermal equilibrium. Furthermore, the results show a major reduction in the average Nusselt number during the transition from Newtonian to non-Newtonian fluid, while the reduction in the Sherwood number is less pronounced. It is also demonstrated that flow, thermal and mass transfer irreversibilities are significantly affected by the fluid’s strengthened non-Newtonian characteristics. The physical reasons for these behaviours are discussed by exploring the influence of the Casson parameter and other pertinent factors upon the thickness of thermal and concentration boundary layers. It is noted that this study is the first systematic investigation of the stagnation-point flow of Casson fluid in cylindrical porous media

The prevalence of finger sucking habit among preschool children in Kerman, Iran

BACKGROUND AND AIM: The purpose of this study was to determine the prevalence of finger sucking habit among three-six-year-old children from kindergartens of Kerman, Iran. METHODS: This descriptive, cross-sectional study used census sampling to select 1000 children from 40 kindergartens. Data was collected by a checklist and clinical examination. Chi-square test in SPSS16 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: The prevalence of finger sucking habit was 3.4%. There was no statistically significant relation between gender and the habit. Pacifier sucking habit was not an influencing factor in finger sucking habit. Most children (47.06%) had received exclusive breastfeeding. Anterior open bite was seen in 50.00% of the children with finger sucking habit. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed the decreased prevalence of finger sucking habit compared to similar studies. This difference might have been caused by the type of feeding (about 50% of the children in the present study were breast-fed). KEYWORDS: Finger and Thumb Sucking, Prevalence, Oral Habits, Breast-Feedin