Classification of Mental Stress Levels by Analyzing fNIRS Signal Using Linear and Non-linear Features

Background: Mental stress is known as one of the main influential factors in development of different diseases including heart attack and stroke. Thus, quantification of stress level can be very important in preventing many diseases and in human health.Methods: The prefrontal cortex is involved in body regulation in response to stress. In this research, functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) signals were recorded from FP2 position in the international electroencephalographic 10–20 system during a stressful mental arithmetic task to be calculated within a limited period of time. After extracting the brain’s hemodynamic response from fNIRS signal, different linear and nonlinear features were extracted from the signal which are then used for stress levels classification both individually and in combination.Results: In this study, the maximum accuracy of 88.72% was achieved in classification between high and low stress levels, and 96.92% was obtained for the stress and rest states.Conclusion: Our results showed that using the proposed linear and nonlinear features it is possible to effectively classify stress levels from fNIRS signals recorded from only one site in the prefrontal cortex. Comparing to other methods, it is shown that the proposed algorithm outperforms other previously reported methods using the nonlinear features extracted from the fNIRS signal. These results clearly show the potential of fNIRS signal as a useful tool for early diagnosis and quantify stress

Single Iteration Conditional Based DSE Considering Spatial and Temporal Correlation

The increasing complexity of distribution network calls for advancement in distribution system state estimation (DSSE) to monitor the operating conditions more accurately. Sufficient number of measurements is imperative for a reliable and accurate state estimation. The limitation on the measurement devices is generally tackled with using the so-called pseudo measured data. However, the errors in pseudo data by cur-rent techniques are quite high leading to a poor DSSE. As customer loads in distribution networks show high cross-correlation in various locations and over successive time steps, it is plausible that deploying the spatial-temporal dependencies can improve the pseudo data accuracy and estimation. Although, the role of spatial dependency in DSSE has been addressed in the literature, one can hardly find an efficient DSSE framework capable of incorporating temporal dependencies present in customer loads. Consequently, to obtain a more efficient and accurate state estimation, we propose a new non-iterative DSSE framework to involve spatial-temporal dependencies together. The spatial-temporal dependencies are modeled by conditional multivariate complex Gaussian distributions and are studied for both static and real-time state estimations, where information at preceding time steps are employed to increase the accuracy of DSSE. The efficiency of the proposed approach is verified based on quality and accuracy indices, standard deviation and computational time. Two balanced medium voltage (MV) and one unbalanced low voltage (LV) distribution case studies are used for evaluations

The Necessity of Studying the Islamic Legal Foundations of Caesarian Section in Medical Education with Emphasis on Health Sector Evolution

Background & Objective: The creation of culture, propagation of natural childbirth, and reduction of caesarian section has always been one of the objectives of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education. In addition, this subject is one of the 8 objectives of the country's health system reform plan. The aim of this study was the evaluation and explanation of the fundamentals caesarian section in terms of jurisprudence because medicine and jurisprudence can be related in some respects. With the consideration of this connection and using Islamic resources, training programs can be improved and teaching and learning output strengthened in order to better train medical students and the public on medical issues. Methods: The present study was conducted through library research and by studying literature and valid first class sources of Fiqh and Hadith like Wasā'il al-Shīʿa, Man Lā Yahzar āl Faqih, Mostadrak-āl vasāil, Qavāid āl Fiqhi, and āl-mizan and the religious grounds for natural childbirth. Moreover, books, articles, and dissertations in the field of medicine and the views of experts in the field were used. The common points between these resources were noted in order to achieve the desired result. Selection of resources was based on their accreditation in jurisprudence and medicine. Results: By studying a large number of religious, Hadith, and medical books related to the discussion topic it was found that natural childbirth has a scientific and rational priority over cesarean delivery, except in cases of necessity. However, caesarian delivery is thriving today. One of the most important findings of this research is that, in addition to its disadvantages, cesarean delivery can be indirectly effective in the reduction of population. The limiting of the human race is under the “Lā-Zarar” rules of the Islamic jurisprudence. This means that harming oneself or others is not legitimate in Islam. This is a good reason to study this subject in terms of Islamic jurisprudence and to guide students and researchers toward the development of medical education. Conclusion: Cesarean delivery operation is one of the issues that, contrary to popular imagination, Islamic jurisprudence has discussed. The results showed that caesarean section, despite less pain than natural childbirth, has no advantages over natural childbirth except in special cases and Islamic jurisprudence confirms this in numerous fatwas. On the other hand, cesarean section is subject to the rules of Islamic jurisprudence, and according to the rule of "no injury and loss in Islam" (Lā-Zarar rule), whatever causes harm to human beings is prohibited. One of the major damages that cesarean delivery indirectly causes for human life is the crisis of population reduction, and thus, it has been forbidden according to the rule of LāZarar. Key Words: Natural childbirth, Caesarian section, Jurisprudence and medicine, Health sector evolutio

Meaning of Spiritual Care

Spiritual care is an essential component in nursing practice and strongly influenced by the sociocultural context. This article aimed to elucidate the meaning of nurses’ experiences of giving spiritual care in southeast of Iran. A phenomenological hermeneutic approach influenced by Ricoeur was used. Eleven staff nurses who were currently working in the 3 major hospitals under the umbrella of the Kerman University of Medical Sciences were interviewed. The meaning of spiritual care was comprehensively understood as meeting patient as a unique being. This can be divided into 3 themes: meeting patient as a being in relationship, meeting patient as a cultural being, and meeting patient as a religious being. The results in this study suggest that education about spirituality and spiritual care should be included in the continuous and in-service education of registered nurses. Spiritual and cultural assessment criteria should be included in this education to improve the provision of holistic care. KEY WORDS: Iran, nurse, phenomenology, spiritual care Holist Nurs Pract 2013;27(4):199–20

Distribution transformer lifetime analysis in the presence of demand response and rooftop PV integration

Many distribution transformers have already exceeded half of their expected service life of 35 years in the infrastructure of Western Power, the electric distribution company supplying southwest of Western Australia, Australia. Therefore, it is anticipated that a high investment on transformer replacement happens in the near future. However, high renewable integration and demand response (DR) are promising resources to defer the investment on infrastructure upgrade and extend the lifetime of transformers. This paper investigates the impact of rooftop photovoltaic (PV) integration and customer engagement through DR on the lifetime of transformers in electric distribution networks. To this aim, first, a time series modelling of load, DR and PV is utilised for each year over a planning period. This load model is applied to a typical distribution transformer for which the hot-spot temperature rise is modelled based on the relevant standard. Using this calculation platform, the loss of life and the actual age of distribution transformer are obtained. Then, various scenarios including different levels of PV penetration and DR contribution are examined, and their impacts on the age of transformer are reported. Finally, the equivalent loss of net present value of distribution transformer is formulated and discussed. This formulation gives major benefits to the distribution network planners for analysing the contribution of PV and DR on lifetime extension of the distribution transformer. In addition, the provided model can be utilised in optimal investment analysis to find the best time for the transformer replacement and the associated cost considering PV penetration and DR. The simulation results show that integration of PV and DR within a feeder can significantly extend the lifetime of transformers

Evaluation of the Impact of Courses on Islamic Education and Religious Concepts on the Promotion of Medical Ethics: A Case Study on the Students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences

Background: According to the status of ethics in medical education and owing to the students’ talent and rational spirit, it seems that the education system, despite the emphasis on courses such as medical ethics, should focus on the improvement of teaching quality of Islamic education and explanation of religious concepts, since emphasis on increasing the quality of Islamic education leads to the promotion of medical ethics. Objectives: The current study aimed at evaluating the impact of courses on Islamic education and religious concepts on the promotion of medical ethics among the students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences, Kerman, Iran. Methods: The current descriptive cross sectional study was conducted on 5831 students of Kerman University of Medical Sciences as the statistical population in the academic year of 2016 - 2017. Using the Morgan table, 360 subjects were selected as the study sample using stratified random sampling method. In order to collect data, a standard questionnaire, which its reliability was confirmed by Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, was used. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling with AMOS software. Results: Structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data and test the hypotheses. The models could explain the measurement indices, and based on the adopted method, the fitting indices of the measurement models showed the acceptability of the measurement models for Islamic education, religious concepts, and medical ethics. Conclusions: In addition to the content-related relationship with medical ethics, the Islamic education promotes ethics in the target community and has a direct impact on the education of medical ethics. Also, the explanation of religious concepts has a major impact on the promotion of the quality of medical ethics, since religious concepts, as students' subjective presuppositions, help them to better understand the content of medical ethics. By the evaluation of the research hypotheses, a direct relationship was observed between the education of Islamic education and promotion of medical ethics. Accordingly, a relationship between the religious concepts and the promotion of medical ethics was also confirmed. The course of Islamic education has a lower impact on medical ethics compared with that of religious concepts. The attention paid by the medical education system to the results of data analysis leads to an increase in the quality of Islamic education course offered to the students. Keywords Islamic Education Religious Concepts Medical Ethics Medical Student

Risk-oriented multi-area economic dispatch solution with high penetration of wind power generation and compressed air energy storage system

This paper investigates the risk-oriented multi-area economic dispatch (MAED) problem with high penetration of wind farms (WFs) combined with compressed air energy storage (CAES). The main objective is to help system operators to minimize the operational cost of thermal units and CAES units with an appropriate level of security through optimized WF power generation curtailment strategy and CAES charging/discharging control. In the obtained MAED model, several WFs integrated with CAES units are considered in different generation zones, and the probability to meet demand by available spinning reserve during N - 1 security contingency is characterized as a risk function. Furthermore, the contribution of CAES units in providing the system spinning reserve is taken into account in the MAED model. The proposed framework is demonstrated by a case study using the modified IEEE 40-generator system. The numerical results reveal that the proposed method brings a significant advantage to the efficient scheduling of thermal units' power generation, WF power curtailment, and CAES charging/discharging control in the power system.©2020 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other works.fi=vertaisarvioitu|en=peerReviewed

An Effector of Hemoglobin Structure: The Guanosine 3\u27, 5\u27-Triphosphate

The effect of guanosine 3\u27, 5\u27-triphosphate (GTP) on the hemoglobin structure was studied by UV-visible, fluorescence and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopies, and cyclic voltammetry. UV-visible absorption spectra showed an increase in absorbance in the regions of 420 nm and 280 nm. Fluorescence spectra showed that the Trp fluorescence intensity increased upon excitation at 280 nm, when guanosine 3\u27, 5\u27-triphosphate concentration was increased in hemoglobin solution. Along with the increased fluorescence intensity, a slightly shift of λmax was also observed toward the higher wavelengths. CD spectral analysis demonstrated a significant decrease in negative ellipsity in the region of 205–235 nm. After adding guanosine 3\u27, 5\u27-triphosphate to the hemoglobin solution α-helix structure decreases by 20 % while β-sheet conformation increases by 9 %. The effects of GTP on hemoglobin resulted in a 61 mV shift in the cathodic and 40 mV for anodic peak of hemoglobin in the CD. Our data showed the change of secondary and tertiary structure of hemoglobin in the presence of guanosine 3\u27, 5\u27-triphosphate. (doi: 10.5562/cca1955