Human Cytomegalovirus Infection in Women of Childbearing Age Throughout Fars Province - Iran: A Population-based Cohort Study

Human cytomegalovirus (hCMV) has been described as an important etiological agent of intrauterine infection in women of childbearing age that causes congenital malformation. In the present study we examined 844 serum samples from women of child-bearing age for the presence of IgM and IgG antibodies against hCMV by Elisa technique. 764 out of 844 (93%) of the cases were seropositive for hCMV-IgG and 45 (5.4%) cases were seropositive for hCMV-IgM. An increase in the rate of IgG seroprevalance was associated with an increase in age and parity. The IgG seroprevalance rate was inversely proportional to increasing abortions. Intrestingly seasonal variation affected IgG seroprevalance. There was an increasing trend in IgM positivity rate with age in women less than 29 years. hCMV seroprevalence rate was higher in women from rural as compared to those of urban areas. Finally hCMV primary infections occured in 2.4 % of all pregnancis and it is estimated that up to 0.3% of all congenital disorders, through out Fars province, were due to hCMV. We suggest a role of child to mother hCMV transmission and sexual maturity as the most probable epidemiological factors of hCMV seroprevalence among women of child bearing age

Effect of spiritual counseling on spiritual well-being in Iranian women with cancer: A randomized clinical trial

Objectives This study examined the effect of spiritual counseling on the spiritual well-being of Iranian women with cancer. Design and setting a randomized clinical trial was conducted on 42 female cancer patients who were randomized to either an 8-week spiritual counseling intervention (n = 21) or a control group that received routine education/care (n = 21). Spiritual well-being (SWB) was assessed before and after the 8-week spiritual counseling program using Paloutzian and Ellison's (1983) Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS). Results There were no significant differences on SWBS and its two subscales scores (RWB and EWB) between intervention and control groups at baseline (p >.05). After intervention, there was a significant mean difference in SWB (p =.001), RWB (p =.013) and EWB (p =.001) in two groups. Conclusions Spiritual counseling is associated with significant improvements in SWB in Iranian women with cancer. Interventions that acknowledge the spiritual needs of these patients should be incorporated into conventional treatments. © 201

Designing two synthetic constructs for real time pcr detection of francisella tularensis and ebola virus

Background: Generally, timely diagnosis of micro-organisms is very important to prevent many diseases. Many methods can detect micro-organisms like culture-based methods and molecular methods. The molecular methods are usually preferred be-cause they provide fast and reliable results. In some cases, microbial strains are not ac-cessible, and there is no safety to work with them; therefore, synthetic constructs which are designed according to the available sequences in databases can be used as a positive control for detection of them. Methods: In this study, a synthetic construct was designed for molecular detection of Francisella tularensis (F. tularensis) and the Ebola virus by multiplex real-time PCR reaction. For this, sequences were taken from databases and then multiple alignments were done by software. Also, conventional PCR and two models of real-time PCR (SYBR green and TaqMan) were applied. Finally, multiplex real-time PCR was performed. Results: The synthetic construct was designed and used for conventional PCR and multiplex PCR. The results of common PCR showed a single band at 148 bp and 167 bp in 1.5 agarose gel stained by ethidium bromide for F. tularensis and Ebola virus, respectively. Also, a dual-band at 148 and 167 bp was observed in multiplex PCR. Results of real-time PCR showed a limit of detection about 0.1 pg of plasmid/µl. Conclusion: In conclusion, the designed construct can be used as a positive control for an accurate diagnosis of these micro-organisms without any biological danger for laboratory staff. So, this method is useful for diagnosis of these agents in food, water, and blood samples. © 2021, Avicenna Journal of Medical Biotechnology. All rights reserved

Effect of spiritual counseling on spiritual well-being in Iranian women with cancer: A randomized clinical trial

Objectives This study examined the effect of spiritual counseling on the spiritual well-being of Iranian women with cancer. Design and setting a randomized clinical trial was conducted on 42 female cancer patients who were randomized to either an 8-week spiritual counseling intervention (n = 21) or a control group that received routine education/care (n = 21). Spiritual well-being (SWB) was assessed before and after the 8-week spiritual counseling program using Paloutzian and Ellison's (1983) Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS). Results There were no significant differences on SWBS and its two subscales scores (RWB and EWB) between intervention and control groups at baseline (p >.05). After intervention, there was a significant mean difference in SWB (p =.001), RWB (p =.013) and EWB (p =.001) in two groups. Conclusions Spiritual counseling is associated with significant improvements in SWB in Iranian women with cancer. Interventions that acknowledge the spiritual needs of these patients should be incorporated into conventional treatments. © 201

High sensitivity micro-fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometric temperature sensors with a high index ring layer

The influence of the high index ring layer (HIRL) in a tapered fiber Mach-Zehnder interferometer (MZI) on the interference observed, and thus on its potential applications in temperature sensing, has been investigated. The MZI was comprised of a tapered Ring Core Fiber (RCF), spliced between two single mode fibers (SMF). Since part of core mode from the SMF was converted into cladding modes in the RCF, due to the mismatch in the cores between the RCF and SMF, the residual power enters and then propagates along the center of the RCF (silica). The difference in phase between the radiation travelling along these different paths is separated by the HIRL to generate an interference effect. Compared with fiber interferometers based on core and cladding mode interference, the thin fiber HIRL is capable of separating the high order cladding modes and the silica core mode, under grazing incident conditions. Therefore, the optical path difference (OPD) and the sensitivity are both substantially improved over what is seen in conventional devices, showing their potential for interferometric temperature sensor applications. The optimum temperature sensitivity obtained was 186.6 pm/°C, which is ∼ 11.7 times higher than has been reported previously

The Study of Quality of Life in Aphasic Stroke Patients in University- Medical Centers of Hamedan

Background and ObjectivesAs clinical improvement of patients surviving stroke is frequently incomplete and is followed by residual neurologic deficit, evaluation of the consequent function of these patients in three respects i.e; physical, social and emotional, which are considered as quality of life is useful in decision making for health care providers. Since few studies have been carried out in this regard, the aim of the present study was to obtain the average life quality score in four levels in aphasic stroke patients and comparing it with the quality of life score of the healthy population which is 5.Methods This study was a descriptive-cross sectional research carried out on 105 aphasic stroke patients referring to medical centers in Hamadan, Iran. Their diagnoses were confirmed by clinical and radiological findings. These patients were eligible for the study and had survived the stroke for at least six months. Sampling was non randomized and goal-oriented. Dependent variables included psychological, communicational, energy and physical status of the patients measured quantitatively. Data were gathered using the SAQOL-39 questionnaire.Results In this study the female population (58.1%) was greater than the male. The greater number of the aphasic patients (42%) was between 71 to 85 years old and the smallest number (6.7%) was between 39 to 50 years old. The greatest average score of life quality in the studied patients was related to the psychological state (2.17), while the smallest was related to the energy state (1.49). Average score of the life quality in the total population of the studied patients was calculated to be (1.88).ConclusionThe findings of the present study can lead to special supportive measures with the aim of improving life quality in aphasic stroke patients. We suggest that life quality of the patient after stroke should be compared to his/her own quality of life before stroke. Because there is no special service for care providers of stroke patients, an international program should be planned so that by reducing stress, they could have a better relation with the patients.Keywords: Life Quality; Stroke; Aphasia

Loss of Excitation Detection in Doubly Fed Induction Generator by Voltage and Reactive Power Rate

The doubly fed induction generator (DFIG) is one of the most popular technologies used in wind power systems. With the growing use of DFIGs and increasing power system dependence on them in recent years, protecting of these generators against internal faults is more considered. Loss of excitation (LOE) event is among the most frequent failures in electric generators. However, LOE detection studies heretofore were usually confined to synchronous generators. Common LOE detection methods are based on impedance trajectory which makes the system slow and also prone to interpret a stable power swing (SPS) as a LOE fault. This paper suggests a new method to detect the LOE based on the measured variables from the DFIG terminal. In this combined method for LOE detection, the rate of change of both the terminal voltage and the output reactive power are utilized and for SPS detection, the fast Fourier transform (FFT) analysis of the output instantaneous active power has been used. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated using Matlab/Simulink interface for various power capacities and operating conditions. The results proved the method's quickness, simplicity and security

Modelling and Simulation of a Transformer With Inter-turn Fault Including Saturation Effect and Variable Fault Parameters

This investigation deals with a mathematical model for a distribution transformer including saturation effect. To this end, the equations related to a three phase transformer are specified and the effect of an inter-turn fault is included. Naturally by applying an inter-turn fault the inductance and resistance matrix will change. Thus, unknown quantities of inductances and resistances for completing the matrix are calculated and the inputs, outputs and state variables are specified. All the equations will be rewritten in terms of state variables, subsequently saturation effect is added to the model. Finally the block diagram of the specified model based on the obtained equations are designed and the ultimate model is simulated. The saturation effect, added to the mathematical model and also the variable fault parameters are known as two significant contributions which distinguish this study from other investigations. Various results obtained from the simulation of the final model confirm the changes in the behavior of faulty transformer such as: a large circulating current flowing in the shorted turns, lower impact on terminal voltages and currents, a sudden increase in current flowing in the primary winding, asymmetrical flux distribution and inverse proportion of the fault severity and the limiting resistor

Investigating Stockmen’s Intention and Behavior regarding Animal Welfare at Dairy Cooperative in Sirjan Township

The aim of this research was to investigate the stockmen’s intention and behavior toward animal welfare in Sirjan Township. The sample was selected through simple random sampling. A survey of stockmen’s (N= 144) was undertaken in Sirjan Township, Kerman province. The reliability and validity of the instrument were examined and approved, and then data was collected. The results of this study revealed that independent variables predicted nearly 0.46 and 0.39 variance of the stockmen’s intentions and behavior regarding animal welfare respectively. Moreover, outcome expectation was the most important variable in predicting the stockmen’s intentions and behavior regarding animal welfare.  Finally, due to the positive effect of stockmen’s attitude on their intention, findings suggested that, by demonstrating educational films, using posters and visiting superlative dairy farms, it was possible to improve their attitude regarding their animal welfare. According to the impact of stockmen’s understanding of self-efficacy on achieving animal welfare, the study also suggested to simplify different aspects of animal welfare from perceptions of stockmen in order to see animal caring as easy. In this respect, Jihad-e-Keshavarzi organization and animal cooperation are two active institutes which can make this possible by providing different facilities and other possibilities for their members

Effect of nutrition counseling on gastrointestinal complications in patients undergoing radiation for abdominal and pelvic cancer: a randomized clinical trial

Objective: Nowadays, the rate of referral to radiotherapy clinics has also increased due to the development of medical facilities and increased diagnosis of malignant diseases. Implementation of counseling programs by the nurses and health care providers for improving nutritional patterns and simultaneously prevention in cancer patients may improve their health level. Therefore, this study was designed to determine the effect of dietary counseling on gastrointestinal complications in patients receiving abdominal and pelvic radiotherapy. Patients and Methods: In this randomized clinical trial study, 80 patients referred to the radiotherapy ward of Tohid Hospital in Sanandaj (Kurdistan Province, Iran), during 2018-2019 were randomly categorized into two 40-subject intervention and comparison groups. They received nutritional counseling three times a week in one-hour sessions over 2 consecutive weeks. After that, in the 4th week, both groups were assessed for gastrointestinal complications using the Gastrointestinal Symptom Rating Scale. Results: The patients in the intervention group had a mean age of 59.95 ± 1.25 years old, and those in the comparison group had a mean age of 61.87 ± 1.41 years old. Moreover, the mean score of gastrointestinal complications was equal to 5.55 ± 0.81 in the comparison group, and it was similar to 1.49 ± 0.25 in the intervention group, which was significantly lower in the intervention group than the control group (p-value = 0.0001). The mean score of the scale in all dimensions except the constipation dimension was not significantly different between the two study groups, and it was significantly lower in the intervention group than that of the control group (p-value = 0.0001). Conclusions: The findings of the present study revealed that nutrition counseling could be useful in controlling and decreasing acute gastrointestinal complications caused by abdominal and pelvic radiotherapy