A Content-Based Analysis of Jamshid Najafi’s Azerbaijani Turkish Songs Tested Against Linguistic and Literary Themes

Jamshid Najafi is an Iranian Azerbaijani Turkish and Farsi singer. The present study aims to analyze some of his songs in terms of literary themes. The corpus of the current study is Jamshid Najafi’s Azerbaijani Turkish songs released by the permission of the Iranian Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. Moreover, a content-based analysis approach is used to analyze the corpus. The analysis of the data shows that Najafi is a romantic singer whose Azerbaijani Turkish songs are replete with romantic images as well as themes. Mother is the next frequent theme found in Jamshid Najfi’s works. It shows that mother has a holy position in Azerbaijani culture. Criticism of life and nostalgic themes are the next themes found in the studied corpus. Sister, child, homeland, devotee and religion are other common themes in Jamshid Najafi’s songs that show the importance of these themes to his life and ideology

An Iterated Greedy Algorithm for Flexible Flow Lines with Sequence Dependent Setup Times to Minimize Total Weighted Completion Time

This paper explores the flexile flow lines where setup times are sequence- dependent. The optimization criterion is the minimization of total weighted completion time. We propose an iterated greedy algorithm (IGA) to tackle the problem. An experimental evaluation is conducted to evaluate the proposed algorithm and, then, the obtained results of IGA are compared against those of some other existing algorithms. The effectiveness of IGA is demonstrated through comparison

Breast vibro-acoustography: initial results show promise

INTRODUCTION: Vibro-acoustography (VA) is a recently developed imaging modality that is sensitive to the dynamic characteristics of tissue. It detects low-frequency harmonic vibrations in tissue that are induced by the radiation force of ultrasound. Here, we have investigated applications of VA for in vivo breast imaging. METHODS: A recently developed combined mammography-VA system for in vivo breast imaging was tested on female volunteers, aged 25 years or older, with suspected breast lesions on their clinical examination. After mammography, a set of VA scans was acquired by the experimental device. In a masked assessment, VA images were evaluated independently by 3 reviewers who identified mass lesions and calcifications. The diagnostic accuracy of this imaging method was determined by comparing the reviewers' responses with clinical data. RESULTS: We collected images from 57 participants: 7 were used for training and 48 for evaluation of diagnostic accuracy (images from 2 participants were excluded because of unexpected imaging artifacts). In total, 16 malignant and 32 benign lesions were examined. Specificity for diagnostic accuracy was 94% or higher for all 3 reviewers, but sensitivity varied (69% to 100%). All reviewers were able to detect 97% of masses, but sensitivity for detection of calcification was lower (≤ 72% for all reviewers). CONCLUSIONS: VA can be used to detect various breast abnormalities, including calcifications and benign and malignant masses, with relatively high specificity. VA technology may lead to a new clinical tool for breast imaging applications

Quantifying Vitamin K-dependent Holoprotein Compaction caused by differential γ-carboxylation using HPSEC

This study uses high-pressure size exclusion chromatography (HPSEC) to quantify divalent metal ion (X2+)-induced compaction found in vitamin K dependent (VKD) proteins. Multiple X2+ binding sites formed by the presence of up to 12 -carboxyglutamic acid residues (Gla) are present in plasma-derived (pd-) and recombinant (r-) Factor IX (FIX). Analytical ultracentrifugation (AUC) was used to calibrate the Stokes radius (R) measured by HPSEC. A compaction of pd-FIX caused by the filling of Ca2+ and Mg2+ binding sites resulting in a 5-6% decrease in radius of hydration as observed by HPSEC. The filling of Ca2+ sites resulted greater compaction than for Mg2+ alone where this effect was additive or greater when both ions were present at physiologic levels. Less X2+ induced compaction was observed in r-FIX with lower Gla content populations which enabled the separation of biologically active from inactive r-FIX species by HPSEC. HPSEC was sensitive to R changes of ~0.01 nm that enabled the detection of FIX compaction that was likely cooperative in nature between lower avidity X2+ sites of the Gla domain and higher X2+ avidity sites of the EGF1-like domain

Evaluation of the Antibacterial and Wound Healing Properties of a Burn Ointment Containing Curcumin, Honey, and Potassium Aluminium

Burn wounds can severely trouble the health system and life quality of patients. The present study aimed to analyze the synergistic healing properties of curcumin, honey, and potassium alum substances merged in a newly-devised burn ointment on second-degree burn wounds in rats. The MIC and MBC tests on 200 clinical isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginous are compared to imipenem in vitro. Their killing time and cytotoxicity are also studied using a standard isolate of P. aeruginous, fibroblast stem cells (FSC) and mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF). Furthermore, histopathological and histomorphological assessments are conducted on 150 male Wistar rats whitin four experimental groups to evaluate the efficiency of the prepared burn ointment. We found a significant wound healing in both macroscopical observations and microscopical evaluations. Both curcumin and honey show strong antimicrobial effects with no cytotoxicity. Also, the histopathological results present a considerable and comparable wound re-epithelization in the a group of rats treated with both honey and curcumin after 7 days. The burn ointment containing curcumin, honey, and potassium alum show considerable efficacy in accelerating the healing of experimentally-induced burn wounds in animals. Th novel onement product is propose as a powerful alternative for the topical treatment of burn injuries

Common Aeroallergens in Patients with Asthma and Allergic Rhinitis Living in Southwestern Part of Iran: Based on Skin Prick Test Reactivity

Aeroallergens continue to have a key role in the pathogenesis of asthma and allergic diseases and have recently received increased attention in medical research throughout the world. The prevalence of aeroallergens vary in different regions, depending on the type of climate. The aim of the present study was to determine prevalence of the sensitivity to aeroallergens among patients with asthma and allergic rhinitis (AR), based on skin prick test (SPT) reactivity in the province of Bushehr, Iran. In this cross-sectional study, 743 patients were enrolled. The participants had asthma and AR and reacted to at least one allergen with SPT. Skin prick test with standard extracts including house dust mites (HDMs), animal dander, molds and pollens were performed on patients according to the herbal geography of the area. The male to female ratio and mean age of the patients were 1.03 and 27.6± 15.4 year, respectively. Out of 567 patients with AR, the common aeroallergens were HDMs (88.5%), molds (82.9%), animal dander (79.5%), weeds (77.6%), trees (75.5%) and grass pollen (71.5%). Moreover, among 176 patients with asthma, the prevalence of aeroallergens were HDMs (90.5 %), molds (80.7%), animal dander (77.5%), weeds (73.3%), trees (73.3%) and grass pollen (67.9%). The sensitivity to animal dander, Chenopodium album and Russian thistle pollens were significantly associated with the severity of AR. Moreover, sensitivity to animal dander such as cat and feather of birds, cockroach, Bermuda grass and Chenopodium album pollens were significantly associated with the severity of asthma. The results of this study revealed that HDM was the most common sensitizing aeroallergen in patients with asthma and AR. Molds and animal dander as indoor allergens were also common aeroallergens. We suggest that the hot weather and ambient humidity in the region may be the main cause of the change in the pattern of SPT reactivity

Potential Protective Effect of Pretreatment with Caraway Essential Oil in vivo Model of Iron Nanoparticle-induced Liver Injury

Recently, there has been a great deal of interest in the use of the medicinal plants with high antioxidant compounds for curing liver injuries induced by hepatoxcitic agents. This study was to assess the protective effect of Carum carvi L. essential oil (E.O) on the hepatoxitic rats induced by overdose of iron oxide nanoparticles (NPs). The rats were distributed to 4 groups. In negative control group (NC), the rats received normal saline and DMSO daily for 3 days. In control group (C), iron oxide nanoparticles (Fe2O3) (200 mg/kg b.w) was injected daily for 3 days. In the treatment groups, iron oxide nanoparticles plus E.O at 100 & 200 mg/kg b.w were injected daily for 3 days. In following, cytochrome P450 (CYP450), glutathione S-transferase (GST), glutathione (GSH), aspartate transaminase (AST), alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and alanine transaminase (ALT) were estimated at 72 h after NP-treatment. The administration of the E.O could return considerably the decrease of the GST and GSH levels as well as the increase of the level of AST induced by iron oxide NPs. These results are in agreement with histopathological results. The data indicated that E.O provided an efficient prevention against iron oxide NPs-induced hepatotoxicity in rats