Clinical manifestations of Giardiasis in Iran

Context: Giardiasis has multiple clinical manifestations and its prevalence is relatively high in the Hamadan province of Iran. Aims: This study was conducted to determine the most frequent clinical signs and symptoms of Giardiasis in the Hamadan province of Iran in 2006. Setting and Design: This was a descriptive cross sectional study. Methods and Material: Sixty four patients infected with Giardia were recruited. Antiglidin anti-body and TTG tests were done to rule out celiac disease. Statistical analysis used: The data was entered into a computer and chi-square test was used for statistical analysis. Results: Of a total of 64 cases, 26 were females. Giardiasis was most common in cases aged 16-20 years old (20.3%), in males (59.4%) and in patients with the educational status of primary school (31.25%). The most frequent symptom was abdominal pain (42.1%). Conclusion: We found that the clinical manifestations of Giardiasis are similar to that of other gastrointestinal diseases such as celiac. So Giardiasis should be considered as the most probable diagnosis in patients with gastrointestinal problems

The Impact of e-Skills on the settlement of Iranian refugees in Australia

Aim/Purpose The research investigates the impact of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) on Iranian refugees’ settlement in Australia. Background The study identifies the issues of settlement, such as language, cultural and social differences. Methodology The Multi-Sited Ethnography (MSE), which is a qualitative methodology, has been used with a thematic analysis drawing on a series of semi-structured interviews with two groups of participants (51 Iranian refugees and 55 people with a role in assisting refugees). Contribution The research findings may enable the creation of a model for use by the Aus-tralian Government with Iranian refugees. Findings The findings show the vital role ICT play in refugees’ ongoing day-to-day life towards settlement. Recommendations for Practitioners The results from this paper could be generalised to other groups of refugees in Australia and also could be used for Iranian refugees in other countries. Recommendation for Researchers Researchers may use a similar study for refugees of different backgrounds in Australia and around the world. Impact on Society ICT may assist refugees to become less isolated, less marginalized and part of mainstream society. Future Research Future research could look into the digital divide between refugees in Australia and main stream Australians

Redundancy and divergence in the amyloid precursor protein family

AbstractGene duplication provides genetic material required for functional diversification. An interesting example is the amyloid precursor protein (APP) protein family. The APP gene family has experienced both expansion and contraction during evolution. The three mammalian members have been studied quite extensively in combined knock out models. The underlying assumption is that APP, amyloid precursor like protein 1 and 2 (APLP1, APLP2) are functionally redundant. This assumption is primarily supported by the similarities in biochemical processing of APP and APLPs and on the fact that the different APP genes appear to genetically interact at the level of the phenotype in combined knockout mice. However, unique features in each member of the APP family possibly contribute to specification of their function. In the current review, we discuss the evolution and the biology of the APP protein family with special attention to the distinct properties of each homologue. We propose that the functions of APP, APLP1 and APLP2 have diverged after duplication to contribute distinctly to different neuronal events. Our analysis reveals that APLP2 is significantly diverged from APP and APLP1

Dynamic modelling and visco-elastic parameter identification of a fibre-reinforced soft fluidic elastomer manipulator

A dynamic model of a soft fibre-reinforced fluidic elastomer is presented and experimentally verified, which can be used for model-based controller design. Due to the inherent visco-(hyper)elastic characteristics and nonlinear timedependent behaviour of soft fluidic elastomer robots, analytic dynamic modelling is challenging. The fibre reinforced noninflatable soft fluidic elastomer robot used in this paper can produce both planar and spatial movements. Dynamic equations are developed for both cases. Parameters, related to the viscoelastic behaviour of the robot during elongation and bending motion, are identified experimentally and incorporated into our model. The modified dynamic model is then validated in experiments comparing the time responses of the physical robot with the corresponding outputs of the simulation model. The results validate the accuracy of the proposed dynamic model

Addressing coverage problem in wireless sensor networks based on evolutionary algorithms

© 2017 University of Western Australia. Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) are the key part of Internet of Things, as they provide the physical interface between on-field information and backbone analytic engines. An important role of WSNs-when collecting vital information-is to provide a consistent and reliable coverage. To Achieve this, WSNs must implement a highly reliable and efficient coverage recovery algorithm. In this paper, we take a fresh new approach to coverage recovery based on evolutionary algorithms. We propose EMACB-SA, which introduces a new evolutionary algorithm that selects coverage sets using a fitness function that balances energy efficiency and redundancy. The proposed algorithm improves network's coverage and lifetime in areas with heterogeneous event rate in comparison to previous works and hence, it is suitable for using in disaster management