Higgs Inflation and General Initial Conditions

Higgs field of particle physics can play the role of the inflaton in the early universe, if it is non-minimally coupled to gravity. The Higgs inflation scenario predicts a small tensor to scalar ratio: $r\simeq 0.003$. Although this value is consistent with the upper bound $r < 0.12$ given by BICEP2/Keck Array and Planck data, but it is not at their maximum likelihood point: $r\simeq 0.05$. Inflationary observables depend not only on the inflationary models, but also depend on the initial conditions of inflation. Changing initial state of inflation can improve the value of $r$. In this work, we study the Higgs inflation model under general initial conditions and show that there is a subset of these general initial conditions which leads to enhancement of $r$. Then we show that this region of parameter space is consistent with non-Gaussianity bound.Comment: 13 pages, 2 figure

Frequency of lumbar magnetic resonance imaging findings in patients with low back pain

Background: Back pain is one of the main causes of disability and has been the most common cause of disability in the last decade. MRI imaging is able to identify soft tissues, including the intervertebral disc, nerves, and muscles, that are potential sources of back pain; it should be noted, however, that in some cases MRI is not able to identify the source of low back pain.Methods: This cross-sectional study was done on 256 patients who referred to the imaging ward of Ardabil city hospital for lumbar MRI from September 2020 and September 2021. These patients in terms of gender, age, type of insurance, disc dehydration, disc protrusion, disc extrusion, disc sequestration, disc dehydration, spondylolisthesis, retrolysis, presence of Taylor cyst, hemangioma, vertebral fracture, spinal abnormality, spinal abnormality Bone marrow SG, spinal canal stenosis, furaminal stenosis, modic changes and the presence of scoliosis were evaluated.Results: The mean age of patients was 45.10 with a standard deviation of 14.28 years. 152 patients (59.4%) were male. 240 patients (93.7%) had health insurance.55 patients (21.5%) had normal MRI. The most common MRI findings in the present study were: extrusion (67.6%), intervertebral disc dehydration (59.4%), protrusion (40.2%), spinal canal stenosis (29.7%) furaminal stenosis (24.2%), retrolysis (19.5%), lumbar scoliosis (14.7%), modic changes in the lumbar vertebrae (14.5%), scoliosis (13.7%), hemangioma (10.5%), spondylolisthesis (9.4%), sequestration (3.1%), spinal abnormalities (2%) and bone marrow SG (1.6%).Conclusions: Based on the results, the most common abnormal findings in MRI of patients with low back pain were: extrusion, protrusion and dehydration of the intervertebral disc. Also, most of these changes were in the lower levels of the lumbar vertebrae

Transvaginal ultrasound compared with serum β-hCG level for diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy in symptomatic patients

Background: Ultrasonography (US) is the most important imaging modality in detecting both intrauterine and ectopic pregnancies. The aim of this study was to comparison transvaginal ultrasound with serum β-hCG level for diagnosis of ectopic pregnancy (Ep) in referred women to Ardabil city hospital.Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a total of 207 women with diagnosis of Ep were enrolled during 2018. All women underwent transvaginal US in the first 24 hours and US done by an expert radiologist. Serum levels of β-hCG at first 24 hours and the time gap between US examination and last menstrual period (LMP) were compared between women with positive and negative US findings. Data collected by a checklist and analyzed by statistical method in SPSS version 21.Results: The primary US were positive in 174 women (84.1%) and negative in 33 women (15.9%). The mean of time gap between US and LMP in women with diagnosed EP was significantly higher than other women (median, 42 days versus 45 days, p=0.042). Also, the mean of serum level of β-hCG had significant difference between two groups. In logistic regression analysis results showed that the time gap between US and LMP hadn’t significant impact on EP diagnosis. The best discriminative zone was set at a serum β-hCG level of 105.65 mIU/ml with a sensitivity and specificity of 82% and 27%, respectively and the under-ROC area was 58%.Conclusions: According to our findings, the median serum level of β-hCG in women with undiagnosed Ep were significantly lower than women with correct diagnosis of Ep but the mean and median of time gap between US and LMP in women with diagnosed EP was more than women without Ep. Also, the proposed discriminative zone for serum level of β-hCG in our study is different from the previous studies

Activated charcoal: a highly efficient promoter for selective oxidation of alcohols to aldehydes and ketones by K 2 S 2 O 8 at solvent−free conditions

Selective oxidation of primary and secondary alcohols to the corresponding aldehydes and ketones was achieved efficiently using K2S2O8/activated charcoal system. All reactions were carried out at solvent−free conditions (40−45 ºC) within 15−60 min to give the products in high to excellent yields

Using social network rates among Ardabil city women over 25 years old

Introduction: The role of women in the structure of society and family is very important. Unfortunately, due to the lack of proper planning to fill leisure time among people and especially women, overuse of social networks had a huge impact on their daily lives and in addition to the benefits, sometimes it has some problems. Method: This cross-sectional descriptive study has been done on 150 women over 25 years who selected randomly from Ardabil city in the 2018. Required information were collected using a research based questionnaire containing demographic and specialized questions about the rate of using social networks and their reasons. Collected data were analysed using descriptive and analytical statistical methods in SPSS version 21. Results: The mean age of women was 34 ± 9 years. Of all women, 72% were married, 69% had graduated education, 27% were housewives, 44% were employees and 63% had a median income. Of all women, 94.7% were registered as members of social networks. Of them, 66% were registered on telegram. The most common reason for using Telegram, was chat and reading news. The maximum time spent with more than 5 hours for the social network was Telegram. Conclusion: Results showed that, most of the studied women have been used social networks and of them telegram and Instagram are more popular networks among Ardabil’s women

Magnetically recoverable CuFe2O4 nanoparticles as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for green formylation of alcohols

In this article, magnetically nanoparticles (MNPs) of CuFe2O4 were prepared and characterized using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy techniques. Super paramagnetic CuFe2O4 was used as an efficient catalyst for green formylation of structurally diverse alcohols to the corresponding formyl esters using formic acid as a solvent (60-70 °C). All reactions were carried out successfully within 1-120 min to afford the products in 76-96 % yields. Reusibility of CuFe2O4 MNPs was examined 5 times without significant loss of its catalytic activity

Melasma and its association with different types of nevi in women: A case-control study

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Very little is known about possible association of nevi and melasma. The study objective was to determine if there is an association between melasma and existence of different kinds of nevi.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In a case-control study, 120 female melasma patients referred to dermatology clinic of Ardabil and 120 patients referred to other specialty clinics who lacked melasma were enrolled after matching for age. Number of different types of nevi including lentigines and melanocytic nevi were compared between case and control group patients. Data were entered into the computer and analyzed by SPSS 13 statistical software.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean number of lentigines was 25.5 in melasma group compared to 8 in control group(P < 0.01). Mean number of melanocytic nevi was 13.2 in cases compared to 2.8 in control group(P < 0.001). Multivariate analysis showed that existence of freckles, lentigines and more than three melanocytic nevi were positively related to developing melasma. The chance of melasma increased up to 23 times for patients having more than three melanocytic nevi. Congenital nevi were observed among 10% both in case and control groups. Campbell de morgan angiomas were seen among 26 patients(21.8%) in case group compared to 6 patients(5%) in control group.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Existence of lentigines and melanocytic nevi increases chance of having melasma</p