Showing 15 results for Aslani
Volume 7, Issue 3 (Summer 2021)
Abstract
Backgrounds: Due to the emergence of multidrug-resistant Candida species, the discovery of new antifungal agents with minimum side effects is essential. The aim of this study was to investigate the antifungal activity of caprylic acid and nano-encapsulated caprylic acid against C. albicans as well as their effect on the expression of EFG1 gene.
Materials & Methods: In this laboratory trial study, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of caprylic acid and nano-encapsulated caprylic acid against C. albicans was evaluated at various concentrations (400-625 and 1.3-50 μL/mL, respectively). Real time-PCR was performed to assess the expression level of EFG1 gene. Cytotoxicity effect of caprylic acid and nano-encapsulated caprylic acid was evaluated on SW480 cell line using MTT test.
Findings: Antifungal activity findings displayed that MIC90 and MIC50 values of caprylic acid were 500 and 450 μg/mL, respectively, whereas MIC90 and MIC50 values of nano-encapsulated caprylic acid were 6.2 and 3.1 μg/mL, respectively. The expression of EFG1 gene significantly decreased in the groups treated with caprylic acid and nano-encapsulated caprylic acid compared to the control group. According to the cytotoxicity evaluation findings, the viability of cells treated with caprylic acid was significantly higher than that of cells exposed to nano-encapsulated caprylic acid.
Conclusions: According to the obtained results, nano-encapsulated caprylic acid successfully inhibited C. albicans growth at a lower concentration compared to caprylic acid. Overall, it was found that nano-encapsulated caprylic acid is a promising antifungal agent against Candida species; however, further studies are needed to be performed about nano-encapsulation of caprylic acid.
Volume 9, Issue 2 (12-2019)
Abstract
Researchers have recently focused on integrating motivation and commitment models and have presented mixed models. This research, for the first time, presents an integrated model of motivation (Self-Determination Theory) and commitment (Three-Component Model), from a person-centered view. This study was carried out using a two-step cluster analysis method including hierarchical method and optimization of the profiles distances on 306 knowledge workers of four Iranian organizations. The results reveal four profiles, named based on their characteristics, "people with diverse and mild motives," "motivated people with mild intrinsic motives," "motivated people with mild external motives," and "people with internal motives." The characteristics of these profiles are examined concerning motivation and commitment. The results of this research can help to expand the literature of the mixed models of commitment and motivation. They can also be helpful for managers in terms of recognizing the knowledgeable employees of their organizations and categorizing them in terms of motivation, commitment and personality traits.
Volume 10, Issue 0 (پاییز و زمستان86- 2008)
Abstract
Objective: Among the members of legionellaceae, Legionella Pneumophila is involved in 95% of cases of severe pneumonia. Isolation of the causative agent from bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid specimen is a delicate process and also time-consuming. Moreover, it has been shown that some Legionella strains may be viable but cannot be cultured. The aim of this study was comparison of culture and PCR for detection of Legionella pneumophila from bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid specimens
Materials and Methods: In this study, 70 BAL fluid specimens were collected from patients suspected to Legionnaires’ disease. These samples were cultured on selective buffered charcoal-yeast extract agar (BCYE) and then tested with specific L. pneumophila primers for mip gene.
Results: Among 70 BAL samples, three (4.2%) were positive with culture and six (8.4%) of specimens were positive by PCR. The three culture positive samples were all positive after specific DNA amplification. Among 63 culture-negative samples, 3 were positive after amplification. The clinical features of the patients were in accordance with legionellosis.
Conclusion: The accurate diagnosis of Legionella pneumophila has an important implication for the treatment of infection. Analysis of the results showed that PCR is faster and more sensitive for isolation and identification of L. pneumophila to apply on BAL fluid specimens than culture. Therefore, specific Legionella PCR can be a good option for isolation and identification of Legionella pneumophila from bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid specimens in patient of severe pneumonia
Volume 11, Issue 3 (10-2011)
Abstract
According to exchange rate pass-through models, exchange rate has a great impact on the competitiveness of exports and determining the effects of exchange rate on export prices can be useful in planning for export promotion. For this purpose, in this paper it has been attempted in the theoretical framework of exchange rate pass- through models and applying ARDL approach the effects of exchange rate on non- oil exports price of Iran during 1971 to 2007 has been tested empirically. The findings show that there is a significant positive relationship between exchange rate and export price index so that by increasing exchange rate (devaluation of national currency) export price index increases significantly. Exchange rate pass- through to export prices is complete and to import prices in terms of destination currency is zero. In other words, the empirical results of this study indicate that in the Iranian economy, exporters are faced with devaluation of national currency (increase in exchange rate), which increases export prices in terms of domestic currency. Thus, the exchange rate changes have not significant effects on export prices in terms of destination currency and just affect the profits of exporters.
Volume 12, Issue 3 (Summer 2024)
Abstract
Aims: Marriage significantly influences individuals’ roles and developmental trajectories. This study investigated the effectiveness of emotion-focused group therapy on emotion regulation in divorced women, focusing on anger, positive affect, and internalized shame.
Materials & Methods: The study utilized a quasi-experimental design, incorporating a pre-test-post-test framework with follow-up assessments at one and three months, and was conducted on 20 divorced women. The samples were divided into the experimental and control groups. Data were analyzed using repeated measures ANOVA by SPSS 25 to examine changes in emotion regulation.
Findings: Significant differences were noted between the experimental and control groups in the regulation of anger and positive affect, as well as in levels of internalized shame. No notable differences were observed in depressed mood and anxiety levels.
Conclusion: Emotion-focused group therapy effectively enhances emotion regulation among divorced women, particularly in managing anger and internalized shame.
Volume 14, Issue 1 (1-2011)
Abstract
Objective: Shigellosis is one of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in children with diarrhea in developing countries. It is essential to assess the antibiotic resistance patterns of these bacteria. ipaH gene is one of the virulence factors which can be used for detection of Shigella spp.
Materials and Methods: Total of 100 isolates of Shigella were collected from different provinces of Iran. This isolates were characterized by biochemical tests and serological tests using polyclonal antisera for 4 species of S. dysenteriae, S. sonnei, S. boydii and S. flexneri. Antibiotic susceptibility assay for 14 different antibiotics was carried out using agar disc diffusion method. Presence of ipaH gene was investigated by PCR using specific primers.
Results: From the results of this study the Shigella isolates were classified as follows: 36 (%73) Shigella sonnei, 9(%18) Shigella flexneri, 3(%5) Shigella boydii, 2(%4) Shigella dysenteriae. Approximately %50 of the Shigella isolates were resistant to Tetracycline and Cotrimoxazole. Shigella sonnei showed more resistance than other serotypes against the studied antibiotics. PCR assays showed that all isolates harbored ipaH gene.
Conclusion: The results showed that prevalence of Shigella sonnei is higher than other serotypes. The isolates showed high sensitivity to third generation cephalosporines and aminoglycosides. PCR detection of ipaH gene as a reliable marker for identification of Shigella species could be recommended.
Volume 14, Issue 4 (3-2012)
Abstract
Objective: Traditional methods for storing microbial DNA samples use the low-temperatures of 4 °C, -20°C or -80 °C. The DBC Card is a new method of storing microbial DNA at room temperature. This study evaluates the stability and determine the best storing method of Bacterial DNA on the DBC card.
Methods: In this study, we used a pair of primers from the conserved domain of 16srRNA designed to identify Escherichia coli. Four different types of samples we prepared: i) bacterial suspension, ii) bacterial DNA extracted by the phenol – chloroform method, iii) bacterial lysate with lysis buffer and iv) bacterial DNA produced by the boiling method. All four samples were spotted on separate DBC cards and dried at room temperature. After periods of 3, 5 and 7 months, Escherichia coli samples were checked for DNA stability with two molecular techniques, conventional PCR with 1, 2 and 3 disks as a source of bacterial DNA (1 mm diameter) and Real-Time PCR.
Results: Data showed that DNA stability was maintained after 7 months on a DBC disk, even using only one disk as a DNA source. The bacterial suspension was the best method for long-term storage of Escherichia coli DNA on the DBC Card.
Conclusion: In traditional methods for storing sample, DNA quality reduces after freezing and thawing. However in the DBC method, DNA quality was maintained for a long duration. Advantages of the DBC method are easy sample handing, low cost, faster extraction, and reduced individual and environmental contamination.
Volume 15, Issue 4 (2-2013)
Abstract
Objective: The aim of the this study was to investigate the prevalence of toxB, paa, lpf and iha adhesion genes in enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) isolates lacking in two important adhesion factors, the eaeA and bfpA genes.
Methods: We examined a total of 70 serologically confirmed EPEC (eaeA-, bfpA-) isolates. DNA from the isolates was extracted by the phenol-chloroform method. toxB, paa, lpf and iha adhesion genes in the EPEC isolates were detected by polymerase chain reaction. Data were analyzed by SPSS software and statistical analysis using the chi square test. P-values less than 0.05 were considered significant.
Results: PCR was positive for the toxB gene in 2 (2.85%), paa in 3 (4.28%), lpf in 32 (45.71%) and iha in 15 (21.42%) of the 70 strains. Statistically, none of the toxB, paa, and lpf genes were associated with diarrhea. However, the iha gene showed a weak significant relation to diarrhea (P=0.11).
Conclusion: The main mechanism of pathogenicity for EPEC is attachment and effacement. Therefore, EPEC (eaeA-, bfpA-) should have another adhesin factor, which should be investigated. EPEC strains (eaeA-, bfpA-) that possess the lpf gene are common. Further investigations of the virulence properties of these strains are necessary in order to elucidate the role of these virulence factors in diarrhea among Iranian children.
Hoda Aslani, Mohammad Moghiman,
Volume 15, Issue 11 (1-2016)
Abstract
In this paper, the important characteristics of solidification including supercooling degree, solidification time, nucleation temperature, phase change temperature which affecting on efficiency are experimentally studied. A purposely designed experimental device was used to investigate the solidification characteristics of titania nanofluid (0.01%wt. 0.02% wt. and 0.04%wt.). The results evidently reveal that adding titania nanoparticles to Deionized water as a base fluid can reduce the time of solidification, phase change temperature and supercooling degree. By adding 0.04% wt. titania nanoparticles, the solidification time, phase change temperature and supercooling degree are reduced by 70%, 18%, 69% while nucleation temperature is enhanced by 29%. Thus, the time of solidification is more affected by adding nanoparticles than other solidification characteristics. Further, the experimental results show that nanofluid heat flux is higher than that of base fluid. Also a comparison of Fuzzy logic modelling and experimental results for liquid fraction is studied. The results reveal that the fuzzy logic modelling is a reliable and powerful technique for predicting the liquid transient fraction. From the results it is also concluded that extremely low concentration of titania have low average error.
Volume 16, Issue 7 (Supplementary Issue - 2014)
Abstract
A glasshouse experiment was conducted in Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) to evaluate the regeneration and yield potential in purslane using both seeds and stem cuttings of 20 collected accessions from different locations in Western Peninsular Malaysia. Analysis results revealed significant variations (P< 0.05) for morphological traits viz., plant height, number of main branches, number of nodes, internodal distance, stem diameter, number of leaves, leaf area, number of flowers, root length, fresh and dry weight but no significant difference were observed for physiological traits viz., total chlorophyll, net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, transpiration, water vapor deficit and for either major micro or macro minerals. Hope our research findings will eliminate the doubt of using cutting methods for purslane propagation and cultivation among producers and consumers and will promote their determination to follow purslane production in this summer at any season and anywhere. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first attempt to evaluate and to detect any significant variations arising in morphological, physiological, and especially mineral nutrition in purslane propagated through cuttings vs. through seeds.
Moharam Habibnejad Korayem, Hasan Aslani Payan, Ahmad Homayooni, Rouzbeh Nouhi Hefzabad,
Volume 16, Issue 9 (11-2016)
Abstract
In this paper, the modeling and simulation of manipulation of carbon nanoparticles have been investigated. The geometry plays a significant role in the dynamic behavior of nanoparticles manipulation and the evaluation of different geometric shapes of nanoparticles in this process is very important. To examine the geometry effects, the manipulation of a different kind of the nano-carbon allotropes has been studied. Furthermore, the manipulation of carbon nanotubes with different diameter has been simulated. For this purpose, the molecular dynamics method has been used to improve our knowledge and understanding about the nanomanipulation processes and dynamics. In the manipulation of carbon allotropes, the results indicated that more spherical allotrope Modes away, the easier manipulation process occurred and the forces on the probe have been reduced; this is due to the curvature of tip and nanoparticle. The results of nanotubes manipulation showed that increasing the diameter of the nanotube causes to increase the force on the probe. The indentation depth was extracted for each nanotube during the manipulation process. The results indicated that the indentation depth increases versus diameter increasing. According to the application of carbon-based structures and nanotubes as the drug carriers in medicine, such this simulation studies can reduce time and cost of experimental projects in this field.
Volume 21, Issue 4 (10-2014)
Abstract
According to the preamble of the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities (which entered into force on February 1, 1998) minority rights are an integral part of fundamental human rights.
universal level that taken on great importance in addressing the challenges of minority protection in evolving and increasingly diverse societies. So, this survey has an analytical approach to the protection of minorities within the Council of Europe and for this, especially, focuses on the Framework Convention: namely its content, its rights-holders, and also- the most important point of view- the problems, challenges and tasks that this legally instrument faces with it in practice. One must take into account that the Framework Convention has passed 13 years of its born and the authors aim to analyze its achievements and in the same time, its challenges as well. Thus, we reiterate once more that our method is analytic to examine the topic.
Volume 22, Issue 1 (Spring 2018)
Abstract
Introduction
Entrepreneurship term originates from the French word Enterprender meaning commitment. Entrepreneurship is a good strategy for fighting against poverty and maintaining wealth in low-income communities. The entrepreneurship importance is to the extent that economists consider entrepreneurs as the growth and economic development engine of the society. Entrepreneurship is considered as an essential element for the growth and productivity of rural areas. Ruralism is a dynamic source of entrepreneurship which forms both opportunities and constraints. The entrepreneurship role in rural economic development can be found in areas such as the villager’s access to required goods and services, rural economic growth, reducing the phenomenon of migration to cities, encouraging new businesses creation and promoting social security level and welfare in the village. Rural entrepreneurship is one of the best strategies that can be effective in terms of rural monetizing, job creation and unemployment elimination, preventing immigration, improving the life quality and welfare level in rural community, creating a sense of competition and new businesses and preventing chaos and social unrests. Entrepreneurship development and survive in rural areas is due to factors such as social infrastructure development, doing research and development simultaneously, increasing human resources quality, improving the management quality, education and technology development. Meanwhile, one of the most important and fundamental factors is social capital, because it promotes creativity, innovative behaviors and increases entrepreneur’s thoughtful risk-taking. Social capital is a resource created in in business networks or within individual networks. These resources include information, thoughts, tips, business opportunities, financial capital, leverage, emotional support, good will, trust and collaboration.
Methodology
In terms of purpose, the present study is practical and in terms of the method, it is descriptive-analytic. In the research process, the theoretical foundation of entrepreneurship, social capital and literature review were studied first; and components, indexes and items have been determined accordingly based on the available information about the study region. The statistical population has been selected from three groups of occupation, agriculture, industry and services; and a sample size of 250 people was selected randomly between them. 72 individual in the industry, 124 in agriculture and 54 people work in the services field. In the present study, the formal method has been used to increase the credit rating. For this purpose, the questionnaire was distributed to experts, specialists and professors. After the compilation and gathering their comments, the necessary reforms were made. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was used to determine the research stability. The calculated alpha value is 0.791 which indicates that the number is desirable and the necessary accuracy for the structures stability is used in the questionnaire and the designed items to measure the indices have an internal correlation. In this research, factor analysis, Bartlett test, Pearson coefficient and regression analysis were used to analyze quantitative data.
Findings and Discussion
In order to measure the relationship between social capital and entrepreneurship, we first examine the relationships between variables. Here, we use Pearson, Spearman and Kendall correlation coefficients for analyzing according to the variables scale type. According to Pearson correlation coefficients and social capital and entrepreneurship significant levels in the studied population, a significant and positive relationship exists at 99% level. Therefore, the null hypothesis is rejected and a significant relationship exists between social capital and entrepreneurship. Five factors with eigenvalues greater than 5.0 are extracted by using factor analysis technique in the main components method; the dimension variables affecting the rural entrepreneurs are packed based on the load factor after varimax rotation method. The five factors determined 64.12% of the total variance related to plan effects. In other words, 64% of the relationship between social capital and rural entrepreneurs is related to these factors from the perspective of rural entrepreneurs. Regression analysis and Fisher statistic have been used to consider the social capital prediction on rural entrepreneurship. Accordingly, the determination coefficient of 0.934 indicates that the independent variable explains 93% of dependent variable variations.
Conclusion
There is a positive and meaningful relation between rural entrepreneurship and social capital in examining the findings. People who have high social capital spends a little time protecting themselves from being exploited in economic interactions and monitoring the other’s performances; this makes more time for thinking, creativity, innovation and ultimately entrepreneurship. Any improvement in social capital and related factors leads to a betterment in entrepreneurship. The factor analysis of entrepreneurship shows that facilities availability with the highest loading factor has been the most effective factor in the entrepreneurship process; and participation in village development had the highest loading factor in social capital formation. In regression analysis, psychological characteristics have the most impact on rural entrepreneurship prediction.
Volume 22, Issue 2 (Spring 2019)
Abstract
Aims: The chimeric domain-exchanged streptokinase (SKch) between two sk genes from groups G and A streptococci (SK2aG88 and SK2bALAB49, respectively) was constructed to evaluate the role of SK-domains (α, β, γ) in α2-antipalsmin-resistance variations of SK.
Materials and Methods: In this experimental study, PCR-amplified genes of streptococci (skg, ska) were cloned into pET26b vector to produce pET26-SKG88 and pET26-SKALAB49. For domain exchange, the amplicon containing β and g domains of SK2bALAB49 was replaced for that of the SK2aG88 within pET-SK2aG88 (pET26-SKch; α2aG88β2bALABγ2bALAB). All constructs were confirmed by restriction analyses/agarose-gel electrophoresis and DNA sequencing, transformed into E.coli Rosetta, and induced by IPTG for protein expression. Proteins were purified by Ni-NTA chromatography, quantified by Bradford method, and analyzed by SDS-PAGE/Western blotting assays. The α2-antipalsmin-resistance was measured by S2251 colorimetric assay for plasminogen activation.
Findings: SDS-PAGE and western blotting results indicated the expression of proteins with the size of 47kD. At the highest concentration of α2-antiplasmin, SK2aG88 remained 80% active, whereas the SK2bALAB49 and SKch retained 55% of their activity.
Conclusion: SKch shows similar activity reduction, indicating the minor role of the α domain compared to β and g domains for α2-antipalsmin-resistance.
Volume 24, Issue 2 (Summer 2020)
Abstract
Corruption arising from abuse of power and its use in the direction of personal interests is a destructive pest of political systems; hence, they have been dealt with in various ways over time. One of the most effective of these is legal solutions to combat the corruption. In this article, the differences and the resemblances of these solutions in the legal systems of Iran and Canada are examined to identify their strengths and weaknesses by comparing them. On the one hand, effective solutions, such as transparency of campaign finance and political participation, and a conflict of interest principle for political agents, specifically applied in Canada, to combat corruption stemming from the power and power relationship in Iran. To be considered by legislators. On the other hand, the strengths of these solutions in Iran, especially in the constitutional law, that proposed legal solutions in this direction, are to be applied effectively.
