Background: Lichen planus is a T-cell mediated autoimmune and chronic inflammatory disease that affects the skin and the mucous membrane. The results of numerous studies on oral mucosa have confirmed the effects of sex hormones on oral mucosa and the expression of estrogen (ER), progesterone (PR), and androgen receptors. Lichen planus is a common disease in middle-aged women. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the expression of ER and PR in patients with oral lichen planus (OLP). Method: The participants consisted of sixty-six women. The biopsy specimens of these patients were stained via immunohistochemical staining for the detection of estrogen and progesterone markers. Results: Despite low levels of sex hormones following menopause, ER and PR levels were lower in menopausal patients with lichen planus compared to the control group. The results also showed no significant difference in the percentage and severity of ER and PR expression in healthy non-menopausal women, menopausal women with OLP, non-menopausal women with OLP, and healthy menopausal women. Conclusion: Low ER and PR levels in oral mucosa of the OLP patients suggest a more pronounced role of receptors on the surface of immune cells than mucosal cells in the pathogenesis of OLP. Maladaptive feedback of sex hormones was involved in the case group.

The color of African violet flowers (Saintpaulia ionantha Wendl.) is derived from anthocyanin pigments. A mutation in the L1 layer of the SAM suppresses the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway and eventually generates a pinwheel phenotype of periclinal chimera (cells of different genotypes). The aim of the present research was to understand the coloration pathway of petals and how color changes with phenotype. Flower development was investigated by light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Expression of nine genes involved in anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway in monochromatic and pinwheel phenotypes were evaluated by Real-Time PCR. Anthocyanin present in pinwheel petals was analyzed by HPLC. Microscopic studies revealed that the ventral petals were formed before the dorsal petals and that the petal primordia separated in the early stages of floral development. Saintpaulia flower is protandry and the tapetum layer is of the secretory type. The ovules are anatropous and are within the superior ovary with lateral placentation. Gene expression analysis showed that CHS and CHI genes were expressed at all stages of floral development, but hydroxylase genes increased during intermediate stages. Biosynthetic genes were highly expressed in the purple sections of the pinwheel petals, whereas the expression of F3H gene was significantly lower in the white section. The WDR transcription factor appears to have no association with the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway genes in the white section. HPLC analysis showed that when F3H gene expression was reduced in the white part of the petals, the product of this gene (dihydrokaempferol component) did not accumulate. Color change is one of the most effective methods to create new cultivars. Details of floral pigment biosynthesis pathway and the production of new cultivars can respond to consumer demand and market preservation.

By development of wind power plants especially in offshore applications, higher reliability and more simplicity is required for minimizing provision and maintenance costs. Direct drive generators are reliable alternatives for conventional doubly-fed induction generators since gearbox is omitted from the cycle. The main issue of these generators is their large dimension which makes their manufacturing, transmission, assembly, and installation difficult on the power plant tower. A flux switching generator with a new configuration is proposed in this paper, which has a desired electromagnetic feature for direct drive wind power application. Hence, in line with wind power plant applications, three features including sinusoidal generated voltage, minimum cogging torque, and minimum unbalanced magnetic force are considered as the proposed configuration basis. To assess the electromagnetic performance of topology of the proposed generator, its modelling and simulation is carried out by 2D Finite Element Software. The analysis results confirm the appropriateness of the new structure for power plant applications.

Abstract . “Through others, we become ourselves”. Vygotsky (1978). Dynamic Assessment which stems from Vygotsky’s ideas, challenges the conventional and traditional views on teaching and assessment by arguing that instruction and assessment should be unified. The present study is an investigation of a DA-based instruction of L2 writing proficiency. For this purpose an OPT (Oxford Placement Test) was given to a total of 80 Iranian EFL learners. Then, 40 of them who were considered as intermediate learners were selected for the purpose of the study. The participants were randomly divided into two groups i.e. an experimental group and a control group. Both groups were pretested prior to the study; the participants underwent a static and a dynamic assessment. Then, the experimental group received the treatment in the form of DA-based instruction (i.e. aided instruction such as prompting, cueing, explaining and mediating within the assessment) for ten sessions while the control group received a normal practice of writing proficiency (non-DA instruction and assessment). After ten sessions, both groups were post tested i.e. once again, the participants underwent a static and a dynamic assessment. Then the results of the posttests were subjects of statistical analysis (independent-samples t-test). The results indicated that the experimental group did better than the control group and there is a significant difference between the mean scores of the experimental group who were exposed to a DA-based instruction and the control group who received a normal practice of writing proficiency i.e. a placebo.

Lignin is one of the major characteristics of plant secondary cell wall that provides structural rigidity for the cells and tissues and hydrophobicity to tracheary elements. Internode tissues of Aeluropus littoralis as a halophyte grass were sampled at different developmental stages (from the first to the fifth internodes ) and under different NaCl concentrations. The influences of NaCl and internode maturity on lignin content and activities of phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL) and cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase (CAD) were investigated. Salt stress induced the activities of PAL and CAD and increased the lignin content. Data indicated that the highest level of PAL activity was found at the first internode and CAD activity in the apical and young parts of stem was higher than the old and basal parts of it. Lignin accumulation correlated positively with PAL and CAD activities under salt stress, but during internodal maturation lignification correlated negatively with PAL and CAD activity. The results suggest that induction of PAL and CAD activities and consequently increasing of lignin deposition at internode tissues can be a strategy for high salinity tolerance in this halophyte.

OBJECTIVE: Globally less than 40% of infants less than six months of age are exclusively breastfed. Adequate breastfeeding support for mothers and families could save many young lives. This study aimed to determine knowledge and attitudes of mothers toward breastfeeding in Tonekabon, Iran.METHODS: This study was a descriptive-analytical cross sectional study with convenience sampling. The sample consisted of 200 nursing mothers who have including criteria of the study. Data was collected by a questionnaire including demographic data and questions about knowledge and attitude toward breastfeeding. Data analysis performed by using of SPSS (11.5) and appropriate statistical tests.RESULTS: Most of them (73.5%) were 21-30 age group. 50.5% of them had a diploma education. 46% of them reported the essential information about breastfeeding obtained from medical- health centers. 5% of them had poor and 42% had a medium knowledge about breastfeeding while 53% of them had good knowledge about it. Most of the mothers (79.5%) had positive attitude regarding breast feeding.CONCLUSION: According to most of the mothers had good knowledge and positive attitude about breastfeeding, with proper planning to increase awareness and promote a positive attitude towards breastfeeding can be tried for child survival.

Nowadays, service-oriented architecture is developed as a flexible architecture for developing dynamic systems. In consider to the importance of quality of service (QoS), measured parameters in this architectural services such as security, reliability and … has a special place. Uncertainty of parameters affect service quality is considered as a key challenge in such environments. This requiring measurement of these parameters reveals a consistent and efficient manner. Since fuzzy logic is able to express the relative value of the credit in real-world concepts, this article proposes an approach on fuzzy logic to deal with these challenges and evaluation of quality of service.

The vacuolar H(+)-ATPase (VHA) is a universal component of eukaryotic organisms that is responsible for establishing and maintaining intracellular pH gradients across specialized organellar membranes, and influences the transport of cations into the vacuoles of plant cells. A cDNA clone (AlVHA-c) encoding the c subunit of V-ATPase was isolated from the monocot halophyte Aeluropus littoralis. The DNA sequence of AlVHA-c showed significant homology with V-ATPase subunit c of millet, rice and Zea mays. The deduced amino acid sequence of AlVHA-c and other reported c subunits were compared, and sequence relationships have been drawn to know their genetic relatedness. Semi-quantitative RT-PCR analysis of salt-treated A. littoralis plants revealed that subunit c of V-ATPase is regulated by NaCl treatment at transcriptional level in a tissue-specific manner. The increased V-ATPase subunits amounts of A. littoralis provide the energy for the compartmentalization of sodium in response to salinity.

To establish a kiln drying schedule for beech (Fagus orientalis) lumber, 5-cm-thick boards were kiln dried down to a final moisture content of 8%. Three replications were made utilizing three kiln schedules of T5-C3, T5-C4, and T6-C4. With due attention to the effect of thickness on wood drying intensity, the t-test showed no significant difference between the thicknesses of the three drying schedules at a significance level of 99%. Therefore, the results of this study can be applied for 5-cm-thick boards. The primary dry bulb temperature in each of the three schedules was adjusted to 41°C and the final dry bulb temperatures were adjusted to 71, 71, and 82°C, respectively. The schedule offering the shortest drying time for the desired quality was chosen. Specific gravity and dry specific gravity were measured as 0.52 and 0.61, respectively. Longitudinal, radial, tangential, and volumetric shrinkage were 0.46, 5.8, 10.2, 16.48%, respectively. The extent of defects including crook, bow, twist, and three longest surface checks of the lumber was determined for each drying schedule. Quality control graphs were used to analyze the lumber defects in order to determine the best drying schedule. Analysis of the results indicates that with either of three kiln schedules the extent of defects before and after drying was not statistically different. However, the distribution of defects in the third schedule (T6-C4) was more uniform with respect to the average line compared to other two schedules. At the end of this schedule, a 17-h equalization and 24-h conditioning treatment is recommended.