Isfahan Research Articles

Effect of shading nets on environmental conditions and fruit abscission in quince (Cydonia oblonga L.)

The quince tree has been cultivated since ancient times in the province of Isfahan in Iran. Flower and fruit drop is one of the most important problems in the cultivation of quince in Iran. In this study, the role of shading nets as a protective factor in quince orchard was investigated to adjust climatic factors and reduce flower and fruit drop. A 20-year-old quince orchard was equipped with shading net system, and another part was compared as a control plot without shading net system in 2021 and 2022. The color of shading net and the percentage of shading were 30% green, 50% green and 50% white. According to the results, flowers opened five days later under the shading nets than outdoors. Percent fruit set, leaf length and width, number of fruits, and yield were significantly higher under the shade net than outdoors. Green 30% had the highest chlorophyll fluorescence index. The fruit set percentage and yield inside the shading nets were more than twice that outside. Total soluble solids and the abscission percentage in the control plot were more than the plot under nets. According to meteorological data, the temperature inside the shade netting was only 0.33–0.67 °Celsius lower than outside, but the radiation intensity outside the nets (30,362.44 lx) was more than two and a half times the amount of radiation under the shading nets (11,876.02 Lux). According to the obtained results, it is recommended to use the shade nets in quince orchards, where happened abscission of flowers and fruits leads to a decrease in yield. The green shade net color of 30 and 50% is recommended for orchards due to the higher chlorophyll fluorescence index, fruit set percentage, number of fruits, and yield.

The Effectiveness of Treatment Based on Emotion Regulation and Compassion Therapy on the Self-Conscious Affect of Cancer Patients in Isfahan City, 2018

The Effectiveness of Treatment Based on Emotion Regulation and Compassion Therapy on the Self-Conscious Affect of Cancer Patients in Isfahan City, 2018

Investigating the quality of Isfahan city rainwater under the influence of air pollution in 2018-2019

Investigating the quality of Isfahan city rainwater under the influence of air pollution in 2018-2019

Characterization of bird diversity coldspots in relation to urban land use patterns and distribution: a modeling approach in Isfahan City, Iran

Characterization of bird diversity coldspots in relation to urban land use patterns and distribution: a modeling approach in Isfahan City, Iran

Identification of norA, qacAB and smr genes and determination of antibiotic and biocide resistance patterns in methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus isolated from Isfahan-Iran

Background: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major cause of nosocomial infections, which have become a serious problem due to antibiotic resistance. In addition to antibiotic resistance, biocide resistance is also increasing due to the high use of these substances. The aim of this study was to investigate the pattern of antibiotic resistance and the prevalence of biocide resistance genes norA, qacA/B and smr, and to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration of chlorhexidine digluconate (CHG) and benzalkonium chloride (BKC) in MRSA isolates taken from teaching hospitals in Isfahan city, Iran. Materials and Methods: This study was conducted on 63 MRSA isolates collected from teaching hospitals in Isfahan city, Iran. MRSA isolates were identified by performing phenotypic testing and then confirmed by using PCR. The resistance pattern was determined by using disc diffusion method. Broth microdilution method was performed to determine the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of CHG and BKC according to the Clinical and Laboratory Standards Institute (CLSI). The presence of biocide resistance genes was determined by using PCR and the Time kill assay was performed to investigate the lethality of biocides. Results: MRSA isolates had MIC values of 0.5–4 μg/ml for BKC and 0.125–4 μg/ml for CHG. norA was the most common biocide resistance gene among 63 isolates (88.9%), followed by qacAB and smr with 28.6% and 22.2%, respectively. Among the isolates, the highest percentage of resistance belonged to penicillin, erythromycin and doxycycline, respectively. Conclusion: Due to the high prevalence of MRSA isolates in hospitals and the role of this pathogen in nosocomial infections, continuous monitoring of antimicrobial resistance for appropriate antibiotic administration and continuous evaluation of biocide resistance due to the high prevalence of resistance genes and appropriate use of biocides for disinfection, allows us to minimize further prevalence of resistant strains in hospital environments.

Prevalence and Morphology of the Middle Mesial Canal in the First and Second Mandibular Molars Using Cone-Beam Computed Tomography

Introduction: Understanding of the normal anatomy of the teeth as well as the anatomical variations of each tooth and between different teeth is a prerequisite for successful endodontic treatment, and errors in this area can lead to treatment failures .The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence and morphology of the middle mesial canal in the first and second mandibular molars using Cone-Beam Computed Tomography (CBCT) in the population of Isfahan City and its relationship with the distance between the orifice canals. Methods: This retrospective descriptive study examined 180 reconstructed CBCT radiographs in modified axial, coronal, and sagittal sections, and evaluated the number, location, and morphology of the canals and the spacing of the orifices. Results: 47.5% of participants had left-side first molars with three canals and 48% had right-side first molars with three canals.46.1% had a second molar on left-side with three canals and 46% had a right-side three canal second molar. 1% of participants had four canals in the left-side first molars and 1% had four canals in the right-side first molars. Conclusion: The middle mesial canal is more likely to be near the mesiobuccal and mesiolingual canals. The highest prevalence is in the right-side first molar of women and the lowest is in the left-side second molar of men. Due to the low probability of the presence of this additional canal, careful examination of the patient's molar teeth before starting endodontic treatment is recommended.

Colonization of urban futures in the Global South: lessons from the case of Isfahan 2040

PurposeDue to the limitations of conventional urban planning, it is essential to develop novel techniques of urban futruing. This paper aimed to use the scenario technique to create four plausible narratives of the future of Isfahan. Also, the authors described the problems of city foresight in the Global South.Design/methodology/approachThis paper chronicles the Schwartzian steps taken to build explorative scenarios of Isfahan City in Iran in 2040. After using a STEEPV (Social, Technological, Environmental, Economic, Political, Value) analysis, the authors prioritized the collected variables by combining influence diagrams, the iceberg metaphor and an expert-based survey. Once the key uncertainties were derived, four scenarios were developed and discussed.FindingsThrough thematic analysis of the official visions of Isfahan’s future and the juxtaposition of these narratives with insight yielded in the scenario-development process, the paper concludes that the Northernness of the prevailing urban imaginaries, uncritical mimetic benchmarking, depoliticization of urban futures and the decorative reductionistic visions colonize urban futures in Isfahan/Iran. Critical/deconstructive city foresight and application of discomfort/ignorance criteria in the generation of scenarios can improve the rigor and quality of city foresight in the Global South.Originality/valueThe application of city foresight in the Global South has been limited. The paper is a step toward bridging this gap and providing some recommendations on how city foresight in the Global South might differ from its counterparts in the Global North.

Comparison of Hexaco 'S Personality Model in Clinical Depressed and Normal People in Isfahan

Background: Depression is one of the mood diseases characterized by symptoms of low mood, decreased energy and interest, feelings of guilt, problems in concentration, anorexia, thoughts of death and suicide, insomnia or hypersomnia, significant weight loss, and functional impairment. The purpose of the research was to compare the Hexagon personality model and self-compassion in clinically depressed people and normal people in Isfahan. Method: The research method is causal-comparative. The statistical population studied in this research were people with clinical depression disorder and normal people of Isfahan city. Sampling was done in a targeted way. In total, after the process, 50 people were selected in the clinically depressed group and 80 people were selected in the normal group. The research tool was Hexagon (2004) personality questionnaire. SPSS-22 software was used to analyze the data. Findings: The results of multivariate analysis of variance showed the difference between two groups of normal and clinically depressed people in Hexagon personality dimensions (p<0.05). The value of Eta is 0.989. The results showed that there was a significant difference between the average Hexagon personality dimensions between the two groups of normal and clinically depressed people (p<0.05). Conclusion: According to the results, it was found that clinically depressed people and normal people are different in terms of Hexagon personality dimensions, and by strengthening positive personality dimensions in the Hexagon model, the severity of depression of these people can be reduced.

An Effective Imputation Method Using Data Enrichment for Missing Data of Loop Detectors in Intelligent Traffic Control Systems

In intelligent traffic control systems, the features extracted by loop detectors are insufficient to accurately impute missing data. Most of the existing imputation methods use only these extracted features, which leads to the construction of data models that cannot fulfill the required accuracy. This deficiency is the main motivation to propose an enrichment imputation method for loop detectors namely EIM-LD, in which the imputation accuracy is increased for different missing patterns and ratios by introducing a data enrichment technique using statistical multi-class labeling. It first enriches the clean data by adding a statistical multi-class label, including C1…Cn classes. Then, the class of samples in the missed-volume data is labeled using the best data model constructed from the labeled clean data by five different classifiers. Experts of the traffic control department in Isfahan city determined classes of the statistical multi-class label for n = 5 (class labels), and we also developed subclass labels (n = 20) since the number of samples in the subclass labels was sufficient. Next, the enriched data are divided into n datasets, each of them is imputed independently using various imputation methods, and their results are finally merged. To evaluate the impact of using the proposed method, the original data, including missing volumes, are first imputed without our enrichment method. Then, the proposed method’s accuracy is evaluated by considering two class labels and subclass labels. The experimental and statistical results prove that the proposed EIM-LD method can enrich the real data collected by loop detectors, by which the comparative imputation methods construct a more accurate data model. In addition, using subclass labels further enhances the imputation method’s accuracy.

Association of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons Urine Metabolites with Type 1 Diabetes.

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are believed to be a possible factor in the development of cancer, ischemic heart disease, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. The objective of this study was to explore the association between certain metabolites of urinary PAH and type 1 diabetes (T1D). In Isfahan City, a case-control study was carried out involving 147 T1D patients and an equal number of healthy individuals. The study measured the levels of urinary metabolites of PAHs, specifically 1-hydroxynaphthalene, 2-hydroxynaphthalene, and 9-hydroxyphenanthrene, in both the case and control groups. The levels of these metabolites were then compared between the two groups to assess any potential association between the biomarkers and T1D. The mean (SD) age of participants in the case and control groups was 8.4 (3.7) and 8.6 (3.7) years old, respectively, (P > 0.05). In terms of gender distribution, 49.7% and 46% of participants in the case and control groups were girls, respectively (P > 0.05). Geometric mean (95% CI) concentrations were: 36.3 (31.4-42) μg/g creatinine for 1-hydroxynaphthalene, 29.4 (25.6-33.8) μg/g creatinine for 2-hydroxynaphthalene, and 72.26 (63.3-82.5) μg/g creatinine for NAP metabolites. After controlling for variables such as the child's age, gender, maternal and paternal education, duration of breastfeeding, exposure to household passive smoking, formula feeding, cow's milk consumption, body mass index (BMI), and five dietary patterns, it was observed that individuals in the highest quartile of 2-hydroxynaphthalene and NAP metabolites had a significantly greater odd ratio for diabetes compared to those in the lowest quartile (P < 0.05). Based on the findings of this study, it is suggested that exposure to PAH might be linked to an increased risk of T1D in children and adolescents. To clarify a potential causal relationship related to these findings, further prospective studies are needed.

The Effectiveness of Virtual Anger Management Training Using the Cognitive Behavioral Method on Anger Rumination, Mental Health, Work-Family Conflict, and Interpersonal Relationships

Introduction: In recent years, the work environment has gained great importance and has been considered as a suitable place for health improvement activities. The work environment provides opportunities and suitable facilities to influence people's lives. The present research was conducted with the aim of the effectiveness of virtual anger management with Cognitive behavioral methodology using the cognitive behavioral method on anger rumination, mental health, work-family conflict and interpersonal relationships.&#x0D; Materials and Methods: The research method was a semi-experimental research method with control groups and pre-test-post-test. The statistical population included all secondary school female teachers in Isfahan city in the academic year of 2021-2020, 30 female teachers were selected by random sampling and randomly assigned to two experimental groups (15 people) and a control group (15 people). The experimental group underwent 60-minute virtual anger management training and the control group remained on the waiting list. Both groups were evaluated in the pre-test and post-test stages by Sakhodolsky et al.'s (2001) anger rumination, shortened form of the SCL-90 inventory, work-family conflict questionnaire (Carlson et al., 2000) and Interpersonal Relationship Quality Questionnaire (Pierce et al., 1991). In order to analyze the data, statistical methods and SPSS version 23 software and multivariate covariance and single covariance analysis were used.&#x0D; Results: The findings showed that the virtual training of anger management on rumination of anger and its dimensions, thoughts of anger, thoughts of revenge, memories of anger and knowing the causes are equal to 44.7, 16.9, 23.2 and 45.5 percent of the variance, respectively. , mental health is 43.3% of the variance, work-family conflict is 37.2% of the variance, and interpersonal relationships and its dimensions have a significant effect of 65.2% of the variance (p&lt;0.01).&#x0D; Conclusion: As a result, virtual anger management training as an effective therapy can help to improve mental health. Therefore, it is suggested that counselors and psychologists pay special attention to anger management virtual training to reduce anger rumination and work-family conflict and increase mental health and interpersonal relationships.

Urban sustainability assessment at the neighborhood scale: Integrating spatial modellings and multi-criteria decision making approaches

Urban sustainability is a highly complex concept that requires integrative assessment frameworks to determine the measures that should be adopted to achieve a sustainable city. The present study aimed to conduct a spatially-based sustainability assessment at the neighborhood scale in Isfahan Metropolitan, a rapidly urbanizing region in the center of Iran, using an integrated framework of spatial modeling and multi-criteria decision-making analysis (MCDA). As a first step, the spatial distribution of a set of indicators was provided in three distinct categories, ecosystem service, environmental hazard, and urban structure using various spatial modeling approaches. After standardizing the indicators and assigning appropriate weights to them, different multi-criteria decision analysis models were used to aggregate the indicator layers. The sustainability layers based on ecosystem services, environmental hazards, and urban structure were integrated using MCDA models. The results indicated that less than 3% of the total neighborhood area were categorized as almost sustainable, while 36.1% and 59.4% were respectively scored as poor and moderate sustainable area. None of the neighborhoods was categorized in the sustainably good class, whereas 1.73% of the area was unsustainable. Moreover, the urban structure-based aspect was found to be the most sustainable, while the urban environmental hazards dimension exhibited the lowest sustainability, with 71.98% falling into the poor and unsustainable category. The spatial investigation showed that the central parts of the city were more sustainable than the urban periphery. In conclusion, a spatially-based sustainable assessment of Isfahan City at the neighborhood level can provide urban planners with valuable insights to undertake operational actions and achieve sustainable development goals.

The use of maximum entropy and ecological niche factor analysis to decrease uncertainties in samples for urban gain models

ABSTRACT Uncertainty is a common problem in spatial modeling and geographical information systems (GIS). Furthermore, urban gain modeling (UGM) contains various dimensions and components of uncertainties. Data sampling is important in UGM, and may cause the results of the models to contain many uncertainties as well as affects their precision and accuracy. A poorly sampled or biased dataset can lead to inaccurate predictions and decreased performance of the models. This paper aims to present and develop novel strategies for sampling and building training datasets that can enhance the performance of data-driven models. In other words, the present study used maximum entropy (ME) and ecological niche factor analysis (ENFA) models to select pure non-change samples with minimal uncertainty for training datasets in UGM of Isfahan and Tabriz cities in Iran. The urban gain of two time intervals of 1992–2002 and 2002–2012 were used for Tabriz City and two time intervals of 1994–2004 and 2004–2014 for Isfahan City. Nine and 14 urban gain drivers were used in the UGM of Isfahan and Tabriz cities, respectively. After the ME and ENFA models produced a training dataset with change and non-change samples with the lowest uncertainty, three well-known models, namely random forest (RF), artificial neural network (ANN), and support vector machine (SVM) were used for the modeling. Moreover, the ME and ENFA models that were used to investigate the uncertainty of the sampling procedure were used as the one-class prediction models. Compared to extant studies, the proposed ME – based sampling strategy increased the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC), figure of merit, producer’s accuracy, and overall accuracy by 5.5%, 5%, 5%, and 3%, respectively, in the validation phase of Isfahan City and by 5%, 6%, 14%, and 17%, respectively, for Tabriz City. For Isfahan, the accuracies of ME (AUROC = 0.649) and ENFA (AUROC = 0.661) one – class models were closer to that of the ANN – ME (AUROC = 0.646), ANN – ENFA (AUROC = 0.619), and RF – ENFA (AUROC = 0.631) models but differed significantly from that of the RF – ME (AUROC = 0.737) model. For Tabriz, the accuracies of ME (AUROC = 0.657) and ENFA (AUROC = 0.688) one – class models were lower than that of the two class RF-ME (AUROC = 0.852), and ANN-ME (AUROC = 0.778) models. The results showed that the ME model was able to identify relatively pure non-change samples and properly remove impure non-change samples from the training dataset. This study discovered that binary models are preferable to one-class models, and showed that an optimal sampling strategy is an essential step in UGM as it can decrease uncertainty. As such, modelers must adopt efficient sampling methods.

Social sustainability and urban third places: the case of the city of Isfahan in Iran

Social sustainability and urban third places: the case of the city of Isfahan in Iran

4E Transient Analysis of a Solar-Hybrid Gas-Turbine Cycle Equipped with Heliostat and MED

The current study investigates a cogeneration cycle of power and freshwater integrated with a solar system. The solar system is of the heliostat type, which is considered to preheat the inlet air in the combustion chamber of a 25-MW gas turbine. The waste heat of the turbine output stream is used to produce freshwater. Parameters such as the ambient temperature and solar irradiance significantly affect the system’s performance; hence, all analyses, including those pertaining to energy, exergy, economics, and environment, were conducted transiently, with a one-hour time step throughout the year so that the impacts of these effective parameters could be examined. Besides the analysis assuming a constant mass flow rate for the air entering the compressor, the calculations were repeated with the assumption of a constant volumetric flow rate to evaluate the cycle in the same conditions as those of natural gas power plants. Given the constant volumetric flow rate, for every 10-degree increase in temperature, the compressor power consumption decreased by approximately 2%. Moreover, a sensitivity analysis of the cycle performance in terms of ambient temperature was performed, and the corresponding results are presented. Finally, some correlations are presented to estimate variations in compressor power consumption and net turbine power due to temperature variations. The results demonstrate that in Bushehr, Iran, every one-degree increase in ambient temperature leads to an approximately 0.67 percentage decrease in net-generated power. In the end, the performance of the cycle was investigated under climatic conditions and solar irradiation intensities in several cities in Iran and some cities in different countries in which heliostat power plants have already been established. The results obtained in these cities were compared; it was concluded that the lowest annual cost of electricity generation is related to Isfahan in Iran, which reduces the cost of electricity generation by more than 20% (2.32 Cents/kWh) compared to the base cycle.

Efficacy of Stress Inoculation Training on General Health of the Mothers of Blind Children

ABSTRACT The aim of the current study was to investigate the influence of stress inoculation training (SIT) on the general health of mothers of children with visual impairments. The study population included the mothers of children with visual impairments aged 33–45 years during 2018–2019 academic year in Isfahan city. The participants were 34 mothers selected by convenient sampling method from Shahid Samani and Shahid Abedi schools. They were randomly divided into experimental (n = 17) and control (n = 17) groups. The experimental group received SIT in 10 sessions, while the control group did not. The instrument of study was General Health Questionnaire (Goldberg and Hiller, 1979). Data were analysed by using MANCOVA. The results indicated that the SIT had a significant effect on post-test scores of general health (P < 0.0001) in subjects. Based on these findings, SIT plays a critical role in the general health of the mothers of children with visual impairments.

Soundscape analysis using eco-acoustic indices for the birds biodiversity assessment in urban parks (case study: Isfahan City, Iran).

Biophony and anthrophony analysis as part of the urban soundscape is an efficient approach to bird biodiversity monitoring and to studying the impact of noise pollution in urban parks. Here, we analyzed the soundscape composition to monitor the diversity of birds using acoustic indices and machine learning in 21 urban parks of Isfahan, Iran, in spring 2019. To achieve this purpose four-step method was considered: (i) choosing parks and sampling of sound and bird species; (ii) calculated the six acoustic indices; (iii) calculated the six biodiversity indices; and (iv) statistical analysis for predicting biodiversity index from acoustic indices. Three regression models including support vector machine (SVM), random forest (RF), and elastic net regularization (GLMNET) applied the acoustic indices with minimum and maximum recorded thresholds to feature extraction to measure biodiversity indicators. The optimization model was applied to reduce the independent variables. Generally, more than 18,000 samples were modeled for the dependent variables in each model. The regression results demonstrated that the highest R square was related to the songbird (0.93), evenness (0.92), and richness (0.9) indecies in the SVM model and the Shannon index (0.86) in the RF model. The results of acoustics analysis demonstrated that the Acoustic Entropy Index (H), Normalized Difference Soundscape Index (NDSI), Bioacoustics Index (BI), and Acoustic Complexity Index (ACI) indices were suitable because they could serve as proxies for bird richness and activity that reflect differences in habitat quality. Our findings offer using acoustic indicators as an efficient approach for monitoring bird biodiversity in urban parks.

The effect of chamomile on flatulence after the laparoscopic cholecystectomy: A randomized triple-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial

ObjectiveFlatulence is one of the main post-operative Ileus-related complications, especially in abdominal surgeries, which can be largely due to the effects of anesthesia. There are various kinds of therapeutic methods used for their treatment though sometimes their effects are limited. Thus, it is essential to find alternative treatments to decrease the implications of the disease. The present study is aimed to investigate the effect of Chamomilla recutita on flatulence after Laparoscopic cholecystectomy. MethodsThis randomized controlled trial was carried out in 2020 at Isfahan in Iran. Patients randomly fell into either chamomile (n = 32) or placebo groups (n = 32). The intervention was performed 1 h before the operation. The severity and the frequency of flatulence were recorded using a visual analog scale in both groups in three stages before the operation, after the operation in recovery, and 2 h after the operation. ResultsThe flatulence was not observed before the operation and on arrival in the recovery room. Before leaving the recovery room, the frequency of flatulence was the same in both the groups. However, in the surgical ward, the frequency of flatulence in the chamomile group was significantly lower than in the placebo group. The mean of flatulence severity has significantly increased in both groups over time but in the chamomile group, this increase was significantly lower than in the placebo group. ConclusionThese results suggest that chamomile has a potential therapeutic effect on the gastrointestinal and can reduce flatulence. In laparoscopic surgeries, using chamomile drops as a preventive drug seems to be effective in reducing the incidence of postoperative flatulence.

Equilibrium pricing in supply chains with discrete stochastic demands: A case study in coffee supply and distribution industry

ABSTRACT This study addresses the optimization of price and production quantity using game theory in the coffee supply chain in the city of Isfahan. The presented model focuses on the competition among members of the chain in a probabilistic environment and is based on discrete selection models. This model examines the impact of inventory and routing costs on the pricing model at the same time. To effectively solve real-world problems, the method of normal distribution approximation is used instead of the binomial distribution. The results of the model indicate that the computational time of the applied approximate model does not change with increasing the number of customers, and the model can determine the optimal price and production quantity. The advantage of the proposed model over other classic models is that it considers the inventory costs that have not yet been considered in price competition models with discrete selection.

The effect of problem-solving and assertiveness training on self-esteem and mental health of female adolescents: a randomized clinical trial

BackgroundChildren and adolescents are the assets of the society and their mental and physical health ensures the future health of next generations. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the effect of problem-solving and assertiveness skill training on improving self-esteem and mental health in high school female students of Isfahan city in 2019.MethodsThis study was a randomized clinical trial. The target population was 10th grade female high school students in Isfahan city of Iran. 96 students of a female public high school were included in the study, allocated to two groups, 32 for intervention group and 64 for control group. Six 90-min sessions were considered for problem-solving and assertiveness skill training which included lectures, question and answer, movie displaying, brainstorming and role-play. The Coopersmith Self-esteem Inventory Questionnaire (CSEI) and General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) were used in order to evaluate the variables of the study before and one month after the intervention.ResultsMean scores of the self-esteem variable changed significantly in the intervention group compared to control group before (25.2 ± 2.905) and after (29.9 ± 4.155) the intervention (p < 0.05). Mean scores of mental health also changed significantly before (27.67 ± 5.42) and after (19.033 ± 4.9) the intervention in comparison with the control group (p < 0.05).ConclusionThe findings of the present study showed that educational intervention based on problem-solving and assertiveness can enhance self-esteem and mental health in students. Future studies are needed to confirm and determine the structure of these associations.Trial Registration IRCT Code: IRCT20171230038142N9. Registration Date: 07/07/2019. Ethics Code: IR.MUI.MED.REC.1398.130.