Identification and Prioritization of the Driving Factors of Labor Productivity in the Melli Bank: Iranian Scenario

Mostafa Bahrami,Mahdi Salehi,Mohsen Akbarzadeh,Alireza Morsali 한국유통과학회 2013 The Journal of Industrial Distribution & Business( Vol.4 No.1

Purpose - Labor productivity is extremely important to the profitability and competitive advantage of organizations that provide services to customers, such as banks. This study investigates the factors driving labor productivity in Iran’s Melli Bank. Research design, data, methodology - Five managerial, psychosocial, cultural, and individual factors are identified and their relative importance for labor productivity prioritized using AHP. The required data are then collected through a questionnaire designed for a pairwise comparison of the driving factors of labor productivity and their subcategories. Results - The study outcomes reveal that the managerial and individual factors are the most important. Specifically, the most important factors in increasing labor productivity in the branches of Melli Bank are having a competent supervisor, promotion opportunities, fair working conditions, conscientiousness, the right tools, and a correspondence between skills and work. Conclusions - Implementing AHP using Expert Choice software revealed that, among the driving factors of labor productivity (i.e., managerial, psychosocial, cultural, environmental, and personal), managerial factors were considered the most important by the respondents.

PAMAM Dendrimers Augment Inhibitory Effects of Curcumin on Cancer Cell Proliferation: Possible Inhibition of Telomerase

Mollazade, Mahdie,Nejati-Koshki, Kazem,Akbarzadeh, Abolfazl,Zarghami, Nosratollah,Nasiri, Marzieh,Jahanban-Esfahlan, Rana,Alibakhshi, Abbas Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.14 No.11

Background: Despite numerous useful anticancer properties of curcumin, its utility is limited due to its hydrophobic structure. In this study, we investigated the comparative antiproliferative effect of PAMAM encapsulating curcumin with naked curcumin on the T47D breast cancer cell line. Materials and Methods: Cytotoxic effects of PAMAM dendrimers encapsulating curcumin and curcumin alone were investigated by MTT assay. After treating cells with different concentrations of both curcumin alone and curcumin encapsulated for 24h, telomerase activity was determined by TRAP assay. Results: While PAMAM dendrimers encapsulating curcumin had no cytotoxicity on cancer cells, they decreased the $IC_{50}$ for proliferation and also increased the inhibitory effect on telomerase activity. Conclusions: Considering the non-toxicity in addition to effectiveness for enhancing curcumin anticancer properties, dendrimers could be considered good therapeutic vehicles for this hydrophobic agent.

Being satisfied and serving communities as outcomes of servant leadership in the academic context: policies based on a multi-level structural equation model

Ghasemy, Majid,Akbarzadeh Mahdi,Gaskin, James Eric 서울대학교 교육연구소 2022 Asia Pacific Education Review Vol.23 No.1

There is a great emphasis on the importance of serving communities and the need to study servant leadership in recent higher education literature. Yet, academics’ community citizenship behavior has not been examined through applied research. To address these issues, our study aims at investigating the effects of two dimensions of servant leadership (behaving ethically and helping subordinates grow and succeed) on job satisfaction and community citizenship behavior. The context of our multi-level study is the Malaysian higher education. To estimate our theoretical model, we employed the EQS 6.4 statistical package and analyzed the data collected from 1876 lecturers from 120 departments using a multi-level structural equation modeling (MSEM) methodology. Our results revealed two completely different model structures at both lecturer and department levels. More specifically, while both the predictors were useful for explaining the outcome variables at the lecturer level, we observed that only behaving ethically was a significant predictor of community citizenship behavior at the department level. We discuss the findings in detail and elaborate on the implications of the findings with respect to policy and practice, theory, and methodology. We also address limitations and make recommendations for future research.

Effect of field-of-view size on gray values derived from cone-beam computed tomography compared with the Hounsfield unit values from multidetector computed tomography scans

Abbas Shokri,Leila Ramezani,Mohsen Bidgoli,Mahdi Akbarzadeh,Karim Ghazikhanlu-Sani,Hamed Fallahi-Sichani 대한영상치의학회 2018 Imaging Science in Dentistry Vol.48 No.1

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of field-of-view (FOV) size on the gray values derived from cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) compared with the Hounsfield unit values from multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) scans as the gold standard. Materials and Methods: A radiographic phantom was designed with 4 acrylic cylinders. One cylinder was filled with distilled water, and the other 3 were filled with 3 types of bone substitute: namely, Nanobone, Cenobone, and Cerabone. The phantom was scanned with 2 CBCT systems using 2 different FOV sizes, and 1 MDCT system was used as the gold standard. The mean gray values (MGVs) of each cylinder were calculated in each imaging protocol. Results: In both CBCT systems, significant differences were noted in the MGVs of all materials between the 2 FOV sizes (P<.05) except for Cerabone in the Cranex3D system. Significant differences were found in the MGVs of each material compared with the others in both FOV sizes for each CBCT system. No significant difference was seen between the Cranex3D CBCT system and the MDCT system in the MGVs of bone substitutes on images obtained with a small FOV. Conclusion: The size of the FOV significantly changed the MGVs of all bone substitutes, except for Cerabone in the Cranex3D system. Both CBCT systems had the ability to distinguish the 3 types of bone substitutes based on a comparison of their MGVs. The Cranex3D CBCT system used with a small FOV had a significant correlation with MDCT results.

Effect of field-of-view size on gray values derived from cone-beam computed tomography compared with the Hounsfield unit values from multidetector computed tomography scans

Shokri, Abbas,Ramezani, Leila,Bidgoli, Mohsen,Akbarzadeh, Mahdi,Ghazikhanlu-Sani, Karim,Fallahi-Sichani, Hamed Korean Academy of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology 2018 Imaging Science in Dentistry Vol.48 No.1

Purpose: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of field-of-view (FOV) size on the gray values derived from cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) compared with the Hounsfield unit values from multidetector computed tomography (MDCT) scans as the gold standard. Materials and Methods: A radiographic phantom was designed with 4 acrylic cylinders. One cylinder was filled with distilled water, and the other 3 were filled with 3 types of bone substitute: namely, Nanobone, Cenobone, and Cerabone. The phantom was scanned with 2 CBCT systems using 2 different FOV sizes, and 1 MDCT system was used as the gold standard. The mean gray values(MGVs) of each cylinder were calculated in each imaging protocol. Results: In both CBCT systems, significant differences were noted in the MGVs of all materials between the 2 FOV sizes(P<.05) except for Cerabone in the Cranex3D system. Significant differences were found in the MGVs of each material compared with the others in both FOV sizes for each CBCT system. No significant difference was seen between the Cranex3D CBCT system and the MDCT system in the MGVs of bone substitutes on images obtained with a small FOV. Conclusion: The size of the FOV significantly changed the MGVs of all bone substitutes, except for Cerabone in the Cranex3D system. Both CBCT systems had the ability to distinguish the 3 types of bone substitutes based on a comparison of their MGVs. The Cranex3D CBCT system used with a small FOV had a significant correlation with MDCT results.

Impact of secondhand smoke exposure in former smokers on their subsequent risk of coronary heart disease: evidence from the population-based cohort of the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study

Masoumeh Sadeghi,Maryam S,Daneshpour,Soheila Khodakarim,Amir Abbas Momenan,Mahdi Akbarzadeh,Hamid Soori 한국역학회 2020 Epidemiology and Health Vol.42 No.-

OBJECTIVES: Cigarette smoking is an established, strong, and modifiable risk factor for coronary heart disease (CHD). However, little research has investigated CHD risk in former smokers who continue to be exposed to others’ cigarette smoke (former & secondhand smokers). METHODS: In the Tehran Lipid and Glucose Study, a prospective population-based cohort (n=20,069) was followed up for a median period of 14.6 years. A subset of 8,050 participants of 30 years of age and older was analyzed, with first CHD events as the study outcome. Participants were categorized as never, former, current, secondhand, and former & secondhand smokers. Data on smoking intensity (cigarette/d) were also collected. A Cox proportional hazards regression model was applied to estimate the risk of CHD, taking into account the main potential confounders. RESULTS: The mean age of participants was 46.10 ±11.38 years, and they experienced 1,118 first CHD events (with most CHD cases in former smokers) during the follow-up period. The risk of CHD was highest in current smokers, followed in order by former & secondhand, former, and secondhand smokers (hazard ratio [HR], 1.99; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.65 to 2.39; HR, 1.55; 95% CI, 1.15 to 2.08; HR, 1.39; 95% CI, 1.12 to 1.72; HR, 1.27; 95% CI, 1.07 to 1.51, respectively), compared to never smokers. The risk of CHD increased with smoking intensity, which has been proposed as a preferable measure of smoking, indicating a dose-response pattern. CONCLUSIONS: The elevated risk of CHD in former & secondhand smokers was a noteworthy finding, with possible implications for health policy; however, further research is needed.