Evaluation of Acute Flaccid Paralysis in Hamadan, Iran from 2002 to 2009

Jalal Poorolajal,Shadi Ghasemi,Leila Nezamabadi Farahani,Atefeh Sadat Hosseini,Seyyed Jalal Bathaei,Ali Zahiri 한국역학회 2011 Epidemiology and Health Vol.33 No.-

OBJECTIVES: To achieve a polio-free certification in Iran, a nationwide active surveillance program for acute flaccid paralysis (AFP) was set up following World Health Organization guidelines. This article describes the results of an eight-year surveillance of AFP in Hamadan, in the west of Iran. METHODS: A standard set of minimum core variables were collected. All cases of non-polio AFP in children aged <15 years old were reported. Two stool specimens were collected within 14 days of the onset of paralysis. RESULTS: During the eight-year survey, 88 AFP cases aged <15 years old were reported. About 40% (35/88) of cases were aged ≤5 years, 56% (49/88) were boys, 19 (21.6%) had fever at the onset of paralysis, 74 (84.0%) had complete paralysis within four days of onset, and 22 (24.7%) had asymmetric paralysis. More than one AFP case was detected per 100,000 children aged <15 years old in all years. The risk of AFP in patients aged <5 years old was almost double that of older patients. Guillain-Barré Syndrome was the major leading cause of AFP (66/88). Adequate stool specimens were collected from 85% of AFP patients. All stool specimens were tested virologically, but no wild polioviruses were detected. CONCLUSION: The active surveillance of non-polio AFP was efficient over the last eight years and exceeded 1.0 case per 100,000 children aged <15 years old. Nonetheless, there was a decreasing trend in the detection of AFP cases during the last two years and should be the focus of the policymakers’ special attention, although AFP cases were still above the target level.

Infantile Colic: A Survey of Physicians in Pakistan

Muhammad Saif Jalal,Syed Zafar Mehdi,Jalal Uddin Akber,Murtaza Ali Gowa,Carlos Lifschitz 대한소아소화기영양학회 2024 Pediatric gastroenterology, hepatology & nutrition Vol.27 No.3

Purpose: Infantile colic diagnostic criteria were established by Rome IV. A universally accepted management remains to be established. We aimed to evaluate diagnostic criteria, management strategies, and perceived regional prevalence of infantile colic in Pakistan, as well as its effect on physicians and parents. Methods: A questionnaire was distributed amongst 1,256 physicians. Results: We received 800 replies. Wessel and Rome IV criteria were used by most physicians for diagnosis; however, the response “any infant who cries a lot” was selected by older physicians (48% of those over 60 years), physicians in rural areas (32%), physicians practicing in private clinics (27%), and general physicians (30%). Estimated prevalence of infantile colic ranges from 21–40%. Reassurance was the most widely recommended management strategy followed by herbal teas (51%), switching to a different formula (49%), probiotics (28%) and antibiotics (26%), discontinuation of breastfeeding (14%), elimination of dairy products from the breastfeeding mothers’ diet (6%), and the administration of colic drops (1%). Most physicians considered the negative impact of colic on their personal lives and the parents as mild-to-moderate. Notably, 38% of percent of physicians routinely screened for maternal depression, and 45% of physicians were aware of the association between infantile colic and shaken baby syndrome. Conclusion: Most physicians in Pakistan diagnose and manage infantile colic according to the established guidelines. However, the guidelines pertaining to treatment planning are not followed. Educational efforts directed toward general physicians and doctors practicing in rural areas and clinics must be implemented to avoid unnecessary testing and treatment burden.

Herding Behavior and Cryptocurrency: Market Asymmetries, Inter-Dependency and Intra-Dependency

JALAL, Raja Nabeel-Ud-Din,SARGIACOMO, Massimo,SAHAR, Najam Us,FAYYAZ, Um-E-Roman Korea Distribution Science Association 2020 The Journal of Asian Finance, Economics and Busine Vol.7 No.7

The study investigates herding behavior in cryptocurrencies in different situations. This study employs daily returns of major cryptocurrencies listed in CCI30 index and sub-major cryptocurrencies and major stock returns listed in Dow-Jones Industrial Average Index, from 2015 to 2018. Quantile regression method is employed to test the herding effect in market asymmetries, inter-dependency and intra-dependency cases. Findings confirm the presence of herding in cryptocurrency in upper quantiles in bullish and high volatility periods because of overexcitement among investors, which lead to high volume trading. Major cryptocurrencies cause herding in sub-major cryptocurrencies, but it is a unidirectional relation. However, no intra-dependency effect among cryptocurrencies and equity market is observed. Results indicate that in the CKK model herding exists at upper quantile in market that may be due when the market is moving fast, continuously trading, and bullish trend are prevailing. Further analysis confirms this narrative as, at upper quantile, the beta of bullish regime is negative and significant, meaning the main source of market herding is a bullish trend in investment, which increases market turbulence and gives investors opportunity to herd. Also, we found that herding in cryptocurrencies exits in high volatility periods, but this herding mostly depends on market activity, not market movement.

An Integrated Expert Model for Delay Management in Construction Projects

jalal, Majid Parchami,Yousefi, Elham Korea Institute of Construction Engineering and Ma 2017 Journal of construction engineering and project ma Vol.7 No.3

Delay claim should actually be supported by a set of proper information so that the contractors could prove their validity. The so-called information should be able to clarify the relationship between delay events and how they impact on the whole project. Therefore, exploiting an integrated system by people who are involved in construction business would certainly prove helpful. In the present study, delay analysis methods have been investigated along with selecting a relatively comprehensive method which has been modified, and eventually, a novel model and its required modules have been proposed for evaluating delay claims. The suggested integrated model is formed to identify delayed events, to classify delays, to measure the impacts of delays on the project scheduling, and finally to estimate the damages which were caused by those so-called delays. A decision support system (DSS) model which is related to the integrated system is actually extracted from Iran's general contract conditions, that is, 4311 magazine (equivalent to red FIDIC book). It is then programmed and coded by C# program. This DSS model can be used as an input of Easy Plan program. In addition, at the end of this research, the coded DSS has been used along with the so-called program so that a modified and developed model could be generated.

Thermally induced mechanical analysis of temperature-dependent FG-CNTRC conical shells

Jalal Torabi,Reza Ansari 국제구조공학회 2018 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.68 No.3

A numerical study is performed to investigate the impacts of thermal loading on the vibration and buckling of functionally graded carbon nanotube-reinforced composite (FG-CNTRC) conical shells. Thermo-mechanical properties of constituents are considered to be temperature-dependent. Considering the shear deformation theory, the energy functional is derived, and applying the variational differential quadrature (VDQ) method, the mass and stiffness matrices are obtained. The shear correction factors are accurately calculated by matching the shear strain energy obtained from an exact three-dimensional distribution of the transverse shear stresses and shear strain energy related to the first-order shear deformation theory. Numerical results reveal that considering temperature-dependent material properties plays an important role in predicting the thermally induced vibration of FG-CNTRC conical shells, and neglecting this effect leads to considerable overestimation of the stiffness of the structure.

Synthesis of Needle-Shape ZnO-ZnS Core-Shell Heterostructures and Their Optical and Field Emission Properties

Jalal Rouhi,C. H. Raymond Ooi,Shahrom Mahmud,Mohamad Rusop Mahmood 대한금속·재료학회 2015 ELECTRONIC MATERIALS LETTERS Vol.11 No.6

Well-aligned ZnO-ZnS core-shell nano-needle arrays were synthesized using a simple aqueous solution approach to investigate the optical and field emission properties of heterostructure materials. The photoluminescence of the coreshell nano-needles exhibits a distinct enhancement compared with that of uncoated ZnO nano-needles. The UV-vis spectra show that the ZnS shell layer enhances the optical absorption of ZnO nano-needles by decreasing the interface band gap, which indicates the potential application of heterostructures in photovoltaic and solar cells. The core-shell nano-needles exhibit a remarkably high field enhancement factor of 3.74 × 103, a low turn-on field of 2.31 V/μm, and a high time stability. These findings show that the construction of core-shell heterostructure can efficiently improve the field emission performance of ZnO nano-needles, which is a promising route for the development of novel nanoemitters with controllable morphology and as suitable shell materials for heterostructures.

Design of Dual Band 5G Antenna Array with SAR Analysis for Future Mobile Handsets

Jalal Khan,Daniyal Ali Sehrai,Usman Ali 대한전기학회 2019 Journal of Electrical Engineering & Technology Vol.14 No.2

This paper presents the design and specifi c absorption rate (SAR) analysis of the dual band antenna array for the future fi fth generation (5G) mobile communication. The proposed antenna array operates in the Ka-band, at 28 and 38 GHz frequency bands. Roggers-5880 is used as a substrate having relative permittivity, thickness and loss tangent of 2.2, 0.254 mm and 0.0009 respectively in the proposed antenna array design. The main lobe gain of the single element 5G antenna is 7.71 and 7.73 dB at 28 and 38 GHz resonance frequencies correspondingly. As the gain requirement for 5G mobile communication system is 12 dB, thus 2 × 2 and 1 × 4 antenna arrays are designed to achieve the desired gain. The 2 × 2 antenna array yields a bore side gain of 12.3 and 15 dB, while 1 × 4 antenna array gives a bore side gain of 12.5 and 12.1 dB at 28 at 38 GHz frequency bands correspondingly. The dual band antenna (single element, antenna arrays) matched with a VSWR < 1.16 in the two frequency bands. All the simulations are carried out using computer simulation technology software. The SAR analysis averaged over 10 g of tissue of the proposed dual band 2 × 2 antenna array has been carried out on the head of human body using X-fi nite diff erence time domain electromagnetic simulation software, giving a safer limit of 0.37 and 1.34 W/kg < 2 W/ kg according to the European IEC Standard at 28 and 38 GHz frequency bands correspondingly. The proposed antenna array is a suitable contender for the future 5G mobile handheld devices.

Evaluation of Potential Morpho-physiological and Biochemical Indicators in Selecting Heat-tolerant Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum Mill.) Genotypes

Jalal Ud Din,Sami Ullah Khan,Ahmad Khan,Abdul Qayyum,Kashif Sarfraz Abbasi,Matthew A Jenks 한국원예학회 2015 Horticulture, Environment, and Biotechnology Vol.56 No.6

A few degrees in temperature above the optimum can cause a considerable yield loss in tomatoes. A research experiment was conducted in which three tomato genotypes of (Solanum lycopersicum Mill.), ‘Suncherry Extra Sweet’ (Suncherry), ‘Walter’, and ‘CLN-2498d’, were evaluated for response to moderate high temperature at the reproductive stage. High temperature reduced the total number of fruits per plant, fruit size, number of seeds per fruit, seed setting, and relative ovule viability. However, high temperature increased proline accumulation and membrane thermo-stability in plant parts of the investigated genotypes. Fruit size and the number of seeds per fruit were reduced in all the genotypes, with the greatest reduction occurring in Suncherry. Similarly, viability of male and female gametes was also reduced in all of the investigated genotypes due to high temperature injury. The reduction in seed setting due to high temperature was greatest in ‘Suncherry’ and ‘Walter’, and least in ‘CLN-2498d’. Likewise, ovule viability was least reduced in ‘CLN-2498d’. The genotypes accumulating higher proline concentrations in reproductive parts and with enhanced membrane thermo-stability under high temperature likewise produced the highest fruit yield, and hence, exhibited high temperature tolerance.

Modern techniques to optimize neuraxial labor analgesia

Jalal A. Nanji,Brendan Carvalho 대한마취통증의학회 2018 Anesthesia and pain medicine Vol.13 No.3

Neuraxial analgesia is the gold standard method for pain relief in labor. Several techniques can optimize both the initiation and maintenance of neuraxial labor analgesia. Initiation techniques such as combined spinal-epidural or dural puncture epidural may offer some advantages over standard epidural insertion. The use of ultrasound to assist with landmarking and optimizing block placement improves neuraxial success, and is particularly useful in certain patient populations. Maintaining labor analgesia with a regimen that includes background programmed intermittent boluses with a patientcontrolled epidural analgesia component affords the best combination of pain relief and avoidance of undesired effects. These techniques are most effective when dilute local anesthetics with lipophilic opioids are utilized.

Electron Back Scattered Diffraction Study of Dissimilar Welding Between the Super Duplex Stainless Steel and the Ni-Based Superalloy

Jalal Kangazian,Morteza Shaman 대한금속·재료학회 2019 METALS AND MATERIALS International Vol.25 No.5

This research investigated the microtexture and boundaries characteristics of the Incoloy 825 Ni-based superalloy/UNSS32750 super duplex stainless steel (SDSS) dissimilar welds using electron back scattered diffraction analysis. The resultsindicated that the weld metal was textured; thus, {293}<311> and {348}<583> texture components were observed. As aresult of the grain growth and the changes in the morphologies of the phases in the heat affected zones (HAZs), the primarytexture components of the alloys were replaced by the new components. In addition, the maximum texture intensities ofthe generated components in the HAZs were higher than those of the related base metals. The grain growth as well as thechanges in the phase morphologies also resulted in a decrease in the proportion of coincident site lattice (CSL) boundariesin the HAZs, in comparison with the base metals. Absence of CSL boundaries in the weld metal was observed too.