| 1. |
- Sayyari, Ali-Akbar, et al.
(författare)
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Methodology of the Comprehensive Program on Prevention and Control of Overweight and Obesity in Iranian Children and Adolescents : The IRAN-Ending Childhood Obesity (IRAN-ECHO) Program
- 2017
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Ingår i: International Journal of Preventive Medicine. - 2008-7802 .- 2008-8213. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The World Health Organization program on Ending Childhood Obesity (WHO-ECHO) has developed a comprehensive and integrated package of recommendations to address childhood obesity. The present study, entitled IRAN-ECHO, was designed and implemented in the framework of the WHO-ECHO program.Methods: The IRAN-ECHO program is implementing multicomponent interventions by considering life course dimensions. The program has two parts: a population approach and an individual approach. The population approach considers different periods in life, including prenatal, infancy, childhood, and adolescence, as well as family and society. The individual approach targets those children or adolescents with overweight or obesity; this part is conducted as a referral system that is now integrated in the current national health system. As part of the population approach, a quasi-experimental study was conducted in six provinces to compare the status before and after implementing parts of the interventions. By intersectoral collaboration with different organizations, multicomponent interventions are conducted for different age groups.Results: The IRAN-ECHO program is being conducted in six provinces, and will be considered in all provinces in the near future. Its main effects could be assessed in future years. Part of this program that was conducted as a quasi-experimental survey comprised 7149 students and showed that a high percentage of students had acceptable knowledge about adverse health effects of overweight and obesity. However, the knowledge about the low nutritional value of unhealthy snacks such as potato chips, puffs, industrial juices, and carbonated drinks was not appropriate. Many participants had the undesirable attitude of skipping one of the main meals when attempting to lose weight.Conclusions: The IRAN-ECHO program is presenting the feasibility of conducting the WHO-ECHO recommendations in Iran. The scope of potential policy recommendations to decrease childhood obesity is extensive and includes various elements. This program considers multisectoral interventions through population and individual approaches. The multicomponent interventions of this program address the obesogenic environment by considering the life course dimensions. It is expected that, by its life course interventions, it could help in primordial and primary prevention of noncommunicable diseases.
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| 2. |
- Ahmadi, Zahra, 1966-, et al.
(författare)
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The market intelligence impact on strategic performance in declining markets
- 2017
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Ingår i: International Journal of Applied Business and Economic Research. - : Serials Publications. - 0972-7302. ; 15:15, s. 457-473
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This study examines how companies in declining markets operate in the context of market intelligence, responding to customer needs and applying them to strategic performance. A quantitative survey was sent to 214 public housing companies. The results indicate that market intelligence creates commitment and is significant. A positive relationship was found between data gathering, dissemination, and responsiveness, which indicates that the companies comprehend market needs but companies have difficult to manage construction strategies that improve strategic performance. There was a low value of strategic performance; a link between market intelligence and the chosen strategy was not confirmed. Companies know what the market wants but base their decision on previous strategic performance on economic conditions in the municipality instead.
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| 3. |
- Al Barazi, Zahra, et al.
(författare)
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Challenging the disunity of statelessness in the Middle East and North Africa
- 2017
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Ingår i: Understanding Statelessness. - New York: Routledge, 2017. | Series: Routledge studies in human rights : Routledge. - 9780367138608 - 9781315200460 ; , s. 104-120
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Bokkapitel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This chapter explores through an understanding of the history and development of the situation of statelessness across the region – a consequence of nation-state formation, state succession and/or discriminatory ethnic, religious and gender law and policy – the striking commonalities in both the causes and consequences of statelessness. It focuses on how the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region lacks a common language on statelessness which may have contributed to the fact that these groups are often discussed in isolation of one another, with a limited sense of having a shared cause. The chapter also focuses on how the current framework for understating statelessness in the region can obstruct opportunities to address the issue regionally and can even be used to perpetuate statelessness. Discrimination against women in nationality laws can be found in legislation around the world. Statelessness has also resulted from the 'Arabisation' movement that took hold of the region in the 1960s and 1970s.
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| 4. |
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| 5. |
- Bagheri, Zahra M., et al.
(författare)
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An autonomous robot inspired by insect neurophysiology pursues moving features in natural environments
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Neural Engineering. - : IOP Publishing. - 1741-2560 .- 1741-2552. ; 14:4
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objective. Many computer vision and robotic applications require the implementation of robust and efficient target-tracking algorithms on a moving platform. However, deployment of a real-time system is challenging, even with the computational power of modern hardware. Lightweight and low-powered flying insects, such as dragonflies, track prey or conspecifics within cluttered natural environments, illustrating an efficient biological solution to the target-tracking problem. Approach. We used our recent recordings from 'small target motion detector' neurons in the dragonfly brain to inspire the development of a closed-loop target detection and tracking algorithm. This model exploits facilitation, a slow build-up of response to targets which move along long, continuous trajectories, as seen in our electrophysiological data. To test performance in real-world conditions, we implemented this model on a robotic platform that uses active pursuit strategies based on insect behaviour. Main results. Our robot performs robustly in closed-loop pursuit of targets, despite a range of challenging conditions used in our experiments; low contrast targets, heavily cluttered environments and the presence of distracters. We show that the facilitation stage boosts responses to targets moving along continuous trajectories, improving contrast sensitivity and detection of small moving targets against textured backgrounds. Moreover, the temporal properties of facilitation play a useful role in handling vibration of the robotic platform. We also show that the adoption of feed-forward models which predict the sensory consequences of self-movement can significantly improve target detection during saccadic movements. Significance. Our results provide insight into the neuronal mechanisms that underlie biological target detection and selection (from a moving platform), as well as highlight the effectiveness of our bio-inspired algorithm in an artificial visual system.
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| 6. |
- Bagheri, Zahra M, et al.
(författare)
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Performance of an insect-inspired target tracker in natural conditions
- 2017
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Ingår i: Bioinspiration and Biomimetics. - : IOP Publishing. - 1748-3182 .- 1748-3190. ; 12:2
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Robust and efficient target-tracking algorithms embedded on moving platforms, are a requirement for many computer vision and robotic applications. However, deployment of a real-time system is challenging, even with the computational power of modern hardware. As inspiration, we look to biological lightweight solutions-lightweight and low-powered flying insects. For example, dragonflies pursue prey and mates within cluttered, natural environments, deftly selecting their target amidst swarms. In our laboratory, we study the physiology and morphology of dragonfly 'small target motion detector' neurons likely to underlie this pursuit behaviour. Here we describe our insect-inspired tracking model derived from these data and compare its efficacy and efficiency with state-of-the-art engineering models. For model inputs, we use both publicly available video sequences, as well as our own task-specific dataset (small targets embedded within natural scenes). In the context of the tracking problem, we describe differences in object statistics within the video sequences. For the general dataset, our model often locks on to small components of larger objects, tracking these moving features. When input imagery includes small moving targets, for which our highly nonlinear filtering is matched, the robustness outperforms state-of-the-art trackers. In all scenarios, our insect-inspired tracker runs at least twice the speed of the comparison algorithms.
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| 7. |
- Berrout, Jonathan, et al.
(författare)
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TRPA1-FGFR2 binding event is a regulatory oncogenic driver modulated by miRNA-142-3p
- 2017
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Ingår i: Nature Communications. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2041-1723. ; 8:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Recent evidence suggests that the ion channel TRPA1 is implicated in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD), where its role and mechanism of action remain unknown. We have previously established that the membrane receptor FGFR2 drives LUAD progression through aberrant protein-protein interactions mediated via its C-terminal proline-rich motif. Here we report that the N-terminal ankyrin repeats of TRPA1 directly bind to the C-terminal proline-rich motif of FGFR2 inducing the constitutive activation of the receptor, thereby prompting LUAD progression and metastasis. Furthermore, we show that upon metastasis to the brain, TRPA1 gets depleted, an effect triggered by the transfer of TRPA1-targeting exosomal microRNA (miRNA-142-3p) from brain astrocytes to cancer cells. This downregulation, in turn, inhibits TRPA1-mediated activation of FGFR2, hindering the metastatic process. Our study reveals a direct binding event and characterizes the role of TRPA1 ankyrin repeats in regulating FGFR2-driven oncogenic process; a mechanism that is hindered by miRNA-142-3p.
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| 8. |
- Besharat, Zahra, et al.
(författare)
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Dehydrogenation of methanol on Cu2O(100) and (111)
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Chemical Physics. - : AIP Publishing. - 0021-9606 .- 1089-7690. ; 146:24
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Adsorption and desorption of methanol on the (111) and (100) surfaces of Cu2O have been studied using high-resolution photoelectron spectroscopy in the temperature range 120-620 K, in combination with density functional theory calculations and sum frequency generation spectroscopy. The bare (100) surface exhibits a (3,0; 1,1) reconstruction but restructures during the adsorption process into a Cu-dimer geometry stabilized by methoxy and hydrogen binding in Cu-bridge sites. During the restructuring process, oxygen atoms from the bulk that can host hydrogen appear on the surface. Heating transforms methoxy to formaldehyde, but further dehydrogenation is limited by the stability of the surface and the limited access to surface oxygen. The (root 3 x root 3)R30 degrees-reconstructed (111) surface is based on ordered surface oxygen and copper ions and vacancies, which offers a palette of adsorption and reaction sites. Already at 140 K, a mixed layer of methoxy, formaldehyde, and CHxOy is formed. Heating to room temperature leaves OCH and CHx. Thus both CH-bond breaking and CO-scission are active on this surface at low temperature. The higher ability to dehydrogenate methanol on (111) compared to (100) is explained by the multitude of adsorption sites and, in particular, the availability of surface oxygen.
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| 9. |
- Besharat, Zahra, et al.
(författare)
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In-situ evaluation of dye adsorption on TiO2 using QCM
- 2017
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Ingår i: EPJ Photovoltaics. - : EDP Sciences. - 2105-0716. ; 8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- We measured the adsorption characteristics of two organic dyes; triphenylamine-cyanoacrylic acid (TPA-C) and phenoxazine (MP13), on TiO2, directly in a solution based on quartz crystal microbalance (QCM). Monitoring the adsorbed amount as a function of dye concentration and during rinsing allows determination of the equilibrium constant and distinction between chemisorbed and physisorbed dye. The measured equilibrium constants are 0.8 mM(-1) for TPA-C and 2.4 mM(-1) for MP13. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy was used to compare dried chemisorbed layers of TPA-C prepared in solution with TPA-C layers prepared via vacuum sublimation; the two preparation methods render similar spectra except a small contribution of water residues (OH) on the solution prepared samples. Quantitative Nanomechanical Mapping Atomic Force Microscopy (QNM-AFM) shows that physisorbed TPA-C layers are easily removed by scanning the tip across the surface. Although not obvious in height images, adhesion images clearly demonstrate removal of the dye.
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| 10. |
- Dai, Jing, et al.
(författare)
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Release of Solubilizate from Micelle upon Core Freezing
- 2017
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Ingår i: Journal of Physical Chemistry B. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). - 1520-6106 .- 1520-5207. ; 121:45, s. 10353-10363
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- By combining NMR (yielding H-1 chemical shift, spin relaxation, and self-diffusion data) and small-angle X-ray scattering experiments, we investigate the complex temperature dependence of the molecular and aggregate states in aqueous solutions of the surfactant [CH3(CH2)(17)(OCH2CH2)(20)OH], abbreviated as C18E20, and.hexamethyldisiloxane, HMDSO. The latter molecule serves as a model for hydrophobic solubilizates. Previously, the pure micellar solution was demonstrated to exhibit core freezing at approximately 7-8 degrees C. At room temperature, we find that HMDSO solubilizes at a volume fraction of approximately 10% in the core of the C18E20 micelles, which consists of molten and thereby highly mobile alkyl chains. Upon lowering the temperature, core freezing is found, just like in pure micelles, but at a temperature shifted significantly to 3 degrees C. The frozen cores contain immobile alkyl chains and exhibit a higher density but are essentially devoid (volume fraction below 1%) of the solubilizate. The latter molecules are released, first gradually and then rather steeply, from the core in the temperature range that is roughly delimited by the two core freezing temperatures, one for pure micelles and one for micelles with solubilizates. The release behavior of systems with different initial HMDSO loading follows the same master curve. This feature is rationalized in terms of loading capacity being strongly temperature dependent: upon lowering the temperature, release commences once the loading capacity descends below the actual solubilizate content. The sharp release curves and the actual release mechanism with its molecular features shown in rich detail have some bearing on a diverse class of possible applications.
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