Motion planning is an active field of research in robot navigation and autonomous driving. There ... more Motion planning is an active field of research in robot navigation and autonomous driving. There are plenty of classical and heuristic motion planning methods applicable to mobile robots and ground vehicles. This paper is dedicated to introducing a novel method for collision prediction and path planning. The method is called Time Distance (TD), and its basis returns to the swept volume idea. However, there are considerable differences between the TD method and existing methods associated with the swept volume concept. In this method, time is obtained as a dependent variable in TD functions. TD functions are functions of location, velocity, and geometry of objects, determining the TD of objects with respect to any location. Known as a relative concept, TD is defined as the time interval that must be spent in order for an object to reach a certain location. It is firstly defined for the one-dimensional case and then generalized to 2D space. The collision prediction algorithm consists of obtaining the TD of different points of an object (the vehicle) with respect to all objects of the environment using an explicit function which is a function of TD functions. The path planning algorithm uses TD functions and two other functions called Z-Infinity and Route Function to create the collision-free path in a dynamic environment. Both the collision prediction and the path planning algorithms are evaluated in simulations. Comparisons indicate the capability of the method to generate length optimal paths as the most effective methods do.
Background: Social competence refers to an individual's ability to do things related to his or he... more Background: Social competence refers to an individual's ability to do things related to his or her personal independence and social responsibilities, leading to normal social growth and the establishment of positive and constructive relationships. Emotional-social skills training plays an important role in feeling more socially competent and efficient in the day-today responsibilities and life challenges of single-parent girls. Research has shown that social problem-solving training increases social competence in adolescence and adulthood. Aims: The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of Social-Emotional skills training and social problem-solving training on social competence of single-parent female students in the second year of Sarab high school. Methods: The present study is a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistics of the present study include all female high school students who were studying in the academic year 2019-2020. The research sample of 45 students was selected by multistage cluster sampling method and randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group. The sample individuals completed the social competency questionnaire of Felner, Lease & Phillips (1990) first as a pre-test stage and after 12 sessions of Social-Emotional skills training (Sadri Damirchi et al, 2009) and 10 sessions problem-solving training (Montazer et al, 2020) of 90-minute as a group for a group. Experiments were re-evaluated in the post-test phase of all three groups. Data analysis was performed by univariate analysis of covariance using SPSS-24 software. Results: The results of this study showed that social-emotional skills training and social problem solving increased the social competence of effective single-parent female students (p <0.05). On the other hand, there was no significant difference in the effectiveness of social-emotional skills training and social problem solving in the social competency variable (P <0.05). Conclusion: Teaching adolescents' socio-emotional skills and social problem-solving skills leads to the formation of social interactions between him and the outside world, the management of emotions, and thus the increase and improvement of a person's social competence. For this purpose, it is necessary for specialists and family psychologists to provide training in this field to students and their parents.
Background and aims: One of the major problems facing human societies in recent decades is the st... more Background and aims: One of the major problems facing human societies in recent decades is the stress phenomenon, especially in the workplace. Job stress is the harmful responses that result from a mismatch between onechr('39')s abilities and knowledge with job pressures and demands. Stress is one of the most important and effective factors in disturbing peoplechr('39')s health, that makes a person unable to perform his or her individual, family and social duties and commitments optimally. Public health means complete physical, mental and social welfare (Not just lack of illness and disability). One of the most common disorders in general and occupational groups is mental disorders. The most important signs and symptoms of mental health include self-reliance, independence, the ability to cope with others, the ability to accept responsibility and the duty, to express love and affection, the ability to endure failure, and so on. Manpower is one of the most important re...
Sadeghihassanabadi (2020): 6 Hz transcranial alternating current stimulation of mPFC improves sus... more Sadeghihassanabadi (2020): 6 Hz transcranial alternating current stimulation of mPFC improves sustained attention and modulates alpha phase synchronization and power in dorsal attention network, Cognitive Neuroscience,
International Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 2011
Introduction: The aim of the present research was to determine the effect of meta-cognitive and d... more Introduction: The aim of the present research was to determine the effect of meta-cognitive and drug therapies on meta-cognitive beliefs of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Method: The sample consisted of 60 subjects selected from patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder in Ardabil City., The subjects were randomly assigned to two experimental groups and a control group. The two techniques used were drug therapy and meta-cognitive therapy. To collect data of Psychological Interview, Meta-cognition Questionnaire and obsessive-compulsive Inventory were used in two stages. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance. Results: The results showed significant differences between therapeutic groups and control group in variables of meta-cognitive beliefs and obsessive symptoms. Multi- comparison tests revealed that meta-cognitive therapy was more effective in reducing symptoms than drug therapy. Also, meta-cognitive therapy was found to be more effective in mo...
BACKGROUND: Mental workload (MW) assessment is a key point in research and development of human-m... more BACKGROUND: Mental workload (MW) assessment is a key point in research and development of human-machine interfaces in the workplace. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the relationship between mental workload and the amount of salivary cortisol amongst technicians of an Iranian combined cycle power plant. METHODS: A total of 18 technicians participated in this pilot study. First, task analysis was carried out to determine operation steps that forced us to separate them in to two groups. Next, the Visual, Auditory, Cognitive, and Psychomotor (VACP) technique and NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) questionnaire were used to examine their mental workload. Then, the operator’s salivary samples were collected at four specific times of both off and working days. Finally, the relationship between mental workload and salivary cortisol was examined with the analysis of Pearson correlation. RESULTS: The results of mental workload assessment with subjective methods showed a high level of ment...
Transactions of the american nuclear society, 2013
South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company, keeej@stpegs.com Dept. of Nuclear, Plasma, and Rad... more South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company, keeej@stpegs.com Dept. of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Eng., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Zahra13@illinois.edu Soteria Consultants, LLC, rezakazemi@gmail.com Dept. of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Eng., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, sreihani@illinois.edu Alion Science and Technology, bletellier@alionscience.com South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company, crgrantom@stpegs.com
American journal of clinical and experimental urology, 2020
INTRODUCTION Anatomical variation of accessory renal artery has a great clinical importance espec... more INTRODUCTION Anatomical variation of accessory renal artery has a great clinical importance especially in surgical operations. This issue might bring different complications during surgeries. The prevalence of these variations have been reported differently among populations. Here in this paper, we aimed to have a study on frequencies of anatomical variation of renal arteries. METHODS This cross-sectional study was performed on 129 patients who were referred to Imam Khomeini hospital-Tehran in order to perform multislice computed tomography angiography using multiple detector computed tomography (MDCT) of kidneys in 2018-2019. Data were assessed by expert radiologists regarding to renal arteries, characteristics of both side arteries, number of accessory arteries and locations of these arteries based on patient's gender. RESULTS Here we reported at least one accessory artery in 15.5 percent of right and 17.1 percent of left kidneys. The diameter of left accessory artery was in 1...
COVID-19 patients are at high risk for both capillary micro thrombi and large vessel thrombosis. ... more COVID-19 patients are at high risk for both capillary micro thrombi and large vessel thrombosis. Anticoagulant administration in COVID-19 patients, especially in ICU setting, is recommended by some researchers. However, clinical guidelines don't yet recommend anticoagulation therapies in therapeutic doses in these patients. In this article, we try to introduce a less known complication of heparin application in COVID-19 patients. Retroperitoneal hemorrhage when involves the psoas muscle might be deadly because of the large volume of bleeding before causing any significant alarm. It is very important to be careful in diagnosing and managing this complication.
Cargo handling is an operation, which requires a high level of performance from the officer of th... more Cargo handling is an operation, which requires a high level of performance from the officer of the watch (OOW). This study aimed to investigate the effect of different shift schedules on sleep quality, cognitive performance, and sleepiness of 139 OOWs on oil tankers with 4on-8off shifts, during the first shift of cargo handling. Sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)), level of sleepiness (the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS)), Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT), and Arrow Flanker task performance were examined. The results showed that OOWs with (
Background: The high number of marine incidents in port and coastal areas due to the tired deck o... more Background: The high number of marine incidents in port and coastal areas due to the tired deck officers' erroneous actions are one of the major challenges of marine transportation. Approaching, berthing, and cargo handling (ABC) are the most stressful and exhausting operations of the ship in these areas, which are carried out consecutively and uninterruptedly. Materials and methods: This study examined Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) performance, Arrow Flanker Task performance and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) of 70 deck officers of ocean-going oil tankers with 4on-8off shifts at the end of the first shift of cargo-handling operations. In this case, they had worked more than 14 hours continuously. Also, their level of sleepiness was assessed using the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) at the beginning, middle, and end of their first shift of handling operation. Results: The results were analysed according to the duration at sea and deck officers rank. PSQI, KSS, PVT mean reaction times and lapses, and also Flanker's variables were higher among the chief and second officers who were present on board between 0-30 days. The state of officers who were present on board between 31 to 60 days was better than the officers with 0-30 and 61-90 days' duration at sea. In addition, the results show that sleep quality during tour of duty affects cognitive performance and sleepiness of officers during cargo handling operations. Conclusions: The paper concludes by discussing possible solutions for reducing fatigue and human error among seafarers.
Background: The health care workers (HCWs) at the frontline of fighting COVID-19 are at higher ri... more Background: The health care workers (HCWs) at the frontline of fighting COVID-19 are at higher risk for mental health problems, including stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia. This study aimed at assess the status of occupational stress in the three occupational groups of nurses, physicians and hospital cleaning crew facing COVID-19 patients in hospitals of Kerman province in Iran. Methodology: This cross-sectional descriptive analytical study was performed on 290 medical staffs including nurses, physicians and cleaning crew facing COVID-19 patients working in different hospitals in Iran in 2020. Demographic information form and occupational Stress Questionnaire (HSE tool indicator) were used to collect data. The health and safety executive (HSE) questionnaire has 35 questions and 7 areas, which was developed in the 1990s by the UK Health and Safety Institute to measure occupational stress. Results: The mean score of total dimensions among HCWs was 2.93. Communications, Manager support, Changes and Demand factors with scores of 2.76, 2.77, 2.83 and 2.87 had the greatest impact on participants' stress levels, respectively. Also, Colleague support factor with a score of 3.38 had the least effect on stress levels. Also, according to the results, 87% of nurses, 79% of cleaning crew and 67% of physicians had a partial to high levels of stress that, on average, 77.5% of the HCWs participating in this study had at least a small amount of stress. Conclusions: The mean stress score among the participants of the present study was between high stress level and moderate stress level. Factors such as communications, manager support, change and demand had the greatest impact on employee stress levels. Therefore, by improving the communication between people working in hospitals, increasing managers' support for staff, and reducing workplace demands such as reducing workload and improving workplace environment, the stress level of staff in hospitals during the outbreak of COVID-19 can be reduced.
International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems, 2020
Control systems of autonomous vehicles or driver assistant control systems always face uncertaint... more Control systems of autonomous vehicles or driver assistant control systems always face uncertainties due to the in-vehicle and environmental disturbances. In addition, the steering ability for rear tyres leads to more stability and more handling and manoeuvrability. In this paper the adaptive sliding mode control (ASME) strategy is employed to improve handling issues due to the road's friction, which plays a key role in handling dynamics. The proposed dynamic model used in this paper is a simple and useful two-degree of freedom model. Two parallel ASMCs are used: one for positioning error and the other for angular error. The simulations are executed for two different road conditions with considering the hypercritical condition. To verify the designed controller, the controller is applied to the non-linear full vehicle model. The simulation results prove that the controller perfectly works for different road conditions. The controller is also robust against uncertainties such as road friction.
BACKGROUND: Music is an economical, advantageous and reliable means of reducing stress or stress-... more BACKGROUND: Music is an economical, advantageous and reliable means of reducing stress or stress-related problems. OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to evaluate the effects of playing music during surgery on the performance of the surgical team through a systematic review of published studies. METHODS: The relevant databases of Medline/PubMed, Scopus and Science Direct were searched up to July 2018 to find related articles. The comprehensive literature search was reduced to 19 articles that met inclusion criteria. RESULTS: The articles comprised 13 studies and reported on the positive effects of music on the performance of the surgical team. The effects included a more relaxing and pleasant environment, more accurate and precise performance of tasks, a decrease in the mental workload and task completion time, increased situation awareness, a reduction in stress and anxiety and improved memory consolidation. Five studies reported on the negative effects of music during surgery as being a negative impact on task completion, poor auditory performance and increased likelihood of having to repeat requests. The remaining article reported no significant differences between groups compared. CONCLUSIONS: Most studies reported positive effects of music on the surgical team during surgery. These results indicate that it may be possible to improve the performance of the surgical team during surgery while playing controlled music.
Background-Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory, autoimmune disease induced by certain au... more Background-Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory, autoimmune disease induced by certain auto-antigens. HLA-DRB1*0401 allele has a significant relationship with RA incident. Additionally, DQβ1*0301, *302(DQ8), *303, and *304 can increase RA risk especially in DQA1*0301 and *302 coincident. Recent studies suggest that distribution of this allele is different in various populations Material and Methods-70 patients and 70 healthy controls were analyzed for human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allele by specific primerpolymerase chain reaction (SSP-PCR) method. Patients were evaluated in terms of ESR and CRP. Data analysis was performed in SPSS V.17. Results-HLA-DQ8 allele was significantly more frequent in RA patients compared to control (P<0.0001). However, no significant relationship was observed between increased ESR (P=0.527), CRP (P=0.505), and mean counts of arthritic (P=0.691) and tender joints (P=0.669) among the patients who were carriers of HLA-DQ8. Conclusion-There is a significant association between RA and HLA-DQ8 allele, this allele can increase susceptibility to RA. These findings might relate to the ethnical variations of RA patients but we couldn't find a significant association between CRP and ESR with HLA-DQ8. We recommend to add specific inflammatory markers to CRP as well as assess ESR in larger sample sizes to obtain accurate results.
Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology, Oct 24, 2017
Previous studies investigated predictors of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) r... more Previous studies investigated predictors of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) response in depressive disorders but there is still limited knowledge about clinical predictors. Moreover, predictors of rTMS response in bipolar depression (BDD) are less studied than unipolar depression (UDD). We performed a binary logistic regression analysis in 248 patients with depressive disorders (unipolar N=102, bipolar N=146) who received 20 sessions of DLPFC rTMS (High-frequency rTMS, low-frequency rTMS, bilateral rTMS) to investigate significant clinical and demographic predictors of rTMS response. We also investigated effects of depression type, response (yes, no) and time on reducing somatic and cognitive-affective symptoms of patients. Depression type (unipolar vs. bipolar) did not have a significant effect on rTMS response. 45% of all patients, 51.5% of UDD patients and 41% of BDD patients, responded to rTMS treatment. Age was the only significant demographic predictor of t...
In this paper, we use the method of modified signed log-likelihood ratio test for the problem of ... more In this paper, we use the method of modified signed log-likelihood ratio test for the problem of testing the equality of correlation coefficients in two independent bivariate normal distributions. We compare this method with two other approaches, Fisher's Z-transform and generalized test variable, using a Monte Carlo simulation. It indicates that the proposed method is better than the other approaches, in terms of the actual sizes and powers especially when the sample sizes are unequal. We illustrate performance of the proposed approach, using a real data set.
Motion planning is an active field of research in robot navigation and autonomous driving. There ... more Motion planning is an active field of research in robot navigation and autonomous driving. There are plenty of classical and heuristic motion planning methods applicable to mobile robots and ground vehicles. This paper is dedicated to introducing a novel method for collision prediction and path planning. The method is called Time Distance (TD), and its basis returns to the swept volume idea. However, there are considerable differences between the TD method and existing methods associated with the swept volume concept. In this method, time is obtained as a dependent variable in TD functions. TD functions are functions of location, velocity, and geometry of objects, determining the TD of objects with respect to any location. Known as a relative concept, TD is defined as the time interval that must be spent in order for an object to reach a certain location. It is firstly defined for the one-dimensional case and then generalized to 2D space. The collision prediction algorithm consists of obtaining the TD of different points of an object (the vehicle) with respect to all objects of the environment using an explicit function which is a function of TD functions. The path planning algorithm uses TD functions and two other functions called Z-Infinity and Route Function to create the collision-free path in a dynamic environment. Both the collision prediction and the path planning algorithms are evaluated in simulations. Comparisons indicate the capability of the method to generate length optimal paths as the most effective methods do.
Background: Social competence refers to an individual's ability to do things related to his or he... more Background: Social competence refers to an individual's ability to do things related to his or her personal independence and social responsibilities, leading to normal social growth and the establishment of positive and constructive relationships. Emotional-social skills training plays an important role in feeling more socially competent and efficient in the day-today responsibilities and life challenges of single-parent girls. Research has shown that social problem-solving training increases social competence in adolescence and adulthood. Aims: The aim of this study was to compare the effectiveness of Social-Emotional skills training and social problem-solving training on social competence of single-parent female students in the second year of Sarab high school. Methods: The present study is a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design with a control group. The statistics of the present study include all female high school students who were studying in the academic year 2019-2020. The research sample of 45 students was selected by multistage cluster sampling method and randomly assigned to two experimental groups and one control group. The sample individuals completed the social competency questionnaire of Felner, Lease & Phillips (1990) first as a pre-test stage and after 12 sessions of Social-Emotional skills training (Sadri Damirchi et al, 2009) and 10 sessions problem-solving training (Montazer et al, 2020) of 90-minute as a group for a group. Experiments were re-evaluated in the post-test phase of all three groups. Data analysis was performed by univariate analysis of covariance using SPSS-24 software. Results: The results of this study showed that social-emotional skills training and social problem solving increased the social competence of effective single-parent female students (p <0.05). On the other hand, there was no significant difference in the effectiveness of social-emotional skills training and social problem solving in the social competency variable (P <0.05). Conclusion: Teaching adolescents' socio-emotional skills and social problem-solving skills leads to the formation of social interactions between him and the outside world, the management of emotions, and thus the increase and improvement of a person's social competence. For this purpose, it is necessary for specialists and family psychologists to provide training in this field to students and their parents.
Background and aims: One of the major problems facing human societies in recent decades is the st... more Background and aims: One of the major problems facing human societies in recent decades is the stress phenomenon, especially in the workplace. Job stress is the harmful responses that result from a mismatch between onechr('39')s abilities and knowledge with job pressures and demands. Stress is one of the most important and effective factors in disturbing peoplechr('39')s health, that makes a person unable to perform his or her individual, family and social duties and commitments optimally. Public health means complete physical, mental and social welfare (Not just lack of illness and disability). One of the most common disorders in general and occupational groups is mental disorders. The most important signs and symptoms of mental health include self-reliance, independence, the ability to cope with others, the ability to accept responsibility and the duty, to express love and affection, the ability to endure failure, and so on. Manpower is one of the most important re...
Sadeghihassanabadi (2020): 6 Hz transcranial alternating current stimulation of mPFC improves sus... more Sadeghihassanabadi (2020): 6 Hz transcranial alternating current stimulation of mPFC improves sustained attention and modulates alpha phase synchronization and power in dorsal attention network, Cognitive Neuroscience,
International Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 2011
Introduction: The aim of the present research was to determine the effect of meta-cognitive and d... more Introduction: The aim of the present research was to determine the effect of meta-cognitive and drug therapies on meta-cognitive beliefs of patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder. Method: The sample consisted of 60 subjects selected from patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder in Ardabil City., The subjects were randomly assigned to two experimental groups and a control group. The two techniques used were drug therapy and meta-cognitive therapy. To collect data of Psychological Interview, Meta-cognition Questionnaire and obsessive-compulsive Inventory were used in two stages. Data were analyzed using multivariate analysis of variance. Results: The results showed significant differences between therapeutic groups and control group in variables of meta-cognitive beliefs and obsessive symptoms. Multi- comparison tests revealed that meta-cognitive therapy was more effective in reducing symptoms than drug therapy. Also, meta-cognitive therapy was found to be more effective in mo...
BACKGROUND: Mental workload (MW) assessment is a key point in research and development of human-m... more BACKGROUND: Mental workload (MW) assessment is a key point in research and development of human-machine interfaces in the workplace. OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to examine the relationship between mental workload and the amount of salivary cortisol amongst technicians of an Iranian combined cycle power plant. METHODS: A total of 18 technicians participated in this pilot study. First, task analysis was carried out to determine operation steps that forced us to separate them in to two groups. Next, the Visual, Auditory, Cognitive, and Psychomotor (VACP) technique and NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) questionnaire were used to examine their mental workload. Then, the operator’s salivary samples were collected at four specific times of both off and working days. Finally, the relationship between mental workload and salivary cortisol was examined with the analysis of Pearson correlation. RESULTS: The results of mental workload assessment with subjective methods showed a high level of ment...
Transactions of the american nuclear society, 2013
South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company, keeej@stpegs.com Dept. of Nuclear, Plasma, and Rad... more South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company, keeej@stpegs.com Dept. of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Eng., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Zahra13@illinois.edu Soteria Consultants, LLC, rezakazemi@gmail.com Dept. of Nuclear, Plasma, and Radiological Eng., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, sreihani@illinois.edu Alion Science and Technology, bletellier@alionscience.com South Texas Project Nuclear Operating Company, crgrantom@stpegs.com
American journal of clinical and experimental urology, 2020
INTRODUCTION Anatomical variation of accessory renal artery has a great clinical importance espec... more INTRODUCTION Anatomical variation of accessory renal artery has a great clinical importance especially in surgical operations. This issue might bring different complications during surgeries. The prevalence of these variations have been reported differently among populations. Here in this paper, we aimed to have a study on frequencies of anatomical variation of renal arteries. METHODS This cross-sectional study was performed on 129 patients who were referred to Imam Khomeini hospital-Tehran in order to perform multislice computed tomography angiography using multiple detector computed tomography (MDCT) of kidneys in 2018-2019. Data were assessed by expert radiologists regarding to renal arteries, characteristics of both side arteries, number of accessory arteries and locations of these arteries based on patient's gender. RESULTS Here we reported at least one accessory artery in 15.5 percent of right and 17.1 percent of left kidneys. The diameter of left accessory artery was in 1...
COVID-19 patients are at high risk for both capillary micro thrombi and large vessel thrombosis. ... more COVID-19 patients are at high risk for both capillary micro thrombi and large vessel thrombosis. Anticoagulant administration in COVID-19 patients, especially in ICU setting, is recommended by some researchers. However, clinical guidelines don't yet recommend anticoagulation therapies in therapeutic doses in these patients. In this article, we try to introduce a less known complication of heparin application in COVID-19 patients. Retroperitoneal hemorrhage when involves the psoas muscle might be deadly because of the large volume of bleeding before causing any significant alarm. It is very important to be careful in diagnosing and managing this complication.
Cargo handling is an operation, which requires a high level of performance from the officer of th... more Cargo handling is an operation, which requires a high level of performance from the officer of the watch (OOW). This study aimed to investigate the effect of different shift schedules on sleep quality, cognitive performance, and sleepiness of 139 OOWs on oil tankers with 4on-8off shifts, during the first shift of cargo handling. Sleep quality (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI)), level of sleepiness (the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS)), Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT), and Arrow Flanker task performance were examined. The results showed that OOWs with (
Background: The high number of marine incidents in port and coastal areas due to the tired deck o... more Background: The high number of marine incidents in port and coastal areas due to the tired deck officers' erroneous actions are one of the major challenges of marine transportation. Approaching, berthing, and cargo handling (ABC) are the most stressful and exhausting operations of the ship in these areas, which are carried out consecutively and uninterruptedly. Materials and methods: This study examined Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT) performance, Arrow Flanker Task performance and the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) of 70 deck officers of ocean-going oil tankers with 4on-8off shifts at the end of the first shift of cargo-handling operations. In this case, they had worked more than 14 hours continuously. Also, their level of sleepiness was assessed using the Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) at the beginning, middle, and end of their first shift of handling operation. Results: The results were analysed according to the duration at sea and deck officers rank. PSQI, KSS, PVT mean reaction times and lapses, and also Flanker's variables were higher among the chief and second officers who were present on board between 0-30 days. The state of officers who were present on board between 31 to 60 days was better than the officers with 0-30 and 61-90 days' duration at sea. In addition, the results show that sleep quality during tour of duty affects cognitive performance and sleepiness of officers during cargo handling operations. Conclusions: The paper concludes by discussing possible solutions for reducing fatigue and human error among seafarers.
Background: The health care workers (HCWs) at the frontline of fighting COVID-19 are at higher ri... more Background: The health care workers (HCWs) at the frontline of fighting COVID-19 are at higher risk for mental health problems, including stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia. This study aimed at assess the status of occupational stress in the three occupational groups of nurses, physicians and hospital cleaning crew facing COVID-19 patients in hospitals of Kerman province in Iran. Methodology: This cross-sectional descriptive analytical study was performed on 290 medical staffs including nurses, physicians and cleaning crew facing COVID-19 patients working in different hospitals in Iran in 2020. Demographic information form and occupational Stress Questionnaire (HSE tool indicator) were used to collect data. The health and safety executive (HSE) questionnaire has 35 questions and 7 areas, which was developed in the 1990s by the UK Health and Safety Institute to measure occupational stress. Results: The mean score of total dimensions among HCWs was 2.93. Communications, Manager support, Changes and Demand factors with scores of 2.76, 2.77, 2.83 and 2.87 had the greatest impact on participants' stress levels, respectively. Also, Colleague support factor with a score of 3.38 had the least effect on stress levels. Also, according to the results, 87% of nurses, 79% of cleaning crew and 67% of physicians had a partial to high levels of stress that, on average, 77.5% of the HCWs participating in this study had at least a small amount of stress. Conclusions: The mean stress score among the participants of the present study was between high stress level and moderate stress level. Factors such as communications, manager support, change and demand had the greatest impact on employee stress levels. Therefore, by improving the communication between people working in hospitals, increasing managers' support for staff, and reducing workplace demands such as reducing workload and improving workplace environment, the stress level of staff in hospitals during the outbreak of COVID-19 can be reduced.
International Journal of Heavy Vehicle Systems, 2020
Control systems of autonomous vehicles or driver assistant control systems always face uncertaint... more Control systems of autonomous vehicles or driver assistant control systems always face uncertainties due to the in-vehicle and environmental disturbances. In addition, the steering ability for rear tyres leads to more stability and more handling and manoeuvrability. In this paper the adaptive sliding mode control (ASME) strategy is employed to improve handling issues due to the road's friction, which plays a key role in handling dynamics. The proposed dynamic model used in this paper is a simple and useful two-degree of freedom model. Two parallel ASMCs are used: one for positioning error and the other for angular error. The simulations are executed for two different road conditions with considering the hypercritical condition. To verify the designed controller, the controller is applied to the non-linear full vehicle model. The simulation results prove that the controller perfectly works for different road conditions. The controller is also robust against uncertainties such as road friction.
BACKGROUND: Music is an economical, advantageous and reliable means of reducing stress or stress-... more BACKGROUND: Music is an economical, advantageous and reliable means of reducing stress or stress-related problems. OBJECTIVE: The present study aims to evaluate the effects of playing music during surgery on the performance of the surgical team through a systematic review of published studies. METHODS: The relevant databases of Medline/PubMed, Scopus and Science Direct were searched up to July 2018 to find related articles. The comprehensive literature search was reduced to 19 articles that met inclusion criteria. RESULTS: The articles comprised 13 studies and reported on the positive effects of music on the performance of the surgical team. The effects included a more relaxing and pleasant environment, more accurate and precise performance of tasks, a decrease in the mental workload and task completion time, increased situation awareness, a reduction in stress and anxiety and improved memory consolidation. Five studies reported on the negative effects of music during surgery as being a negative impact on task completion, poor auditory performance and increased likelihood of having to repeat requests. The remaining article reported no significant differences between groups compared. CONCLUSIONS: Most studies reported positive effects of music on the surgical team during surgery. These results indicate that it may be possible to improve the performance of the surgical team during surgery while playing controlled music.
Background-Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory, autoimmune disease induced by certain au... more Background-Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an inflammatory, autoimmune disease induced by certain auto-antigens. HLA-DRB1*0401 allele has a significant relationship with RA incident. Additionally, DQβ1*0301, *302(DQ8), *303, and *304 can increase RA risk especially in DQA1*0301 and *302 coincident. Recent studies suggest that distribution of this allele is different in various populations Material and Methods-70 patients and 70 healthy controls were analyzed for human leukocyte antigen (HLA) allele by specific primerpolymerase chain reaction (SSP-PCR) method. Patients were evaluated in terms of ESR and CRP. Data analysis was performed in SPSS V.17. Results-HLA-DQ8 allele was significantly more frequent in RA patients compared to control (P<0.0001). However, no significant relationship was observed between increased ESR (P=0.527), CRP (P=0.505), and mean counts of arthritic (P=0.691) and tender joints (P=0.669) among the patients who were carriers of HLA-DQ8. Conclusion-There is a significant association between RA and HLA-DQ8 allele, this allele can increase susceptibility to RA. These findings might relate to the ethnical variations of RA patients but we couldn't find a significant association between CRP and ESR with HLA-DQ8. We recommend to add specific inflammatory markers to CRP as well as assess ESR in larger sample sizes to obtain accurate results.
Clinical neurophysiology : official journal of the International Federation of Clinical Neurophysiology, Oct 24, 2017
Previous studies investigated predictors of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) r... more Previous studies investigated predictors of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) response in depressive disorders but there is still limited knowledge about clinical predictors. Moreover, predictors of rTMS response in bipolar depression (BDD) are less studied than unipolar depression (UDD). We performed a binary logistic regression analysis in 248 patients with depressive disorders (unipolar N=102, bipolar N=146) who received 20 sessions of DLPFC rTMS (High-frequency rTMS, low-frequency rTMS, bilateral rTMS) to investigate significant clinical and demographic predictors of rTMS response. We also investigated effects of depression type, response (yes, no) and time on reducing somatic and cognitive-affective symptoms of patients. Depression type (unipolar vs. bipolar) did not have a significant effect on rTMS response. 45% of all patients, 51.5% of UDD patients and 41% of BDD patients, responded to rTMS treatment. Age was the only significant demographic predictor of t...
In this paper, we use the method of modified signed log-likelihood ratio test for the problem of ... more In this paper, we use the method of modified signed log-likelihood ratio test for the problem of testing the equality of correlation coefficients in two independent bivariate normal distributions. We compare this method with two other approaches, Fisher's Z-transform and generalized test variable, using a Monte Carlo simulation. It indicates that the proposed method is better than the other approaches, in terms of the actual sizes and powers especially when the sample sizes are unequal. We illustrate performance of the proposed approach, using a real data set.
Uploads
Papers by Reza Kazemi