• Bulletin of the Korean Chemical Society
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.398-404
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• 2008

A new solvent polymeric membrane electrode, based on N,N'-bis(salicylidene)-2,2-dimethylpropane-1,3-diamine Ni(II) as the ionophore, was designed. The oxalate-selective electrode has the dynamic range between 1.0 10-6 M and 1.0 10-1 M with a Nernstian slope of -28.7 1.0 mV per decade. The detection limit was 6.3 10-7 M. The proposed electrode revealed good selectivities for oxalate over a variety of other anions and could be used in a pH range of 2.0-7.8. The electrode can be used for at least two months without any considerable divergence in potential. The designed electrode was applied as an indicator electrode in the potentiometric determination of oxalate in real samples.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.17 no.sup3
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• pp.33-37
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• 2016

Skin cancer is one of the most common cancers worldwide, including in Iran. Variations in its incidence rate among geographical areas are due to various contributing factors. Since there has been a lack of studies on this topic in our country, the present spatial analysis of skin cancer incidence in Iran in 2009 was conducted using data from the cancer registry system for the country. The reported incidences of the disease were standardized on the basis of the World Health Organization population and the direct method. Then the data were inserted into the GIS software, and finally, using the analysis of hot spots (Getis-Ord Gi), high-risk areas were drawn. Provinces that were 1.9 SD higher or lower than the national average were considered hot spots or cold spots, with significance at the level of 0.05. In 2009, a total of 9,964 cases of skin cancer occurred, 3,696 in women and 6,268 in men (standardized incidence rates of 15.8 and 22.6, respectively). The results of the study showed that in men and women, the disease demonstrated high incidence in the central provinces and desert regions. In women, Yazd Province and in men, Qom Province had significant hot spots (p <0.05). While Isfahan, Markazi, Tehran and Kurdistan provinces were expected to be hot spots, the differences from the national average were not significant at the 0.05 level. As well, the provinces of Sistan Va Baluchistan, Kerman, and Hormozgan were identified as cold or low-risk disease regions (p <0.05). The central provinces of the country due to hot weather conditions, more solar radiation, and closer vicinity to the central desert of Iran demonstrated higher incidence rates for skin cancer, so further epidemiological studies into the etiology and early detection are essential in these areas.

• Advances in Energy Research
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.107-128
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• 2017

Energy is a major component of almost all economic, production, and service activities, and rapid population growth, urbanization and industrialization have led to ever growing demand for energy. Limited energy resources and increasingly evident environmental effects of fossil fuel consumption has led to a growing awareness about the importance of further use of renewable energy sources in the countries energy portfolio. Renewable hydrogen production is a convenient method for storage of unstable renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy for use in other place or time. In this study, suitability of 25 cities located in Iran's western region for renewable hydrogen production are evaluated by multi-criteria decision making techniques including TOPSIS, VIKOR, ELECTRE, SAW, Fuzzy TOPSIS, and also hybrid ranking techniques. The choice of suitable location for the centralized renewable hydrogen production is associated with various technical, economic, social, geographic, and political criteria. This paper describes the criteria affecting the hydrogen production potential in the study region. Determined criteria are weighted with Shannon entropy method, and Angstrom model and wind power model are used to estimate respectively the solar and wind energy production potential in each city and each month. Assuming the use of proton exchange membrane electrolyzer for hydrogen production, the renewable hydrogen production potential of each city is then estimated based on the obtained wind and solar energy generation potentials. The rankings obtained with MCDMs show that Kermanshah is the best option for renewable hydrogen production, and evaluation of renewable hydrogen production capacities show that Gilangharb has the highest capacity among the studied cities.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.12
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• pp.5031-5036
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• 2015

Background: Adrenal tumors are relatively uncommon, and have different presentations, so we decided to evaluate the clinico-pathological characteristics of benign and malignant tumors in a ten-year period. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional-analytical study was conducted on adrenal resection samples taken during 2004-2014 in three hospitals in Yazd province. Data were analyzed using SPSS software, version 17. Chi-square and Fisher's exact test were used as appropriate Results: A total of 71 patients with adrenal tumors were analyzed, including 32 (45.1%) men and 39 (54.9%) women with an overall mean age $37.7{\pm}19.9$ (range: 6-75 years). Some 50.7% of lesions were benign and 49.3% were malignant. Neuroblastoma was the most malignant lesion (32.3%) followed by adrenocortical carcinoma (8.4%). Among the benign lesions pheochromocytoma was the most common (25.3%) followed by adrenocortical adenoma (12.6%). While 64% of tumors were functional 36% were non functional. Significant correlation was seen between the age of patient and type of tumor (P=0.001). In patients between 14-40 years old no malignant lesions was found, although under 14 years old all of the tumors were malignant. Malignant lesions mostly presented with abdominal pain, abdominal mass and anorexia (57.2%, 45.7% and 45.7%) respectively. Benign lesions mostly presented with paroxysmal hypertension, headache and abdominal pain (61.2%, 47.2% and 44.4%) respectively. Conclusions: Since the trend of adrenal tumors is on the rise based on this and other studies, suspected cases should undergo prompt hormonal and radiological assessment. Early diagnosis and treatment could prevent tumor progression and reduce mortality and morbidity rates.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.13 no.12
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• pp.5995-5998
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• 2012

Background: Colorectal cancer is one of most common cancers in women and men and one of the major causes of death due to neoplasia. Colonoscopy is considered as the most accurate diagnostic procedure to detect colorectal cancer at the earlier stages. Objectives: The current study aimed to evaluate the effects of an education program using the Theory of Planned Behavior on promoting behavioral intention among first degree relatives of colorectal cancer patients. Materials and Methods: A quasi-experimental study conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational program to promote attitudinal factors associated with early detection of colorectal cancer in 99 first degree relatives of colorectal cancer patients aged more than 20 years in Yazd city, Iran. A researcher made questionnaire forwhich validity and reliability were confirmed by expert point of view and pilot testing was employed for data collection. Questionnaires were filled in before and after educational intervention. The registered data were transferred to SPSS 19 and analyzed by paired T-test, Man-Whitney and Wilcaxon. Results: Mean scores of knowledge, attitude, perceived behavioral control and intention regarding colorectal cancer increased after education significantly (P<0.05). Conclusions: Application of the Theory of Planned Behavior has positive influence on promoting intention behavior. It is therefore recommended to apply educational programs to promote behavioral intention.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.1585-1588
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• 2014

Background: Data regarding childhood and adolescent non Hodgkin lymphomas in Iran are limited. The aim of this study was to assess the epidemiological and histomorphological features and survival of affected patients in our center. Materials and Methods: The clinicopathologic features and outcome of 44 children and adolescents with non Hodgkin lymphoma diagnosed during 2004-2012, were investigated retrospectively. The influence of potential prognostic parameters in overall survival was investigated by log-rank test and Cox regression analysis. Results: The mean age at presentation was $13.8{\pm}6.16$ years with a male predilection (M: F=3:1). Malignant lymphoma, not otherwise specified, diffuse large cell lymphoma and Burkitt lymphoma were the three most common histological types observed. The tumors were 36.4% intermediate grade, 27.3% high grade and 34.1% belonged to the malignant lymphoma not otherwise specified group. Immunohistochemistry findings were available in 39 cases. Out of these cases 33 (84.6%) had B cell lineage, 4 (10.25%) T cell lineage and 2 (5.12%) of the cases belonged to miscellaneous group. 3 year and 5 year survivals were 48% and 30% respectively and median survival was 36 months (95%CI=21.7-50.3 months). Overall survival in patients with high grade tumors was 19.5 months, in the intermediate group,79 months, and for malignant lymphomas not otherwise specified it was 33.6 months (p value=0.000). Conclusions: The survival rate for children and adolescents with non Hodgkin lymphomas at our center during 2004-2012 was at a low level.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.16 no.13
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• pp.5225-5231
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• 2015

Background: One of the most prevalent cancers in whole world is skin cancer and its prevalence is growing. The present research sought to estimate relative risk of morbidity and mortality due to skin cancer. Materials and Methods: In this cross-sectional study. The required data were gathered from the registered cancer reports of Cancer Control Office in the Center for Non Communicable Disease of the Iranian Ministry of Health (MOH). The data were extracted at province level in the time span of 2008-10. WINBUGS software was used to analyze the data and to identify high risk regions. ArcGIS10 was utilized to map the distribution of skin cancer and to demonstrate high risk provinces by using classic and fully Bayesian models taking into account spatial correlations of adjacent regions separately for men and women. Results: Relative risk of morbidity for women in Yazd and for men in Kurdistan and relative risk of mortality for women in Bushehr and for men in Kohgiluyeh were found to be the highest. Bayesian model due to regarding adjacent regions correlation, have precise estimation in comparing to classical model. More frequent epidemiological studies to enact skin cancer prevention programs. Conclusions: High risk regions in Iran include central and highland regions. Therefore it is suggested that health decision makers enact public education, using anti UV creams and sunglasses for those parts as a short preventing program.

• Industrial Engineering and Management Systems
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• v.15 no.4
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• pp.385-395
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• 2016

Game theory is a powerful tool for analyzing the Supply chain (SC) with different conflicting elements. Among them, the Stackelberg game is the one in which a player as leader has more power than the other ones as followers. Since in many SC systems one element has, in essence, more power than the others; the Stackelberg game has found many applications in SC studies. In this paper, we apply the Stackelberg game-theoretic approach and the corresponding equilibrium point to formulate and analyze a two echelon VMI SC. Comprehensive computational results on an experimental case are conducted to numerically analyze the performance of VMI system against three groups of critical parameters. Moreover, a critical comparison demonstrates the poorer performance of decentralized VMI system than centralized one. This naturally necessitates designing proper contracts between VMI partners in order to more effectively implement the realistic decentralized system.

• Journal of Smart Tourism
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.15-23
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• 2024

This study aims to present a framework involving smartness components and indicators of tourism destinations. This work had three phases. The first phase extracted the components and indicators of smartness evaluation in tourism destinations and validated them by experts' opinions. The second phase determined the effectiveness of each element of smartness using an online questionnaire tool, a survey of 320 tourism experts at the level of 12 selected urban tourism destinations, and a factor analysis method, in addition to measuring the level of their smartness. The third phase of the research analyzed the difference between the smartness of the selected urban tourism destinations using a One-Way Analysis of Variance and the Tukey Test. The results indicated six components and fifty-seven indicators. Also, a substantial difference between the smartness of urban tourism destinations was proved. This study substantially contributes to the existing body of knowledge by offering the smartness indicators within a detailed package of six components with a systemic, holistic, and integrated perspective. The results help policymakers and decision-makers evaluate and improve the smartness of tourism destinations. As a result, it is possible to achieve the goals of smartness of urban tourism destinations, including equality, livability, sustainability, and effectiveness of resource management by using different technologies, especially with the emphasis on two aspects: (1) increasing the quality of the tourism experience, and (2) improving the residents' quality of life.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.12
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• pp.4861-4864
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• 2014

Background: The Ewing's sarcoma family is a group of small round cell tumors which accounts for 10-15% of all primary bone neoplasms. The aim of this study was to evaluate the survival of Ewing's sarcoma patients in our province and to determine of influencing factors. Materials and Methods: All patients with documented Ewing's sarcoma/primitive neuroectodermal tumor(PNET) family pathology were enrolled in this study during a period of eight years. For all of them local and systemic therapy were carried out. Overall and event free survival and prognostic factors were evaluated. Results: Thirty two patients were enrolled in the study. The median age was 17.5 years. Twenty (65.2%) were male and 9 (28.1%) were aged 14 years or less. Mean disease free survival was 26.8 (95%CI; 13.8-39.9) months and five year disease free survival was 26%. Mean overall survival was 38.7 months (95%CI; 25.9-50.6) and median overall survival was 24 months. Five year overall survival was 25%. From the variables evaluated, only presence of metastatic disease at presentation (p value=0. 028) and complete response (p value =0. 006) had significant relations to overall survival. Conclusions: Survival of Ewing's sarcoma in our province is disappointing. It seems to be mostly due to less effective treatment. Administration of adequate chemotherapy dosage, resection of tumor with negative margins and precise assessment of irradiation volume may prove helpful.