In the present paper convergence characteristics of Sample Matrix Inversion (smi) and Least Mean Square (LMS) adaptive beam-forming algorithms (ABFA) are compared for a Smart Antenna System (SAS) in a multipath environment. SAS are employed at base stations for radiating narrow beams at the desired mobile users. The ABFA are incorporated in the digital signal processors for adjusting the weights to adjust the beam on the desired user and generate null in the direction of interferer. smi and LMS algorithms are used with SAS for improving the performance of wireless communication system by optimizing the radiation pattern according to the signal environment. This can enhance the coverage and capacity of the system in multipath environment by reducing the interference and noise. The data rate can be enhanced by mitigating fading due to cancellation of multipath components. In this paper, optimization capabilities of smi and LMS are considered by changing the parameters. The results reveal improvement in gain, speed of convergence and reduction in side-lobe level.

Background: Work is the key component for most people in regard to financial, social and wellbeing matters.Employment is an important factor underpinning mental health disorders. However, unemployment remains an unsolved issue worldwide. Numerous studies have focused on employment outcomes in people with severe mental illness (smi) but, only a few have explored their perspective on employment. Therefore, this study aimed to clarify the meaning of work among clients with smi in Iran.Methods: A qualitative research approach was used to conduct this research. Ten participants who were consumers of mental health services took part in this study. Data were analyzed by inductive content analysis approach.Results: Four themes emerged from data including: acquiring identity, work as a drive, passing the time and financial independence.Conclusion: Meaning of work in studied people with smi was probably similar to the general population. The different finding in this study refers to the dominancy of family relationships and spiritual believes which could cover some problems and in turn affect the meaning of work. Highlighting these meanings could direct mental health professionals to better planning for their clients have better understanding of their clients’ work future and in turn provide more precise plan for them.

Hydrologic Evaluation of Landfill Performance (HELP) model is one of the most accepted tools to simulate the hydrological attributes of landfills. Although some major deviations from real values has been reported about the calculated results for leachate generation by HELP model but other researchers and/or engineers in practice have used it in some places to estimate amount of leachate produced in the landfills. On the Other hand this model is elaborated and mainly used in developed countries with the waste having low moisture content and also in climatic conditions with high precipitation. This research investigated the applicability of the model in arid areas, by construction of two 30mx 50m (effective horizontal length) test cells in Kahrizak landfill (longitude=51o, 20', latitude= 35o 27' degrees), and monitoring the real leachate generation from each one. A set of field capacity and saturated water conductivity tests were also performed to determine basic hydrologic properties of municipal waste landfilled. A comparison was made between values calculated by HELP model and recorded values, shows that a prediction of leachate on annual basis can be done by HELP model with acceptable accuracy but when the infiltration of water to waste body increases due to leachate production, the model intents to underestimate water storage capacity of the landfill, which lead to deviation of calculated values from real ones.

Background: ART laboratories are quality controlled to make sure that disposable objects used for the culture of gametes and embryos are toxin-free. To maintain a high standard, all disposable objects in our ART laboratory were tested by human sperm motility assay (HuSMA).  HuSMA was used as a measure for QC at the intended ART laboratory. Methods: Eighteen objects that are commonly used in IVF laboratories were tested by HuSMA. The objects included gloves, syringes, culture dishes, pipettes, tips and semen collection dishes. HuSMA was conducted at 10 and 30 minutes and also at 1, 2, 4, and 24 hours of incubation at room temperature. Sperm motility index (smi) was calculated by dividing the percentage of progressive motile sperms of the test by that of the control at the specified intervals. An smi value < 0.85 was defined to indicate sperm toxicity. The tests were repeated for three times. Results: QC by HuSMA confirmed the toxicity of three objects, including embryo transfer (ET) gloves A and B, and puncture gloves A. ET gloves A (smi=0.0) and puncture gloves A (smi=0.0) were toxic after 10 minutes, but ET gloves B (smi=0.63) were shown to be toxic after 24 hours (46% progressive motile sperm compared with 68% in the control group). Moreover, two other objects including culture dish (smi=0.42) and semen collection dish (smi=0.67) had borderline values after 24 hours; different results in four repeats after 24 hours (twice toxic and twice nontoxic).Conclusion: Some objects which are routinely used in ART laboratories may be toxic and their use should be discontinued as part of QC programs. To increase the efficiency of HuSMA, it seems necessary to do this test more than once for each object.

Background: 99m-Tc Ethyl-Cysteinate-Dimer SPECT and MR imaging play a significant role in diagnosing anosmia. In this study, two-tissue class and three-tissue class attenuation maps (2C-MR and 3C-MR) obtained from MR images were compared with CT-based attenuation correction (CTAC). Afterward, the presence of hypo-perfusion in brain lobes was evaluated in SPECT images. Materials and Methods: The 2C-MRAC map was generated through segmentation of T1-W MR images into air and soft-tissue, while in the 3C-MRAC map, the cortical bone was also considered. For investigating MRAC approaches, the difference between activity concentration (ACC) values was estimated in 144 volumes of interest. Ten normal and fourteen anosmic patients were compared by calculating the average normalized count and standard uptake value ratio parameters in the brain lobes. Results: The comparison between attenuation correction strategies represented that MRAC images resulted in underestimation of the ACC values which was more substantial in the cortical area rather than in central regions (maximum 9% vs. 6% for 2C-MR and maximum 5. 5% vs. 3. 5% for 3C-MR). Nevertheless, there was a strong correlation between the MRAC and CTAC methods with a correlation coefficient of 0. 7 for both 2C-MR and 3C-MR. The statistical analysis between normal and affected groups indicated the hypo-perfusion in the cortex of Lh_frontal, Rh and Lh_temporal lobes with p-values < 0. 05. Conclusions: Using MRAC resulted in underestimation of activity concentration which was partly eliminated by considering the cortical bone in the 3C-MR attenuation map. Hypo-perfusion was perceived in Frontal and Temporal lobes in SPECT-MRAC images of the anosmic group.

Introduction: Silent myocardial infarction is a kind of infarction that could not be diagnose at onset except casually. Objective: The aim of this study was comparing the prevalence of opium addiction in silent with non-silent myocardial infarction.Materials and Methods: A consecutive series of 676 patients (male 495, female 181) with diagnosis of Q-wave myocardial infarction (MI) by resting ECG (with or without previous history of MI) in a cardiovascular private clinic in Rasht were selected.Results: Silent MI (smi) was observed in 231 (34.2%) of patients. The prevalence of opium smoking in non-silent MI (Nsmi) was higher than smi (17.5% vs. 6.5%, P<0.001).The prevalence of opium users (smoking and oral) in Nsmi was higher than smi (20.4% vs. 10.8%, P<0.005). The prevalence of oral users in smi (4.3%) was not significantly (NS) higher than Nsmi (2.9%), P=NS. Mean age (P<0.0001), sex (female) (P<0.0001), Hypertension (just in males) (P<0.0001) diabetes mellitus (P<0.05), and stroke (Just in male)(P<0.005) were higher in smi than Nsmi.Conclusion: The results of this study suggest that: 1-Opium addiction is not an associated factor with smi. 2-the associated factors of smi are: Older age, sex (female), Diabetes Mellitus, hypertension, and stroke (in male patients).

BACKGROUND: Physical therapists provide important services for improving health and function for the general population,however, physical therapy (PT) is infrequently accessed by persons with a primary diagnosis of severe mental illness (smi). This study examined the attitudes of PT students before and during their participation in a service‑, learning (SL) program for people with smi. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross‑, sectional institutional review board approved qualitative study collected 1‑, h semi‑, structured qualitative interviews from seven graduates of a doctor of PT program. Participants were from a New Jersey University program in the USA who participated in an smi SL experience. Participants were asked about participant attitudes toward people with smi and their observations during a SL experience using an interview guide. All interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed, and coded using interpretive phenomenological analysis by a team of researchers. This type of qualitative analysis aims to explore participants understanding of their experience without pre‑, conceived theoretical direction. Recordings, transcripts, and field notes were reviewed for recurring ideas that were summarized into codes. Through independent coding, reflexivity memos, and consensus meetings, data were further analyzed to identify themes. Investigator triangulation addressed differences and aided consensus development. RESULTS: Before the SL experience, the students reported negative perceptions about people with smi and feelings of uncertainty and unpreparedness to work with this population. According to student reports, SL supported their personal and professional development and allowed them to see that PT services are beneficial for people with smi. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study indicate that PT students have negative attitudes of people with smi and feel unprepared to work with this population. The results also support SL as an effective strategy for helping students in their preparation for working with people with smi.

Background: Globally, PD-1/PD-L1 inhibitors combined with bevacizumab have shown promising results in treating renal and lung cancers, but their efficacy in cervical cancer (CC) remains unclear. Superb microvascular imaging (smi) is a novel technique for observing microcirculation in tumors. This study investigated the effectiveness and survival benefits of smi in assessing tislelizumab combined with bevacizumab for treating CC. Materials and Methods: 86 patients with CC (2022–2023) were randomly divided into two groups: group A (bevacizumab, n=43) and group B (tislelizumab + bevacizumab, n=43). After 4 cycles of treatment, tumor volume and Adler blood-flow grades were assessed using color Doppler flow imaging (CDFI) and smi. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were used to evaluate the diagnostic value of both methods in assessing treatment effects. Results: Both CDFI and smi demonstrated significant differences in treatment effectiveness between groups (p<0.05). CDFI showed improved Adler blood-flow grades after treatment in both groups (p<0.05), but they were not significantly different between the groups (P>0.05). smi also revealed significant improvements (p<0.01) and greater differences between groups after treatment (p<0.05). The area under the curve (AUC) for smi in evaluating therapeutic efficacy was 0.833 (sensitivity 86.05%, specificity 69.77%), while CDFI showed an AUC of 0.816 (sensitivity 79.07%, specificity 72.09%). Conclusions: Tislelizumab combined with bevacizumab significantly improves CC treatment. smi outperforms CDFI in evaluating tumor microvessels and provides valuable insight for the planning of early CC treatment.