Sharif Digital Repository

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to determine why female labor force participation in Iran has been less than 20 percent. Design/methodology/approach: The authors estimate a structural dynamic matching model of female participation using individual panel data in Iran. The study incorporates many factors such as wage, child cost, education, spouse employment and job market search parameters. Findings: The study finds that gender discrimination in job finding has the biggest effect in reducing the rate of women's participation. If all market differences disappear, the female participation rate will increase by 12 percentage points to almost 27 percent, which is still much lower than that... 

This study aims to identify genetic causes of familial female infertility characterized by embryonic developmental arrest (EDA) and repeated implantation failure (RIF) with oocyte donation IVF cycle. We used Whole-exome sequencing and Sanger validation to find causative genes in an Iranian consanguineous family that had 3 infertile daughters, 4 fertile daughters, and 2 fertile sons. All patients in this consanguineous family exhibited typical manifestations of unexplained RIF and EDA. Genetic analysis identified a homozygous missense variant (c.G1054C:p.G352R) in exon 13 of the TLE6 gene that cosegregated with the EDA phenotype in an autosomal recessive pattern. Other members of the family,... 

Two seemingly unrelated, but fundamental challenges in evolutionary theory, are the evolution of costly signals and costly cooperative traits, both expected to reduce an individual’s fitness and diminish by natural selection. Here, by considering a well mixed population of individuals who produce signals and decide on their strategies in a game they play, based on the signals, we show that costly signals and costly cooperative strategies can co-evolve as a result of internal dynamics of the system. Costly signals evolve, despite their apparent cost, due to a favorable cooperative response they elicit. This favorable strategic response can be quantified in a fitness term which governs the... 

Being able to track objects that surround us is key for planning actions in dynamic environments. However, rigorous cognitive models for tracking of one or more objects are currently lacking. In this study, we asked human subjects to judge the time to contact (TTC) a finish line for one or two objects that became invisible shortly after moving. We showed that the pattern of subject responses had an error variance best explained by an inverse Gaussian distribution and consistent with the output of a biased drift-diffusion model. Furthermore, we demonstrated that the pattern of errors made when tracking two objects showed a level of dependence that was consistent with subjects using a single... 

Providing home hemodialysis (HHD) therapy is a complex process that not only requires the use of a complex technology but also involves a diverse group of stakeholders, and each stakeholder has their requirements and may not share a common interest. Bringing them together will require the alignment of their interests. A process management perspective can help to accomplish the alignment of their interests. To align their interests, it is crucial to identify interest groups and understand their interests. The main objective of this paper is to identify the stakeholders and represents their interests as a list of requirements in the HHD process. An extensive literature review has been carried... 

Suppressor of cytokine signalling (SOCS) family comprises a group of proteins that impede JAK/STAT signalling, thus being involved in the pathogenesis of immune-related conditions. In the present work, we aimed at identification of the role of SOCS genes in the pathogenesis of periodontitis through evaluation of their expression levels both in the circulation and in the affected tissues of patients. Thus, we measured expression levels of SOCS1-3 and SOCS5 transcripts in the blood and gingival samples of patients with periodontitis in comparison with control samples obtained during dental crown lengthening. Expressions of SOCS1, SOCS2, SOCS3 and SOCS5 genes were similar between gingival... 

Background: Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disorder with a complex etiology. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) have been shown to affect pathoetiology of periodontitis. We aimed at identification of expression of five lncRNAs, namely Linc0116, Linc00667, CDK6-AS1, FENDRR and DIRC3 in the circulation and gingival tissues of these patients compared with healthy controls. Methods: In a pilot case–control study, we compared expressions of Linc0116, Linc00667, CDK6-AS1, FENDRR and DIRC3 lncRNAs between blood and tissue samples of patients with periodontitis and healthy controls using real time quantitative PCR technique. The present work was performed on samples got from 26 patients with... 

Although medical advancements have successfully helped a lot of couples with their infertility by assisted reproductive technologies (ART), sperm selection, a crucial stage in ART, has remained challenging. Therefore, we aimed to investigate novel sperm separation methods, specifically microfluidic systems, as they do sperm selection based on sperm and/or the female reproductive tract (FRT) features without inflicting any damage to the selected sperm during the process. In this review, after an exhaustive studying of FRT features, which can implement by microfluidics devices, the focus was centered on sperm selection and investigation devices. During this study, we tried not to only point to... 

Background: Many studies have been conducted on the changes in the balance capabilities of stroke patients. However, results regarding the effects of dual-task activities on postural control in these patients have been variable. Objective: To evaluate the effects of a short-term memory task on the sway characteristics of stroke patients. Method: Center of pressure (COP) fluctuations were measured in three levels of postural difficulty (rigid surface with closed and open eyes and foamsurface with closed eyes), aswell as two levels of cognitive difficulty (easy and difficult). COP parameters included mean velocity, standard deviation of velocity in both medial-lateral (M.L) and... 

Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathy (CIDP) and Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) are inflammatory neuropathies with different clinical courses but similar underlying mechanisms. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) might affect pathogenesis of these conditions. In the current project, we have selected HULC, PVT1, MEG3, SPRY4-IT1, LINC-ROR and DSCAM-AS1 lncRNAs to appraise their transcript levels in the circulation of CIDP and GBS cases versus controls. Expression of HULC was higher in CIDP patients compared with healthy persons (Ratio of mean expression (RME) = 7.62, SE = 0.72, P < 0.001). While expression of this lncRNA was not different between female CIDP cases and female... 

Background. Although the relationship between collective efficacy and group performance has been frequently investigated, a few studies have investigated the development of collective efficacy. Aim. This paper proposes some determinants of collective efficacy in small university groups. Group level hypotheses and research questions relating collective efficacy to collective cognition activities, task interdependence, self-efficacy for group work, and collective orientation were posited. Sample. The sample comprised 145 university students in 40 work-groups. Method. A two-phase longitudinal design was employed in the context of university student groups. All groups were required to perform... 

Increasing demand for wearable devices has resulted in the development of soft sensors; however, an excellent soft sensor for measuring stretch, twist, and pressure simultaneously has not been proposed yet. This paper presents a novel, fully 3D, microfluidic-oriented, gel-based, and highly stretchable resistive soft sensor. The proposed sensor is multi-functional and could be used to measure stretch, twist, and pressure, which is the potential of using a fully 3D structure in the sensor. Unlike previous methods, in which almost all of them used EGaIn as the conductive material, in this case, we used a low-cost, safe (biocompatible), and ubiquitous conductive gel instead. To show the... 

The increased number of female smokers is considered a global health challenge in recent years. One of the detrimental effects of smoking is sexual hormone fluctuation causing female sexual dysfunction (FSD). This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to investigate the effects of smoking leading to FSD. Electronic databases (PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, Embase, Science Direct, and Google Scholar) were hired for systematic searching. Until June 2022, whole qualified studies reporting the consequences of smoking on FSD were gathered for data analysis based on the random effects model (CMA software, v.2). Study heterogeneity and publication bias were also assessed using I2 index and... 

Background and Aim: Aging often results in a decline in somatosensory function, and such changes are associated with diminished motor performance. Input noise can enhance sensory and motor function through a mechanism known as stochastic resonance (SR). This paper describes the development and testing of a new vibrating shoe to possibly assist the elderly patients in controlling their balance and decreasing their falling risks. Technique: The new vibrating shoe was evaluated to ascertain its ability to generate appropriate random and nonlinear vibrations. The vibratory shoe performance in two young subjects with decreased foot sensation and two elderly subjects in different static and...