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Children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder need special attention for their mental and physical health and education. This study aims to investigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on them.

This descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on data collected from an online survey. Respondents were the parents or caregivers of autistic children aged 3–18. It measured opinions about the favorable and unfavorable behavioral changes related to their children during the COVID-19 lockdowns.

In total, 131 respondents participated in the study. The mean age of their autistic children was 11.45 ± 4.26 years, of whom 78% were boys. Improved good behaviors during lockdowns included interaction with parents and siblings, eating healthy foods, quality of sleep, eye contact, pointing and asking for something, imitating sounds and phrases, sharing interests, reaction to emotions and empathy with family members, but sleep hours decreased.

Lockdown provided opportunities for examining the behaviors of children with autism taking into account its favorable and unfavorable effects, to improve communicating and behaving with these children.

The purpose of this study is to optimize the location of hospitals in Gorgan, Iran, to provide desirable services to citizens in the event of an earthquake crisis.

This paper, due to target, is practical and developmental, due to doing method is descriptive and analytical and due to information gathering method is documental and surveying. In the present study, the capabilities of genetic algorithms and imperialist competition algorithm in MATLAB environment in combination with GIS capabilities have been used. In fact, cases such as route blocking, network analysis and vulnerability raster have been obtained from GIS-based on current status data, and then the output of this information is entered as non-random heuristic information into genetic algorithms and imperialist competition algorithm in MATLAB environment.

After spatial optimization, the hospital service process has become more favorable. Also, the average cost and transfer vector from hospitals to citizens has decreased significantly. By establishing hospitals in the proposed locations, a larger population of citizens can access relief services in less time.

Spatial optimization of relief centers, including hospitals, is one of the issues that can be of significant importance, especially in the event of an earthquake crisis. The findings of the present study and the originality, efficiency and innovation of the used methods can provide a favorable theoretical framework for the success of earthquake crisis management projects.

In today’s intense global competition, agility is advocated as a fundamental characteristic for business survival and competitiveness. The purpose of this paper is to propose a practical methodology to achieve and enhance organizational agility based on strategic objectives.

In the first step, a set of key performance indicators (KPIs) of the organization being studied are recognized and classified under the perspectives of balanced scorecard (BSC). Critical success factors are then identified by ranking the KPIs according to their importance in achieving organizational strategic objectives using the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS). In the second step, three houses of quality (HOQs) are constructed sequentially to identify and rank the main agile attributes, agile enablers, and improvement paths. In addition, in order to translate linguistics judgments of practitioners into numerical values in building HOQs, fuzzy logic is employed.

The capability of the proposed methodology is demonstrated by applying it to a case of a multi-national food company in Iran. Through the application, the company could find the most suitable improvement paths to improve its organizational agility.

A limited number of KPIs were chosen due to computational and visual constraints related to HOQs. Another limitation, similar to other agility studies, which facilitate decision making among agility metrics, was that the metrics were more industry-specific and less inclusive.

A strong practical advantage for the application of the methodology over directly choosing agility metrics without linking them is that through the methodology, the right metrics were selected that match organization’s core values and marketing objectives. While metrics may ostensibly seem unrelated or inappropriate, they actually contributed to the right areas where there were gaps between the current and desired level of agility. It would otherwise be impossible to choose the right metrics without a structured methodology.

This paper proposes a novel methodology for achieving organizational agility. By utilizing and linking several tools such as BSC, fuzzy TOPSIS, and quality function deployment (QFD), the proposed approach enables organizations to identify the most appropriate agile attributes, agile enablers, and subsequently agile improvement paths.

For organizations competing in volatile environments, strategic agility is the key for sustaining in the market. It is essential for such organizations to identify the main agility indicators that contribute to their strategic core. The purpose of this paper is to propose and test a systematic methodology that identifies key agility indicators through prioritization and establishing the intra- and inter-relationships among them.

The methodology consists of four phases. Phase I forms a pool of agility key performance indicators (KPIs). Phase II categorizes and ranks the KPIs based on their importance and the gap that exists between their current and desired level. Using interpretive structural modeling, phase III establishes the intra-relationships among the KPIs as well as agility attributes, agility enablers and improvement paths, collectively referred to as agility indicators. Finally, phase IV analyzes the inter-relationships among agility indicators using three consecutive houses of quality.

To demonstrate the capability of the proposed methodology, it was applied to a dairy food company operating in a competitive environment. The application could address the shortcomings of previous agility methodologies and helped the company to assign resources to the right agility indicators with the highest influence on strategic agility.

The methodology was applied to a single organization only. The application does not include long-term post-implementation observations and measurement of strategic agility.

Practitioners can benefit from the methodology to identify the right agility indicators of their organization and assign organizational resources for the improvement of such indicators. The methodology ensures selecting indicators that contribute to organization’s strategic agility, although ostensibly seem unrelated.

The paper contributes to the literature of strategic and organizational agility by proposing a systematic methodology that considers both intra- and inter-relationships among agility indicators. The methodology also makes a decent contribution in addressing organizational ambidexterity by analyzing mutually exclusive indicators pertaining to current and future opportunities for the organization.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the quality of Iranian university libraries.

This first systematic review and meta-analysis were based on the PRISMA guidelines by searching in national and international databases from 2003 to January 2017 with standard Persian and English keywords. Data searching, extracting and quality appraising were completed by two researchers, independently. Any unexpected documents were assessed by a third expert researcher. Data were extracted in accordance with the “Strength of the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology” checklist after the final selection of appraised documents. Random effects size based on Cochrane test and I² were used for combining the obtained results from different studies together by considering the heterogeneity of studies.

Based on the meta-analysis conducted in 25 (6.42 percent) included studies, the total sample size was estimated. According to three dimensions of LibQUAL, findings of current information control, affect of service and the library as a place were estimated as 5.37 [CI95%: 5.02, 5.73], 6.91 [CI95%: 5.56, 6.26], and 5.46 percent [CI95%: 5.2, 5.73], respectively. Also, mean of service adequacy and superiority gap are equal to 0.07 [CI95%: −0.22, 0.36] and −2.06 [CI95%: −2.89, −1.23], respectively. There was a significant correlation between three dimensions of service quality and service superiority gap of LibQUAL and geographical regions of Iran (p<0.01). Also, a significant correlation was found between the gaps of services and three aspects of LibQUAL model and published years through a meta-regression test (p<0.01).

The results obtained from the present study showed that users are relatively satisfied with the quality of services provided by Iranian university libraries. An improvement in the quality of library services can promote the scientific level of universities.

The results of the present systematic review and meta-analysis study demonstrate a vital connection between primary research studies and decision-making for policymakers in Iranian university libraries to increase quality services.

Students’ academic achievement is a multifaceted phenomenon. While depression can suppress academic performance, academic satisfaction can promote it. This study aims to investigate the relationship between depression and academic satisfaction among students studying at Shahroud University of Medical Sciences.

This cross-sectional study was carried out on 312 undergraduate students of Shahroud University of Medical Sciences. Data collection tools included demographic data form, University Student Depression Inventory and academic satisfaction scale. Data were collected by a simple random sampling method and self-reporting by the participants. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics (multivariate multiple regression analysis and multivariate linear regression).

The participants’ mean depression and academic satisfaction scores were 71.92 ± 22.94 and 53.70 ± 9.69, respectively. In addition, the depression score was significantly and inversely correlated with students' academic satisfaction (r = −0.122, p-value = 0.031). Moreover, there was a significant correlation between students’ depression with marital status, level of the semester, interest in the field of study and study topic.

This study emphasizes improving education, spiritual and social support and strengthens strategies to deal with depression and medical science students’ related factors.

Students of medical sciences are exposed to depression during their college years, which is related to their academic satisfaction.

Successful implementation of construction projects is one of the crucial factors for the economic development of every country. The main part of the countries’ capital is allocated to civil and infrastructure projects annually, most of which are accomplished with delay. Construction projects are often criticized for overrunning time and budgets. Analyzing the factors causing delay is essential for omitting them and timely implementation of these projects. Due to the importance of oil projects, this study aims to investigate and analyze the factors causing a delay in Iran’s oil construction projects.

In this research, after a broad literature review, using the fuzzy Delphi method, a total of 75 delay factors were identified under 11 major categories of owner, contractor, consultant, equipment, labor, materials, design, contract and contractual relations, laws and regulations, environmental factors, and managerial factors. Then, by using the best-worst method, the factors were prioritized.

The results showed that sanction, governmental management systems, weak project management by the contractor, technical and managerial weaknesses of the consultant, financial problems and delay in payment by the owner, low efficiency of the equipment, low productivity of the workforce, changes in laws and regulations, inappropriate organizational structure linking to the project, changes in the design, and changes in the price of materials are the most crucial factors causing a delay in Iran’s oil construction projects.

These findings are expected to have significant contributions to Iran’s oil construction industry in controlling the time overruns in construction contracts.

The main contribution of this study is to develop a comprehensive framework in which, causes of delay in Iran’s oil construction projects are addressed and prioritized.