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1 – 6 of 6Neda Mahami, Nasim Abedimanesh, Somayyeh Asghari, Kosar Mohammadnejad, Mohammad Reza Eskandari, Zivar Nejadebrahimi, Hassan Ahangar, Keivan Nedaei, Mojtaba Fathi, Ehsan Noori and Behrooz Motlagh
This study aims to evaluate the effects of betanin on AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), Sirtuin1 (SIRT1) and Sirtuin6 (SIRT6) gene expression as well as the tumour necrosis…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to evaluate the effects of betanin on AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), Sirtuin1 (SIRT1) and Sirtuin6 (SIRT6) gene expression as well as the tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin 6 (IL-6) cytokine release in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and healthy controls.
Design/methodology/approach
PBMCs isolated from whole blood of 50 patients with CAD and 48 healthy subjects aged 45 to 60 years were treated with 10 and 20 µM of betanin for 24 h. Real-time polymerase chain reaction was performed to assess gene expression levels of AMPK, SIRT1 and SIRT6. The supernatants of the cultured cells were used to assess the IL-6 and TNF-α protein levels by ELISA.
Findings
Treatment with both doses of betanin significantly increased AMPK, SIRT1 and SIRT6 expression in PBMCs of CAD patients compared to control non-treated cells (p < 0.05). In PBMCs of healthy subjects, only treatment with high dose of betanin showed significant increase in AMPK (p = 0.007), SIRT1 (p = 0.013) and SIRT6 (p = 0.024) expression compared to control non-treated cells. Betanin (20 µM) also significantly decreased TNF-α and IL-6 concentrations in the culture supernatants of the CAD patients compared to control non-treated cells (p < 0.001).
Originality/value
Betanin could enhance AMPK, SIRT1 and SIRT6 gene expressions in PBMCs and represent a useful complementary treatment to reduce the proinflammatory status accompanied with CAD.
Johnny Kwok Wai Wong, Mojtaba Maghrebi, Alireza Ahmadian Fard Fini, Mohammad Amin Alizadeh Golestani, Mahdi Ahmadnia and Michael Er
Images taken from construction site interiors often suffer from low illumination and poor natural colors, which restrict their application for high-level site management purposes…
Abstract
Purpose
Images taken from construction site interiors often suffer from low illumination and poor natural colors, which restrict their application for high-level site management purposes. The state-of-the-art low-light image enhancement method provides promising image enhancement results. However, they generally require a longer execution time to complete the enhancement. This study aims to develop a refined image enhancement approach to improve execution efficiency and performance accuracy.
Design/methodology/approach
To develop the refined illumination enhancement algorithm named enhanced illumination quality (EIQ), a quadratic expression was first added to the initial illumination map. Subsequently, an adjusted weight matrix was added to improve the smoothness of the illumination map. A coordinated descent optimization algorithm was then applied to minimize the processing time. Gamma correction was also applied to further enhance the illumination map. Finally, a frame comparing and averaging method was used to identify interior site progress.
Findings
The proposed refined approach took around 4.36–4.52 s to achieve the expected results while outperforming the current low-light image enhancement method. EIQ demonstrated a lower lightness-order error and provided higher object resolution in enhanced images. EIQ also has a higher structural similarity index and peak-signal-to-noise ratio, which indicated better image reconstruction performance.
Originality/value
The proposed approach provides an alternative to shorten the execution time, improve equalization of the illumination map and provide a better image reconstruction. The approach could be applied to low-light video enhancement tasks and other dark or poor jobsite images for object detection processes.
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Mojtaba Rezaei, Guido Giovando, Shahrbanou Rezaei and Razieh Sadraei
Despite the undoubted role of knowledge in the small family business (FB) in the restaurant and fast-food industry, there are some main challenges in the knowledge-sharing (KS…
Abstract
Purpose
Despite the undoubted role of knowledge in the small family business (FB) in the restaurant and fast-food industry, there are some main challenges in the knowledge-sharing (KS) orientation for promoting their business. This study tries to recognise and explore the drivers influencing these enterprises' KS processes.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors applied combined exploratory and confirmatory analysis in two studies. In the first study, by the Delphi method, the 22 experts consisting of managers, FB owners and academic professors explore and forecast significant items and drivers. The second study is a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for validating the first study's indicators using the survey collected amongst 218 restaurants and fast foods employees.
Findings
The findings indicate 23 indicators in three main drivers of individual, organisational and technological, are critical for KS in small FBs in the investigated industry.
Originality/value
This research supports the understanding of knowledge management and the FB and contributes to recognising the influential factors for KS amongst small and medium-sized family businesses in the food-related industry. Also, by identifying and ranking the most significant factors, this research will help entrepreneurs facilitate FB entrepreneurship. Finally, the results provide practical implications for current and future KM and FB decision-makers.
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Mohammad Ali Zakeri, Mahlagha Dehghan, Fatemeh Ghaedi Heidari, Hassan Pakdaman, Mehdi Mehdizadeh, Hamid Ganjeh, Mojtaba Sanji Rafsanjani and Sayed Mortaza Hossini Rafsanjanipoor
The increasing prevalence of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a global crisis that leads to physical and psychological outcomes for health-care workers, so this study aims to…
Abstract
Purpose
The increasing prevalence of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is a global crisis that leads to physical and psychological outcomes for health-care workers, so this study aims to investigate the mental health outcomes (including general health, generalized anxiety disorder and posttraumatic stress disorder) in health-care workers in Rafsanjan, Iran.
Design/methodology/approach
By using convenience sampling, this cross-sectional study was conducted on 332 health-care workers working in public hospitals in southern Iran. Data collection lasted from March to April 2020. General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-28), Generalized Anxiety Disorder 7-item (GAD-7) and Impact of Event Scale were used to collect data. The data were then analyzed by using SPSS 25 and descriptive and inferential statistics (chi-square and multivariate logistic regression).
Findings
In total 45.5% of the participants had psychological disorder according to GHQ. In addition, 25.3% of the participants had GAD and 31.6% had posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The results using multivariate logistic regression showed that only income was significantly associated with psychological disorders (95% confidence interval for odds ratio: 1.32–6.45, P = 0.008).
Practical implications
According to the results, the incidence of GAD and PTSD was high among health-care workers. Therefore, it is recommended that the psychological skills of health-care workers be strengthened through counseling and training programs.
Originality/value
This paper provides a novel analysis of mental health in health-care workers in Iran.
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Reza Salehzadeh, Javad Khazaei Pool, Reihaneh Alsadat Tabaeeian, Mojtaba Amani and Marjan Mortazavi
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of internal marketing and market orientation on organizational performance based on the balanced scorecard (BSC).
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of internal marketing and market orientation on organizational performance based on the balanced scorecard (BSC).
Design/methodology/approach
A cross-sectional research design, drawing upon a questionnaire survey, was used to collect data from a sample of restaurants. Structural equation modeling was performed to test the relationship among the research variables using findings from the 164 participants.
Findings
The results revealed that internal marketing positively influenced market orientation and performance. In addition, market orientation was a direct antecedent of performance.
Originality/value
The findings provide important academic, practical and political implications for restaurant industry.
Details