Exploring Dynamics of Water, Energy, and Food Systems in Agricultural Landscapes Using Mental Modeling: A Case of Varamin Plain, Iran.

This study applies the mental model and cognitive mapping method to involve stakeholders in delineating the mutual relations between sources of water, energy, and food (WEF) production in the Varamin Plain (VP). Through involving farmers and managerial experts, the approach facilitates the deployment of community communication patterns to recognize and comprehend problems and move from single-loop learning to double-loop learning. The dynamic model was driven from the final mental model of the participants to reflect changes in the systems over time. The system dynamic (SD) model incorporates three scenarios for enhancing irrigation efficiency, managing groundwater extraction, and satisfying environmental needs. The results uncovered that the surface and underground water resources of the VP will gradually decrease within the next two decades in the range of 158 and 2700 million cubic meters (MCM) per year. Also, the plain suffers from water insecurity and a 162 MCM shortage. Consequently, focusing on understanding the nexus and nexus governance can enhance resource management and achieve sustainable development goals. Essentially, promoting collaborative governance, such as creating cooperative organizations and implementing double-loop learning, and instituting a water market, regulatory governance, and monitoring laws can improve the state of Varamin Plain's resources. These results carry important policy implications for using mental models to consider dynamics for discussions on participatory management of the WEF system nexus and environmental management.

Comparing two teaching methods based on concept map and lecture on the level of learning in basic life support.

Education and training about Basic Life Support is necessary for different medical groups such as nurses. Different teaching methods have been developed to preserve essential medical information, knowledge and skills. The purpose of the study was to determine the effect of concept map-based and lecture-based teaching methods on the level of nursing students' learning in Basic Life Support. This quasi-experimental study was conducted in 2015 on 57 nursing students from a nursing school in Tehran. Students were selected by census and then divided into lecture (n = 29) and concept map groups (n = 28) by random allocation. The effect of education on knowledge (before, immediately after, one week after and one month after session) and practice (before and immediately after session) was studied. No significant differences were found between the mean scores of knowledge and practice before intervention (P > 0.05). After intervention the mean scores of knowledge were not statistically significant between the two groups (P > 0.05) but mean scores of practice were significantly higher in the concept map group (P = 0.03). In achieving skill and practice goals, it seems that the concept map-based teaching method was more effective than the lecture method.

Spectral transmittance of UV-blocking soft contact lenses: a comparative study.

BACKGROUND: Three major parts of sunlight consist of visible, ultraviolet and infrared radiation. Exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) can result in a spectrum of skin and ocular diseases. UV-blocking contact lenses help provide protection against harmful UV radiation. We studied the ultraviolet and visible light rays transmission in some soft UV-blocking contact lenses. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Four available tinted soft lenses (Acuvue Moist, Zeiss CONTACT Day 30 Air spheric, Pretty Eyes and Sauflon 56 UV) have been evaluated for UV and visible transmission. One-way ANOVA testing was performed to establish is there a statistically significant difference between the UV regions and visible spectra means for the contact lenses (α=0.05). RESULTS: Pretty Eyes, Zeiss CONTACT, Acuvue Moist and Sauflon 56 UV showed UV-B transmittance value of 0.65%, 10.69%, 1.22%, and 5.78%, respectively. Pretty Eyes and Acuvue Moist had UV-A transmittance values of 32% and 34%, Sauflon 56 UV and Zeiss CONTACT had transmittance values of 48% and 43%, respectively. All of the studied lenses transmitted at least 94.6% on the visible spectrum. The results of the one-way ANOVA statistical analysis show that a statistically significant difference exists within the group of contact lenses tested for the visible (p<0.001), UV-B (p<0.001) and UV-A (p<0.001) portions of the spectrum (α=0.05). CONCLUSION: Acuvue Moist has the best UV-blocking property and also visible transmission between other tested contact lenses in this study.