Agenda-setting in policies related to high-risk sexual behaviours, stimulants, and alcohol abuse in Iranian adolescents.

BACKGROUND: This research article retrospectively analyses the agenda-setting approach of policies concerning high-risk sexual behaviours, stimulant and alcohol abuse among Iranian adolescents. METHODS: This qualitative case study policy analysis involved analysing 51 national documents and conducting interviews with 49 policy-makers and executives. Purposive sampling with a snowball strategy and semi-structured interviews were used. The data was analysed using the framework analysis method, with Kingdon's multiple streams framework serving as the analytical framework. RESULTS: The study has identified the confluence of several factors, including the problem stream, the policy stream and the political stream. Within the problem stream, several factors contributed, such as the prevalence of high-risk behaviours, strong scientific evidence on these behaviours, changes in human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission patterns, increased statistics of poisoning and deaths related to alcohol abuse, and the visit of Iran's supreme leader to the slums of Mashhad city. The policy stream has two periods of denial and acceptance. The denial period includes considering these high-risk behaviours to be the consequences of western culture, emphasis on the religious aspects and sinfulness of these behaviours, resisting the prevalence of anomalous behavioural patterns, abstinence and religious obligation of chastity, and avoiding ethical corruption. The acceptance period includes adolescents training, fear messages, promotional and cultural activities, parent training, school staff training, providing psychiatric services for withdrawal, counselling and reference to receive specialized services. The political stream involves global attention towards non-communicable diseases and high-risk behaviours, and the significant impact of preventing these behaviours during adolescence on the health status of society. Also, the supreme leader's attention to social harms, and the establishment of the National Committee for Prevention and Control of Alcohol, have played significant roles. CONCLUSIONS: While the problem stream helped to highlight the problem and increase policy-makers' attention, the politics stream played a significant role. Despite international evidence on the effectiveness of training in sexual issues in reducing high-risk behaviours, it did not succeed in being added to the agenda. The policy stream was heavily influenced by ideology and the political parties in power, affecting evidence-based policy-making. In countries with an ideological approach, the political stream plays a vital role in setting problems on the agenda.

Setting the policy agenda for the treatment of substance use disorders in Iran.

BACKGROUND: Drug use is one of the most common public health problems globally. This study was done to analyze the agenda-setting of policies related to substance use disorder treatment in Iran since 1979. METHODS: The current qualitative study was done through document review and interviews with policymakers and executives. Purposive sampling with snowball strategy was considered for sampling. Semi-structured interviews were done. A total of 22 documents were examined, and the data were saturated with 32 interviews. Kingdon's Multiple Streams Framework was used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The results indicated the intersection of problem stream, policy stream, political stream, and opening the opportunity window. In the problem stream, the rapid growth of AIDS among people who inject drugs (PWID), the decrease in the average age of first drug use, the increase in the prevalence of substance use disorder in women, the ineffectiveness of compulsive treatment, and criminological perspectives played key roles. The policy stream included criminological perspective and war on drugs, and harm reduction. The political stream included announcing general anti-narcotics policies by the Supreme Leader of Iran and understanding the need for treatment, rehabilitation, harm reduction, and social support for substance use disorder by officials and policymakers. CONCLUSIONS: For a long time in Iran, policies based on the war on drugs were the dominant approach, and then, policies based on harm reduction and patient-centeredness were considered. The ideology and political parties influenced the executive apparatus's policy stream in this area. In countries with an ideological approach, the political stream plays a critical role in setting issues on the agenda. Therefore, policy entrepreneurs can put the points on the agenda by attracting the attention of political forces to the issue.

Genome-wide identification and characterization of legume T2 Ribonuclease gene family and analysis of GmaRNS9, a soybean T2 Ribonuclease gene, function in nodulation.

T2 ribonuclease family (RNaseT2) proteins are secretory and nonspecific endoribonucleases that have a large conserved biological role. Family members of RNaseT2 are found in every organism and carry out important biological functions. However, little is known about the functions of these proteins in legumes, including potential roles in symbiotic nodulation. This study aimed to characterize and perform bioinformatic analysis of RNaseT2 genes in four legume species that their genome was sequenced. In total, 60 RNaseT2 genes were identified and characterized. By analyzing their phylogeny, we divided these RNaseT2 into five clades. Expression analysis of RNaseT2 genes indicated that these genes are expressed in various tissues, and the most expression level was related to the pod, flower, and root. Moreover, GmaRNS9 expression analysis in soybean was consistent with in silico studies and demonstrated that this gene usually has high root tip expression. GmaRNS9 expression was reduced by Bradyrhizobium japonicum inoculation and nodule formation. Reduced expression of this gene was possibly controlled by the GmNARK gene either directly or pleiotropically through increased phosphorus requirements during increased nodulation. However, the nutrient stress (phosphate and nitrate starvation) led to an increase in the expression level of GmRNS9. In silico and quantitative gene expression analyses showed that RNaseT2 genes could play important roles in the growth and development of legumes as well as nodulation.

Challenges of implementing the accreditation model in military and university hospitals in Iran: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to present challenges of implementing the accreditation model in university and military hospitals in Iran. METHODS: In this qualitative study, purposive sampling was used to select hospital managers and implementers of the model working in 3 hospitals affiliated to Kerman University of Medical Sciences and in 3 military hospitals in Kerman, Iran. A total of 39 participants were interviewed, and semi-structured questionnaires and thematic analysis were used for data collection and analysis, respectively. RESULTS: In this study, 5 major codes and 17 subcodes were identified: (1) perspectives on accreditation model with 5 subcodes: a difficult and time-consuming model, less attention to the patient, accreditation as a way of money acquisition, not being cost-effective, and accreditation means incorrect documentation; (2) absence of appropriate executive policy, with 3 subcodes: lack of financial funds and personnel, disregarding local conditions in implementation and evaluation, and absence of the principle of unity of command; (3) training problems of the accreditation model, with 2 subcodes: absence of proper training and incoordination of training and evaluation; (4) human resources problems, with 3 subcodes: no profit for nonphysician personnel, heavy workload of the personnel, and physicians' nonparticipation; (5) evaluation problems, with 4 subcodes: no precise and comprehensive evaluation, inconformity of authorities' perspectives on evaluation, considerable change in evaluation criteria, and excessive reliance on certificates. CONCLUSIONS: This study provided useful data on the challenges of implementing hospitals' accreditation, which can be used by health policymakers to revise and modify accreditation procedures in Iran and other countries with similar conditions. The accreditation model is comprehensive and has been implemented to improve the quality of services and patients' safety. The basic philosophy of hospital accreditation did not fully comply with the underlying conditions of the hospitals. The hospital staff considered accreditation as the ultimate goal rather than a means for achieving quality of service. The Ministry of Health and Medical Education performed accreditation hastily for all Iranian hospitals, while the hospitals were not prepared and equipped to implement the accreditation model.

The concept of virginity from the perspective of Iranian adolescents: a qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: Premarital sex can increase the risk of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) in adolescents, and lack of premarital sex can be considered as a reliable policy for STD prevention, which is used by some countries such as Iran. Since the success of this policy is related to the concept of virginity, the present study was conducted to determine the concept of virginity from the perspective of Iranian adolescents. METHODS: In this qualitative study with phenomenological approach, the research team visited public places, including parks and coffee shops, and interviewed a number of 15-19-year-old adolescents. The data were collected using in-depth interviews with semi-structured questions and analysed using thematic analysis method. RESULTS: Several themes, including virginity as the lack of emotional relationship with the opposite sex, lack of physical contact, nonpenetrative relationship, virginity as a myth, virginity as a commitment, having an intact hymen, and not knowing the meaning of virginity, were extracted from the data. CONCLUSION: The most reliable policy on STD prevention is the lack of premarital sex. The success of this policy is related to the concept of virginity. The findings of this study showed that the participants did not consider physical contact as the breach of virginity. This may indicate that the policy of not having sex before marriage or lack of premarital sex is not enough and Iranian adolescents are at risk of STDs. Therefore, policymakers must take steps towards modifying the concept of virginity in the adolescents' value system and provide and implement educational programs on sexual health for adolescents.

Finding the reasons of decrease in the rate of population growth in Iran using causal layered analysis (CLA) method.

Background: According to census 2011, general fertility rate in Iran was 1.6 children. The United Nations published a low population growth scenario for Iran in 2010, and if Iran continues to experience population replacement and does not have a plan to balance it, it will experience a population of 31 million, with a high percentage of elderly people in the next 80 years. This study was conducted to identify the causes of a decrease in population growth rate. Methods: This was a secondary study conducted by reviewing the scientific texts, papers, and upstream documents. The upstream documents contain all national documents related to population decline in Iran. Causal layered analysis (CLA) was used for data analysis. Results: The 9 most important identified causes for a decrease in population were litany (child mortality, maternal mortality, diseases burden, fertility rate, marriage squeeze, abortion, marriage age, high-risk behaviors, and badly supervised and neglected children. Also, 5 causes in structural layer were urbanization, education rate, economic participation rate and unemployment rate, new structures, a change in family structure, and intergenerational gap. Moreover, three causes in discourse layer included welfare, materialism, individualism, and 2 causes in metaphor layer were changing the perception of life and family formation, and women as workforce. Conclusion: It seems that the decrease in population growth in Iranian society is less the result of social planning and population control and more the result of the value and structural changes that have been occurred due to modernization in the society. It is recommended that policymakers primarily address the discourse and metaphor layers to solve the problems.

Cross-country Comparison of Treatment Policies Facing the Drug Abuse in Five Selected Countries.

BACKGROUND: Drug abuse is one of the main problems of human's life; thus communities have been thinking about the solution of this problem. The present study aimed to compare the general features of drug abuse treatment policies, war on drugs (WOD), and harm reduction (HR), in the selected countries. METHODS: The present study was a comparative and desk research that sought to compare context, stewardship, financing, type of substance abuse treatment services, reasons of paradigm shift, and executive challenges of treatment policies in the selected countries (China, Malaysia, Germany, Netherland, and Iran). The necessary data for comparison of the countries were collected through valid databases, review of documents, and reports of international organizations. FINDINGS: Context conditions were better in the HR countries. In most countries, the central government played a key role in the stewardship, financing, and service providing. In WOD countries, the presence of judicial structure was higher in the treatment of drug abuse. The policy-making approach was ideological in WOD countries, but evidence-based in HR countries. CONCLUSION: It seems that performance of HR countries is better than WOD countries.

Administrative challenges of clinical governance in military and university hospitals of Kerman/Iran.

BACKGROUND: Over the recent years, clinical governance model has been applied to improve the quality of university and private hospitals in Iran. In addition to university hospitals, military hospitals have an effective role in the preservation and promotion of public health. The challenges of clinical governance implementation have not been investigated in such settings. Hence, the present study objective is to identify the administrative challenges of clinical governance in military and university hospitals of Kerman/Iran METHODS: This qualitative study was carried out through phenomenology in 2017. A sample of managers and experts in the implementation and execution of clinical governance was purposefully selected from three university hospitals and three military hospitals in Kerman, Iran. A total of 39 managers and experts were interviewed, and data were gathered via semistructured interviews with open questions. For data analysis, conventional content analysis method was employed. RESULTS: In this study, five main codes and 17 subcodes were obtained. Main codes were structural challenges, educational challenges, limitations, evaluation, and human resource challenges. CONCLUSIONS: Clinical governance is being implemented hastily with no appropriate structural, financial, and training facilities, ensuing a waste of resources, more difficult work for staff and a negative view of personnel.

Identification, sexual dimorphism, and allometric effects of three psyllid species of the genus Psyllopsis by geometric morphometric analysis (Hemiptera, Liviidae).

Jumping plant lice (Hemiptera: Psylloidea) are considered important vectors of plant diseases and also economically important pests in agriculture and forest ecosystems. Three psyllid species Psyllopsis repens Loginova, 1963, Psyllopsis securicola Loginova, 1963, and Psyllopsis machinosus Loginova, 1963 associated with the ash tree Fraxinus are morphologically very similar. So far, their distinction has been possible only by comparing their male and female genitalia. In this research, forewing shape and size characteristics, sexual dimorphism and their allometric effects, using geometric morphometric analysis, were examined for identification purposes. The results showed significant differences in wing shape and size between the species studied. Based on the results, two species P. machinosus and P. securicola can be differentiated with the vein M1+2, as in P. securicola the vein M1+2 is located between Rs and M3+4 veins, but the vein M1+2 is closer to the vein M3+4 in P. machinosus; also, P. repens can be differentiated from the two species P. machinosus and P. securicola by vein M. Hence, the veins M1+2, M3+4, Rs and M were the most important wing characters for discrimination of the three species, especially in the field. The analysis also showed significant differences in wing shape and size between male and female of the three species, and the allometric analysis showed that significant shape differences still remain in constant size in P. machinosus and P. repens. Geometric changes in the forewings of both sexes for the three species are illustrated.

Comparative assessment of chloroplast transcriptional responses highlights conserved and unique patterns across Triticeae members under salt stress.

Chloroplast functional genomics, in particular understanding the chloroplast transcriptional response is of immense importance mainly due to its role in oxygenic photosynthesis. As a photosynthetic unit, its efficiency and transcriptional activity is directly regulated by reactive oxygen species during abiotic and biotic stress and subsequently affects carbon assimilation, and plant biomass. In crops, understanding photosynthesis is crucial for crop domestication by identifying the traits that could be exploited for crop improvement. Transcriptionally and translationally active chloroplast plays a key role by regulating the PSI and PSII photo-reaction centres, which ubiquitously affects the light harvesting. Using a comparative transcriptomics mapping approach, we identified differential regulation of key chloroplast genes during salt stress across Triticeae members with potential genes involved in photosynthesis and electron transport system such as CytB6f. Apart from differentially regulated genes involved in PSI and PSII, we found widespread evidence of intron splicing events, specifically uniquely spliced petB and petD in Triticum aestivum and high proportion of RNA editing in ndh genes across the Triticeae members during salt stress. We also highlight the role and differential regulation of ATP synthase as member of CF0CF1 and also revealed the effect of salt stress on the water-splitting complex under salt stress. It is worthwhile to mention that the observed conserved down-regulation of psbJ across the Triticeae is limiting the assembly of water-splitting complexes and thus making the BEP clade Triticeae members more vulnerable to high light during the salt stress. Comparative understanding of the chloroplast transcriptional dynamics and photosynthetic regulation will improve the approaches for improved crop domestication.

Neodiversification of homeologous CLAVATA1-like receptor kinase genes in soybean leads to distinct developmental outcomes.

The CLAVATA pathway that regulates stem cell numbers of the shoot apical meristem has exclusively been studied in Arabidopsis; as such insight into other species is warranted. In this study, a GmCLV1A mutant (F-S562L) with altered lateral organ development, and two mutants of GmNARK, isolated from a Forrest M2 population (EMS-mutated soybean) were studied. GmCLV1A and GmNARK encode for LRR receptor kinases, and share 92% of protein sequence. While GmNARK is critical for systemic regulation of nodulation (new organ made on the root through symbiosis), we show that GmCLV1A functions locally and has no apparent function in nodulation or root development. However, a recessive, loss-of-function mutation (S562L) in a putative S-glycosylation site of GmCLV1A causes stem nodal identity alterations as well as flower and pod abnormalities (deformed flower and pod). The mutant also exhibits a homeotic phenotype, displaying abnormal leaf development/number, vein-derived leaf emergence, and a thick, faciated stem. The mutant phenotype is also temperature-sensitive. Interestingly, a novel truncated version of GmCLV1A was identified upstream of GmCLV1A that is absent from GmNARK, but is present upstream of the GmNARK orthologues, MtSUNN and PvNARK. Taken together, our findings indicate that GmCLV1A acts on shoot architecture, whereas GmNARK, functions in controlling nodule numbers.

The value of biodiversity in legume symbiotic nitrogen fixation and nodulation for biofuel and food production.

Much of modern agriculture is based on immense populations of genetically identical or near-identical varieties, called cultivars. However, advancement of knowledge, and thus experimental utility, is found through biodiversity, whether naturally-found or induced by the experimenter. Globally we are confronted by ever-growing food and energy challenges. Here we demonstrate how such biodiversity from the food legume crop soybean (Glycine max L. Merr) and the bioenergy legume tree Pongamia (Millettia) pinnata is a great value. Legume plants are diverse and are represented by over 18,000 species on this planet. Some, such as soybean, pea and medics are used as food and animal feed crops. Others serve as ornamental (e.g., wisteria), timber (e.g., acacia/wattle) or biofuel (e.g., Pongamia pinnata) resources. Most legumes develop root organs (nodules) after microsymbiont induction that serve as their habitat for biological nitrogen fixation. Through this, nitrogen fertiliser demand is reduced by the efficient symbiosis between soil Rhizobium-type bacteria and the appropriate legume partner. Mechanistic research into the genetics, biochemistry and physiology of legumes is thus strategically essential for future global agriculture. Here we demonstrate how molecular plant science analysis of the genetics of an established food crop (soybean) and an emerging biofuel P. pinnata feedstock contributes to their utility by sustainable production aided by symbiotic nitrogen fixation.