Medical Ethics in Qiṣāṣ (Eye-for-an-Eye) Punishment: An Islamic View; an Examination of Acid Throwing

Physicians in Islamic countries might be requested to participate in the Islamic legal code of qiṣāṣ, in which the victim or family has the right to an eye-for-an-eye retaliation. Qiṣāṣ is only used as a punishment in the case of murder or intentional physical injury. In situations such as throwing acid, the national legal system of some Islamic countries asks for assistance from physicians, because the punishment should be identical to the crime. The perpetrator could not be punished without a physician’s participation, because there is no way to guarantee that the sentence would be carried out without inflicting more injury than the initial victim had suffered. By examining two cases of acid throwing, this paper discusses issues related to physicians’ participation in qiṣāṣ from the perspective of medical ethics and Islamic Shari’a law. From the standpoint of medical ethics, physicians’ participation in qiṣāṣ is not appropriate. First, qiṣāṣ is in sharp contrast to the Hippocratic Oath and other codes of medical ethics. Second, by physicians’ participation in qiṣāṣ, medical practices are being used improperly to carry out government mandates. Third, physician participation in activities that cause intentional harm to people destroys the trust between patients and physicians and may adversely affect the patient–physician relationship more generally. From the standpoint of Shari’a, there is no consensus among Muslim scholars whether qiṣāṣ should be performed on every occasion. We argue that disallowing physician involvement in qiṣāṣ is necessary from the perspectives of both medical ethics and Shari’a law

Alleviation of experimental allergic encephalomyelitis in C57BL/6 mice by Soy Daidzein

Experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE) is considered as the murine model of multiple sclerosis. Daidzein a phytostrogenic compound of soy is known to impose immunomodulatory and antioxidative effects. We conducted this study to assess the potential protective and therapeutic effects of daidzein on allergic encephalomyelitis. C57BL/6 mice were induced with allergic encephalomyelitis using myelin oligodendrocyte glycoprotein (35-55) and received daidzein or dimethyl sulfoxide as the vehicle control. To assess the protective effect of daidzein, the mice were administered with 20 mg/kg of daidzein from 21 days prior to 21 days post EAE induction on a daily basis. To evaluate the therapeutic effect of daidzein, mice were fed with 300 mg/kg daidzein after the appearance of the first clinical signs for 10 days. One day after the last gavage, the mice were sacrificed. Spleen and brain were removed for further histological and immunological analysis. Feeding mice with low dose of daidzein prior to disease induction did not affect disease severity. However, treating with high dose of daidzein after the onset of the disease reduced interferon-3 and interleukin-12 secretion, enhanced interleukin-10 production, suppressed lymphocyte proliferation, and decreased cytotoxicity as judged by lactate dehydrogenase release. In conclusion, daidzein reduced the extent of demyelination and disease severity. Chronic oral therapy with low dose of daidzein did not prevent experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. However, high doses of daidzein could prohibit disease exacerbation. © Summer 2014, Iran J Allergy Asthma Immunol. All rights reserved

Effects of intermittent fasting on experimental autoimune encephalomyelitis in C57BL/6 mice

Several religions recommend periods of fasting. One of the most frequently asked questions of MS patients before the holy month of Ramadan is weather fasting might have an unfavorable effect on their disease course. This debate became more challenging after the publication of experimental studies suggesting that calorie restriction prior to disease induction attenuates disease severity. We conducted this study to assess early and late effects of fasting on the animal model of MS, known as autoimmune encephalomyelitis. EAE was induced in the C57BL/6 mice, using Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycopeptide (MOG) 35-55 and they fasted every other day either after the appearance of the first clinical sign or 30 days after disease induction for ten days. Thereafter, the mice were sacrificed for further histological and immunological evaluations. Intermittent fasting after the establishment of EAE did not have any unfavorable effect on the course of disease. Moreover, fasting at the early phase of disease alleviated EAE severity by ameliorating spinal cord demyelination. Fasting suppressed the secretion of IFN-γ, TNF-α and raised IL-10 production in splenocytes. Fasting was also associated with a lower percent of cytotoxicity. Intermittent fasting not only had no unfavorable effect on EAE but also reduced EAE severity if started at early phase of disease. © Summer 2016, Iran J Allergy Asthma Immunol. All rights reserved

Effect of cusp size, depth and direction on stress concentration

Recently multi-axial machining technology has improved significantly. It has become a widely accepted method of manufacturing components with complex, free form surfaces. Solid billet materials with negligible internal defects are used in this process. This provides increased durability and fatigue life over equivalent cast components. However, multi-axial machining leaves cusps as machining marks. The combination of tool size and step-over generates cusps with different depths and widths. Even though the cusps add extra material on top of the nominal surface, the Finite Element Analysis simulations presented in this paper show that the maximum stress generated within the cusps can be greater than that predicted from the cusp-free geometry. These stress concentrations generated by cusps can reduce the fatigue life and durability of a machined component. In this paper a full factorial analysis of the effect of tool size, cusp width/step-over and cusp direction has been conducted. The analysis uses five different levels of tool size and cusps width and four levels of cusp direction. The results can be used to determine a tool size, cusp width and cusp direction combination with minimum spurious stress raising effect

Effective strategies for empowerment of experts staff in health deputy of Shahrekord University of Medical Sciences, Iran, 2005

چکیده: زمینه و هدف: کارکنان، گرانبهاترین سرمایه یک سازمان هستند. تحول و پویایی هر سازمان، به میزان توانمندی نیروی انسانی آن سازمان بستگی دارد. این پژوهش با هدف شناسایی و اولویت‌بندی راهکارهای مؤثر در توانمندسازی کارشناسان حوزه معاونت بهداشتی دانشگاه علوم پزشکی شهرکرد انجام شد. روش بررسی: در یک مطالعه توصیفی - تحلیلی، در سال 1384، کلیه کارشناسان شاغل در ستادهای مرکز بهداشت استان و شبکه های بهداشت و درمان شهرستانهای تابعه استان (حدود 210 نفر) تحت مطالعه قرار گرفتند. ابزار اندازه گیری در این پژوهش پرسش‌نامه محقق ساخته بود. پرسش‌نامه پیمایش نیاز سنجی بر مبنای مقیاس لیکرت تهیه شد که شامل 60 سؤال بود. پس از جمع آوری اطلاعات و تایید مناسب بودن تحلیل عاملی توسط آزمون های بارتلت و کفایت نمونه (KMO)، تحلیل عاملی انجام و از میان 60 متغیر پنج عامل انتخاب گردید. به منظور تفسیر عوامل از روش چرخاندن واریماکس استفاده گردید. یافته ها: راهکارهای پنج گانه توانمندسازی به ترتیب آزادی عمل (راهکار اول) 25/42، مدیریت مؤثر منابع انسانی (راهکار دوم) 99/5، عامل انگیزش (راهکار سوم) 07/5، خود مدیریتی (راهکار چهارم) 71/3 و ارتقاء یادگیری سازمانی (راهکار پنجم) 84/2 از کل واریانس را به خود اختصاص دادند. نتایج بررسی و آزمون سؤال فرعی نشان داد که بین نظرات کارشناسان در مورد راهکار پنجم توانمندسازی ارتقاء یادگیری سازمانی و محل کار (01/0