Background: In spite of many advantages in Lenke classification of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis, the latest study of Richards et al showed that the King classification is better than had been reported recently and the Lenke classification system of adolescent idiopathic scoliosis is less reliable than previously reported.Methods: In this study, we performed a multi-surgeon comparison of these two classification systems. After teaching and discussing all available data of these classification systems with four spine surgeons, a pilot classification was performed. Then, they independently evaluated preoperative radiographs (standing posteroanterior, lateral, and two supine side-bending views) of 99 patients with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis. The results were determined by calculating the average percentage of intraobserver and interobserver agreement. Reliability was quantified using kappa statistics.Findings: The King classification demonstrated good intraobserver and interobserver Reliability, with an intraobserver agreement of 85.8% (kappa coefficient, 0.80). Interobserver percentage of agreement averaged 80.8% (kappa coefficient, 0.74). The complete Lenke classification, combining curve type, lumbar modifier, and sagittal thoracic modifier, demonstrated good Reliability for both intraobserver and interobserver measurements. The intraobserver percentage of agreement averaged 85.8% (kappa coefficient, 0.82). The interobserver percentage of agreement averaged 80.8% (kappa coefficient, 0.77).Conclusion: In this study, with each investigator performing the radiographic measurements, the King and Lenke classifications were almost similar (the Lenke classification had slightly better results). Such better results might be due to more training of this complex classification system. So, because of greater coverage of idiopathic scoliosis curve and usefulness of Lenke classification system, we prefer using this classification system in our center.

The Big Five Inventory (BFI) is one of the most widely used personality questionnaires, but very few studies have been conducted on its psychometric properties in Iranian population. This study was carried out with the aim of studying the psychometric properties of the BFI questionnaire. For this purpose, 390 university students in Tehran (210 girls and 180 boys) with an age range of 18 to 56 years (M = 27.52; SD = 8.79) were selected using the convenience sampling method and completed BFI and NEO-FFI questionnaires. Cronbach's alpha, multitrait-multimethod matrix, and confirmatory factor analysis were used to estimate the psychometric properties of the questionnaire. The result of the confirmatory factor analysis showed that 15 of the 44 items did not have a strong factor loading (higher than 0.40) on the corresponding factors and were therefore removed from the questionnaire. The fit indices showed that the Persian version of 29 questions (BFI-29) with 5 factors has a good fit with the data. The Reliability analysis also showed that the range of Cronbach's alpha coefficients of the factors is from 0.70 to 0.79. The lowest Cronbach's alpha coefficient was related to agreeableness factor and the highest was related to conscientiousness. The findings from the multitrait-multimethod matrix showed that the BFI-29 questionnaire has good convergent and divergent validity with the NEO-FFI questionnaire. In general, based on the results of the present study, it can be said that the BFI-29 questionnaire has desirable psychometric properties and whenever a short tool for personality measurement is needed, this questionnaire can be used.

In this paper, the concepts to compute reliabilities for stationary and ergodic conditions in the presence of time-invariant, non-ergodic parameters will first be reviewed. Focus will be on numerical techniques like FORM and numerical integration. The effect of correlation between the environmental processes within a sea state is studied. as opposed to between sea state correlation which proves be unimportant. The system Reliability of jack-up structures is discussed using a combination of dynamic simulation of a stick model and the static analysis of a detailed jack-up model. First, the dynamic time domain simulation, the quasi-static time-domain simulation and the design wave analysis are applied for different sea-states using a stick structural model. In the second phase, the concepts of Dynamic Amplification Factors (DAF) and Calibration Factors (CF) are introduced for extreme responses of a detailed structural model of the jack-up structure. To utilize the analogical quantities for stick and detailed structural models, the design wave responses of the detailed structural model are linked with the extreme responses and the probabilistic models of dynamic effects using a stick structural model.

This article presents an efficient Reliability-based optimization method for critical structural design, in which, the probability of failure (Pf) should remain in a small bound. Critical structures should be designed to be optimal and reliable. Despite significant progress in Reliability and optimization techniques, their interaction, which is considered in Reliability-based optimization (RBDO), is faced with several challenges, especially in Reliability analysis of critical constraints (constraints with Pf less than 10-5). To address this issue, in this paper the cross-entropy method is intended for Reliability analysis and is combined with Genetic Algorithm in a double-loop framework to implement RBDO. The cross-entropy method is based on Monte Carlo simulation, except that the variance of sampling is reduced, which leads to a faster and more accurate Reliability analysis method. The proposed RBDO method is demonstrated on two structural design. The obtained results show a high capability in Reliability-based optimization of critical structures. In addition, using the proposed method, in comparison with traditional safety factor method, provides a more substantial manner in Reliability improvement.

Most of the existing approaches for fuzzy Reliability analysis are based on fuzzy probability. The aim of this paper is to describe fuzzy Reliability using fuzzy differential equation. The Reliability of a system in real world applications is affected by some uncertain parameters. Fuzzy Reliability is a way to present the Reliability function uncertainly using fuzzy parameters. In the proposed fuzzy differential equation for Reliability, two types of fuzzy derivative: Hukuhara derivative and generalized differentiability are used. It is proved that the Hukuhara differentiability is not adequate for fuzzy Reliability analysis. Finally, using the fuzzy integration, the concept of fuzzy mean time to failure (FMTTF) will be introduced. Some numerical simulations are presented to show the applicability and validity of generalized differentiability, in comparison with the Hukuhara differentiability results for fuzzy Reliability analysis.

Introduction: Production of mobile health apps and their use has grown increasingly in recent years which indicate the profound influence of these apps on health care processes and health of the community. Mobile health apps must be made on the basis of reliable scientific resources so that users can use them with confidence. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the Reliability of resources used in the creation of the content of the top Persian mobile health applications.Methods: In this descriptive, cross-sectional study conducted in March 2015, 200 of the top mobile health applications were installed, and their references and some of their other features were studied. The data were collected using a checklist, entered into an Excel spreadsheet, and were analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: Review of the references used in the apps studied showed that 20% of them had no list of references, and only 5.10% (21 cases) used content from reliable sources.Conclusion: The results of this study are applicable to taking control of the quality of mobile health apps and helping users have access to high-quality and reliable apps by regulatory agencies.

Wood is one of the oldest materials that has always been known as a construction material. Despite its widespread application and unique properties, it has weaknesses such as relatively brittle behavior, especially in bending. In order to improve its performance and boost its features or strengthen wooden structural members, one solution is to employ FRP component, which is widely used as a rehabilitation tool. The lightness and ease of application for different materials such as concrete, wood, and steel have made it possible to increase the strength and ductility of structural elements. In this study, the few models that were available for the wood-FRP system were collected, and the uncertainty of six variables, as the most effective parameters in the strength of this system, was selected for Reliability analysis. Also, during the steps, three live to dead load ratios equal to 0.75, 1, and 1.25 were assumed as the design loads. What was achieved during this research was that during the design process of wood-FRP, uncertainties had a significant impact on the Reliability of existing models. Some models could be reliable enough to be applied for design purposes; however, uncertainties seriously affect the Reliability of some models. Accordingly, the average Reliability index of all six available models decreased from 4.88 in case one fails to consider uncertainties to 2.71 with uncertainties of the models. Among the five existing models presented in previous studies, the Palizi and Toufigh model with an average Reliability index of 3.61 was the best-proposed model, which is in good agreement with the acceptable index of existing structural design criteria. It is worth noting that various variables affect the Reliability of this system. However, in this study, only the uncertainty of the six variables of modulus of elasticity, thickness, length, and width of FRP, along with wood width and its compressive strength, was considered. Other sources of uncertainties may be considered while analyzing this system in future studies.