Objective  Numerous factors may contribute as triggers to the exacerbation of the condition of patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Methods  The medical files of 109 patients with the positive history of inflammatory bowel disease exacerbation between March 2016 and March 2017 were assessed retrospectively. Data were obtained using the inflammatory bowel disease data bank software. The parameters were obtained from the inflammatory bowel disease data bank software. The mentioned parameters were assessed in terms of type and severity of disease using chi-square test in SPSS software. Moreover, binary logistic regression test was used to assess the associations between season of disease onset and inflammatory bowel disease exacerbation as odds ratios with 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Results  Overall, (88.1%) of cases with inflammatory bowel disease exacerbation, had ulcerative colitis. The mean age of patients was 38.14 ± 14.66 years. The disease duration in all patients (ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease) was 35.43 and 38.85 months, respectively. About 50% of patients with infection were strongyloides stercoralis positive. The occurrence of mild inflammatory bowel disease exacerbation was significantly higher in spring in comparison to other seasons (OR = 3.58; 95% CI 0.1–1.04). Most patients with ulcerative colitis were prescribed salicylates alone (53.12%). Most patients with Crohn's disease with mild and severe activity were non-smokers ( p = 0.058). This difference was marginally significant. Conclusion  It is suggested that in future studies, the evidences of distribution of SS infections among patients with inflammatory bowel disease and the history of exacerbation along with other environmental factors such as enhancing nutritional quality and surface water be taken into consideration.

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Technology transfer plays an essential role in developing an organization’s capabilities to perform better in the market. Several protocols are defined for technology transfer. One of the main techniques in technology transfer is licensing, which significantly impacts profit and income. This study intends to develop a decision framework that integrates both a Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) and a two steps Fuzzy Quality Function Deployment (F-QFD) to assist an organization in selecting a licensor. To illustrate the decision framework’s performance, it has been implemented in an Iranian lubricant producer to select the best licensor among the 13 targeted companies. A complete product portfolio, brand image enhancement, increasing the market share of the high-value products, and improving the technical knowledge of manufacturing products were identified as the most important expectations of the licensees. A sensitivity analysis for the recommended framework has been conducted. For doing so, 27 rules of the FIS were categorized into four group and then changed. The results are compared using the Pearson correlation coefficient. Inference rules detect unconventional changes, while logical changes are appropriately considered.

A metropolitan area's water supply is imperative to the city's development. One of the main goals of the water supply utilities is to ensure the availability of water, as a lack of water would cause many social, political, or health problems. Therefore, water supply facilities must be in good condition, efficient preventive maintenance plans must be implemented, and the performance of the maintenance team monitored. In this paper, efficiency indices of Tehran water utility maintenance teams are investigated using different Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) models. The final scores were then used as inputs to a Fuzzy Inference System (FIS) to assess the efficiency of these maintenance units. Two performance indicators based on DEA, "Availability efficiency" and "Repair time efficiency" are introduced for performance assessment. The Mean Time Between Failure (MTBF) and the Ready To Operate (RTO) are two desirable outputs that are considered in addition to one undesirable output: the Mean Time To Repair (MTTR). In addition, we suggest a new index named MRRW by combining the DEA efficiency with the RRW index. We introduce a novel approach based on DEA combined with FIS methods and the new factors for evaluating water supply maintenance systems, while most previous studies on measuring the efficiency of maintenance teams consider only limited aspects of performance measurement. Based on the results of our study, it became clear that the MRRW measures efficiency better than the traditional RRW measures. We present future improvement strategies based on the output of the FIS.

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Oil and gas (O&G) projects have a high social and economic impact in many countries. This study aims to identify the success factors in the O&G industry and to present a framework for evaluating the projects in an uncertain environment. In this study, 197 indicators are identified from a literature review and summarized to 34 indicators. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) was performed, and seven main factors have been identified as success factors of O&G projects. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) confirmed the validity of the measurement model. A two-step fuzzy inference system is proposed to present an evaluation framework for assessing the performance of O&G projects. The hybrid framework was applied for the assessment of five Iranian O&G projects.