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Background: Peritonitis is a grievous surgical emergency, characterized by the inflammation of the peritoneum and a major cause of morbidity and mortality in surgical situations. This study investigated the delayed presentation impact on 30-day mortality in emergency laparotomies for peritonitis patients in Karachi. Methods: This longitudinal study was employed on 148 peritonitis patients at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, selected through non-probability convenient sampling. The study included secondary peritonitis-diagnosed patients of all ages and genders admitted from December 2022 to August 2023. Data encompassed pre-hospital experiences, care received at our center, and previous medical consultations. National Exploratory Laparotomy Audit (NELA) score estimated the 30-day mortality rate. SPSS version 26.0 was used, with qualitative variables presented as percentages and frequencies, considering p

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are widely used to produce various food products, adding flavor, texture, and health benefits. The bacteria are commonly grown on expensive nutrients like glucose, sucrose, and yeast extracts, which makes them commercially unappealing. In the current study, Lactobacillus acidophilus TISTR 1338 culture was studied using spent cell yeast as a nitrogen source and molasses as a carbon source. The drying process used to create starter cultures of Lactobacillus acidophilus TISTR 1338 was vacuum drying. After vacuum drying, this bacterium had a survival rate of 8.08 log CFU/g. The dried strain survived for four months at 37 °C. With wasted cells at 0.5%, molasses concentration at 11% at 2.14 109 CFU/mL at 22 h, precise growth rate at 0.39 h−1, and yield cell mass at 1.67 1011 CFU/g sugar, yeast produced the maximum cell mass. The lower viability of the tested strain was induced by a higher temperature during this prolonged storage. Meanwhile, dehydrated starter culture was subjected to accelerated storage testing at 50, 60, and 70 °C. To determine the vacuum-dried Lactobacillus acidophilus TISTR 1338′s long-term storage viability, a temperature-dependent prophecy model was created. Molasses and spent cell yeast serve as promising carbon and nitrogen sources when optimized conditions are employed. The study also suggests that vacuum drying is a promising method for producing dried cells suitable for non-refrigerated storage conditions.

Abstract Background and aims Colorectal Cancer (CRC) is a frequent malignancy with a high mortality rate. Specific inherited and environmental influences can affect CRC. Oncolytic viruses and bacteria in treating CRC are one of the innovative therapeutic options. This study aims to determine whether mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) infected with the Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV) in combination with Lactobacillus casei extract (L. casei) have a synergistic effects on CRC cell line growth. Materials and methods MSCs taken from the bone marrow of BALB/c mice and were infected with the 20 MOI of NDV. Then, using the CT26 cell line in various groups as a single and combined treatment, the anticancer potential of MSCs containing the NDV and L. casei extract was examined. The evaluations considered the CT26 survival and the rate at which LDH, ROS, and levels of caspases eight and nine were produced following various treatments. Results NDV, MSCs-NDV, and L. casei in alone or combined treatment significantly increased apoptosis percent, LDH, and ROS production compared with the control group (P˂0.05). Also, NDV, in free or capsulated in MSCs, had anticancer effects, but in capsulated form, it had a delay compared with free NDV. The findings proved that L. casei primarily stimulates the extrinsic pathway, while NDV therapy promotes apoptosis through the activation of both intrinsic and extrinsic apoptosis pathways. Conclusions The results suggest that MSCs carrying oncolytic NDV in combination with L. casei extract as a potentially effective strategy for cancer immunotherapy by promoting the generation of LDH, ROS, and apoptosis in the microenvironment of the CT26 cell line.

Background and Objectives: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is a common type of cancer that has a high death rate and is becoming more common in developed countries. Currently, there are several treatment options available for CRC patients, and clinical trials are being conducted to improve conventional therapies. This study investigates the combined impact of Bacillus coagulans (B.C) and Newcastle disease virus (NDV) on the growth of human colorectal adenocarcinoma cells (HT29 cell line). Materials and Methods: The HT29 cell line was cultured under controlled laboratory conditions. They were treated with Fluorouracil (5-FU), NDV, and B.C., after which various assessments were conducted to determine the effects of these treatments. These assessments included MTT assay for cytotoxicity, evaluation of cell viability, and measurement of caspase 8 and 9 activity levels. The significance of the data was determined at a threshold of P

Substrate loading enhancement in fermenter generates difficulty in mixing that results in low ethanol yield owing to insufficient mass transfer. Thus, this study evaluated the efficiency of a six-blade Rushton turbine and a three-blade marine type propeller in a 3 L stirred tank bioreactor (STBR) by using steam exploded and alkaline pretreated oil palm trunk (OPT) fibers in a unique batch and fed-batch strategy. The fed-batch began with 5% (w/v) solid loading and after 12 h of simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) reaction, 2.5% (w/v) solid was added in the bioreactor with 6 h interval. The marine and Rushton impellers were compared at 5% (w/v) batch and 20% (w/v) fed-batch SSF, using agitation rate of 100 rpm. At 5% (w/v) solid loading, the highest ethanol concentration and theoretical yield were 15.66 ± 1.71 g/L and 61.69 ± 2.34%, and 12.10 ± 0.98 g/L and 54.01 ± 3.52%, respectively for marine and Rushton impeller. At high solid loading (20% w/v), the marine impeller achieved maximum ethanol concentration of 41.33 ± 2.02 g/L at 72 h of fermentation, with a low power consumption of 54.73 kW. The Rushton impeller resulted in ethanol concentration of 39.08 ± 1.47 g/L at 96 h of fermentation with relatively higher power consumption of 83.62 kW. The marine impeller is therefore efficient with the fed-batch strategy.

Ankistrodesmus sp, has been comprehensively studied for their potential in the production of biodiesel due to their biomass productivity and high lipid content. This study examined the biomass productivity, and concentration, lipid productivity, and concentration, and lipid contents of Ankistrodesmus sp. IFRPD 1061 under several phosphorus concentrations. The optimum conditions were attained at 0.12 g/L KH2PO4. The highest lipid content reached to 35.950 ± 4.253% (w/w) in 22 days cultivation. An open pond cultivation system was used with the addition of 10 mM sodium acetate on every fourth day (0, 4, 8 and 12) of cultivation and KH2PO4 on twelfth day of cultivation. The obtained biomass productivity and concentration, lipid productivity and concentration and lipid content were 0.709 ± 0.027 g/L, 48.304 ± 1.894 mg/L/day, 0.214 ± 0.004 g/L 14.550 ± 0.215 mg/L/day and 30.154 ± 1.627% (w/w) in 14 days of cultivation, respectively. The results exhibited that addition of 10 mM sodium acetate and KH2PO4 may enhance lipid accumulation within algae cells in an open pond cultivation system.

Background & objective Nowadays demand for producing agricultural products has been increasing. So to investigate the effect of tillage and planting pattern using crop residue for corn forage a research was carried out in the research field of in the Dezful city of Khuzestan province. Methods & Materials A split strip plot design was applied using 3 replications based on randomized complete block design. Treatments tillage methods at three levels (tillage, minimum tillage and no-tillage) was as the main factor and management of wheat residues (Chamran cultivar) at two levels (maintaining residues standing and removing all crop residues from the soil surface) was as a secondary factor.Results The results were shown that conventional tillage under no residue and no-tillage under residue condition product the most and the least emergence rate of 3.73 and 1.96 respectively. Also conventional tillage under no residue used 10230 m3/ha compared to no-tillage covered by residue 6341 m3/ha (p≤0.01).No-tillage with an average of 2.74 and conventional tillage with 2.19 kg/m3 showed the highest and lowest physical efficiency of water consumption, respectively (p≤0.01).ConclusionThe use and development of conservation cultivation systems (especially minimum tillage) in corn can help maintain conservation of production resources such as water, soil and the environment. The use of conservation tillage systems along with the preservation of residues at the soil surface, increasing moisture storage, reducing irrigation water consumption, increasing soil organic matter and fertility and saving labor and time spent on tillage operations can be a model suitable for planting corn.

Streptococcus agalactiae and Klebsiella pneumoniae are emerging as major milk-borne pathogens. Additionally, resistance to antibiotics of pathogens is of concern. Therefore, this study investigated the prevalence and drug resistance of S. agalactiae and K. pneumoniae in mastitis milk samples and assessed the antimicrobial potential of sodium alginate (G)-stabilized MgO nanoparticles (M) and antibiotics (tylosin [T] and ampicillin [A]) against both of these pathogens. A total of n = 200 milk samples from cattle were collected using purposive sampling, and standard microbiological approaches were adopted to isolate target bacteria. Parametric and non-parametric statistical tests were used to analyze the obtained data. Four preparations, GT (gel-stabilized tylosin), GA (gel-stabilized ampicillin), GTM (tylosin and MgO nanoparticles stabilized in gel), and GAM (ampicillin and MgO nanoparticles stabilized in gel), were evaluated against both bacteria through well diffusion and broth microdilution method. The analysis revealed that 45.24% (95/210) of the milk samples were positive for mastitis, of which 11.58% (11/95) were positive for S. agalactiae and 9.47% (9/95) were positive for K. pneumoniae. S. agalactiae had a significantly higher zone of inhibition (ZOI) than K. pneumoniae against penicillin, tetracycline, and amoxicillin, whereas the opposite was observed against imipenem and erythromycin. All gel (G)-based preparations showed an increase in the percentage of ZOI compared with antibiotics alone, with GTM presenting the highest of all, i.e., 59.09 and 56.25% ZOI compared with tylosin alone against S. agalactiae and K. pneumoniae, respectively. Similarly, in a broth microdilution assay, the lowest MIC was found for K. pneumoniae (9.766 ± 0.0 μg/mL) against GTM, followed by GT, GAM, and GA after incubation for 24 h. A similar response was noted for preparations against S. agalactiae but with a comparatively higher MIC. A significant reduction in MIC with respect to incubation time was found at 8 h and remained until at 20 h against both pathogens. The cytotoxicity of the MgO nanoparticles used in this study was significantly lower than that of the positive control. Overall, this study found that K. pneumoniae and S. agalactiae appeared higher in prevalence and antimicrobial resistance, and sodium alginate-based antibiotics and MgO nanoparticles were effective alternative approaches for tackling antimicrobial resistance.

The coronavirus disease-19 pandemic with the characteristics of asymptomatic condition, long incubation period and poor treatment has influenced the entire globe. Coronaviruses are important emergent pathogens, specifically, the recently emerged sever acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2, the causative virus of the current COVID-19 pandemic. To mitigate the virus and curtail the infection risk, vaccines are the most hopeful solution. The protein structure and genome sequence of SARS-CoV-2 were processed and provided in record time; providing feasibility to the development of COVID-19 vaccines. In an unprecedented scientific and technological effort, vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 have been developed in less than one year. This review addresses the approaches adopted for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development and the effectiveness of the currently approved vaccines.

The proper combination of cutoff time and lengths of border are among the criteria for high efficiency in surface irrigation. The objective of this study was to determine cutoff time and the optimal distance and flowrate in closed-ended border systems. The basic assumption in this method is that the point along the field, where the lowest water depth permeates should receive water equal to the required depth. For this purpose, the data applied were consisted of 18 vegetated and non-vegetated borders, and bed slope of 0.001 to 0.005, Maning's roughness of 0.017-0.211, border length of 100 m and flow rate range from 0.08 to 0.16 m3/min.m. After determining the cut-off time, the application efficiency obtained using the method presented in this study was compared with zero inertia (WinSRFR 4.1) model. The highest similarity of results was observed in closed end border for R-6, R-13, R-14 and R-17 border with 0% difference and the highest difference was for R-1 border with 8.67% difference in efficiency. Maximum efficiency was obtained in some border with decreasing length and in some border with increasing length. Generally, it can be concluded that the application efficiency obtained from both methods was close to each other.

Soon after the first COVID-19 positive case was detected in Wuhan, China, the virus spread around the globe, and in no time, it was declared as a global pandemic by the WHO. Testing, which is the first step in identifying and diagnosing COVID-19, became the first need of the masses. Therefore, testing kits for COVID-19 were manufactured for efficiently detecting COVID-19. However, due to limited resources in the densely populated countries, testing capacity even after a year is still a limiting factor for COVID-19 diagnosis on a larger scale and contributes to a lag in disease tracking and containment. Due to this reason, we started this study to provide a better cost-effective solution for enhancing the testing capacity so that the maximum number of people could get tested for COVID-19. For this purpose, we utilized the approach of artificial neural networks (ANN) to acquire the relevant data on COVID-19 and its testing. The data were analyzed by using Machine Learning, and probabilistic algorithms were applied to obtain a statistically proven solution for COVID-19 testing. The results obtained through ANN indicated that sample pooling is not only an effective way but also regarded as a “Gold standard” for testing samples when the prevalence of the disease is low in the population and the chances of getting a positive result are less. We further demonstrated through algorithms that pooling samples from 16 individuals is better than pooling samples of 8 individuals when there is a high likelihood of getting negative test results. These findings provide ground to the fact that if sample pooling will be employed on a larger scale, testing capacity will be considerably increased within limited available resources without compromising the test specificity. It will provide healthcare units and enterprises with solutions through scientifically proven algorithms, thus, saving a considerable amount of time and finances. This will eventually help in containing the spread of the pandemic in densely populated areas including vulnerably confined groups, such as nursing homes, hospitals, cruise ships, and military ships.

Dental caries is a biofilm-mediated, sugar-driven, multifactorial, dynamic disease that results in the phasic demineralization and remineralization of dental hard tissues. Despite scientific advances in cariology, dental caries remains a severe global concern. The aim of this study was to determine the optimization of microbial and molecular techniques for the detection of cariogenic pathogens in dental caries patients, the prevalence of cariogenic bacteria on the basis of socioeconomic, climatological, and hygienic factors, and in vitro evaluation of the antimicrobial activity of selected synthetic antibiotics and herbal extracts. In this study, oral samples were collected from 900 patients for bacterial strain screening on a biochemical and molecular basis. Plant extracts, such as ginger, garlic, neem, tulsi, amla, and aloe vera, were used to check the antimicrobial activity against the isolated strains. Synthetic antimicrobial agents, such as penicillin, amoxicillin, erythromycin, clindamycin, metronidazole, doxycycline, ceftazidime, levofloxacin, and ciprofloxacin, were also used to access the antimicrobial activity. Among 900 patients, 63% were males and 37% were females, patients aged between 36 and 58 (45.7%) years were prone to disease, and the most common symptom was toothache (61%). For oral diseases, 21% used herbs, 36% used antibiotics, and 48% were self-medicated, owing to sweets consumption (60.66%) and fizzy drinks and fast food (51.56%). Staphylococcus mutans (29.11%) and Streptococcus sobrinus (28.11%) were found as the most abundant strains. Seven bacterial strains were successfully screened and predicted to be closely related to genera S. sobrinus, S. mutans, Actinomyces naeslundii, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Eubacterium nodatum, Propionibacterium acidifaciens, and Treponema Pallidum. Among plant extracts, the maximum zone of inhibition was recorded by ginger (22.36 mm) and amla (20.01 mm), while among synthetic antibiotics, ciprofloxacin and levofloxacin were most effective against all microbes. This study concluded that phyto extracts of ginger and amla were considered suitable alternatives to synthetic antibiotics to treat dental diseases.

According to laboratory data, the thermal conductivity ratio of an antifreeze-based hybrid nanofluid containing graphene oxide (GO) and Copper oxide (CuO) was modeled using mathematical methods, one is based on an artificial brain structure model, and the other is based on curve-fitting method. A two-variable empirical based correlation (R2 = 0.996) as a function of temperature and volume fraction suggested from the curve-fitting method. In the brain structure-based section, an artificial neural network employed by applying temperature and concentration as input variables and thermal conductivity ratio as the desired output. The correlation coefficient (R) values of designed ANN are 0.999963, 0.999409, and 0.999103 for train, validation and test, respectively. Mean squared errors (MSE) values of designed ANN are 1.01743e-6, 5.01019e-5, and 2.90237e-5 for train, validation and test, respectively. The findings indicated that the artificial neural network and the proposed correlation can predict the thermal conductivity ratio of GO-CuO (50:50%)/EG-Water (50:50%) hybrid nanofluid with high accuracy.

The genus Microgecko Nikolskii, 1907 (Gekkonidae) currently includes eight species distributed from western Iran to north-western India and Pakistan. During field research in Iraq, we found a population of the genus near to the Darbandikhan Lake in the north-eastern part of the country. Because members of the genus are characterized by a higher level of morphological and genetic diversity, we investigated the population using both morphological and molecular approaches. The phylogenetic analyses based on a fragment of the mitochondrial marker cytochrome b and morphological characters showed that our investigated population belongs to M. helenae fasciatus. This is the first record of the genus and species for Iraq. Moreover, the phylogenetic structure within M. helenae shows divergences that suggest the elevation of M. h. fasciatus to species level.

Liquid paraffin as a coolant fluid can be applied in electronic devices as a result to its suitable capabilities such as electrical insulating, high heat capacity, chemical and thermal stability, and high boiling point. However, the poor thermal conductivity of paraffin has been confined its thermal cooling application. Addition of high conductor nanoparticles to paraffin can fix this drawback properly. In this article, the influence of the nanoparticles on the thermal conductivity of base material was assessed. Temperature (20-50°C) and volume fractions (0-3%) effect on the thermal conductivity of paraffin/alumina nanofluids have been considered. Nanofluid samples were prepared applying the two-step method. The thermal conductivity was measured by a KD2 pro instrument. The results indicated the thermal conductivity augments smoothly with an increase in volume fraction of nanoparticles as well as temperature. Moreover, it observed that for nanofluids with more volume-fraction the temperature affection is more remarkable. Thermal conductivity enhancement (TCE) and effective thermal conductivity (ETC) of the nanofluid was calculated and new correlations were reported to predict the values of them based on the volume fraction of nanoparticles and temperature of nanofluid accurately.

Nowadays, the Beerkan computational algorithms (BESTslope and BESTsteday) are known as the suitable indirect methods for estimating soil saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ks) and sorptivity (S), as well as the scale parameter (hg) in van Genuchten soil water retention equation through the data collected in the Beerkan infiltration experiment and other required data. The purpose of this study was to compare these algorithms in estimating Ks and S, as well as the soil water content corresponding to the suctions of 33 kPa, 100 kPa, 200 kPa, 300 kPa and 1500 kPa. For this purpose, a total of 40 Beerkan infiltration experiments were carried out in Sistan dam research field. From all Beerkan experiments, 30 tests in loam and sandy loam textures having a relative error less than 5.5% (Er

Oil palm frond as an abundant and inexpensive lignocellulosic waste was used to optimize alkaline pretreatment for ethanol production. The studied lignocellulosic waste is one of the largest biomasses (47%) in oil palm waste. Oil palm frond fibers were processed by steam explosion, hot water extraction, and alkaline extraction pretreatment, followed by simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF), for ethanol production as an alternative energy resource. To optimize alkaline extraction for oil palm frond, a Taguchi method with a three-factor design constituted a concentration of NaOH (15%, 20%, and 25%), time (30, 60, and 90 min), and temperature (70, 80, and 90 °C). An optimum alkaline extraction condition of 15% NaOH at 90 °C for 60 min gave the highest percentage of α-cellulose (80.74%) and the lowest percentages of lignin (15.99%), ash (1.05%), and pentosan (2.09%). In addition, the optimized pretreatment condition significantly improved α-cellulose to 52.65% and removed lignin up to 51.78%. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation (SSF) was carried out with 10% (dry weight) alkaline pretreated OPF fibers, Celluclast 1.5 L (15 FU/gram substrate), Novozyme 188 (15 IU/gram substrate), and Saccharomyces cerevisiae SC90 at 40 and 45 °C. The highest ethanol concentration, theoretical ethanol yield, and ethanol productivity observed at 40 °C were 33.15 g/L, 72.54%, and 0.55 g/L/h, respectively. The results suggest that an optimized alkaline pretreatment process using palm frond as a lignocellulosic waste is a sustainable approach to produce efficient ethanol production.

Soil moisture measurement is very important for better irrigation system management. One of the indirect methods for measuring the soil moisture content is to use Theta Probe device. Although the use of Theta Probe has many advantages over the other methods of measuring moisture content, but according to research conducted in most regions of the world, it has been shown that changes in the physical and chemical properties of the soil, and in general, all that affect the dielectric constant of the soil, cause an error in the accuracy of the measurement of moisture content with this device. Among the physical and chemical properties of the soil, the tissue type, the amount of clay contained in the soil, and electrical conductivity (EC) are the three main factors influencing the calibration of the Theta Probe system (Sarani and Afrasiab, 2012). The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of soil texture, irrigation water salinity (EC), and sodium absorption ratio (SAR) on the accuracy of Theta Probe device.

Abstract Background Recently, we reported high in vitro antibacterial efficacy of Althaea officinalis, Ziziphus jujuba, Cordia latifolia and Thymus vulgaris out of a total 21 plants against wide range of bacteria including MRSA. This study was therefore, designed to confirm efficacy of these four herbs against MRSA in an animal model. Methods A pilot study was conducted to establish the dose of S. aureus (KY698020) required to induce clinical infection. Afterword, in main trial, efficacy of aforementioned plant extracts on the course of sore throat was checked by evaluating general health, gross lesion score, bacterial load and hematology in mice. Results Pilot study revealed that 40 μl dose of 107 CFU/ml could induce infection which persist upto 08 days post infection. Mice treated with T. vulgaris and Z. jujuba showed reduction in gross lesion score of both heart and lungs. Treatment with only some plants could significantly decrease bacterial load of throat (T. vulgaris) heart, blood and joint (C. latifolia, and T. vulagris). Hematological indicators confirmed in vivo control of MRSA infection in all treatment groups except A. officinalis. Conclusion This is first report confirming in vivo anti-MRSA potential of C. latifolia and T. vulgaris and highlight the need to explore bioactive constituents of these plants. Moreover, previously reported in vitro antibacterial efficiency of A. officinalis could not be validated in current study.

In the present study, the mixed convection heat transfer for a nanofluid flow inside solar cell cooling system was numerically investigated. To this end, an inclined two-dimensional channel with insulated walls was taken under study. The solar cells were assumed to locate on one side of channel where the nanofluid enters at constant temperature. The study has been carried out for the Richardson numbers in the range 0.01 ⩽ Ri ⩽ 20, with solid volume fraction 0 ⩽ φ ⩽ 0.04, Reynolds number 100 and for Prandtl number 7.02. The effects of solid volume fraction and solar cells location in terms of Richardson number on the flow and temperature fields and also the heat transfer rate were studied. The results showed that the presence of nanoparticles led to an increase in temperature gradient and heat transfer near the solar cells. It was also observed that the maximum heat transfer in solar cells occurs in minimum inclination angle of channel at a certain relative distance between the cells.

Most countries have developed green building rating tools that are based on social, environmental, and economic dimensions. Pakistan followed a similar approach and has developed a rating tool known as Sustainability in Energy and Environmental Development (SEED). However, SEED is built on developed western countries’ rating tool standards which do not address Pakistan’s unique local context, especially from the cultural and governmental perspectives. This research aims to fill this research gap by developing a holistic framework of building rating tools that incorporates cultural and governmental dimensions. Based on an extensive literature review, a hypothetical framework, incorporating Pakistan’s unique local contexts and adding cultural and governmental dimensions to the widely adopted social, environmental, and economic dimensions of sustainability, was proposed in this paper. This framework was further validated by in-depth interviews with multiple stakeholders in Pakistan. A qualitative analysis of the interview results was carried out, and the final framework was proposed with key indicators, reflecting all five dimensions of sustainability. The verified sustainability framework can be used to improve or develop green building rating tools for Pakistan, and it can also inform other developing countries’ rating tool development.

With Mars colonisation becoming a reality for the near future, it is of importance to analyse how crew and cargo can be transported between Earth and a colony on Mars. This article is a feasibility and design study of a launch vehicle whose mission is to shuttle crew and cargo from Low Mars Orbit to a colony on the Martian surface. A single-stage reusable rocket has been selected to fulfil this mission, code-named Charon. The mission profile of such a vehicle was created, leading to a Maximum Growth Allowance (MGA) Delta-V budget of 6.2 km/s. With the mission profile in mind, each subsystem underwent a preliminary design. With reliability and maintainability in mind, subsystems were designed for redundancy and modularity, and an abort system was included for an added level of safety. The iterative design process resulted in a vehicle with a MGA mass of 198.7 tons, capable of transporting 1200 kg of cargo and a crew of 6 people to a 500 km orbit and back. The preliminary design of the vehicle is deemed safe. Following a fault tree analysis, the Single Launch Loss of Mission, Vehicle and Crew (SL-LOM, SL-LOV, SL-LOC) probabilities are computed to be of 0.975%, 0.12%, and 0.079%. Finally, from the vehicle’s constraints on the base, the feasibility of the project has been reflected upon. It is deemed that such a concept is of high interest only when the base is already operational, due to the launch and maintenance infrastructure that it requires, as well as the power it requires from the Martian base.

Severe plastic deformation (SPD) methods were developed for producing of metals and alloys with ultrafine grained (UFG) microstructures having high strength. Parallel tabular channel angular pressing (PTCAP) as a noble severe plastic deformation (SPD) method was used to produce ultrafine grained (UFG) and nanostructured Cu-30%Zn tubes. In this paper, the effect of PTCAP process temperature on the deformation microstructures and mechanical properties were investigated using experimental tests. Optical microscopy (OM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to evaluate microstructural evolutions and fractured surface analysis. Microhardness and tensile tests were employed to mechanically characterize the PTCAP processed samples. The results showed the strength and the hardness decrease with increasing process temperature up to 100℃, but at 200℃, strength and hardness increase in comparison to that in 100℃. The rise in the strength and hardness of the sample processed at 200℃ compared to that at 100℃ is because of the partial recrystallization, forming new fine grains with high angle boundaries and twin boundaries. Twinning is dominant deformation mechanism of brass material in order to low stacking fault energy (SFE). Observations revealed that the failure mode in PTCAPed brass was a ductile rupture with the existence of deep dimples. It also indicates that the temperature has no obvious effect on the fracture mood.

In this paper, the direct extrusion process of bimetallic rods in conical dies is analyzed by an improved upper bound method. The deformation zone is subdivided into six smaller zones and by considering a non-spherical entrance boundary to the deformation zone, a velocity field is presented which is different from velocity fields employed in previous studies. The total power consumption of the process including internal, shear and frictional powers is obtained using this velocity field, and then the forming force is calculated by employing the upper bound theory. The superior accuracy of the proposed analysis is demonstrated by comparing the computed force with available experimental data and results of an upper bound analysis in the literature. Finally, the developed model is employed to study the effect of some process parameters on the forming load. It is observed that there is an optimal die angle that minimizes the extrusion force. The value of this optimum angle increases with friction coefficient.

Under the conditions of limited availability of water resources and the relative abundance of arable land (the conditions prevailing in most parts of Iran), the main objective should be to enhance production per unit of water used and the optimal use of the soil these resources. In this context, a deficit irrigation an alternate furrow irrigation, was investigated at critical stages of maize plant growth, of and their combined effects on dry matter accumulation and water use efficiency was assessed. This research was performed as a randomized complete block design with three replication consisting of six treatments: full furrows irrigation in growing season, alternate furrows irrigation in the entire growing season, full irrigation at the establishment stage and alternate irrigation at other stages, full irrigation at the flowering stage and alternate irrigation at other stages, full irrigation at establishment and flowering stage and alternate irrigation at other stages, full irrigation at flowering and ripening stages and alternate irrigation at the other stages. The highest dry matter accumulation was 257 gr per plant, which belonged to irrigation of all furrows during the entire growing season, and the lowest was 196 gr per plant, which belonged to the alternate irrigation during the the entire growing season. During the most biomas yield (18385 kg) belonged to the full irrigation of all during the entire growing season, bowever, the highest water use efficiency was 1.88’ which belonged to the full irrigation at the flowering stage and alternate irrigation other stages.

Conjunctional use of saline and non-saline water for reduce the negative effects of osmotic potential in the plant, has gained much attention. The aim of this study is to compare existing approaches and propose a new approach on how to conjunct saline and non-saline water. To do this, an experiment was performed as a randomized complete block design with six treatments and three replications for sorghum in experiment field of Zabol University within 2012-2013. Treatments include; control treatment (100 % freshwater), one-third of salty, the alternate time, the alternate place and the mixed. The investigated cropping indices were dry weight of stem, leaf and aerial organs of plant, plant height and leaf area index. The results indicated; both treatments the alternate place and one-third of salty, in all characteristics have been measured, after the control treatment had the highest yield, as the leaf dry weight, plant height and leaf area index did not show significant difference (p≤ 0.05) and in leaf dry weight and branch dry weight of the control treatment had the highest yield. These two treatments in salts adjusted at the end of the season left acceptable results. It seems local alternative and one-third of salty treatments with their own unique techniques in using saltwater reduce the negative effects of osmotic potential in the plant and compared to the older method (temporal alternative and), they have an advantage.

Introduction With increasing social activities of organizations and their role in development of societies, the studies about organization function are expanded in behavioral and social sciences. Many studies and researchers every year investigate job satisfaction as a crucial aspect of organizations around the world. This attention is rooted in the important role of human resources in organizational success and plans. This attitude leads to some evolutions in management, by focusing on participatory management, and on employees' motivations and behaviors. At this round, job satisfaction is a more important variable. Job satisfaction has entered in most of the studies about jobs and organizations, in the last decades and attracted researchers and employees alike. But other variables should be investigated along with job satisfaction. Participation in job and organizational decision making, is a more crucial variable for satisfaction at work. Participation and sense of participation, can affect employees' job satisfaction directly and indirectly. Although participation in job tasks and decisions has effects on job satisfaction, other consequences are also important. One of them is alienation. Participation in job and organization can promote sense of belonging and decrease alienation from self, others and organization. This study has investigated the relationship between job satisfaction and participation by considering the alienation as an intermediate variable. Materials and Methods The study has been done in quantitative research approach by a survey method. Sample contained 300 employees in Fars Electronic Corporation, who were collected by random sampling method. This corporation located at Fars province in south- east of Iran and give services of electricity in Fars and Booshehr provinces. Research data collected with a questionnaire designed by researchers and filled out by employees in the two provinces. Questionnaire contained several Likert scales that measured Job satisfaction with 3 dimensions (Satisfaction with management, colleagues, wage and job conditions), sense of participation and alienation. The scales' validity and reliability were obtained by a pilot study among employees. The data was analyzed by SPSS. Job satisfaction in this study is defined as positive attitude towards job and job-related experiences. By this definition, job satisfaction is composed of satisfaction with management, work conditions, wage and job itself. Alienation is defined as a sense of powerlessness and separation from job and organization. Finally, participation is defined as a sense of playing role in job and organizational decision-making process and affairs. Age, education, wage and life satisfaction are the other variables. According to the research model, 8 hypotheses extracted and tested as follows: Hypotheses: 1- There is a significant relationship between age and job satisfaction 2- There is a significant relationship between education and job satisfaction 3- There is a significant relationship between wage and job satisfaction 4- There is a significant relationship between participation and job satisfaction 5- There is a significant relationship between life satisfaction and job satisfaction 6- There is a significant relationship between alienation and job satisfaction 7- There is a significant relationship between participation and job alienation Discussion and Conclusions The result of the study shows that there is a positive and significant relationship between age and job satisfaction and diverse relationship between age and alienation. According to this, older employees reported higher job satisfaction and lower alienation. Also years of working in the organization showed significant and positive relationship with job satisfaction. There is no significant relationship found between education and job satisfaction. But employee's wage showed positive and significant relationship with participation and job satisfaction. According to this, employees that get higher wage and material benefit from their organization, reported higher job satisfaction and lower alienation from organization. The hypotheses about relations between life satisfaction and sense of security with job satisfaction were also significant; there is a positive and significant relationship between job satisfaction and job security and life security. Finally it should be noted that the major hypothesis of this study was approved: there is a positive relationship between participation and job satisfaction. Also a negative relationship exists between alienation and job satisfaction. According to multivariate analysis, by multiple regression, among different variables that were investigated in this study, participation is the most important variable in impacting job satisfaction. According to path analysis, participation to job has a 63 percent effective value in the model. Participation, as is focused in some theories, has direct and indirect effects on employees' attitudes and behaviors. it can promote a sense of belonging in employees and increase their attachment to organization. Also it can be considered as a learning force in organizations to better job performance.

Proper design and management of irrigation systems requires knowledge of soil infiltration rate, which is in turn influenced by water salinity and sodicity. The objectives of this study were to investigate the spatial variability of irrigation water electrical conductivity (EC) and sodium adsorption ratio (SAR) and to map these parameters using geostatistical methods. The main objective was to predict the spatial distribution pattern of soil infiltration rate over the study area based on water salinity and sodicity. Water samples were collected from 76 observations wells in the Kerman Plain in 2008. The geostatistical methods used were ordinary and log-normal kriging. The performance of interpolation methods was evaluated through cross-validation with comparison criteria of root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE). Geostatistical analysis showed that both EC and SAR had strong spatial correlations, and these fitted a spherical model. The cross-validation results are indicated that the two methods provided similar accuracy for estimating salinity and sodicity. Furthermore, it was evident from the kriged maps generated through both methods for EC and SAR that the estimation error maps produced were only slightly different. Therefore, whenever the aim is to produce only a map of spatial distribution of soil properties, ordinary kriging, which is mathematically simpler than other methods, is preferred. Soil infiltration rate distribution pattern was also predicted based on the kriged maps of EC and SAR, and, some approved standards. The results indicated that most of that area, including northern and western regions had good infiltration rates. The rest, which cover mostly the northeastern and southeastern of the study area, had moderate infiltration rates.

AbstractIntroduction: Observance of ethical codes in dental research has received little attention. This research aims to evaluate observance of national research ethics codes in research proceedings of doctoral dissertations in the Faculty of Dentistry, Islamic Azad University, Khorasgan Branch in 2004-2009.Materials and Methods: This descriptive-analytical research was conducted on 200 doctoral dissertations. National ethics codes in medical research were evaluated by two researchers. Data was recorded in specially designed forms and analyzed by descriptive statistical tests.Result: In all the dissertations – human and non-human research studies – all the ethics codes in relation to confidentiality of data, conformity with cultural and religious principles, and the possibility of side effects for the subjects, had been observed. In relation to human studies 89 dissertations lacked informed written consent forms, with oral consent taken in 83% of cases. In only 14 cases (15.7%) of the participants were aware of their right to exclude themselves whenever they wished. In laboratory research dissertations (111 cases) in only 47% of cases all the ethics codes had been observed.Conclusion: All the sixteen medical ethics codes in human research had not been observed in any of the research protocols; in laboratory research, almost half of the protocols had observed scientific ethics principles (5 codes), which might be attributed to a lack of importance of registration of ethics codes in research protocols despite the fact that researchers usually observe them in dissertation protocols. Key words: Clinical trial, Codes of Ethics, Informed consent, Laboratory research.

Geostatistical estimation methods including ordinary kriging (OK), lognormal ordinary kriging (LOK), cokriging (COK), and indicator kriging (IK) are compared for the purposes of prediction and, in particular, uncertainty assessment of the soil texture fractions, i.e. sand, silt, and clay proportions, in an erosion experimental field in Lower Austria. The soil samples were taken on 136 sites, about 30-m apart. The validation technique was cross-validation, and the comparison criteria were the mean bias error (MBE) and root mean squared error (RMSE). Statistical analysis revealed that the sand content is positively skewed, thus persuading us to use LOK for the estimation. COK was also used due to a good negative correlation seen between the texture fractions. The autocorrelation analysis showed that the soil texture fractions in the study area are strongly to moderately correlated in space. Cross-validation indicated that COK is the most accurate method for estimating the silt and clay contents; RMSE equalling to 3.17% and 1.85%, respectively. For the sand content, IK with RMSE (12%) slightly smaller than COK (RMSE = 14%) was the best estimation method. However, COK maps presented the true variability of the soil texture fractions much better than the other approaches, i.e. they achieved the smallest smoothness. Regarding the local uncertainty, the estimation variance maps produced by OK, LOK, and COK methods similarly indicated that the lowest uncertainty occurred near the data locations, and that the highest uncertainty was seen in the areas of sparse sampling. The uncertainty, however, varied much less across the study area compared to conditional variance for IK. The IK conditional variance maps showed, in contrast, some relations to the data values. The estimation uncertainty needs to be evaluated for the incorporation into the risk analysis in the soil management.

Current epidemic obesity levels apply great medical and financial pressure to the strenuous economy of obesity-prone cultures, and neuropeptides involved in body weight regulation are regarded as attractive targets for a possible treatment of obesity in humans. The lateral hypothalamus and the nucleus accumbens shell (AcbSh) form a hypothalamic-limbic neuropeptide feeding circuit mediated by Melanin-Concentrating Hormone (MCH). MCH promotes feeding behavior via MCH receptor-1 (MCH1R) in the AcbSh, although this relationship has not been fully characterized. Given the AcbSh mediates reinforcing properties of food, we hypothesized that MCH modulates motivational aspects of feeding.Here we show that chronic loss of the rat MCH-precursor Pmch decreased food intake predominantly via a reduction in meal size during rat development and reduced high-fat food-reinforced operant responding in adult rats. Moreover, acute AcbSh administration of Neuropeptide-GE and Neuropeptide-EI (NEI), both additional neuropeptides derived from Pmch, or chronic intracerebroventricular infusion of NEI, did not affect feeding behavior in adult pmch(+/+) or pmch(-/-) rats. However, acute administration of MCH to the AcbSh of adult pmch(-/-) rats elevated feeding behavior towards wild type levels. Finally, adult pmch(-/-) rats showed increased ex vivo electrically evoked dopamine release and increased limbic dopamine transporter levels, indicating that chronic loss of Pmch in the rat affects the limbic dopamine system.Our findings support the MCH-MCH1R system as an amplifier of consummatory behavior, confirming this system as a possible target for the treatment of obesity. We propose that MCH-mediated signaling in the AcbSh positively mediates motivational aspects of feeding behavior. Thereby it provides a crucial signal by which hypothalamic neural circuits control energy balance and guide limbic brain areas to enhance motivational or incentive-related aspects of food consumption.