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Abstract In this paper, the full repowering of a steam Power Plant with a capacity of 320 MW in Iran was evaluated technically and economically. Implementation of this plan for the target power plant was selected because of its over 30 years of age. Due to the presence of steam flash feed water preheaters and the possibility of preheating feed water entirely or partially prior to entering heat recovery steam generator, the effect of using or not using these low and high pressure equipment was evaluated in different cases. To do this, five different cases were proposed and reviewed. Considering the available gas turbines in Iran, the gas turbines models Siemens V94.2 and V94.3A were selected. In each case, the optimum point is obtained in terms of the lowest cost of electricity generation. Finally, after reviewing the results of all cases, full repowering plan with parallel feed water heating was selected as the best alternative in terms of energy and exergy efficiencies and the price of generating electricity. If two heat recovery steam generators and two V94.3A gas turbines are used, the net exergy and energy efficiencies for the cycle can reach 54.49% and 52.98%, respectively. Moreover, the power capacity of a repowered unit is equal to 700.44 MW with electricity generation price of 0.05986 $/kWh. Graphical abstract Image 1057 Highlights • In the present study, a real power plant has been studied (A Case Study). • The five different arrangements of feed water heaters for proposed scenarios have been considered. • The merging of water-gas heat exchangers with existing preheaters has been investigated. • Optimum techno-economic case for repowering has been presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Determination of the drug-resistant mutations has a crucial role in the management of HIV-1 infected patients., Objective: The aim of the current study was to evaluate drug resistance profile of Reverse transcriptase and Proteasegenes, and to find the correlation between drug resistance mutations and ART regimen to intensifyphysicians'options for the most effective therapy which could also influence the establishment of health-related policies at the national level in Iran., Method: HIV-1 RNA of 34 samples was extracted from plasma and RT Nested- PCR was performed and the final products were sequenced. Stanford HIV drug resistance sequence database was used for interpretation of the data., Results: In 14 patients out of 15, the following mutations were observed; Nucleoside RT Inhibitor (NRTI)-Resistance Mutations with the prevalence of 11 patients having this mutation at codon 184 (73%) and Non-Nucleoside RT Inhibitor (NNRTI)-Resistance Mutations with the prevalence of 8 patients having NNRTI mutations at codon 103(53%).In 17 patients, major Protease Inhibitor (PI) Resistance Mutations were found out in 2 (12%) of them while the minor PI was found in7 (41%) patients., Conclusion: An antiretroviral treatment consisting of nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor and protease inhibitor, impairs the emergence of a resistant strain and descends its prevalence among the community. Having a high rate mutation in participants of this study raises concerns about treatment failure in HIV infected people in Iran. Observing high mutations rates in participants of this study raises concerns about treatment failure in HIV infected people in Iran., (Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.)

Introduction: In dentistry, medicine often prescribed to relieve pain and remove infections .Therefore, wrong prescription can lead to a range of problems including lack of pain, antimicrobial treatment failure and the development of resistance to antibiotics., Materials & Methods: In this cross-sectional study, the aim was to evaluate the common errors in written prescriptions by general dentists in Kermanshah in 2014. Dentists received a questionnaire describing five hypothetical patient and the appropriate prescription for the patient in question was asked. Information about age, gender, work experience and the admission in university was collected. The frequency of errors in prescriptions was determined. Data by SPSS 20statistical software and using statistical t-test, chi-square and Pearson correlation were analyzed (0.05> P)., Results: A total of 180 dentists (62.6% male and 37.4% female) with a mean age of 8.23 ± 39.199 participated in this study. Prescription errors include the wrong in pharmaceutical form (11%), not having to write therapeutic dose (13%), writing wrong dose (14%), typos (15%), error prescription (23%) and writing wrong number of drugs (24%). The most frequent errors in the administration of antiviral drugs (31%) and later stages of antifungal drugs (30%), analgesics (23%) and antibiotics (16%) was observed. Males dentists compared with females dentists showed more frequent errors (P=0.046). Error frequency among dentists with a long work history (P>0.001) and the acceptance in the university except for the entrance examination (P=0.041) had a statistically significant relationship., Conclusion: This study showed that the written prescription by general dentists examined contained significant errors and improve prescribing through continuing education of dentists is essential.

A mycological study was undertaken in 488 patients suspected of onychomycosis in Isfahan, a large province of Iran, to gain more insight into the prevalence and aetiology of this infection. Direct microscopy of the nail clips was positive in 194 (39.8%) and fingernail onychomycosis was recognised in 141 (72.7%) and toenail onychomycosis in 53 (27.3%) cases. As agents of onychomycosis, yeast were detected in 112 (57.7%), dermatophytes in 27 (13.9%) and non-dermatophyte fungi in 55 (28.4%) patients. Of the samples cultured, Candida albicans was the most prevalent (84%) yeast. Among dermatophytes, Trichophyton mentagrophytes var. interdigitale was found to be the commonest aetiological agent (8.6%) followed by Epidermophyton floccosum and T. rubrum. Among the non-dermatophyte moulds, Aspergillus flavus was the most prevalent species (13%). Moreover, nine samples with positive direct microscopy yielded no growth. Females were affected more frequently with fingernail candidal infections than males, and children under 7 years of age were predominantly involved with candidal paronychia. The majority of fungal nail infections were characterised clinically by distal and proximal subungual onychomycosis. The growing trend towards the frequency of fingernail onychomycosis in housewives was noticeable in the last decade in Iran.

Purpose: Quality of family planning services is now considered as a global concern and importance. The purpose of the present study is to assess quality of family planning services in the urbanhealth centers of Shahid Beheshti Medical Science University., Design/methodology/approach: This was a descriptive study to assess structure, process and outcome of the family planning care services. A total of 15 health centers of Shahid Beheshti Medical Science University were randomized and the quality of provided care by 65 family planning care providers of these health centers were observed and assessed using checklists. A total of 75 family planning clients were interviewed to assess their knowledge about their selected family planning method all of whom completed the related forms of satisfaction with the services. The tools for data collection were two observational checklists, and two questionnaires with subsequent data analyzed using SPSS 11.5. In total 75 clients with an average age 24 (7 +/- 4) (mean +/- SD) participated in the study. The provision of family planning services by 65 providers was assessed by observation at three intervals. Of the providers, 60 (92.3 per cent) were midwives., Findings: Mean satisfaction score of clients was 83.3 +/- 9.05 percent meaning clients were highly satisfied with the services. Mean knowledge score of clients about their family planning method of use was 59.1 +/- 18 percent, which shows their moderate knowledge about their method of use., Originality/value: A more advanced tool to assess quality of care of family planning services with more focus on special care for the contraceptives was developed. Quality of care in family planning services of Shahid Beheshti Medical Science University health centers showed adequate facilities and equipment and to have trained personnel however their client's knowledge about the selected method was moderate. Therefore, interventional programs are needed to improve counseling and the educational process of clients, which should be considered in future research and planning of the programs.