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Toluene di-isocyanate (TDI) is extensively used in the manufacture of flexible polyurethane foams. The present study aimed to examine pulmonary function indices and respiratory symptoms in individuals exposed to isocyanates. Spirometric indices of 136 employees, 91 (66.91%) of whom were directly exposed to isocyanates and 45 (33.08%) were not exposed. These informations regarding demographic characteristics and respiratory symptoms, including coughs and dyspnea, were collected using a questionnaire from 2013 to 2016. The mean values of all respiratory indices decreased significantly in both groups over the 4 year period. There was a significant relationship between the decline in all indices and age, work experience and smoking. In the exposed group, a decrease in FEV1 and FEV1/FVC was significantly higher in smokers than in the non-exposed group. The exposed group, although younger and with a lower smoking rate, which has lower respiratory indices than the non-exposed group at the beginning and end of the measurement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brucellosis is considered as one of the important global zoonotic diseases that causes medical as well as economic problems especially in tropical countries. The illness has no specific pathognomonic signs; therefore, the rapid and accurate diagnosis of the disease has a very important role in preventing the Brucella spillover and treatment. The purpose of this study was to design a new indirect ELISA test for detection of human brucellosis based on using recombinant Brucella abortus outer membrane protein 16 kDa (rOMP16) as an antigen. OMP16 gene of B. abortus was initially synthesized and cloned in pET-21d vector and then expressed in Escherichia coli cells. The expression was confirmed by the SDS-PAGE, western blotting and dot blotting. The purified protein was coated in ELISA plates and an indirect ELISA was performed on 70 human serum samples. The results were evaluated with a commercial IgG ELISA kit and Rose Bengal plate agglutination tests as reference tests. Diagnostic performance of designed OMP16 ELISA test in comparison with Rose Bengal plate test revealed 100% of sensitivity, 95.00% of specificity and good Fleiss kappa agreement, whereas, where it was compared to commercial ELISA kit, it revealed very good kappa agreement with 100% of sensitivity and 100% of specificity in cut-off value of 0.13. It was concluded that OMP 16 kDa could be acceptable alternative antigen for detecting Brucella IgG antibody with high accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter, we are reporting on the characterization of the on-chip metal–oxide–metal (MOM) capacitors that use “self-inductance cancellation” technique resulting in high-performance operation in radio frequency (RF)/millimeter-wave (mm-wave) regime. The utilized method helps mitigate the mutual magnetic induction between the metal fingers of a MOM capacitor while they are placed in proximity to each other, by controlling the direction of the RF current flow. More than two times inductance cancellation is achieved, thus resulting in an increase of the self-resonance frequency and quality factor ($Q$ -factor) of the RF capacitor. The test structures are fabricated using Intel 16 FinFET technology, where postsilicon data show a good agreement between the theory and simulation. This methodology is CMOS compatible and is applicable to RF/mm-wave circuits that employ RF capacitors toward improving the RF system performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Qualified human resources are valuable capital for the growth and development of organizations. Among the factors influencing the quality of human resources (e.g. teachers) is Job Burnout. This study aimed at probing the underlying layers of job burnout of the teachers practicing in Iranian private language institutes. To do so, a two-phase design was applied including quantitative and phenomenological qualitative methods. The data were collected through the Maslach Burnout Inventory questionnaire and one-by-one semi-structured interviews. The results of the first stage demonstrated that the participants were moderately burned out. Next, 20 (10 males & 10 females) EFL teachers with at least five years of experience were invited to take part in the interview. After confirming the saturation of data, the researcher analyzed the transcriptions and four main themes, and 16 sub-themes emerged. The results encompassed the definition of burnout, its sources, instances and consequences, and possible strategies to cope with the phenomenon. Private language institute administrators and managers can benefit from the implications of this study by taking due measures like social and emotional support and forming peer support groups to reduce burnout among their employees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It appears necessary to produce drinks which are full of phenolic compounds and antioxidant, according to the style of modern life and importance of confront with oxidative stress and changing the people's taste in using ready-made and carbonated drinks. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of storage conditions on physicochemical, sensory and shelf-life characteristics of three samples of pomegranate juice, barberry and their mixture of in order to improve quality. In this study, indicators of antioxidant properties, color, vitamin C and sensory evaluation of three drinks, pomegranate, barberry and their mixture (50:50 v/v) in one month period in different temperature conditions (4, 17 and 30°C) and light was kept and measured for each indicator. Results indicate that treatment type, keeping time and mutual effects of these two factors have meaningful effect on these three drinks ( P≤0.05). This study showed that decreasing rate of antioxidant property in one month in carbonated and gas free type does not have a meaningful different and in some case carbonated type showed more capability in keeping its properties. Considering the public tendency for using carbonate drinks this is important. With regard to the obtained results and for keeping valuable trophic properties of drinks, they should be kept in low temperature after producing and consumed in a short period after producing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many malignant cancers have an increased demand for lipoprotein due to the requirement for lipids for the rapid proliferation of the tumours and which is met by the increased availability of LDL through upregulation of LDL transporters. This unique phenomenon is the basis for the use of LDL based nanoparticles for cell imaging. In this study, a novel MR-active LDL nanoparticle was synthesised as the MRI probes. This MR-active LDL was characterised by using different techniques including scanning electron microscopy (SEM), dynamic light scattering (DLS), Fourier-transform infra-red spectroscopy (FTIR) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). The intracellular uptake of Gd3+ and cytotoxicity was measured by ICP-AES and MTT assay respectively. Results suggest that this nanoprobe with spherical shape and size of 55 nm has reduced relaxation time compared to commercial contrast agent and is introduced as an appropriate imaging probe. The amount of reabsorption of nanoprobe increased up to 6 h and given that the connection of the chelator does not have an effect on reabsorption proves that entry through transporter of APO section has done. This study lays the basis for exploring a personalised medicine strategy by directing a patient's own LDL to cancer cell imaging in the early stages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]