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This study aims to simulate the effect of the drier humidity distribution on the temperature distribution and dried product shrinkage. The Lebanese yellow apple (Golden Delicious) was prepared in the form of slices with 3 and 5 mm thicknesses and dried at 60 °C in a hot air oven. Shrinkage models were determined by fitting the experimental data with Sigmaplot software. The simulation was done using these equations in COMSOL software. The simulation results showed that due to the accumulation of air humidity in one part of the oven, the temperature distribution inside the product was not distributed evenly in that part. This phenomenon caused the imbalance of moisture transfer from the product and this can increase the drying time as well as unbalanced shrinkage of the product. Finally, it was found that the air humidity distribution inside the oven had a significant effect on the drying process and shrinkage rate of samples.

Increasing agricultural production requires the application of more chemical inputs during the growth of different crops. This study aims at assessing the energy indicators and environmental impacts during the initial 7-year growth of orange orchards. Through the life cycle assessment (LCA) technique, the hotspots in 11 environmental indicators of the orange orchard growth were determined for different years. The system boundaries were considered to be the orange orchard gates, and the functional units were 1 kg of orange and 1-h orange orchard. The energy input of nitrogen fertilizer, diesel, and human labor has the biggest share in the total energy inputs. The total average energy input and energy output (in 7 years) were calculated as 62,917.027 MJ/ha and 47,618.17 MJ/ha, respectively. The results showed that the energy indices (energy efficiency and net energy) were increasing from year first to seventh and also the share of renewable energy increased. According to the results, with respect to the highest share for production of 1 kg orange in different criteria, nitrogen fertilizer was the main contributor to abiotic depletion and human toxicity, orchard field emissions and nitrogen fertilizer had the highest shares in global warming and photochemical oxidation, fossil fuels and nitrogen fertilizer were the highest contributors to ozone layer depletion, whereas ecotoxicity was mainly affected by chemical fertilizers and orchard surface emissions. Finally, the main contributor for acidification and eutrophication was surface emissions. In the study of environmental impacts from the first to the seventh year, it should be noted that if the functional unit is considered mass based (1 kg orange), due to the unproductive of the trees in the first to third years (low fruit production), the environmental effects are high and then it decreases after the third year due to increasing the yield of the product. Generally, with consideration of the tree growth period, the useful data of energy and environmental impacts for production horticultural products can be provided so that we can avoid multiple interpretations of results associated to reporting annual energy and environmental impact variations.

In this research, the effect of modified atmosphere packaging on the quality and shelf life of strawberries was investigated. For packing strawberries 3 gas compositions (air, N275%+CO215%+O210% and N275%+CO210%+O215%), polyethylene lining in 3 thickness of 30, 50 and 90 mm and 2 storage temperatures 4±1 and 8±1 °C were used. The effect of treatments on weight loss, firmness, soluble solids, titratable acidity and pH in strawberries at 20 days after storage was studied in a completely randomized design with factorial experiment in 3 replications. Results showed that the effects of gas composition and temperature on all of the mentioned factors are significant (P≤0.01), but the effect of the thickness of the polyethylene (PE) lining is only significant on the percentage of weight loss, soluble solids and titratable acidity (P≤0.01). The quality and quantity characteristics of strawberries were maintained better at temperature of 4 °C due to reduced breathing, evaporation and transpiration. The polyethylene lining at thickness of 90 mm, maintained the qualitative and quantitative qualities of the product due to low permeability and maintaining the moisture around the product within the package. The first gas composition (N275%+CO215%+O210%) was more suitable for keeping the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of strawberries due to more CO2 and reduced respiration. As a result, strawberries packed in a 90 mm thick polyethylene lining and a gas mixture (N275%+CO210%+O215%) at 4 °C had the best quality and highest durability.

In the present study, a new technique in Discrete Least Squares Meshless method; DLSM; has been adopted for stress assessment of two-dimensional elastic domains including a non-growing crack. DLSM is a real meshless method that does not require mesh both in approximation step and in numerical integration step of the solution procedure due to the use of a collection of the un-structured nodal points instead of the mesh and discrete least squares approach to discretize the governing differential equations which can reduce considerably the pre-processing cost of calculations. However, DLSM encounters some difficulties in accommodating the solution procedure in the vicinity of the non-convex boundaries such as cracks. In recent years, researchers utilize some techniques to overcome this problem such as visibility, transparency and diffraction approaches, but these methods require somehow backward corrective operations within each step of the calculation process and suffer from some limitations in application. In this study, however, a new, straightforward and general applicable method has been used for fixing this problem using Moving Least Squares; MLS; shape functions constructed based on the Voronoi tessellation algorithm. In this method, the domain of interest is divided into Voronoi cells and nodes of support domain are selected based on a neighboring criterion. The accuracy and efficiency of the proposed method has been demonstrated by solving some benchmark examples and comparing the obtained results with analytical or valid finite element analyses’ results.

An experimental study was conducted to investigate the effect of using a concrete sandwich panel as an infill wall on the in-plane behaviour of steel frames. Three large-scale, single-storey and single-bay steel frame specimens with an aspect ratio of 1·0 (two infilled frames with and without separation at the frame-to-panel interface and one bare frame) were constructed and tested under in-plane cyclic lateral loading. Based on the results, it was found that the infilled frame with full connection between the infill and frame (specimen IFM) behaved quite differently to the specimen with a discrete interface connection (specimen FSI). While specimen FSI behaved almost like a bare frame in terms of lateral stiffness and strength, the interaction between the concrete sandwich panel and the steel frame in specimen IFM led to a considerable increase in the initial stiffness, lateral strength, energy dissipation and the equivalent viscous damping ratio of the system compared with the bare frame. Moreover, by separating the infill panel from the bounding frame, the results showed increased energy dissipation capability compared with the bare frame and higher drift capacity compared with specimen IFM.

The present study analyses energy and exergy consumption for drying dog-rose flowers using a hybrid infrared and hot-air dryer at three IR (Infrared) radiation levels, three airflow velocities, and three drying temperatures. Results showed that energy and exergy efficiencies sharply increased at the beginning of the drying process. Energy loss, exergy destruction and exergy loss increased with increasing IR radiation, rise in the incoming air's temperature, and decrease of the airflow velocity. The average of lowest energy and exergy efficiencies were 5.76 and 3.98%, respectively, observed at the air temperature of 40?C using an IR radiation of 0.22 W/cm2 and an airflow velocity of 1 m/s. The average of highest energy and exergy efficiency values were 49.92 and 23.65%, respectively, observed at the beginning of the drying process at 60?C using 0.49 W/cm2 IR radiation and an airflow velocity of 0.4 m/s.

This study aimed to investigate the effect of e-service quality on customer satisfaction with Mellat Bank of Khorramabad city. The e-service quality as an independent variable with four efficiency, service provision, accessibility, safety and security, and customer satisfaction as the dependent variable are examined. Sampling is random. The population of all branches of the bank's customers in the Khorramabad city. Their number is unlimited. Based on a sample size of 113 people was set up through Cochran formula. Applied research goals and methods - descriptive survey is. Data variables by questionnaire validity and reliability (Cronbach's alpha = 973/0), which was approved, was collected. Survey data collection software (SPSS) by Pearson test and multiple regressions were performed. Our results indicate that: electronic service quality has a significant positive impact on satisfaction.

Rice is globally counted as a highly important food. Among its production processes, paddy production, drying and whitening are energy-intensive that leave environmental impact. The study analyzes the environmental parameters (by SimaPro 8.1) for the growth of two rice paddy varieties (low-yield and high-yield) in three Northern provinces of Iran (Mazandaran, Guilan and Golestan) using two mechanized and traditional planting methods. The environmental impact of white rice production in milling plants and its drying using two dryers (modern and conventional) running on three different fuels (kerosene, diesel fuel and natural gas) was analyzed. Finally, the husking and whitening processes through three different systems (conventional, semi-modern and modern) were investigated. Results revealed that the highest environmental impact occurred when using the mechanized planting system to grow the low-yield variety in Mazandaran province (MC–LYV–MP). The lowest impact was observed in Guilan province when growing the high-yield variety using the traditional practice (TC–HYV–GiP). During the drying process, the largest adverse environmental effects (mechanized harvesting, high-yield variety, and conventional drying) were found to be 1.92 times higher than their lowest level (traditional harvesting, low yield variety and conventional dryer) using kerosene and 4.73, and 5.59 times higher than their lowest level (traditional harvesting, low yield variety, and modern drying) using diesel fuel, and natural gas, respectively. The processing (husking and whitening) results also suggested that the use of modern systems exacerbated the environmental impact by 1.42 (low-yield variety) and 1.53 (high-yield variety) compared to the traditional paddy processing methods.

In-plane seismic behaviour of concrete sandwich panel-infilled steel frame (CSP-ISF) was experimentally and numerically investigated. Four large-scale, single bay and single story steel frame specimens were tested under reversed cyclic lateral loading. Three infilled frames with different aspect ratios along with one bare frame were considered. It was found that addition of sandwich panels leads to considerable increase in the lateral stiffness and strength, ductility, energy dissipation capacity as well as equivalent viscous damping ratio of the steel frames. Furthermore, the maximum shear capacity of CSP-ISF specimens was validated by analytical approaches which showed good agreement with experimental results. Based on the present experiments, structural performance levels required for Performance-based Analysis are also proposed for concrete sandwich panel used as infill walls. Finally, a numerical model is presented to analyze the nonlinear behaviour of CSP-ISFs., This study was supported by the grants from Rasht Municipality (Grant No. 221/9351/ALF)., info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion

In this review we present recent trends on the encapsulation of bioactive compounds, their increased availability and stability, focusing on novel applications as delivery systems. We also provide insights on the latest advances in formulation and stabilization of micro-/nano-dispersions, monodisperse emulsions with droplets sized within the micrometer to sub-micrometer range, nanoemulsions, microcapsules and nanoparticles, foreseeing the delivery of bioactives with different characteristics and their potential applications into foods, pharmaceuticals and other related industries. The maintenance of the antimicrobial or antioxidant properties of peptides micro/nano-encapsulated is fundamental to prospect the stability in different conditions of the food matrix. Because astaxanthin is easily altered in the presence of light, oxygen or high temperatures, it is important to define adequate procedures or formulations that preserve the quality of carotenoid enriched extracts against their oxidation.

Feijoa is an aromatic fruit with high vitamin C and anti-oxidant contents. Given its highly sensitive contents, it is necessary to select a suitable method for production of Feijoa chips. Despite its high energy consumption, freeze-drying can produce high-quality products. In this study, 7 pretreatments (ascorbic acid, microwave, blanching with hot water and steam, potassium carbonate, osmotic and ultrasound) were used at different levels to improve the quality of dried samples. The pretreated samples were freeze-dried, and their qualitative parameters (pH, rehydration, vitamin C, failure force, and total color differences) were analyzed. Results showed that the highest and lowest pH values were in samples pretreated with potassium carbonate and ascorbic acid, respectively. The highest and lowest rehydration ratios were observed in microwave-pretreated and control samples, respectively. Control and microwave-pretreatment led to the highest and lowest failure forces, respectively. The highest vitamin C content (0.33 g/100 g) belonged to the control treatment, whereas its lowest amount (0.08 g/100 g) was measured in hot-water blanching. The highest color difference (3.3) was obtained using the ascorbic acid pretreatment, and the microwave pretreatment led to the lowest color difference (0.8). In conclusion, the results from mean comparison of different treatments showed that the ultrasonic pretreatment can relatively preserve product parameters better than other pretreatments.

In this article, an optimum range for increasing transport coefficients with respect to the laminar flow condition in the channel of a three-way catalyst is introduced. A mathematical model of a three-way catalyst was first developed. The model is a one-dimensional plug flow model which involves mass and energy equations in gas and solid phases. To save numerical time, the three-way catalyst model was replaced with a neural network model used in optimization which was solved by using a multi-objective genetic algorithm method. The results of optimization introduce a range in which the desirable objectives will be satisfied. The objectives are to achieve minimum light-off time and maximum increase in catalyst efficiency during different operating conditions of engine. © 2014 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Environ Prog, 34: 368–379, 2015

Climate change impacts, limited fossil fuel resources and escalating energy demand result in the use of clean and renewable energies such as solar thermal energy for sustainable agricultural production. In this study, the utilization of photovoltaic (PV) and photovoltaic/thermal (PV/T), which captures the remaining energy and removes waste heat from the PV module, is simulated by TRNSYS software as an alternative energy supplier in energy-environmental life cycle assessment (LCA) of greenhouse (GH) strawberry production in Alborz province, Iran. For this purpose, three scenarios, namely, present (Sc-1), PV (Sc-2) and PV/T (Sc-3) systems, are considered. Results show that the total input and output energy uses are examined to be 919250 and 142618.75 MJ ha−1, respectively, and diesel fuel with about 80% of the total energy usage is the most energy consuming input. Solar system simulation reveals 150 and 147 panels for PV and PV/T systems to supply energy, respectively. Environmental damages are investigated by IMPACT2002 + based on ten-ton of yield as the functional unit. LCA results indicate that diesel fuel and On-Farm emissions have most significant effects amongst damage categories in Sc-1. Moreover, applying solar technologies reduce total damage categories by about 16% and 6% in Sc-2 and Sc-3, respectively. The cumulative exergy demand (CExD) analysis indicates that diesel fuel is a significant portion of energy forms in Sc-1 and solar systems in Sc-2 and Sc-3 reduce the total CExD by about 50% and 33%, respectively compared to the Sc-1. Besides, Sc-2 with PV panels is the most energy-environmental-friendly scenario among them. It should be noted that Sc-3 has less efficiency compared to Sc-2 owing to additional equipment use and the temperate weather during the study. Finally, it can be concluded that trends of energy and environmental damage categories can be modified significantly by applying solar technologies.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to detect gears' faults with an automatic decision‐making process and find a reliable method to detect faults on gear systems using a composition of conventional methods.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the vibration behavior of gears during engagement is investigated. Then, after studying different methods of fault detection using vibration signals analysis, a suitable method is proposed for the case of gears. For this purpose, a fuzzy model is employed based on available knowledge about fault detection of gears and results obtained from vibration behavior of gears. In the mentioned fuzzy model, a feature extracted from wavelet transform and also a couple of statistical indexes are used as fault criteria.FindingsUsing fuzzy systems instead of numerous data in training the decision‐making system and also utilizing available knowledge of gears' signals and information of fault effects can significantly simplify the decision‐making process in auto‐detecting gears faults, considering difficulty of laboratory set up, manufacturing and different faults creation, as well as, lack of sufficient data.Practical implicationsIn order to validate and enhance the proposed model, an empirical set up is manufactured and tested. Later on, the model is tested on another set of gears.Originality/valueAlthough the gears' faults were completely different from those of experimental set up, promising results in detecting faults were obtained. Moreover, it is shown that it is possible to determine the level of gears' health, as well as to estimate the gears' status, owing to fuzzy logic. This issue can be observed in the change of fault parameter while analyzing signals related to the fault growth in gears.

Background: There are contrasting reports from different ethnical groups on the role of −1131T>C single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the promoter region of the apolipoprotein A5 (APOA5) gene on the development of coronary artery disease (CAD). Here we have studied this association in a sample of the Iranian population. Methods: Seventy-three angiographically confirmed patients with CAD and 55 healthy individuals were entered into this study. The cases and controls were matched for demographic and serum biochemical parameters. Genotyping for the −1131T>C polymorphism of the APOA5 gene was performed using the mismatch polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) method. Results: There was no association between genotype frequencies or frequency of T (major) and C (minor) alleles with CAD. However, presence of the C allele was significantly associated with the risk of development of hypertriglyceridemia. Conclusion: Our data did not confirm the APOA5 −1131T>C variant as a risk factor for development of CAD in our sample of Iranians. * SNPs : single nucleotide polymorphisms; APOA5 : apolipoprotein A5; CAD : coronary artery disease; PCR-RFLP : polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism; EPIC-Norfolk : European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition Norfolk; NPHSII : Northwick Park Heart Study II; ECG : electrocardiograph; FBS : fasting blood glucose; TG : triglycerides; HDL : high-density lipoprotein; LDL : low-density lipoprotein; APOA-I : apolipoprotein A-I; APOB : apolipoprotein B; Lp(a) : lipoprotein(a); BMI : body mass index; SCA : selective coronary angiography

Background: Prediction of accessory pathway (AP) location before radiofrequency ablation has become increasingly important for patients with AP; this is especially true for posteroseptal (PS) APs. Objective: To identify electrocardiographic and electrophysiologic predictors of pathway location in patients with manifest posteroseptal AP. Methods: A detailed electrocardiographic analysis, electrophysiologic study, and ablation were performed in 94 patients with single manifest posteroseptal AP (mean age 35.0 ± 13.8 years; 56 males). Results: Localization was right PS in 68 patients, left PS in 19 patients, and coronary sinus and its branches in seven patients. Common to all the patients with posteroseptal AP was a negative delta in at least two inferior leads. The most sensitive and specific parameter for differentiating left posteroseptal APs from right posteroseptal APs was an R/S ratio ≥1.0 in lead V1 (sensitivity 100% and specificity 100%). The R-wave amplitude in lead I (sensitivity 54%, specificity 67%), and delta ventricularatrial interval (sensitivity 75%, specificity 87%) had much lesser sensitivity and specificity in this regard. The epicardial posteroseptal APs were discriminated from endocardial variant by the positive delta in aVR (sensitivity 71% and specificity 99%) and negative delta in II (sensitivity 100% and specificity 20%). Delta wave polarity in V1 was not helpful for differentiating right-sided from left-sided posteroseptal APs. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that in patients with posteroseptal AP, successful ablation site could be predicted to be on the right or left endocardial surface using R/S ratio in lead V1. Necessity for Coronary sinus catheterization and angiography is predictable using delta wave polarities in leads aVR and II.

Background Atrial fibrillation (AF) is the most common arrhythmia after coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) surgery. It has been shown that prophylactic oral β-blocker administration reduces the incidence of post-CABG AF. However, the optimal β-blocker has not been identified. Objective This study sought to determine whether oral carvedilol (with its unique anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties) is more effective than oral metoprolol for prevention of AF after CABG surgery. Methods Between April 2006 and December 2006, 120 patients (63 men, mean age 61 ± 9.4 years) who were scheduled to undergo their first on-pump CABG were enrolled in this study. The patients were randomized in a prospective 1:1 manner to receive either oral carvedilol (n = 60) or oral metoprolol (n = 60). The end point of the study was the occurrence of the new-onset AF during the first 5 days aftere CABG. Results AF occurred in 29 of 120 patients (24.0%). The incidence of postoperative AF was 15.0% (9 of 60) in the carvedilol group and 33% (20 of 60) in the metoprolol group (P = .022). The carvedilol group was treated with mean daily dose of 46 ± 9 mg and metoprolol group with mean daily dose of 93 ± 11 mg. There were no differences between the study groups regarding any known preoperative, perioperative, or postoperative characteristics (all values were P >.05). No significant adverse effect was observed in either group. Conclusion This prospective study suggested that oral carvedilol is more effective than oral metoprolol in the prevention of AF after on-pump CABG. It is well tolerated when started before and continued after the surgery. However, further prospective studies are needed to clarify this issue.

Rice is a major economic crop in Japan, where it is usually dried using a batch-type dryer until the final moisture content (FMC) reaches below 9%. The influence of low FMC (about 9%) produced by four drying temperatures (30, 40, 50, and 60℃) on the physical properties, milling, and cooking qualities of short grain aromatic rice were investigated. The obtained data were also compared with standard FMC (about 12%) treatments which were dried in a batch type dryer. The experimental result showed that for low FMC samples, head rice yield (HRY) was increased by 4% at drying temperatures of 30℃ and 40℃ but was reduced by about 20% at 60℃ in comparison with control samples (25℃, 60% RH). The water uptake ratio (WUR) and volume expansion ratio (VER) were decreased significantly as the drying temperatures were increased. We can conclude that low FMC (9%) could produce higher HRY, if the drying temperature is 40℃ or less. In addition, high drying temperatures (50℃ and 60℃) caused increases in the number of fissured kernels, energy consumption and decreases in HRY, WUR, and VER. Maintaining the HRY and keeping a cooking quality at maximum level are the main task for the optimization of drying process. It was occurred at drying temperature less than 40℃ with a low FMC for aromatic rice. Therefore, a drying temperature of more than 40℃ would result in deterioration of quality of japonica type aromatic rice, followed by low FMC., イランではバッチ式の乾燥機により主要な穀物である籾水分を9%まで乾燥する.香り米籾の最終水分が, 約12% (標準水分籾) と約9% (低水分籾) になるように籾温度30, 40, 50, 60℃の4つの処理区で試料籾を乾燥処理し, 得られた籾, 玄米, 精米の物理的性質および炊飯特性を調べた.低水分籾の歩留まりの結果として, 対照処理区 (乾燥処理条件: 温度25℃, 相対湿度60%) の籾と比べて, 60℃の乾燥処理区では歩留まりが20%低く, 30℃と40℃の乾燥処理区では4%高かった.炊飯特性試験における加熱吸水率と膨張容積比は, 乾燥処理の温度が高くなると低下した.低水分籾では, 温度が40℃もしくはそれ以下の乾燥処理の場合, 高い歩留まりを示すことが明らかになった.加えて, 温度 (50-60℃) の乾燥処理は, 胴割れ粒, 乾燥エネルギを増加させ, 歩留まり, 加熱吸水率および膨張容積比を低下させる原因となる.高い歩留まりの維持と炊飯特性試験の指標が, 乾燥プロセス最適化の目安となり, 香り米を低水分まで40℃以下の温度で乾燥処理する条件によってもたらされる.物理的性質と炊飯特性試験の結果から, 40℃以上の高い温度での乾燥処理は, 日本型香り米の品質劣化をもたらす.

Left ventricular diverticula are congenital anomalies and are not as rare as previously thought. In adults, cardiac diverticula are generally accidental findings during imaging modalities, but concomitant disorders might frequently coexist. The pathophysiology, management, prognosis, and natural history of cardiac diverticula remain poorly understood and controversial. Definite diagnosis is often challenging due to similarities in appearance to other more common anomalies such as aneurysms, pseudoaneurysms, endocarditis, cysts, and hypertrophied trabeculations. We herein report a rare case of an adolescent presenting with sinus venosus atrial septal defect, partial anomalous venous connection, and left ventricular diverticula.

Background: Cardiovascular operations are associated with an inherent bleeding tendency that sometimes leads to severe bleeding and transfusion requirement. Pharmacological intervention to minimize post-bypass bleeding and blood product transfusions has received increasing attention from both medical and economic viewpoints. Methods: This double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial recruited three groups of patients (each group consisting of 50 patients) undergoing on-pump coronary artery bypass graft surgery (CABG) and blindly randomized them to receive either low aprotinin, tranexamic acid, or placebo. The results were, subsequently, evaluated and compared between the groups. All the patients were operated on by one surgeon and the same surgery team. Results: The following variables were similar between the groups, and there was no statistically significant difference between the groups in terms of these variables: age (p value = 0.308), sex (p value = 0.973), hyperlipidemia (p value = 0.720), hypertension (p value = 0.786), smoking (p value = 0.72), and diabetes (p value = 0.960). The amounts of drainage from chest tubes were less in the aprotinin and tranexamic acid groups than the amount in the placebo group; the difference was statistically important (p value < 0.001). There was no statistically significant difference with respect to need for reoperation for bleeding between the three groups (p value = 0.998). Complications following surgery in the three groups were statistically the same and not significantly different. All the complications (myocardial infarction, pericardial effusion, neurological complication and renal complication) had a good course, and all the patients were discharged from the hospital uneventfully. There was no mortality in any group. Conclusions: Low-dose aprotinin and tranexamic acid can significantly reduce blood loss and transfusion requirement in CABG without importantly increasing mortality and morbidity.

A 40-year-old male with known hypertrophic cardiomyopathy was admitted for catheterization. At catheterization and angiography the septum was hypertrophied to about 5.5 cm and diffuse coronary artery aneurysms were revealed. We found no previous report of coronary artery aneurysm associated with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

BACKGROUND: It has been shown that ATP-sensitive potassium (KATP) channels play an important role in physiology of myocardial adaptation to ischemia. In cardiomyocytes, the pore-forming subunits of these channels are coded by KCNJ11 gene. It was reported that the common polymorphism E23K of this gene is associated with higher susceptibility to coronary heart disease (CHD) in Chinese patients, but no other reports are available from other ethnic groups. METHODS: Iranian patients with confirmed CHD, aged over 50 years were compared with healthy controls for allelic and genotypic frequencies of this polymorphism. Patients who did not suffer from diabetes mellitus were entered into this study if they showed coronary stenosis of >50% in at least one artery in the angiography performed after a coronary event. The subjects and controls were matched for age, gender, blood glucose, body mass index and smoking. RESULTS: No association could be found between CHD and frequencies of G and A alleles, single genotype frequencies of AA, AG, GG, and combine genotypes frequencies of AG+AA versus GG, and AG+GG versus AA. CONCLUSION: This study did not find any association between coronary heart disease and E23K polymorphism in Iranian patients. But, this finding is not conclusive due to limitation of sample size. A subsequent study with a larger sample size is recommended. Keywords: Single Nucleotide Polymorphism, Kir6.2 channel, KATP Channels, Caucasian. &nbsp

Prediction of accessory pathway (AP) location before radiofrequency ablation has become increasingly important for patients with AP; this is especially true for posteroseptal (PS) APs.To identify electrocardiographic and electrophysiologic predictors of pathway location in patients with manifest posteroseptal AP.A detailed electrocardiographic analysis, electrophysiologic study, and ablation were performed in 94 patients with single manifest posteroseptal AP (mean age 35.0 +/- 13.8 years; 56 males).Localization was right PS in 68 patients, left PS in 19 patients, and coronary sinus and its branches in seven patients. Common to all the patients with posteroseptal AP was a negative delta in at least two inferior leads. The most sensitive and specific parameter for differentiating left posteroseptal APs from right posteroseptal APs was an R/S ratioor=1.0 in lead V1 (sensitivity 100% and specificity 100%). The R-wave amplitude in lead I (sensitivity 54%, specificity 67%), and delta ventricularatrial interval (sensitivity 75%, specificity 87%) had much lesser sensitivity and specificity in this regard. The epicardial posteroseptal APs were discriminated from endocardial variant by the positive delta in aVR (sensitivity 71% and specificity 99%) and negative delta in II (sensitivity 100% and specificity 20%). Delta wave polarity in V1 was not helpful for differentiating right-sided from left-sided posteroseptal APs.This study demonstrated that in patients with posteroseptal AP, successful ablation site could be predicted to be on the right or left endocardial surface using R/S ratio in lead V1. Necessity for Coronary sinus catheterization and angiography is predictable using delta wave polarities in leads aVR and II.

Objectives: To report calcified aortic stenosis due to hypercholesterolemia in two siblings. Case Presentation and Intervention: A 13-year-old boy with a history of dyspnea on exertion and a systolic murmur of aortic stenosis was referred to our center. Echocardiography showed combined valvular and supravalvular aortic stenoses with a good left ventricle systolic function and severe left ventricular hypertrophy. Two years later his 17-year-old sister was referred to the clinic with similar symptoms. Severe valvular aortic stenosis was detected by echocardiography. Selective coronary angiography showed significant involvement. The father had a history of hypercholesterolemia and confirmed coronary artery disease involving 3 vessels. Angiography showed anterioapical and inferiobasal hypokinesis with preserved left ventricle systolic function. The mother and the other two siblings did not have hyperlipidemia, thereby indicating heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia in the two affected siblings. The siblings were managed with atrovastatin and nicotinic acid and cholestyramine was added stepwise. The father was treated with lovostatin. Conclusion: This report shows thatsevere hyperlipidemia in very young patients may be a risk factor for valvulopathy.

Rice is one of the major economic crops in Iran which is usually dried by batch type (BT) dryer until the final moisture content (FMC) reaches to about 8%. The physical properties and cooking quality of short grain aromatic rice dried by BT dryer at different drying temperature and low FMC were investigated. The experiments were carried out at 30, 40, 50, and 60oC drying temperatures with different drying time to reach the standard (about 12%) and low (about 9%) FMC. The sample was dried in control conditions used as a reference. The results showed that drying at low temperature for low FMC could be able to keeping the head rice yield (HRY). The HRY for low FMC was increased about 4% at 30 and 40oC and then reduced about 20% at high drying temperature, in compare of control sample. The drying temperature more than 50oC should be avoided as it gives maximum fissured kernels, lowest percentage of HRY, and maximum energy consumption per unit removal of moisture regardless of FMC. The water uptake ratio and volume expansion ratio was significantly (p

Late results of balloon pulmonary valvuloplasty (BPV) in adults are not well known. That is, the results are either early or medium-term ones, or they consist of limited cases. For this purpose we followed up 127 patients (pts,) after successful BPV for a period of &5–7 years. Of these pts. 86 were male and 41 female with an average age of 29.7 (16–54) years. Average pulmonary valve gradient (PVG) was 108.4 + 40.3 (5&–240) mm HG before and 22.3 + 8.5 (80–50) mm HG immediately after BPV (P l 0.0001). Mild to moderate pulmonary insufficiency was detected in 35 pts. All patients were followed-up every six months by doppler echocardiography for a period of 61–86 months. As they did not refer at the last months of follow up, 16 pts. were excluded from the study. After this period, the average PVG in the remaining pts. was 20.5 + 10.4 (8–60) mm HG (P l 0.0001). Of these Pts., in 27 cases, the average PVG was less than its value just after BPV; in 29 cases it was the same and in the remaining 10 cases, the average PVG increased to a value of 44.6 + 10.6 mm HG. After this period of follow up, pulmonary insufficiency was increased slightly in 4 pts. One Pt. showed moderate right ventricular dysfunction due to severe PI. Average PVG was increased mainly in those pts. who showed a PVG of more than 35 mm HG shortly after BPV.Right ventricular hypertrophy in ECG was resolved in 78 Pts. after this period of follow up. In conclusion, PBV in adults is an effective and safe procedure. Late results of this procedure are as good as their immediate ones.

THE energy source of the solar corona continues to be a problem and the acoustical theory of Sturrock1 has not surmounted all objections2. But there are several reasons why the exothermic decay in the corona of a neutral particle such as the neutron is a very attractive possibility: the immense specific energy required to reach temperatures of 106 K, the retention of fast charged particles by the Sun's magnetic field, and the problem of accounting for the high coronal temperature near the relatively low temperature photosphere.