فهرست مطالب m.mokhtari

Seismic designs and numerical analyses required fundamental parameters such as damping ratio and shear modulus. In this study, large-scale triaxial cyclic tests were used to investigate the dynamic properties of limestone ballast and electric arc furnace (EAF) slag ballast. The term ‘shear stiffness’ is typically reported in a normalized form using shear modulus. As the laboratory test results showed, an increase in confining pressure, loading frequency and anisotropy raises the shear modulus of materials. Shear modulus and damping ratio values do not appear to be significantly affected by an increase in loading cycles. Loading frequency plays the most significant role in changing damping ratio values. An adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) was also used to predict the normalized shear modulus and the damping ratio in this study. The results of the developed model were consistent with those of the laboratory tests. Moreover, the relations among the dynamic properties were estimatedly determined using the nonlinear regression method.

A sample of organic soil collected from the Chaharmahal-Bakhtiari Province, Iran, was treated with 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 2.5, and 3% of xanthan gum and 1, 3, and 5% of lime. The untreated and the treated specimens were subjected to physical and mechanical tests, including soil classification, pH measurement, compaction test, unconfined compressive strength test, indirect tensile test, and direct shear test. An increase in lime by 3% led to the greatest increase in the compressive strength (5 and 6 times for the 7-day and 21-day samples, respectively) and the tensile strength (3.7 and 4.5 times for the 7-day and 21-day samples, respectively). Xanthan gum also improved the compressive strength (3 and 6 times for the 7-day and 21-day samples, respectively) and the tensile strength (5.9 and 7.5 times for the 7-day and 21-day samples, respectively). Increasing lime up to 3% enhanced the adhesion of the stabilized soil for 3.5 and 7.5 times that of the organic soil for 7 and 21 days of curing, respectively. Also, the friction angle increased by 40% and 68% times with the increase of lime up to 3% during 7 and 21 days of curing, respectively. Stabilization with xanthan gum led to 11.5 and 17.5 times increase adhesion for 7-day and 21-day samples, respectively. Moreover, xanthan gum increased the friction angle by 47% and 75% for 7-day and 21-day samples, respectively. The findings generally suggest that xanthan gum can be a good ecofriendly alternative to lime as a soil stabilizer.

The profitability of dairy cattle herds mainly depends on the reproductive performance of cows. Because reproductive performance is effective on the amount of daily milk and calf production per cow, increasing the number of inseminations per conception, lengthening the calving interval in the herd, and causing the voluntary (due to the age of the animal) and involuntary (due to illness or fertility disorders) elimination. For evaluating fertility traits, we sometimes come across domains whose records were incomplete at the time, out of range, or delayed. These records are called censored records. The typical way to deal with such records is to delete them from the data set. However, this reduces the information available for genetic evaluation and may affect trait variance by masking actual genetic differences between animals. Another way is to use appropriate statistical methods to place censored records in genetic evaluations. The use of censored records in genetic evaluations yields more reliable genetic parameters, and it can increase the estimation accuracy of breeding values giving the support that the breeding value estimation is close to the true breeding value. The present study aimed to investigate the role of censored records in the estimation of genetic parameters of the number of inseminations per conception in Iranian dairy cows.
The dataset included 29621 records collected from 2005 to 2019 by the Vahdat Cooperative of Isfahan in Iran. FoxPro software (version 9.0) was used to edit and prepare data, remove incorrect records and create contemporary groups. Five animal models, including Threshold Model (TM), Penalty Model (PM), Modified Penalty Model (MPM), Threshold-Threshold Model (TTM), and Modified Threshold-Threshold Model (MTTM), were used for the genetic evaluation of this trait. The predictive ability of the models was assessed using cross-validation. Also, a simulation study was performed to determine the appropriate model.
The estimated heritability using different models was 0.3 (0.013), 0.07 (0.013), 0.07 (0.013), 0.3 (0.13), and 0.4 (0.012) for TM, PM, TTM, MPM, and MTTM, respectively. The highest correlation of breeding values for all animals was between MPM and TM (0.98). The same result was obtained for the best sire (sire with at least 20 daughters). The high correlation shows that these models work similarly in selecting the best sires. The low correlation between models indicates that the models rank sires differently. Therefore, the choice of model can affect the ranking of males. The top 10 sires showed less correlation between models than the active sires. When the number of males decreases, the selection becomes more strict. The prediction accuracy in models with censored records is higher than in models without censored records because the use of models that include censored records is due to the increased information about the trait, and the absence of bias due to deleting records improves the accuracy of estimating breeding values. Consequently, if the censoring status is not taken into account, animals with superior breeding values may be biased. The low ratio of common superior animals in different percentages between models showed that these two models rank the animals differently. Still, the high proportion of common superior animals indicates the similarity of the two models in choosing the best animals. So, model selection can be effective in ranking superior animals because when the censored record is used, the information is increased and the situation would be closer to reality. The cross-validation showed that the accuracy of the breeding value prediction by different models was higher in models with censored records than in models without censored records. The results of the simulation study showed that the models with censored records provided better genetic parameter estimates. TTM has been able to estimate expected heritability better than other models. The percentage of top animals in common between the top 10 and the top one percent of simulated animals with different models showed that the ability of the TTM model to select real top animals is more than other models, which shows that this model has identified top animals better.
The results of the present study showed that the censored records are important for estimating the genetic parameters of the number of inseminations per conception in Iranian dairy cows and ignoring those led to a biased estimation of the parameters. Data simulations also showed that using censored records provided more realistic genetic parameter estimates.

The need to perform an abortion in the first three months of pregnancy with an effective and safe drug therapy is more important than other methods. The purpose of this study is to compare the effects of letrozole and misoprostol versus misoprostol alone on abortion.

In this clinical trial, 114 candidates for legal abortion in the first trimester of pregnancy were randomly assigned to three groups of 38 people receiving sublingual misoprostol alone with placebo (same amount of letrozole), misoprostol with letrozole 10 mg daily for 3 days and the third group was given misoprostol along with letrozole with a daily dose of 5 mg for 3 days. In addition to the demographic and obstetrical information of the patients, the primary outcome including complete and incomplete abortion, misoprostol dosage and side effects were compared in patients of three groups.

The mean gestational age of the patients was 73.1±9.2 days. A total of 84 (73.7%) patients had complete abortion, including 28 patients (73.7%) in the letrozole 5 mg group, 32 patients (84.2%) in the letrozole 10 mg group, and 24 patients (63.2%) were in the placebo group. In the letrozole 10 mg group, with a statistically significant difference, the rate of complete abortion was higher in them than in the placebo group (84.2 vs. 63.2%, p=0.037). 20 patients in the letrozole 5 mg group, 16 in the letrozole 10 mg group, and all patients in the placebo group received misoprostol, and the difference between the two groups of letrozole 10 mg and placebo was significant in terms of misoprostol intake (p=0.001). The most common side effect in patients of all three groups was nausea and vomiting, which did not have a statistically significant difference between all three groups.

The findings of the present study showed that letrozole 10 mg along with misoprostol is effective in patients who need legal abortion in the first trimester.

The ultra-high performance concrete which has high ductility and toughness, is widely used in the construction of new structures. The key feature of ultra-high performance concrete is that it has a very high potential in bearing strong loads such as impact loads or explosions. In this paper a 3D model of an ultra-high performance concrete slab is modeled and subjected to blast loading in LS-DYNA finite element software. To this end, different scenarios of blast loading are selected and the responses including the vertical displacement and the plastic strain contour of the slab are determined under each scenario. In this numerical model, the effect of strain rate on the dynamic behavior of materials is also considered. It is observed that when the slab is subjected to a shorter distance and stronger blast load, it first experiences the largest displacement and after that the displacement decreases and remains constant. However, in the case of exposure to a weaker blast load at a longer distance from the surface of the slab, the slab fluctuates relative to the initial position with an almost constant fluctuation period and has little displacements.

Missed care affects the quality of care and endangers patient safety. The purpose of the present study is to assess the missed nursing care and its relationship with nursing social responsibility.

Instrument & Methods:

In this descriptive-correlational study, 342 nurses practicing in hospitals affiliated to Khoy University of Medical Sciences were studied as a sample. Data collection tools included a demographic profile, missed nursing care questionnaire, and Carroll's social responsibility questionnaire. The results were analyzed using SPSS 20 software and statistical tests.

The blood glucose control (1.74±0.96) and intravenous line care (1.90±0.85) were the lowest neglected nursing cares, and emotional support of patients and companions (3.12±1.28) and hand washing (3.80±1.27) were the highest neglected nursing care. Missed nursing care had a reverse and significant correlation with social responsibility (r=-0.56). Also, the variables of social responsibility (β=-0.401; p=0.0001), workload (β=7.365; p=0.0001), and exotic expectations (β=4.064; p=0.003) were good predictors for missed nursing care.

Nursing care is neglected among nurses; these errors have an inverse relationship with the social responsibility of nurses. First, the supervision system of supervisors is more effective than that of nurses. Secondly, nursing managers have special ethical standards in the selection of staff.

The central enquiry of the present study is how modern and traditional discourses of revolution influenced in shaping, living and dying Chavosh in the context of Iranian traditional music? In this study, we try to adopt an analytical method with a descriptive approach to examine the process of formation and collision of the way a musical discourse may superseded by a new one based on social and political changes within the society. We are particularly seeking to find how new musical discourses appeared over political activates led to 1979 Islamic revolution superseded previous life Iranian traditional music. Chavosh was one of the Iranian band shaped in this stream and tried to combine Iranian traditional music with revolutionary lyrical themes. The musical dimension of Chavosh's works includes components that are related to the “modern discourse” on the one hand and to the “traditional discourse” on the other, and their expression can be clearly traced in Chavosh's works. The intellectual and ideological field of Chavosh music, which is mainly reflected in the song contents, is influenced by the revolutionary tendencies and political atmosphere of the years leading to the 1979 revolution. This style gradually turned to build a new music genre among Iranian traditional music ensembles which continued its life even after Chavosh ended its life. Our findings show that Chavosh's discourse is a synthesis of modernism and traditionalism discourses in between the middle of the Nasseri period in second half of the 19th century and Islamic revolution in 1979.

Having a 3-Dimensional model of high-rise buildings can be used in disaster management such as fire cases to reduce casualties. The fundamental dilemma in 3D building modeling is the unavailability of suitable data sources. However, available cadastral 2D maps could be used as low-cost and attainable resources for 3D building modeling. Smoke will be a great threat to people's health during a fire in a building and its movement and diffusion in different parts of the building are affected by the architectural design of the building. Computer simulation can be utilized to investigate smoke movement and its emanated toxic gases under various scenarios which can play a significant role in decision making during a fires incident event to reduce human casualties. In this research, at first, 2D cadastral maps of a high-rise building located at Tehran were utilized to produce a 3D model of building with adequate details in CityEngine. Next, smoke emission in the building was simulated under seven scenarios, using PyroSim software. The two-dimensional data of apartment separation is readily available and at the lowest cost. Using some tools and techniques in spatial information systems, making it possible to utilize this data to implement a three-dimensional model of a building with details to simulate the spread of smoke from fires. The process adopted in this study made it possible to use a two-dimensional floor plan to produce a three-dimensional model of the building at the LoD4. The results confirm the appropriateness of the constructed 3D model to simulate smoke emission under various scenarios in the high-rise building. This result shows the effect and importance of smoke transfer routes, both inside and outside the building, on the emission of toxic gases. The results show that ensuring that the ducts are closed is one of the factors controlling the spread of smoke to other floors. Flue gutters and ducts are among the most important routes for emitting smoke in high-rise buildings. The simulation results of Scenario 4 show that 40 seconds after the start of the fire, the toxic fumes spread through the stairs at all top floors of the building. Although data from 2D cadastral maps can be used to create a three-dimensional model of a building, these data have shortcomings. The part related to the texture of the map features is faced with a lack of information such as the thickness of the walls, the type of used materials, the exact location of the components (doors and windows) on the walls, and so on. These factors affect the smoke emission simulation results. As a result, development of a three-dimensional model of the building containing more detailed information about the specifications and materials used in the walls and various parts of the building needs to be considered in future research. The smoke emission simulation results can also be used in a variety of applications, including emergency evacuation modeling in the event of a fire in a building, along with the inclusion of other information such as number and physical characteristics of residents in different parts of the building.

Over-ordering of blood before operation can cause unnecessary cross matches, blood bank staff overload, blood unit wastages due to outdating, and increase hospital costs. So, we aimed to survey the efficacy of MSBOS on blood utilization in Faghihi Hospital, Shiraz, Iran. 

This cross sectional study was conducted over a three month period in 2019 and 2020 (before and after MSBOS establishment) in Faghihi Hospital, Shiraz, Iran. The education class was held for surgeons to order blood according to MSBOS. The frequency of cross matches, transfused blood units, and the cross match to transfusion ratio were compared before and after MSBOS establishment by comparison of proportions by MedCalc software in the elective surgical ward. 

The cross match to transfusion ratio significantly decreased after MSBOS establishment (3.97 to 1.46). The transfusion index and transfusion probability increased significantly after MSBOS establishment (25.2% to 63.6%, 24.7% to 59.4%)) p < 0.001). The cross match rates also decreased (51.13%). The cross match costs also decreased from 293898528 Rials (Iranian currency) to 143626560.

Conclusions: 

In this study, the cross match to transfusion ratio decreased significantly after MSBOS establishment which shows the effectiveness of MSBOS on rational blood use. So, the education of surgeons and emphasis on blood ordering according to MSOBS can improve blood usage.

Skin aging is divided into two categories of intrinsic and extrinsic aging. Skin aging due to repeated exposure to ultraviolet radiation (extrinsic aging) is different from aging caused by time (intrinsic aging). The appearance of wrinkles caused by sunlight is due to subcutaneous fat atrophy and reduced production of collagen and elastin, thereby altering the biomechanical properties of the skin tissue. This study was conducted to investigate the skin damage caused by ultraviolet B (UVB) radiation by consecutive ultrasonic image processing with high resolution.

In this experimental study, we evaluated the skin injury process among 25 C57BL/6 mice in healthy group (zero dose), and case group exposed to UVB radiation at 0.03 milliwatts per square centimeter (5 times a week for 5 weeks) due to differences in skin characteristics. Physical parameters of dermal and epidermal layers were measured and evaluated weekly from day 7 to day 35 using ultrasonic image processing.

The thickness of the dermal and epidermal layers obtained by ultrasonic processing during the process of ultraviolet radiation injury in the mouse model significantly increased during the 5 – week study (p < 0.05). In addition, the percentage of changes in the thickness of the epidermis layer (from 0.22±0.01 mm on day zero to 0.37 ± 0.02 mm on the thirty-fifth day) and the dermal layer (from 0.57 ± 0.05 on day zero to 0.90 ± 0.08 mm on the thirty-fifth day) showed 68% and 57% increase, respectively.

The results showed that UVB radiation increased the thickness of the skin layers.
 

Nonlinear hysteresis behavior is an important inherited property of any structural system. The shape of structural hysteretic behavior is a result of either changing material properties beyond the elastic range or changes in structural geometry (e.g. buckling, cracks) due to the subjected loads. The hysteretic response of a structure depends not only on the immediate deformation of elements, but also on the past history of the deformations, as it represents the energy dissipated by the structure. While, in some cases, such as well-designed hot-rolled structures, the hysteretic loops are quite smooth and stable, in some other cases, like cold-formed steel structures, they exhibit pinching, stiffness degradation, load deterioration, and sliding. Increasing the displacement under strong dynamic forces such as earthquakes, the hysteresis cycles enter from the elastic phase into the plastic phase. Hence, ignoring non-linearity in hysteresis behavior and neglecting degradation effects lead to ignoring much energy loss by dissipated energy mechanisms. Consequently, the designs would be uneconomical. In contrast, improper inclusion of the nonlinear hysteretic performance, such as neglecting sliding and strength deterioration, causes non-conservative structural design. Thus, considering real plastic deformation and proper non-linear behavior are essential and important in the assessment of structural stability. In this paper, an analytical model is introduced to show the hysteresis behavior of the structures, considering degradation phenomena, including pinching, stiffness degradation, strength deterioration and sliding effects. This model is based on a modied Mostaghel model, which is developed considering a single degree of freedom (SDOF) mechanical system; and is characterized using a system of partial differential equations and some speciffc functions which are mainly derived from the Signum function. The proposed model is developed to a multi-degree of freedom (MDOF) multi-liner model and would be able to capture the key features of the hysteretic cycles of any structure using some measurable system parameters through tests. In order to demonstrate the degrading phenomena of the hysteresis behavior of the structures, several examples are presented to show that the proposed analytical model is capable of providing realistic description of the structural hysteretic performance.

Automobile light weight structural composites are subjected to the various loadings in their service lives. Honeycombs are increasingly used as core structures in automobile light weight structures as energy absorbers. In this paper the energy absorption of honeycomb panels under impact of cylindrical projectile is numerically and experimentally studied. The effect of the core materials and cross-ply or semi-isotropic lamination of face-sheets are checked numerically. Results shown that the aluminum cores vs. Nomex cores and semi-isotropic lamination of face-sheets have much better energy absorption aspects in impact loading.

Diabetes Mellitus is a major endocrine disorder and growing health problem in most of countries. Avicennia marina is a type of mangrove plants which can grows in the Iranian coastal areas of Persian Gulf. We studied the effects of Avicennia marina leaves aqueous and hydroalcoholic extract on streptozotocin -induced diabetic male rats.

In this experimental study, 45 male rats were randomly divided into nine groups of five. Control animals were fed with a normal diet. The test groups received intraperitoneal injection of 60 mg/kg streptozotocin for induction of diabetes. The diabetic groups were further subgrouped into; diabetes, diabetic control (given 0.9% normal saline) and 6 groups treated orally with aqueous and hydroalcoholic extract of Avicennia marina leaves (30, 60, 120 mg/kg daily for three consecutive days). Twenty-four hours after the last treatment, blood samples were collected from heart for determining the blood glucose and insulin concentration levels using glucose oxidase and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) methods respectively.

Our results indicated that aqueous and hydroalcoholic extracts of Avicennia marina leaves could decrease the mean blood glucose of diabetic test rats compared to diabetic control group (from 293.8±10.88 to 131.4±2.97 vs 139±1.92 respectively). Also, a significant increase in the serum insulin levels with no increase in the final body weights was found in the former group. No toxic effects of leaves extract was observed after 2 days of treatment.

In this study, we have shown that Avicennia marina leaves extract can significantly decrease the blood glucose level.

Introduction Today the protected areas including national parks are recognized as among the most beneficial forms of multi-aspect and stable productivity. Green spaces are appropriate places for the citizens to spend their leisure time. The main objective in designing of green space is to attain its social and mental effects in making human closer to the nature as far as possible. Nowadays, sociologists, psychologists and physicians believe that in addition to important implications for public and environmental health, green space plays positive role in the health and well-being of community as well. The fundamental objective of the present research is to develope an experimental model which can determine the parks function and provide a scientific base to identify the factors that affect the urban parks function. The functional objectives are also included in the identification and definition of the constituents of the parks function, the comparison of the parks efficiency between males and females and, also, paving the way for the planners and creating opportunities for scientific researches in the field of parks function. This study seeks to explore the relationships between the independent variables such as type of park, and the background variables as gender, education and marital status and, finally, it will be involved in the relationships of "parks facilities", "security" and "social solidarity" with parks function in an analytical model. Data were collected via interview with citizens through the survey method using the researcher-made questionnaire technique. 2- Theoretical Bases According to Parsons, a function is “a complex of activities directed towards meeting a need or needs of the system”, so it can be said that the parks are considered as need of city and are used by the city centers to meet their particular needs such as moral mental, social and cultural ones. Viewing park not solely as a physical phenomenon rather as a living phenomenon which gives life to a community, it appears that Morton's theory would clearly explain its function; park, on the one hand, is an integral part of a city and essentially has functions for it and, on the other hand, the obvious function of a park is to provide an appropriate place to enjoy leisure time with a sense of peace and recreation. And in such a space the individuals interact with each other and these interactions and communication occur more frequently in parks. But, park has latent functions as well, i.e. it can be an atmosphere of crimes and social pathology which are not taken into account as the clear and obvious objective in creating a park. 3- Discussion On the basis of theories concerning function, three factors of facilities, security, and solidarity socio-cultural indicator, moral and mental indicator, educational indicator as the determinant of the parks efficiency were studied and examined as dependent variable in the model of structural equation and the background variables including gender, type of park, occupation, education and marital status as independent variables associated with the parks function and the results showed that among the background variables the marital status, type of park and occupation had significant relationship with parks efficiency. The married persons have found the parks more efficient as compared to the single ones and this indicates that the married persons make use of such space in normal and effective way. Regarding the parks efficiency, the mean value obtained for the employed persons was higher than that for the unemployed ones indicating that the employed persons are in more need to park as a result of their occupation and the level of pressures have to be tolerated. 4- Conclusion The results show that a high degree of parks efficiency is determined by the existing facilities and the efficiency of the latter. Security as a social variable is of almost the similar potential and, thereby, insecurity in parks as well as creating such sense in visitors will lead to the parks efficiency decrease. The above results confirm the theories about the mental and social factors. But, among the indicators determining the latent variable of parks efficiency, the social and cultural factor is of higher importance than others and this proves the importance of the cultural and social dimensions of a society in determining the level of parks efficiency. 5- Suggestions By considering the results obtained from the survey, the parks designers and officials are, on the one hand, to pay attention to the level of efficiency as well as the factors affecting the parks efficiency because when such factors are neglected, the parks will have no effective efficiency, and, on the other hand, to make people susceptible and to create common sense about maintenance and special care since they are the social human beings who finally make use of these urban spaces.

Ultrasonic testing (UT), a nondestructive testing (NDT) method, is under development for quality determination of agricultural products, although it has long been used in the food industry. Determination and measurement of product quality are important in modern agricultural research. Noninvasive/nondestructive quality determination is a novel aspect of the postharvest process in which parameters measured by NDT methods are correlated with product quality. Reviews show that the “through-transmission method” is better than other UT methods for examination of agricultural products. The main parameters of the through-transmission method are wave velocity and attenuation.In this research, a UT system was designed and developed to analyze a signal passing through a product. The system consisted of a set of fabricated pulser/receiver units with ultrasonic transducers, control software and a data acquisition system. The system semi-automatically determined the two important ultrasonic parameters of wave velocity and attenuation coefficient by signal processing. The effect of couplant type, contact force, enveloping, delay line, and sample thickness were investigated using the signal. Several types of fruits and vegetables having differing tissue types (apple, potato, nectarine, banana, carrot, cucumber and quince) were selected for testing. The thicknesses of thesamples were 5cm to 12cm. Results demonstrated that using couplant, enveloping signal, low contact force (5N) and suitable sample thickness, the ultrasonic measurement system could measure ultrasonic parameters effectively at a suitable response speed. The ultrasonic wave was transmitted through most of these products using a pulse signal with 40kHz excited frequency at low power. The precision of the time-of-flight measurement increased with enveloping of the transmitted signal.

Psychedelic drugs such as ecstasy which are usually taken by youth have diverse effects on body tissues and neurotransmitters like serotonin. In this study, we have examined the effects of these drugs on the pituitary-gonadal axis in rats to assess the process of spermatogenesis in testis.

Fifty mature rats of Wistar race were divided into 5 groups of ten as experimental and control groups. Since the amount of effective substance methylenedioxymethamphethamine (MDMA) was not clear in each pill, first the pills were weighed and solved in normal saline to prepare a standard solution. All rats were injected at 3 dosage (2.5, 5 and 10 mg/kg) using insulin syringe and special feeder for 28 days. Then the blood samples were taken to measure FSH, LH and testosterone concentrations. The testis tissue was removed and after sectioning and staining, was examined for any changes. The achieved results were analyzed in SPSS software using T- test and ANOVA.

The serum levels of LH did not change significantly in experimental group compared to control group. A significant double impact was seen in the serum concentration of FSH in the experimental groups. A meaningful increase was seen in different groups in serum concentration of testosterone which was probably due to increase in the release of serotonin after exposure to ecstasy. The testis examination showed that its tissue has been atrophied compared to control group which may be due to the hyperthermic effect of the drug that may directly affect spermatogenesis.

According to the hormonal examinations and microscopic studies, we concluded that long lasting use of ecstasy causes destructive effects on the pituitary-gonadal axis and also causes testicular atrophy.