• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.105-116
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• 2017

This paper presents the dynamic stability study of laminated composite plates with different force combinations and aspect ratios. Optimum non-diverging stacking is obtained for certain loading combination and aspect ratio. In addition, the stability force is maximized for a definite operating frequency. A dynamic version of the principle of virtual work for laminated composites is used to obtain force-frequency relation. Since dynamic stiffness governs the divergence or flutter, an efficient optimization method is necessary for the response functional and the relevant constraints. In this way, a model based on the ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm is proposed to search for the proper stacking. The ACO algorithm is used since it treats with large number of dynamic stability parameters. Governing equations are formulated using classic laminate theory (CLT) and von-Karman plate technique. Load-frequency relations are explicitly obtained for fundamental and secondary flutter modes of simply supported composite plate with arbitrary aspect ratio, stacking and boundary load, which are used in optimization process. Obtained results are compared with the finite element method results for validity and accuracy convince. Results revealed that the optimum stacking with stable dynamic response and maximum critical load is in angle-ply mode with almost near-unidirectional fiber orientations for fundamental flutter mode. In addition, short plates behave better than long plates in combined axial-shear load case regarding stable oscillation. The interaction of uniaxial and shear forces intensifies the instability in long plates than short ones which needs low-angle layup orientations to provide required dynamic stiffness. However, a combination of angle-ply and cross-ply stacking with a near-square aspect ratio is appropriate for the composite plate regarding secondary flutter mode.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.72-77
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• 2016

Background: This study aimed to determine the prevalence and factors related to needle stick injuries (NSIs) and to assess related safety measures among a sample of Iranian nurses. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, a random sample of 168 registered active nurses was selected from different wards of one of the hospitals of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS). Data were collected by an anonymous questionnaire and a checklist based observational method among the 168 registered active nurses. Results: The prevalence of NSIs in the total of work experience and the last year was 76% and 54%, respectively. Hollow-bore needles were the most common devices involved in the injuries (85.5%). The majority of NSIs occurred in the morning shift (57.8%) and the most common activity leading to NSIs was recapping needles (41.4%). The rate of underreporting NSIs was 60.2% and the major reasons for not reporting the NSIs were heavy clinical schedule (46.7%) and perception of low risk of infection (37.7%). A statistically significant relationship was found between the occurrence of NSIs and sex, hours worked/week, and frequency of shifts/month. Conclusion: The study showed a high prevalence of NSIs among nurses. Supportive measures such as improving injection practices, modification of working schedule, planning training programs targeted at using personal protective equipment, and providing an adequate number of safety facilities such as puncture resistant disposal containers and engineered safe devices are essential for the effective prevention of NSI incidents among the studied nurses.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.95-100
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• 2018

Background: Respiratory protection equipment (RPE) is the last resort to control exposure to workplace air pollutants. A comprehensive respiratory protection program (RPP) ensures that RPE is selected, used, and cared properly. Therefore, RPP must be well integrated into the occupational health and safety requirements. In this study, we evaluated the implementation of RPP in Iranian petrochemical industries to identify the required solutions to improve the current status of respiratory protection. Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted among 24 petrochemical industries in Iran. The survey instrument was a checklist extracted from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration respiratory protection standard. An index, Respiratory Protection Program Index (RPPI), was developed and weighted by analytic hierarchy process to determine the compliance rate (CR) of provided respiratory protection measures with the RPP standard. Data analysis was performed using Excel 2010. Results: The most important element of RPP, according to experts, was respiratory hazard evaluation. The average value of RPPI in the petrochemical plants was $49{\pm}15%$. The highest and lowest of CR among RPP elements were RPE selection and medical evaluation, respectively. Conclusion: None of studied petrochemical industries implemented RPP completely. This can lead to employees' overexposure to hazardous workplace air contaminants. Increasing awareness of employees and employers through training is suggested by this study to improve such conditions.

• Proceedings of the Korea Technical Association of the Pulp and Paper Industry Conference
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• 2006.06b
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• pp.337-347
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• 2006

Papers made from unbleached and bleached bagasse chemimechanical pulp were chemically modified by acetylation. The effects of irradiation on unbleached and bleached also reduced papers of bagasse chemimechanical pulp before and after acetylation were investigated in this study. Chemimechanical pulp was prepared from bagasse and then bleached with hydrogen peroxide. Unbleached and hydrogen bleached pulps were reduced by Sodium borohydride in different procedures. Paper sheets were prepared from pulps and then acetylated using a technical grade of acetic anhydride. Accelerated photo-aging was run on the samples using fluorescent lamps to verify photo-stability of paper sheets before and after pretreatments. Brightness reversion (as Post-color number) and other optical properties of the paper sheets were measured. Efficient inhibition of photo-yellowing of papers made from bagasse CMP was achieved by acetylation. The acetylated unbleached CMP was noticeably photo-bleached during irradiation. Sodium borohydride reduction followed by acetylation had the same effect as acetylation alone at the same degree of reaction time and reductive treatment did not affect the yellowing rate to any great extent. The pre-reduced, acetylated unbleached papers were, however, not brightened during irradiation. Calculation done by Kubelka-Munk equation showed that reductive treatment had little effect in reducing the photo-yellowing of paper made from CMP pulp; a small stabilization effect was observed in the case of bleached CMP, while unbleached CMP was slightly more prone to discolor in the later phase of photo-reversion. The improved stability towards light may was closely related to the decrease in the phenolic hydroxyl content as a result of blocking by acetyl groups during treatment with acetic anhydride. The results support the hypothesis that phenolic hydroxyl has an important role in the process of photo-reversion of high-yield pulps. The results obtained in this study demonstrate that the acetylation of paper manufactured from peroxide bleached Bagasse CMP significantly retards light-induced discoloration. The inhibition of yellowing is connected with a decrease in the phenolic hydroxyl content of both unbleached and peroxide bleached papers.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.689-703
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• 2019

The term quality or freshness of eggs in industrial production still poses concerns regarding whether washing is necessary. Therefore, the aims of this study were to examine the effects of different storage times and temperatures and to perform a comparison between washed and unwashed eggs. A total of 1000 washed and 1000 unwashed egg samples were stored at three different temperatures (5, 10, and $25^{\circ}C$) for 0 - 8 weeks and were used for the data collection. On the designated day, the eggs were processed to evaluate their internal and external quality traits, such as the Haugh unit, airspace volume, eggshell strength, pH, and microbiological profile. Significant differences (p < 0.05) were observed between the washed and unwashed eggs for each quality trait. The results indicate that storage between 5 and $10^{\circ}C$ better preserved the quality of eggs compared with the storage at $25^{\circ}C$ throughout the days of the storage. Overall, this study suggests that the storage time and temperature have a vital role in maintaining the quality of eggs which were significantly affected during storage. In addition, all the quality parameters differed between the washed and unwashed samples which is further responsible for deteriorating the quality of the eggs.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.140-144
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• 2019

Objectives: Investigating the survival of patients with cancer is vitally necessary for controlling the disease and for assessing treatment methods. This study aimed to compare various statistical models of survival and to determine the survival rate and its related factors among patients suffering from lung cancer. Methods: In this retrospective cohort, the cumulative survival rate, median survival time, and factors associated with the survival of lung cancer patients were estimated using Cox, Weibull, exponential, and Gompertz regression models. Kaplan-Meier tables and the log-rank test were also used to analyze the survival of patients in different subgroups. Results: Of 102 patients with lung cancer, 74.5% were male. During the follow-up period, 80.4% died. The incidence rate of death among patients was estimated as 3.9 (95% confidence [CI], 3.1 to 4.8) per 100 person-months. The 5-year survival rate for all patients, males, females, patients with non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC), and patients with small cell lung carcinoma (SCLC) was 17%, 13%, 29%, 21%, and 0%, respectively. The median survival time for all patients, males, females, those with NSCLC, and those with SCLC was 12.7 months, 12.0 months, 16.0 months, 16.0 months, and 6.0 months, respectively. Multivariate analyses indicated that the hazard ratios (95% CIs) for male sex, age, and SCLC were 0.56 (0.33 to 0.93), 1.03 (1.01 to 1.05), and 2.91 (1.71 to 4.95), respectively. Conclusions: Our results showed that the exponential model was the most precise. This model identified age, sex, and type of cancer as factors that predicted survival in patients with lung cancer.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.183-194
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• 2019

Adulteration of argan oil with some other cheaper oils with similar chemical compositions has resulted in increasing demands for authenticity assurance and quality control. Fast and simple analytical techniques are thus needed for authenticity analysis of high-priced argan oil. Raman spectroscopy is a potent technique and has been extensively used for quality control and safety determination for food products In this study, Raman spectroscopy in combination with a net analyte signal (NAS)-based methodology, i.e., hybrid linear analysis method developed by Goicoechea and Olivieri in 1999 (HLA/GO), was used to predict the different concentrations of olive oil (0 - 20%) added to argan oil. Raman spectra of 90 samples were collected in a spectral range of $400-400cm^{-1}$, and calibration and validation sets were designed to evaluate the performance of the multivariate method. The results revealed a high coefficient of determination ($R^2$) value of 0.98 and a low root-mean-square error (RMSE) value of 0.41% for the calibration set, and an $R^2$ of 0.97 and RMSE of 0.36% for the validation set. Additionally, the figures of merit such as sensitivity, selectivity, limit of detection, and limit of quantification were used for further validation. The high $R^2$ and low RMSE values validate the detection ability and accuracy of the developed method and demonstrate its potential for quantitative determination of oil adulteration.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.95-101
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• 2019

Objectives: Angiotensin II (AngII), a major product of renin-angiotensin system (RAS) has important role in induction of hypertension and antihypertensive effect of several medicinal plant was mediated by effect on this agent. Therefore, this study examined the possible effect of hydroalcoholic extract of Crocus sativus (C. sativus) on hypertension induced by AngII. Methods: Six groups (n = 6) of rats were used as follow: 1) Control, 2) AngII (300 ng/kg), 3) Losartan (Los, 10 mg/kg) + AngII and 4-6) C. sativus extract (10, 20 & 40 mg/kg,) + AngII. The femoral artery and vein were cannulated for recording cardiovascular parameters and drugs administration, respectively. All drugs were injected intravenously (i.v). Los and all doses of C. sativus injected 10 min before AngII. Systolic blood pressure (SBP), mean arterial blood pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) were recorded throughout the experiment and those peak changes (${\Delta}$) were calculated and compared to control and AngII. Results: AngII significantly increased ${\Delta}MAP$, ${\Delta}SBP$ and ${\Delta}HR$ than control (P < 0. 01 to P < 0.001) and these increments were significantly attenuated by Los. All doses of C. sativus significantly reduced peak ${\Delta}MAP$, ${\Delta}SBP$, and ${\Delta}HR$ than AngII group (P < 0. 05 to P < 0.001). In addition, peak ${\Delta}MAP$, ${\Delta}SBP$ in doses 10 and 20 were significant than Los + AngII group (P<0.05 to P< 0.01) but in dose 40 only MAP was significant (P<0.05). Peak ${\Delta}HR$ in all doses of C sativus was not significant than Los+ AngII. Conclusion: Regarding the improving effect of the C. sativus extract on AngII induced hypertension, it seems that this ameliorating effect partly mediated through inhibition of RAS.

• Clinical and Experimental Reproductive Medicine
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.154-162
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• 2018

Objective: The fallopian tubes play a critical role in the early events of fertilization. The rapid innate immune defense is an important part of the fallopian tubes. Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3), as a part of the innate immune system, plays an important role in detecting viral infections. In this basic and experimental study, the effect of sex hormones on the function of TLR3 in the OE-E6/E7 cell line was investigated. Methods: The functionality of TLR3 in this cell line was evaluated by cytokine measurements (interleukin [IL]-6 and IL-1b) and the effects of sex hormones on TLR3 were tested by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kit. Additionally, TLR3 small interfering RNA (siRNA) and a TLR3 function-blocking antibody were used to confirm our findings. Results: The production of IL-6 significantly increased in the presence of polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid (poly(I:C)) as the TLR3 ligand. Using a TLR3-siRNA-ransfected OE-E6/E7 cell line and function-blocking antibody confirmed that cytokine production was due to TLR3. In addition, 17-${\beta}$ estradiol and progesterone suppressed the production of IL-6 in the presence and absence of poly(I:C). Conclusion: These results imply that sex hormones exerted a suppressive effect on the function of TLR3 in the fallopian tube cell line when different concentrations of sex hormones were present. The current results also suggest that estrogen receptor beta and nuclear progesterone receptor B are likely to mediate the hormonal regulation of TLR3, as these two receptors are the main estrogen and progesterone receptors in OEE6/E7 cell line.

• The Plant Pathology Journal
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.189-199
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• 2019

In this research, the relationships among the 31 microsatellite markers with charcoal rot disease resistance related indices in 130 different soybean cultivars and lines were evaluated using association analysis based on the general linear model (GLM) and the mixed linear model (MLM) by the Structure and Tassel software. The results of microsatellite markers showed that the genetic structure of the studied population has three subpopulations (K=3) which the results of bar plat also confirmed it. In association analysis based on GLM and MLM models, 31 and 35 loci showed significant relationships with the evaluated traits, respectively, and confirmed considerable variation of the studied traits. The identified markers related to some of the studied traits were the same which can probably be due to pleiotropic effects or tight linkage among the genomic regions controlling these traits. Some of these relationships were including, the relationship between Sat_252 marker with amount of charcoal rot disease, Satt359, Satt190 and Sat_169 markers with number of microsclerota in stem, amount of charcoal rot disease and severity of charcoal rot disease, Sat_416 marker with number of microsclerota in stem and amount of charcoal rot disease and the Satt460 marker with number of microsclerota in stem and severity of charcoal rot disease. The results of this research and the linked microsatellite markers with the charcoal rot disease-related characteristics can be used to identify the suitable parents and to improve the soybean population in future breeding programs.