Formulating transit development strategy at Anzali port through SWOT & QSPM methods

Anzali port as a major and oldest port in north of Iran plays a significant role in cargo Transit. Formulating an appropriate strategy in transit will improve the performance of this port through attracting more cargo. In this study, the weakness and strength (Internal Factors) as well as the threats and opportunities (External factors) of Anzali port are identified and evaluated through SWOT analysis. Analyzing internal factor evaluation matrix shows that “entering ship to the port without delay” and ”the high rate of cargo handling” are major strengths in functional area of this port while “the lack of coordination among port and other organizations” as well as “ lack of Storage” are the most dominant weaknesses. Results for evaluating external factors indicate “increasing transit income” as the best opportunity and “sever competition in attracting cargo transit” as an important threat. Finally, QSPM technique is applied to evaluate the alternative strategies in this port. Comparing eight key selected strategies indicates that “attracting merchant”, “keeping the fixed customers” and “overhauling port facilities” have the highest priority respectively. In order to provide the total weighted scores in SWOT and the relative attractiveness of the QSPM, two separate Likert scale questioner forms are distributed among 16 experts of Anzali port

Investigating the barriers and effective factors of transit cargo attracting at ports (case study of Anzali port)

Through Transit is a kind of multifarious procedures which is affected by various elements and organizations such as port, customs and hinterland elements. The performance of each section of this transport chain, in the case of proper planning could attract considerable foreign exchange income. In the meantime the performance of transit could be increased through identifying the barriers and effective elements of transit cargo attracting. It is the purpose of the present paper to identify and select the most effective indicus in transit industry at ports. To do this, all of the possible factors and bottlenecks in a transit process are uncovered through library research, interviews and Delfi technics. Then they are categorized based on the three models of fish bone model, type of indices as well as quantity and qualities of indices. In order to find out whether each associated factors has an effect on the transit process or not, the binominal test is applied. To do this, a five point Likert scale quationer form consist of 27 items was distributed among 16 transit experts. Analysis is done through SPSS software. The result indicates that factors such as advertising in shipping line attracting, 24 hours a day, seven days a week services and having cargo-handling gears with high capacity are observed as non-effective factors in transit industry while economic/ prices stability and effective multy modal connectivity at ports (road, railway , aviation..) are considered as effective factors in transit industry. Finally, along with the investigation of transit issues at north port of Iran, some identified indices such as port time, vessel throughput and berth throughput are scrutinized at Anzali port as a case study

Mechanical properties of dense mycelium-bound composites under accelerated tropical weathering conditions

Mycelium, as the root of fungi, is composed of filamentous strands of fine hyphae that bind discrete substrate particles into a block material. With advanced processing, dense mycelium-bound composites (DMCs) resembling commercial particleboards can be formed. However, their mechanical properties and performance under the working conditions of particleboards are unknown. Here, we show how weathering conditions affect the DMC stress and elastic modulus. DMC was made using Ganoderma lucidum mycelium grown on a substrate of sawdust and empty fruit bunch. The DMC was then subjected to weathering under tropical conditions over 35 days and tested under flexural, tensile, and compressive loading with reference to international standards. After exposure to specified weathering conditions, the maximum stress in flexure, tension, and compression decreased substantially. The addition of a protective coating improved the resistance of DMC to weathering conditions; however, the difference between coated and uncoated samples was only found to be statistically significant in tensile strength

Clinical trial of a low-cost external fixator for global surgery use

PURPOSE: A low-cost modular external fixator for the lower limb has been developed for global surgery use. The purpose of this study is to assess outcome measures in the first clinical use of the device. METHODS: A prospective cohort study was conducted with patients recruited in two trauma hospitals. Initial clinical procedure data were collected, and patients were followed up every two weeks until 12 weeks or definitive fixation. Follow-up assessed infection, stability, and radiographic outcomes. In addition, patient-reported outcomes and surgeons' feedback on device usability were collected by questionnaires. RESULTS: The external fixator was used on 17 patients. Ten were mono-lateral, five were joint spanning, and two were delta configuration. One patient had a pin site infection at 12-week follow-up. All were stable when tested mechanically and using radiographic assessment, and 53% were converted to definitive fixation. CONCLUSION: The low-cost external fixator developed is appropriate for use in global surgery trauma centres with good clinical outcomes. PROSPECTIVE TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER AND DATE: SLCTR/2021/025 (06 Sep 2021)

The utilitarian aspect of the philosophy of ecology: The case of corporate social responsibility

This study aims to combine the philosophical perspective and the practical ethics of ecology in the everyday with a more pragmatic concept of corporate social responsibility. The importance of the latter is shown to be based in the abandonment of the distinction of subject and object and the development of personal as well as cultural ecological consciousness embedded in the notion of unity between man and nature. This philosophical shift in the consciousness is also reflected in terms of utility. Hence, the study examines whether the relationship between corporate social responsibility and firm’s sales growth is mediated by competitive advantage, and whether employees’ individual perception in the everyday and beliefs of social responsibility can play a moderating role on CSR-sales growth relationship. The analysis revealed that there is the link between CSR and sales growth and that there is a positive effect of CSR on sales growth which is positively moderated by employees’ individual beliefs of social responsibility which has been implied by the ecological consciousness

Performance of a Novel Low-Cost, Instrument-Free Plasma Separation Device for HIV Viral Load Quantification and Determination of Treatment Failure in People Living with HIV in Malaysia: a Diagnostic Accuracy Study

HIV viral load (VL) testing is the recommended method for monitoring the response of people living with HIV and receiving antiretroviral therapy (ART). The availability of standard plasma VL testing in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), and access to this testing, are limited by the need to use fresh plasma. Good specimen collection methods for HIV VL testing that are applicable to resource-constrained settings are needed. We assessed the diagnostic performance of the filtered dried plasma spot (FDPS), created using the newly developed, instrument-free VLPlasma device, in identifying treatment failure at a VL threshold of 1,000 copies/ml in fresh plasma. Performance was compared with that of the conventional dried blood spot (DBS). Venous blood samples from 201 people living with HIV and attending an infectious disease clinic in Malaysia were collected, and HIV VL was quantified using fresh plasma (the reference standard), FDPS, and DBS specimens. VL testing was done using the Roche Cobas AmpliPrep/Cobas TaqMan v2.0 assay. At a threshold of 1,000 copies/ml, the diagnostic performance of the FDPS was superior (sensitivity, 100% [95% confidence interval {CI}, 89.1 to 100%]; specificity, 100% [95% CI, 97.8 to 100%]) to that of the DBS (sensitivity, 100% [95% CI, 89.4 to 100%]; specificity, 36.8% [95% CI, 29.4 to 44.7%]) (P 0.001). A stronger correlation was observed between the FDPS VL and the plasma VL (r 0.94; P 0.001) than between the DBS VL and the plasma VL (r 0.85; P 0.001). The mean difference in VL measures between the FDPS and plasma (plasma VL minus FDPS VL) was 0.127 log10 copies/ml (standard deviation [SD], 0.32), in contrast to – 0.95 log10 copies/ml (SD, 0.84) between the DBS and plasma. HIV VL measurement using the FDPS outperformed that with the DBS in identifying treatment failure at a threshold of 1,000 copies/ml and compared well with the quantification of VL in plasma. The FDPS can be an attractive alternative to fresh plasma for improving access to HIV VL monitoring among people living with HIV on ART in LMICs

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of systems and synthetic biology constructs using P systems

YesComputational models are perceived as an attractive alternative to mathematical models (e.g., ordinary differential equations). These models incorporate a set of methods for specifying, modeling, testing, and simulating biological systems. In addition, they can be analyzed using algorithmic techniques (e.g., formal verification). This paper shows how formal verification is utilized in systems and synthetic biology through qualitative vs quantitative analysis. Here, we choose two well-known case studies: quorum sensing in P. aeruginosas and pulse generator. The paper reports verification analysis of two systems carried out using some model checking tools, integrated to the Infobiotics Workbench platform, where system models are based on stochastic P systems.EPSR

Mechanical properties and microstructure of VPS and HVOF CoNiCrAlY coatings

HVOF and VPS coatings were sprayed using a Praxair (CO-210-24) CoNiCrAlY powder. Free standing coatings underwent vacuum annealing at different temperatures for times of up to 840h. Feedstock powder, as-sprayed and annealed coatings were characterised by SEM, EDS and XRD. The hardness and Young’s modulus of as-sprayed and annealed HVOF and VPS coatings were measured, including determination of Young’s moduli of the individual phases via nanoindentation and measurement of Young’s moduli of coatings at temperatures up to 500°C. The Eshelby inclusion model was used to investigate the effect of microstructure on the coatings’ mechanical properties. The sensitivity of the mechanical properties to microstructural details was confirmed. Young’s modulus was constant to ~200°C then decreased with increasing measurement temperature. Annealing increased Young’s modulus due to a combination of decreased porosity and β volume fraction. Oxide stringers in the HVOF coating maintained its higher hardness than the VPS coating even after annealing

A modified empirical criterion for strength of transversely anisotropic rocks with metamorphic origin

A modified empirical criterion is proposed to determine the strength of transversely anisotropic rocks. In this regard, mechanical properties of intact anisotropic slate obtained from three different districts of Iran were taken into consideration. Afterward, triaxial rock strength criterion introduced by Rafiai was modified for transversely anisotropic rocks. The criterion was modified by adding a new parameter α for taking the influence of strength anisotropy into consideration. The results obtained have shown that the parameter α can be considered as the strength reduction parameter due to rock anisotropy. The modified criterion was compared to the modified Hoek–Brown (Saroglou and Tsiambaos) and Ramamurthy criteria for different anisotropic rocks. It was concluded that the criterion proposed in this paper is a more accurate and precise criterion in predicting the strength of anisotropic rocks