Utilizing Highway Rest Areas for Electric Vehicle Charging: Economics and Impacts on Renewable Energy Penetration in California

California policy is incentivizing rapid adoption of zero emission electric vehicles for light-duty and freight applications. This project explored how locating charging facilities at California’s highway rest stops might impact electricity demand, grid operation, and integration of renewables like solar and wind into California’s energy mix. Assuming a growing population of electric vehicles to meet state goals, state-wide growth of electricity demand was estimated, and the most attractive rest stop locations for siting chargers identified. Using a California-specific electricity dispatch model developed at UC Davis, the project estimated how charging vehicles at these stations would impact renewable energy curtailment in California. It estimated the impacts of charging infrastructures on California’s electricity system and how they can be utilized to decrease the duck curve effect resulting from a large amount of solar energy penetration by 2050.View the NCST Project Webpag

Labour Market Dynamics in Pakistan: Evidence from the Longitudinal Data

The bulk of research on labour market conditions in Pakistan has concentrated on the economic activity rate, the number of employed persons, or the unemployment rate at a particular point in time. These stock measures of labour market situation are useful from a policy viewpoint as they give a broad indication of the dimension of the problem. For example, the recent labour force surveys show an increase in the level of open unemployment from 5.9 percent in 1997-98 to 7.8 percent in 1999-2000 [Pakistan (2001)]. There is also an emerging consensus that during the 1990s poverty has increased at the national as well as for rural and urban areas of the country [Qureshi and Arif (2001)]. Labour market is considered as the main route for establishing the link between macro policies, the resulting GDP growth and poverty alleviation [Rahman (2002)]. Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (IPRSP) and other development plans have suggested various targets of employment creation for poverty reduction. The stock measures of labour market conditions, such as unemployment rate, are considered to be inadequate from the viewpoint of developing appropriate policy responses. There is a need to gain further insights by examining the structure of labour market in terms of its dynamic components: these being the turnover of persons into and out of the labour force and turnover into and out of employment and unemployment pools

The comparison of Iron and Ferritin serum level in Rheumatoid Arthritis patients and healthy individuals

Background and aims: The rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic autoimmune disease and a stable progressive inflammatory disorder in synovial tissue. It seems that both cell-mediate immune responses and humoral immunity play roles in causing this disease. Oxidative stress and changes in the amount of trace elements play an important role in the progress of the disease. The aim of the current study was to compare the Iron and Ferritin serum levels in Rheumatoid Arthritis patients and healthy individuals. Methods: This study was a case-control research in which 44 patients suffered from rheumatoid arthritis and 44 healthy individuals were investigated that they were all homogenous in terms of age and gender. The iron was estimated by photometric measurement and the development of ferrous-ferroin colored complex. The amount of ferritin in the serum was measured by architect autoanalyzer. The data were analyzed through covariance and Mann-Whitney tests using SPSS software at the significant level lower than P<0.5. Results: The results showed that the levels of iron and ferritin evaluated in patients (mean ± SD) were 59.97±6.65, 99.20±11.69, respectively, and in control group are 69.77±4.52, 44.79±7.14. This difference was not significant in iron (P>0.05), but it was not significant in serum ferritin (P<0.001). Also, There were significant differences between the proportion of iron to ferritin in both case and control groups (P<0.001). Conclusion: It seems that there is a correlation between the amounts of ferritin with rheumatoid arthritis. Iron is suspicious to be an effective factor in rheumatoid arthritis

Formulation and physicochemical evaluation of toothpaste formulated with Thymus vulgaris essential oil

Introduction: Streptococcus mutans is the most common cause of tooth decay. Parabens, and other commonly used as anti-Streptococcus agents in toothpaste industry have numerous side effects such as discoloration of teeth. Thymus vulgaris essential oil has profound antimicrobial activity against a wide range of species. The aim of present study was the aim of the present study was to formulate and evaluate the physicochemical properties of a kind of toothpaste formulated with Thymus vulgaris essential oil. Thyme oil components were also analyzed using gas chromatography&ndash;mass spectrometry (GC-MS).Methods: Toothpaste was formulated in forms of gel and opaque and Thyme essence was added to it. The formulation was evaluated in terms of stability in different temperatures, pH, consistency, uniformity, taste, smell, and compatibility with special packaging for toothpaste at three temperatures. Profilometry was used to determine abrasivity. The rate of contaminations with lead and arsenic was determined by atomic absorption. The amount of fluoride was measured by potentiometry.Results: Forty-one different components, representing 99.64 of the total oil were identified in essential oil. Addition of thyme essence to formulation had no deleterious effect in stability, consistency, taste and smell. The pH of opaque and gel formulations was 7.02 and 7.45, respectively. The abrasiveness of opaque and gel formulations was in standard ranges. The fluoride content was 1000 ppm. Lead and arsenic were not detected at all.Conclusion: Formulation of toothpaste with T. vulgaris essential oil was acceptable and might be considered as a desirable herbal toothpaste

Short communication: Age and growth of king nase, Condrostoma regium (Cyprinidae), from Bibi-Sayyedan River of Semirom, Isfahan, Iran

Age determination is an important step in fisheries management. The cyprinid fish Chondrostoma regium (Heckel, 1843) is widely distributed in Tigris-Euphrates basin and the Mediterranean basins of southeastern Turkey and the northern Levant. In Iran, it is found in Karun and Karkheh Rivers, the Hoor-al-Azim Marsh and also in Zayandehrud River and Bushehr basin. This species is not found in other basins of Iran. However, there is little information about its habitat requirements. ... The aim of the present study was to investigate the length-weight relationship and age and growth of C. regium population in Bibi-Sayyedan River of Semirom, Isfahan as a tributary of Tigris basin in Iran

Knowledge of medical professionalism in medical students and physicians at Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences and affiliated hospitals-Iran

Although medical professionalism is a fundamental aspect of competence in medicine and a distinct facet of physicians' competence, evidence suggests that the subject of professionalism is not taught or assessed as part of medical students' curricula in Iran and many other countries. Assessing the knowledge of medical students and physicians about medical professionalism seems to be helpful in identifying the weaknesses of training in the field of professionalism and devise plans for future training on the subject. The present cross-sectional, quantitative, observational, and prevalence study recruited 149 medical interns, clinical residents, physicians, and professors working in hospitals selected through stratified random sampling using a questionnaire designed by the researchers and confirmed for its validity and reliability. The results were analyzed by Stata at a significance level of 0.05. Out of 149 cases, 61.64 were male with the mean age of 30.81 years. A total of 66 participants (44.29) (95 confidence interval CI: 36.44%-52.44%) had heard and 83 (55.70%) (95% CI: 47.55%-63.55%) had not heard the term 'medical professionalism' before the study. After adjusting for potential confounders, age and degree did not have statistically significant difference in assessed knowledge of medical professionalism, but sex had (mean difference: 5.88, P=0.045), and the mean of the female was significantly higher than that of the male participants. The mean percentage of correct answers was 47.67. The present study demonstrated that the medical professionals working in the national healthcare system have an unfavorable theoretical knowledge about medical professionalism in Iran; although this does not indicate that their practices are unethical, it should be noted that one of the prerequisites of possessing a high level of medical professionalism and for establishing a proper relationship between the medical community and the patients is to have a proper knowledge of this concept. Improving behaviors and performances in medical professions requires adequate training on the concepts of medical professionalism and consequently the assessment of the levels of professionalism achieved in medical professionals. © 2016 the Author(s). Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved

Labour Market Dynamics in Pakistan: Evidence from the Longitudinal Data

The bulk of research on labour market conditions in Pakistan has concentrated on the economic activity rate, the number of employed persons, or the unemployment rate at a particular point in time. These stock measures of labour market situation are useful from a policy viewpoint as they give a broad indication of the dimension of the problem. For example, the recent labour force surveys show an increase in the level of open unemployment from 5.9 percent in 1997-98 to 7.8 percent in 1999-2000 [Pakistan (2001)]. There is also an emerging consensus that during the 1990s poverty has increased at the national as well as for rural and urban areas of the country [Qureshi and Arif (2001)]. Labour market is considered as the main route for establishing the link between macro policies, the resulting GDP growth and poverty alleviation [Rahman (2002)]. Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper (IPRSP) and other development plans have suggested various targets of employment creation for poverty reduction

Laminar flow of two miscible fluids in a simple network

When a fluid comprised of multiple phases or constituents flows through a network, non-linear phenomena such as multiple stable equilibrium states and spontaneous oscillations can occur. Such behavior has been observed or predicted in a number of networks including the flow of blood through the microcirculation, the flow of picoliter droplets through microfluidic devices, the flow of magma through lava tubes, and two-phase flow in refrigeration systems. While the existence of non-linear phenomena in a network with many inter-connections containing fluids with complex rheology may seem unsurprising, this paper demonstrates that even simple networks containing Newtonian fluids in laminar flow can demonstrate multiple equilibria. The paper describes a theoretical and experimental investigation of the laminar flow of two miscible Newtonian fluids of different density and viscosity through a simple network. The fluids stratify due to gravity and remain as nearly distinct phases with some mixing occurring only by diffusion. This fluid system has the advantage that it is easily controlled and modeled, yet contains the key ingredients for network non-linearities. Experiments and 3D simulations are first used to explore how phases distribute at a single T-junction. Once the phase separation at a single junction is known, a network model is developed which predicts multiple equilibria in the simplest of networks. The existence of multiple stable equilibria is confirmed experimentally and a criteria for their existence is developed. The network results are generic and could be applied to or found in different physical systems

Promoting individual learning for trainees with perceived high helplessness: experiences of a safety training program

OBJECTIVE: The article arises from a research project investigating the effectiveness of safety training on changing attitudes toward safety issues. Followed by the training intervention was observed that employees' helplessness decreased. The researchers have come to the idea of investigating how safety training can reduce perceived helplessness. Thus, this research examined the effectiveness of safety training on reducing employees' helplessness with attention to the mediating role of attitude toward safety issues. METHODS: The current study was an experimental study with the control group. A total of 204 (101 experimental group and 103 control group) completed safety attitude questionnaire and perceived helplessness before a safety training course including four 90-min sessions over 4 consecutive days in Esfahan Steel Company in 2012 between October and December. Only members of the experimental group participated in this course. These questionnaires, approximately 30 days later, again were run on members of both groups. Data were analyzed using descriptive indexes, t-, and F-test. RESULTS: RESULTS by comparing the two groups showed that safety training was effective only on individuals with perceived low helplessness (p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: In individuals with perceived high helplessness, safety training only with changing safety attitudes can reduce the perceived helplessness