Shape-Controlled Nanoparticles as Effective Catalysts for Proton Exchange Membrane (PEM) Fuel Cells

Polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC), is considered a promising candidate for the next generation power sources in transportation, stationary and portable applications. However, oxygen reduction reaction (ORR), one of the key reactions occurring on PEMFC is kinetically slow; this has limited performance and further advancement in this kind of fuel cells. Thus, improving the PEMFC efficiency requires a thorough understanding of the ORR mechanism on the desired catalyst. To address the above-mentioned demands, the scope of this thesis is focused on the fundamental understanding of facet-controlled nanoparticles, metal-support interactions, and bimetallic platinum catalysts, utilizing synchrotron-based X-ray absorption, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and electrochemical characterization methods. It is found that particle size, shape, composition (Pd and Co are the other metals), and the supporting material not only can act as momentous parameters in enhancing the catalytic activity of NPs but also are functioning as vital criteria in boosting the stability

Fifty Years of Research on Camelids and the Contribution of Genetics and Genomics: A Scientometrics Evaluation

The population and importance of camels in human life have improved in recent years. As genetics and genomics are becoming a more comprehensive section of life sciences, studying genetic/genomic aspects of the camelid nutrition, milk production, reproduction, immunity, disease and racing ability has become common in recent years. This study was conducted based on text mining and scientometrics techniques. To employ relevant information from Web of Science (WoS), a search strategy was developed to retrieve the “genetics or genomics” and words/phrases related to “camelids”. The statistical population of this study included 3830 publications over a period of 50 years (1971–2020). A total of 3830 publications were retrieved that included 3269 research articles (85.35% of the publications) and 224 review articles (5.85% of the publications). The most frequent subject groups were “Veterinary Sciences” including 862 publications. In total, articles on camelid genomics were published in 1345 journals. Moreover, 127 countries contributed to these 3830 publications, with the USA being the leading country both in number of publications and international collaboration. During the 1971–2010 time period, the phrases “MERS-CoV” and “coronavirus” did not exist in the literature at all, while in the last decade, with 140 and 63 times (5.36% and 2.41%, respectively), they were the most frequent keywords. In general, the most important topics studied from the perspective of camelid genomics have been population genetics and pathogens and their diagnosis, as well as camelid immunity. Future studies should pay special attention to the specificity of camelid genomics for hosting the coronavirus. Furthermore, the special structure of humoral immunity in camels makes this section attractive in immunogenetics research

Library Services Needed by the Disabled in Iran: A Qualitative Study

Persons with Disabilities are the world\u27s largest minority. This group, like others, needs information and skills to play a positive role in the community. Public libraries play an important role in providing services to the community, including People with Disabilities, by providing a variety of sources and services. The present study has been conducted using the qualitative content analysis method for identifying the types of library services and programs required for people with visually impaired, physically disabled, and hearing impaired using a semi-structured interview. The sample of the study consisted of 84 individuals, including librarians of public libraries and the disabled in the three groups mentioned. The identified library needs and services are categorized into eight categories: planning and budgeting, advertising and service development, library accessibility and physical condition, services and programs, human resources and training, collection, information equipment, and technology and welfare facilities. The category of services and programs had the highest frequency in all three groups of the disabled. In the group of physically disabled individuals, the category of accessibility ranked highest, and in the two groups of the blind and deaf, services and programs had the highest frequency. The need to know about library services in different ways (email, SMS, and social media, …) had the highest frequency. Public libraries should plan to make the library accessible, and provide a variety of services and programs for individuals with disabilitie

Library Services Needed by the Disabled in Iran: A Qualitative Study

Persons with Disabilities are the world\u27s largest minority. This group, like others, needs information and skills to play a positive role in the community. Public libraries play an important role in providing services to the community, including People with Disabilities, by providing a variety of sources and services. The present study has been conducted using the qualitative content analysis method for identifying the types of library services and programs required for people with visually impaired, physically disabled, and hearing impaired using a semi-structured interview. The sample of the study consisted of 84 individuals, including librarians of public libraries and the disabled in the three groups mentioned. The identified library needs and services are categorized into eight categories: planning and budgeting, advertising and service development, library accessibility and physical condition, services and programs, human resources and training, collection, information equipment, and technology and welfare facilities. The category of services and programs had the highest frequency in all three groups of the disabled. In the group of physically disabled individuals, the category of accessibility ranked highest, and in the two groups of the blind and deaf, services and programs had the highest frequency. The need to know about library services in different ways (email, SMS, and social media, …) had the highest frequency. Public libraries should plan to make the library accessible, and provide a variety of services and programs for individuals with disabilitie

Anti-microbial Resistance Pattern of Uropathogens Isolated from Hospitalized Patients in Imam Khomeini hospital, Tehran, Iran

Background: Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common type of bacterial infectious diseases which occurs in all age groups. The aim of this study was to determine anti-microbial resistance pattern of bacterial pathogens causing UTIs in hospitalized patients at the Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, Iran.Material and Methods: Urine samples were collected from 11157 hospitalized patients at different wards of Imam Khomeini Hospital in Tehran, between January 2015 and December 2015.The cultured plates were assessed for significant bacterial growth. Anti-microbial susceptibility test was performed using standard disk diffusion method.Results: Out of the 11157 collected urine samples, significant bacterial growth of 25.38% was observed. The most common cause of UTI was gram-negative bacteria (82.2%). More than 50% of the gram-negative bacteria were resistant to ceftriaxone, ceftazidime and trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole. Enterococcus spp. (10.1%) was found as the third causative agent of UTIs and the most common gram-positive bacteria.Conclusion: we conclude that the examination of the most common etiological agent of UTIs and their antimicrobial resistance patterns is advantageous and necessary in order to design a guideline for empirical therapy

Pointfree topology version of image of real-valued continuous functions

Let ${ mathcal{R}} L$ be the ring of real-valued continuous functions on a frame $L$ as the pointfree  version of $C(X)$, the ring of all real-valued continuous functions on a topological space $X$. Since $C_c(X)$ is the largest subring of $C(X)$ whose elements have countable image, this motivates us to present the pointfree  version of $C_c(X).$The main aim of this paper is to present the pointfree version of image of real-valued continuous functions in ${mathcal{R}} L$. In particular, we will introduce the pointfree version of the ring $C_c(X)$. We define a relation from ${mathcal{R}} L$ into the power set of $mathbb R$, namely overlap. Fundamental properties of this relation are studied. The relation overlap is a pointfree version of the relation defined as $mathop{hbox{Im}} (f) subseteq S$ for every continuous function $f:Xrightarrowmathbb R$ and $S subseteq mathbb R$

How the AIS can Improve its Contributions to the UN’s Sustainability Development Goals: Towards A Framework for Scaling Collaborations and Evaluating Impact

In June, 2019, the Association for Information Systems (AIS) adopted a new approach to addressing global sustainability issues by establishing the AIS Sustainability Task Force (AIS STF). This initiative focuses on building on the outcomes from the United Nations (UN) Millennium Development Goals (MDG, 2000-2015) and applying them to address the challenges associated with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG, 2016-2030). In this paper, we review the challenges and outcomes from the UN sustainability programs with their potential relevance to IS in general and the AIS in particular to inform and assist increased efforts to achieve the global sustainability goals. The initial event, the AIS Sustainability Summit held at ICIS 2019, provided a forum for AIS groups and communities to share their current interests, plans, activities, and experiences relevant to the MDG and SDG. The event primarily focused on facilitating opportunities to scale the AIS’s sustainability activities through multi-disciplinary collaboration across the AIS and its communities. Members from four AIS special interest groups and the STF’s Education Workgroup presented exemplary projects at the summit that demonstrated how one can apply applied IS and research capabilities to address sustainability challenges. The sustainability summit’s also explored opportunities to achieve positive impact in addressing the SDG’s global challenges through applying AIS members’ knowledge, skills, and capabilities in relevant ways in collaboration with suitable organizations outside the AIS. Potential organizations include business, government, societal groups, and UN bodies. We presented and discussed the AIS STF’s aims, plans, outcomes, and impact. By analyzing details and options for cross-organizational collaboration, the representatives of organizations at the sustainability summit developed a proposed framework for scaling contributions and evaluating impact. Finally, they drew conclusions about the proposed activities, approaches, and framework for the AIS to improve the scope and scale of its contributions in addressing the SDG. Critically, the AIS needs to ensure that its proposed activities, contributions, and impact are examined by an internationally recognized independent process. We propose a model for the AIS to realize this requirement for evaluation in 2021

Detection of Nocardia, Streptomyces and Rhodococcus from bronchoalveolar lavage specimens of patients with HIV by Multiplex PCR Assay

Background: Nocardia, Streptomyces and Rhodococcus are life threatening opportunistic pathogens under immunodeficiency conditions, particularly among patients infected with HIV. Rapid and accurate detection of these infections can improve immune health quality, patient management and appropriate treatment. The aim of this study was to design a novel multiplex-PCR assay for rapid diagnosis of these three organisms directly from bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) specimens of patients infected with HIV.Methods: The genus specific primers were designed for directdetection of Nocardia, Streptomyces and Rhodococcus in a single tube multiplex PCR. This PCR specifically amplified the target genes from pure cultures. It subsequently was applied on BAL specimens of 29 HIV positive patients that had previously been culture negative for actinomycete bacteria, of which Nocardia, Streptomyces and Rhodococcus are members.Results: Of 29 respiratory clinical specimens, there were positive for Nocardia spp. and one was positive for Streptomyces spp using the multiplex PCR assay. The sequencing of the PCR products identified the species as Nocardia cyriacigeorgica (n=2), Nocardia farcinica and Streptomyces albus.Conclusion: This novel multiplex PCR assay yielded reliable results for accurate identification of Nocardia, Streptomyces and Rhodococcus from BAL while the results of bacterial culture were negative.

An Equation-of-State Based Mathematical Modeling of Four-Phase Flow in Porous Media

Nowadays, oil and gas field development requires more comprehensive and precise simulations using geological, physical and chemical models than before. In fact, reservoir simulation has become an increasingly widespread and important tool for analyzing and optimizing oil recovery projects and reducing risks in development decisions. As energy demand increases and conventional hydrocarbon resources and reserves decline, new complicated recovery methods emerge such as solvent injection. Solvent injection is a method with the purpose of the viscosity reduction of heavy oil and bitumen. In this method, solvent (like propane, CO2, etc) is injected into the reservoir and diluted oil is produced. Application of this method may lead to the presence of four-phase flow in the reservoir, as it has been acknowledged in numerous papers available in the literature on oil recovery by solvent injection. In the past thirty years, the development of compositional reservoir simulators using various equations of state (EOS) has been addressed by many researchers. However, the development of compositional simulators that can handle more than two hydrocarbon phases in conjunction with EOS formulation has been particularly ignored or received very little attention. In the solvent injection simulation, the condensed solvent is a hydrocarbon; therefore, it is usually included in the oil phase. This is problematic because the simulator uses mixture properties for the oil phase within a grid whereas in reality, there are cases where the solvent-rich liquid phase and the diluted oil occupy separate spaces within the pores. It would be more accurate and align with physical reality to have another phase in the simulator for the solvent-rich liquid. Considering such a fourth phase in the simulation would allow us to track and monitor the behavior of solvent in the system accurately and make it possible to manage the recycle of the solvent in the operation similar to water in SAGD. The oil relative permeability would need to be portioned between the diluted oil (L1) phase and the solvent-rich liquid phase (L2) so that there are relative permeabilities for each of the oil phases (four-phase relative permeability). In addition, there needs to be diffusion of components in these two liquid phases into each other at the pore scale within a grid (this would be an analytical or empirical based calculation). After the properties of the two liquid phases become similar, it might be possible to combine them. This dissertation can be divided into two major parts of phase equilibrium and fluid flow in porous media. The results from phase equilibrium modeling have been implemented into the part of the fluid flow in porous media and this modeling has been extended up to four phases in equilibrium. The IMPES (implicit pressure and explicit saturations) approach has been used to solve the system of equations. Results of this modeling show that the second liquid phase forms in a certain range of pressure, temperature and composition. It has been found that the effect of this second liquid phase is considerable on the oil (L1) production