Effects of Soluble Soybean Polysaccharides on Properties of Kefir Produced from Cow and Buffalo Milks

 Background and objective: Fermented dairy products are considerably known due to several benefits including high nutritional values, immunity stimulations, antimicrobial and cancer suppressing effects. Kefir is a fermented dairy product with acidic-alcoholic flavors made from various sources of milk with various characteristics. The aim of this study was to investigate impact of soluble soybean polysaccharides on properties of kefir produced from cow and buffalo milk.Materials and methods: Soluble soybean polysaccharides at concentrations of 0 (control), 0.5, 1 and 1.5% (w v-1) were added to kefir samples produced from cow and buffalo milks and the physicochemical, sensory and microbiological characteristics as well as fatty acid profile analysis of the kefir samples were compared during one month of cold storage.Results and conclusion: Results showed that soluble soybean polysaccharides (P≤0.05) had significant effects on kefir properties. By increasing concentration of soluble soybean polysaccharides and storage time of the kefir, some properties including acidity, viscosity, sensory score and counts of the lactic acid bacteria and yeasts were increased. The fatty acid analysis revealed that unsaturated fatty acids of cow and buffalo kefirs were more than cow and buffalo milks while these were reverse for saturated fatty acids. The best microbial and sensory properties of kefir were observed by adding 0.5 to 2% (w v-1) soluble soybean polysaccharides on day 30 of storage.Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest

Periodic Arrays of Gold Nano-Disks Coupled with Evanescent Spectroscopy

We study and analyze various spectral features of gold nano-disk arrays coupled with the evanescent field of an optical waveguide using finite difference time domain simulations for comparison to our previous work on this topic (Jiang et al, Journal of Lightwave Technology 27, no.13, (2009): 2264-2270). We find that the quadrupolar and dipolar peaks are both heavily dependent on the coherent interactions of the periodic array and show comparable performance for refractive index sensing applications. We also find sharp extinction peaks and dips in the simulated spectra, but they are not sensitive to the index change of the surface-bound layer. A detailed analysis on these sharp features reveals that the sharp extinction peaks are grating-induced quadrupolar modes and the dips represent the suppressed plasmon resonances caused by the photonic band gap

Effect of Rheum Ribes Hydro-Alcoholic Extract on Memory Impairments in Rat Model of Alzheimer's Disease.

Some animal models have been used to study Alzheimer's disease (AD). AD is an irreversible progressive neurodegenerative disease and the most common cause of dementia. Animal studies have shown that there is a relation between decrease in cholinergic functions in the nucleus basalis of Meynert (NBM) and loss of learning capability and memory. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of Rheum ribes extract (RR) on memory deficit in one of the rat models of AD. Plant (1500gr) was collected from Saman (kahkesh) region of Chaharmahal Va Bakhtiari province in Iran. RR hydro-alcoholic extracts were prepared using maceration method. Rat model of Alzheimer was induced by Nucleus Basalis of Meynert lesions (NBML). Animals (n = 32) received extracts for 20 days and then passive avoidance and Morris water maze tasks were performed for memory evaluation. FRAP and HPLC methods were used for measurement of the antioxidant and Malondialdehyde (MDA) levels in blood. In water maze experiment, probe trial results showed that NBML group spent significantly less time in target quadrant, in which the platform was located on the preceding day. In addition, the time spent in target quadrant was significantly increased in NBML + RR groups (250 and 500 mg/kg) compared to the NBML group. In passive avoidance task, mean initial latency time and step-though latency were significantly decreased in NBML group. RR extracts significantly prolonged step-through latency in NBML + RR groups. Results of this study suggest that Rheum ribes extracts can improve memory deficits induced by bilateral NBM lesions in rats

Application of Numerical Taxonomy and Cluster Analysis in Ranking the Development Level of Tehran Districts Based on Cultural Tourism

Today, the concept of cultural tourism has drawn upon the factor of culture to facilitate development. The most important prerequisite to stress culture and culture-based industries necessitates a solid background.  Tehran, as the capital of Iranian civilization, has this advantage which can help the cultural tourism industry to contribute to urban development. However, the concept of cultural tourism is neglected in urban development plans. Therefore, the questions that arise include: a) what are the indicators of cultural tourism for the development of Tehran? b) How is the development in the 22 districts of Tehran ranked based on cultural tourism? This research is descriptive-analytical nature using a mixed approach to explain the framework of cultural tourism’s effectiveness on the development of Iranian cities. To this end, ranking the development status of the 22 districts of Tehran was carried out based on a road map to benefit from the hidden cultural treasures of Tehran by attaching cultural tourism to urban development plans.  This study employed documentary, and field study methods as data collection methods while content analysis, swing weighting, taxonomy-numerical, and cluster analysis were used as analytical methods. The results show that the 12th district of Tehran, with the most recorded places, and historical sites, Oud Lajan Bazaar, and Tehran Bazaar, have been given a higher priority compared to the rest districts of Tehran. Districts 6 and 1 of Tehran have had a better rank compared to other districts because of hotels and exhibitions of painting, photography, and sculpture and they have been ranked second and third respectively

Design, Manufacturing, and Testing of a Variable Stiffness Composite Cylinder

Fiber steering is one of the promising capabilities of Automated Fiber Placement (AFP) technology in manufacturing of advanced composite structures with spatially tailored properties. The so-called variable stiffness (VS) composites have considerable scope to outperform their traditionally made constant stiffness (CS) counterparts. However, there are several design and manufacturing challenges to be addressed before practically using them as structural components. In this work we demonstrate the design, manufacturing and testing procedure of a variable stiffness (VS) composite cylinder made by fiber steering. The improved bending-induced buckling performance is the objective of the VS cylinder to be compared with its CS counterpart. The experimental results show that the buckling capacity of the VS cylinder is about 18.5% higher than its CS counterpart

2,2′-[(E,E)-1,1′-(2,2-Dimethyl­propane-1,3-diyldinitrilo)diethyl­idyne]diphenol

The title Schiff base, C21H26N2O2, contains two intra­molecular O—H⋯N hydrogen bonds between the hydroxyl groups and the nearest imine N atoms, each leading to a six-membered ring. Weak C—H⋯O hydrogen bonds result in a ladder network running along the a axis. In addition, inter­molecular C—H⋯π inter­actions serve to stabilize the extended structure

Prevalence of Surgical Site Infection After Hip Arthroplasty; a Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Introduction: One of the worrisome complications of hip arthroplasty is surgical site infection (SSI). This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of SSI after hip arthroplasty. Methods: A comprehensive and systematic exploration was conducted across various international electronic databases, including Scopus, PubMed, and Web of Science, alongside Persian electronic databases such as Iranmedex and the Scientific Information Database (SID). This search strategy entailed the utilization of Medical Subject Headings-derived keywords such as "Prevalence," "Surgical wound infection," "Surgical site infection," and "Arthroplasty," spanning from the earliest records up to January 1, 2024. Each study’s weight was assigned based on its inverse variance. A forest plot visualization was used to assess the studies’ heterogeneity. Data on sample size and SSI frequency were compiled for each study to calculate the overall effect size. Results: The study encompassed a cumulative participant cohort of 1,070,638 hip arthroplasty procedures drawn from seventeen selected studies. Notably, the female gender constituted 59.10% of the overall participant demographic. The aggregate SSI among patients undergoing hip arthroplasty was estimated to be 1.9% (95% CI: 1.3% to 2.8%; I2=99.688%; P<0.001). The results of the meta-regression analysis unveiled a statistically significant correlation between the prevalence of SSIs after hip arthroplasty and the year of publication (Coefficient=-0.0020; 95% CI: -0.0021 to -0.0018; Z=-19.39, P<0.001). Conclusion: The study findings indicated a prevalence rate of 1.9% for SSI following hip arthroplasty. This prevalence underscores the importance of vigilance in infection prevention and management strategies within orthopedic surgery. However, it is essential to acknowledge the variability in SSI prevalence observed across diverse studies, which can be attributed to multifaceted factors, notably variances in patient populations and associated risk factors

IMPLEMENTING 5S SYSTEM IN PERSIA NOOR FACTORY, SHIRAZ, IRAN

Among the eighteen members of Asian Productivity Organization, Iran is the seventeenth. The reason is the lack of properly usage of the great resources present in this country. 5s method is a methodology as basement for better usage of the resources in an organization, it is used to establish and maintain a quality environment that help in reducing waste and maintain a high degree of cleanliness and orderliness in the work place. This paper shows how 5s technique is used in Persia noor of Shiraz factory in Iran. Decisions which are made, actions which are done, and the results which are gained, Are presented in this paper

Designing a framework to improve time series data of construction projects: application of a simulation model and singular spectrum analysis

During a construction project life cycle, project costs and time estimations contribute greatly to baseline scheduling. Besides, schedule risk analysis and project control are also influenced by the above factors. Although many papers have offered estimation techniques, little attempt has been made to generate project time series data as daily progressive estimations in different project environments that could help researchers in generating general and customized formulae in further studies. This paper, however, is an attempt to introduce a new simulation approach to reflect the data regarding time series progress of the project, considering the specifications and the complexity of the project and the environment where the project is performed. Moreover, this simulator can equip project managers with estimated information, which reassures them of the execution stages of the project although they lack historical data. A case study is presented to show the usefulness of the model and its applicability in practice. In this study, singular spectrum analysis has been employed to analyze the simulated outputs, and the results are separated based on their signal and noise trends. The signal trend is used as a point-of-reference to compare the outputs of a simulation employing S-curve technique results and the formulae corresponding to earned value management, as well as the life of a given project