A Photogrammetric Method for Spatial Data Extraction from Google Earth and Improvement with Precision Analysis

Topography maps are crucial for civil engineering projects, such as road construction, water channel construction, urban construction, and mining. Here we present a method which enables us to extract topographical map via modeling Google Earth and some field works. In this method, first, we model Google Earth as an object with closed-range photogrammetric method in the Agisoft Photoscan. Through some field works, we measured twenty-two points including twelve ground control points (GCP) and ten independent check points (ICP). Due to these GCPs, we were able to transform our model to real world with global polynomial and multi-quadratic equations and ICPs were used for precision analysis. This method is easy and cheap to obtain spatial data and the accuracy is sufficient for research requirements

Solid state fermentation effects on pistachio hulls antioxidant activities

Pistachio (Pistacia vera L.) is a small tree native to mountainous regions of Iran. The seed has a mauvish skin and light green flesh, with a distinctive flavor. The hulls contain high amount of phenolic and flavonoid compounds, which are known as source of antioxidant. Recently, the use of natural additives found in plant material as preservative in food and cosmetic products received considerable attention. On the other hand was know processing method to improve the antioxidant activity of agriculture byproducts and reduce the anti-nutritional metabolites. Therefore, this experiment was carried out to determine the effect of solid state fermentation on pistachio hulls antioxidant activities using five types of fungi namely White rot fungi (ATCC 64897), White rot fungi (ATCC 90467), Aspergillus terreus (ATCC 74135), Rhizopus oligosporus and Aspergillus oryzae. Pistachio hulls were subjected to fermentation process for the period of 10 days. Freeze-dried samples were extracted with 80% methanol. The result showed that the samples contained varied concentration of phenolic compounds from 0.721 to 2.277 mg gallic acid equivalent/g DM, and total flavonoids varied from 0.249 to 1.204 mg rutin equivalents/g DM. The highest antioxidant activity of 50.39% at a concentration of 300 μg/ml of crude extract was found in crude methanolic extract of control while the lowest antioxidant activity of 31.19% was found in crude methanolic extract of hulls fermented by white rot fungi (ATCC 90467). The result indicated a reduction in the antioxidant activities of pistachio hulls when undergoing solid state fermentation. Therefore, it is not a recommended method to improve the antioxidant activities of pistachio hulls

Phytochemical analysis and antimicrobial activities of methanolic extracts of leaf, stem and root from different varieties of Labisa pumila Benth.

A local herb, Kacip Fatimah, is famous amongst Malay women for its uses in parturition; however, its phytochemical contents have not been fully documented. Therefore, a study was performed to evaluate the phenolics, flavonoids, and total saponin contents, and antibacterial and antifungal properties of the leaf, stem and root of three varieties of Labisia pumila Benth. Total saponins were found to be higher in the leaves of all three varieties, compared to the roots and stems. Leaves of var. pumila exhibited significantly higher total saponin content than var. alata and lanceolata, with values of 56.4, 43.6 and 42.3 mg diosgenin equivalent/g dry weight, respectively. HPLC analyses of phenolics and flavonoids in all three varieties revealed the presence of gallic acid, caffeic acid, rutin, and myricetin in all plant parts. Higher levels of flavonoids (rutin, quercitin, kaempferol) were observed in var. pumila compared with alata and lanceolata, whereas higher accumulation of phenolics (gallic acid, pyrogallol) was recorded in var. alata, followed by pumila and lanceolata. Antibacterial activities of leaf, stem and root extracts of all varieties determined against both Gram positive (Micrococcus luteus, Bacillus subtilis B145, Bacillus cereus B43, Staphylococcus aureus S1431) and Gram negative (Enterobacter aerogenes, Klebsiella pneumonia K36, Escherichia coli E256, Pseudomonas aeruginosa PI96) pathogens showed that crude methanolic extracts are active against these bacteria at low concentrations, albeit with lower antibacterial activity compared to kanamycin used as the control. Antifungal activity of methanolic extracts of all plant parts against Fusarium sp., Candida sp. and Mucor using the agar diffusion disc exhibited moderate to appreciable antifungal activities compared to streptomycin used as positive control

A 34-year-old Pregnant Woman with Chickenpox Re-infection

A 34-year-old pregnant woman was referred to our emergency ward, complaining of intensification of skin lesions which had started six days earlier. Initially, vesicular lesions had started from head and face accompanied by fever which turn to generalized pustular lesions expanded to the whole body within four days (figure 1). By investigating the patient's personal contact history, we found that same symptoms were detected in her 9-year-old child 19 days prior to admission which was diagnosed as chickenpox. The patient also had mentioned previous history of chicken pox infection at her age of seven. She was ill but not toxic and was conscious with a blood pressure of 98/59 mmHg, respiratory rate of 18 breaths per minute, heart rate of 100 beats per minute and oral temperature of 37.2 °C in physical examination. She didn't have respiratory distress, dyspnea, meningism symptoms (Kernig Sign, Brudzinksi, and Nuchal Rigidity), ataxia or sensory defect and her all other physical examinations were normal. Upon diagnosis of chickenpox, intravenous (IV) acyclovir 750 mg three times a day and also IV clindamycin 900 mg TDS in combination with IV fluid were administered and finally the patient was admitted in Infectious diseases ward

STUDYING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DISCRETIONARY ACCRUALS AND SOME OF THE PERFORMANCE INDICATORS OF COMPANIES LISTED IN TEHRAN STOCK EXCHANGE

The fact of importance of measuring performance is recognized for organizations and it plays an important role in many organizations. Today, as we are in the information age, accounting profit is part of the information used by investors in risk assessment and returns on an accrual basis. The corporate performance evaluation is one of the most important issues for investors in terms of investment decision. The purpose of this study was to study the relationship between the voluntary accruals level and the performance indicators of companies listed in Tehran Stock Exchange. For this purpose, some performance indicators such as cash flow, return on assets, return on equity, price-to-profit ratio, and return on investment were measured. The research sample consisted of 102 Iranian stock exchanges during the years 2010-2014. The results of the research show that there is a significant relationship between discretionary accruals and operating cash flow and equity returns, and the market pricing of accruals is not affected by the external financing levels.  Article visualizations

Heracleum persicum Essential Oil Nanoemulsion: A Nanocarrier System for the Delivery of Promising Anticancer and Antioxidant Bioactive Agents

Essential oils are important compounds for the prevention and/or treatment of various diseases in which solubility and bio-accessibility can be improved by nanoemulsion systems. Heracleum persicum oil nanoemulsion (HAE-NE) was prepared and biological properties were investigated against human breast cancer cells and normal human fibroblasts foreskin. Particle size, zeta potential and poly dispersity index were 153 nm, −47.9 mV and 0.35, respectively. (E)anethole (57.9%), terpinolene (13.8%), G-terpinene (8.1%), myrcene (6.8%), hexyl butyrate (5.2%), octyl bu-tanoate (4.5%) and octyl acetate (3.7%) was detected in nanoemulsion. Proliferation of cancer cells at IC50 = 2.32 \ub5g/mL was significantly (p < 0.05) inhibited, and cell migration occurred at 1.5 \ub5L/mL. The HAE-NE at 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5 \ub5g/concentration up-regulated caspase 3 and enhanced sub-G1 peak of cell cycle with nil cytotoxic effects in the liver, kidney and jejunum of mice. Villus height, villus width, crypt depth and goblet cells in mice group fed with 10 and 20 mg/kg body weight of HAE-NE improved. Cellular redox state in the liver indicated 10 and 20 mg/kg body weight of nanoemulsion significantly up-regulated the expression of SOD, CAT and GPx genes. Heracleum persicum oil na-noemulsion could be an eco-friendly nanotherapeutic option for pharmaceutical, cosmetological and food applications

Antioxidant capacities and total phenolic contents enhancement with acute gamma irradiation in Curcuma alismatifolia (Zingiberaceae) leaves

The present study was conducted in order to assess the effect of various doses of acute gamma irradiation (0, 10, 15, and 20 Gy) on the improvement of bioactive compounds and their antioxidant properties of Curcuma alismatifolia var. Sweet pink. The high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and gas chromatography (GC) analysis uncovered that various types of phenolic, flavonoid compounds, and fatty acids gradually altered in response to radiation doses. On the other hand, antioxidant activities determined by 1,1-Diphenyl-2-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH), ferric reduction, antioxidant power (FRAP), and 2,2-azino-bis-3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid (ABTS) radical scavenging assay showed a higher irradiation level significantly increased the antioxidant properties. This study revealed an efficient effect of varying levels of gamma radiation, based on the pharmaceutical demand to enhance the accumulation and distribution of bioactive compounds such as phenolic and flavonoid compounds, fatty acids, as well as their antioxidant activities in the leaves of C. alismatifolia var. Sweet pink

German Idealism and the Origins of Pure Mathematics: Riemann, Dedekind, Cantor

When it comes to the relation of modern mathematics and philosophy, most people tend to think of the three major schools of thought—i.e. logicism, formalism, and intuitionism—that emerged as profound researches on the foundations and nature of mathematics in the beginning of the 20th century and have shaped the dominant discourse of an autonomous discipline of analytic philosophy, generally known under the rubric of “philosophy of mathematics” since then. What has been completely disregarded by these philosophical attitudes, these foundational researches which seek to provide pure mathematics with a philosophically plausible justification by founding it on firm logico-philosophical bases, is that the genuine self-foundation of pure mathematics had been done before, namely during the 19th century, when it was developing into an entirely new and independent discipline as a concomitant of the continuous dissociation of mathematics from the physical world. This self-foundation of the 19th-century pure mathematics, however, was more akin to the German-idealist interpretations of Kant’s transcendental philosophy, than the post-factum, retrospective 20th-century researches on the foundations of mathematics. This article aims to demonstrate this neglected historical fact via delving into the philosophical inclinations of the three major founders of the 19th-century pure mathematics, Riemann, Dedekind and Cantor. Consequently, pure mathematics, with respect to its idealist origins, proves to be a formalization and idealization of certain activities specific to a self-conscious transcendental subjectivity

Helmuth Plessner; a Philosophical Anthropology of Biological Provenance

Helmuth Plessner, beside Max Scheler and Arnold Gehlen, is known as one of the great founders of new philosophical anthropology movement. From among new anthropological theories, however, perhaps none has recently come to the center of attention and begun to flourish more than Plessner’s, not only in the field of philosophical anthropology, but also in science and technology. The ground for such a so-called “Plessner Renaissance” shall be immediately known in this article, once the special place Plessner’s theory occupies in both the prominent contemporary explanatory paradigms, in general, and philosophical-anthropological theories, in particular, is specified. In doing so, Plessner’s philosophical contribution is determined as: A non-reductive naturalistic explanatory paradigm as a middle ground between new Darwinism, social-cultural-historical constructivism, and naive transcendentalism. A phenomenological-hermeneutical account of the biological life, in general. A biological-based transformational philosophical anthropology, in particular. The focus of the present article is on Plessner’s contribution to the philosophy of biology as well as philosophical anthropology