Determination of antibody levels to hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAb) in Shahrekord Hajar hospital staffs, 2007-8

زمینه و هدف: ویروس هپاتیتB یکی از عوامل ایجاد کننده هپاتیت های ویروسی بوده و سیروز کبدی یکی از عوارض مهم آن می باشد. کارکنان بیمارستان یکی از گروه های پر خطر ابتلا به این بیماری می باشد که لزوم واکسیناسیون در آنها توصیه شده است. این مطالعه با هدف اندازه گیری سطح سرمی هپاتیت B در کارکنان بیمارستان هاجر(س)، انجام شد. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه توصیفی - تحلیلی، سطح آنتی بادی ویروس هپاتیت B در سرم 257 نفر از کارکنان بیمارستان هاجر(س) شهرکرد در سال 87-1386 که همگی واکسینه شده بودند با استفاده از تکنیک الایزا تعیین گردید. داده های بدست آمده به کمک آزمون های آماری کای دو تجزیه و تحلیل شد. یافته ها: از 257 نفر مورد بررسی، 21 نفر (2/8) فاقد ایمنی، 85 نفر (33) ایمنی نسبی و 151 نفر (8/58) ایمنی کامل داشتند. در افراد واکسینه شده بین سطح ایمنی و مدت زمان سپری شدن از آخرین نوبت واکسیناسیون ارتباط معنی داری بدست آمد (05/0

The prevalence sarcocystis infection in slaughtered animals in slaughterhouse of Shahrekord using histhopathological method 2008.

زمینه و هدف: سارکوسیستوزیس یک عفونت تک یاخته ای مشترک بین انسان و دام است که توسط گونه های مختلف سارکوسیستیس ایجاد می شود. این انگل شیوع جهانی داشته و در بسیاری از حیوانات آلودگی ایجاد می نماید و از نظر بهداشتی و اقتصادی ضررهای زیادی را وارد می کند. هدف از این مطالعه تعیین میزان آلودگی سارکوسیستیس در دام های کشتارشده در کشتارگاه شهرکرد با استفاده از روش هیستوپاتولوژی می باشد. روش بررسی: در این مطالعه توصیفی –آزمایشگاهی قلب 70 رأس بز و 70 رأس گوسفند سالم، اندام های مری، ران، دیافراگم و قلب دام ها به صورت ماکروسکوپی از نظر وجود کیست سارکوسیستیس بازرسی شدند. در صورت مشکوک و یا سالم نبودن این اندام ها، قلب جهت تهیه مقطع پاتولوژی در فرمالین نگهداری و پس از تهیه مقطع مورد مطالعه میکروسکوپی قرار گرفت. اطلاعات جمع آوری شده به صورت توزیع فراوانی گزارش گردید. یافته ها: از تعداد 140 دام مورد بررسی در بازرسی ماکروسکپی وجود کیست در دیافراگم 7/15 در گوسفند و 8/2 در بز، مری 1/7 در گوسفند و 4/1 در بز یافت شد. در بررسی میکروسکوپی میزان آلودگی سارکوسیستیس در قلب های به ظاهر سالم در گوسفند 80 و بز 70 نشان داده شد. نتیجه گیری: با توجه به شیوع بالای آلودگی سارکوسیستیس در جهان و ایران، همچنین گزارشات مختلف تا 100 آلودگی، بنظر می رسد مطالعات بیشتری جهت تعیین حساسیت و ویژگی این روش در مقایسه با سایر روش ها ضروری می باشد. همچنین با توجه به میزان آلودگی بدست آمده در قلب های سالم نیاز به دقت در نگهداری صحیح گوشت و پخت کامل گوشت و همچنین تغییر نگرش در نحوه نگهداری دام ها از نوع سنتی به روش صنعتی دام ها توصیه می شود

Possibility of using neural networks for moisture ratio prediction in dried potatoes by means of different drying methods and evaluating physicochemical properties

Potato cubes were dried by different drying methods.  After the end of drying process, the experimental data were first fitted to the four well-known drying models.  The results indicated that the logarithmic and page models performed better compared with the other models.  Also, in this study neural networks were used in order to possibly predict dried potato moisture ratio (y), based on three input variables of drying time, drying temperature and different methods.  The results revealed that, logsig function based on 10 neurons in the first hidden layer could perform as the best goodness configuration for predicting the moisture ratio.  The comparison of the obtained results of ANNs and classical modeling indicated that, the neural networks have a higher capability for predicting moisture ratio (R2 values 0.9972 and 0.996, respectively) compared with classical modeling.  Furthermore, the physicochemical properties of dried potato such as shrinkage, starch gelatinization temperature, color change, etc. were also determined.  Keywords: extraction kinetics, time constant, extract concentration, extraction yield, medicinal herbs

Screening of the aerodynamic and biophysical properties of barley malt

An understanding of the aerodynamic and biophysical properties of barley malt is necessary for the appropriate design of equipment for the handling, shipping, dehydration, grading, sorting and warehousing of this strategic crop. Malting is a complex biotechnological process that includes steeping; ger-mination and finally, the dehydration of cereal grains under controlled temperature and humidity conditions. In this investigation, the biophysical properties of barley malt were predicted using two models of artificial neural networks as well as response surface methodology. Stepping time and germination time were selected as the independent variables and 1 000 kernel weight, kernel density and terminal velocity were selected as the depen-dent variables (responses). The obtained outcomes showed that the artificial neural network model, with a logarithmic sigmoid activation function, presents more precise results than the response surface model in the prediction of the aerodynamic and biophysical properties of produced barley malt. This model presented the best result with 8 nodes in the hidden layer and significant correlation coefficient values of 0.783, 0.767 and 0.991 were obtained for responses one thousand kernel weight, kernel density, and terminal velocity, respectively. The outcomes indicated that this novel technique could be successfully applied in quantitative and qualitative monitoring within the malting process

Modeling of Vitamin C Degradation Kinetics of Fresh Cucumis sativus as a Function of Edible Coating Kind and Storage Time

Vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) is a basic nutrients and very effective antioxidant that acts as a natural preservative in fruits (such as Cucumis sativus). Aiming to maintain bioactive compounds (especially inhibition the dehydroascorbic acid formation) and preventing the spoilage development, the effect of edible coating types (I: control, II: Shiraz gum & III: Shiraz gum containing 1000 ppm Mentha piperita L. essential oil) and storage times (1, 8 and 16 days) on the auto-oxidation kinetics of vitamin C and its inhibitory role on inhibition of bacterial/fungal growth of Cucumis sativus at +4 °C, was evaluated. The results indicated that the variation rate of Cucumis sativus vitamin C degradation during storage period follows the zero-order kinetic reaction (the highest R2/P(%) ratio). The lowest growth rate of mesophilic bacteria (6.95), mold (3.21) and yeast (6.04) of Cucumis sativus in (log10 CFU/g) observed after 16 days of storage in sample (III) that corresponding to the lowest rate of vitamin C degradation. The half-time values (t1/2) of vitamin C degradation rate showed that, the best shelf-life of Cucumis sativus (in the studied conditions) was ~10 days, aiming to maintain the most nutritional properties. Generally, the findings of present research can be useful for monitoring the shelf life of Cucumis sativus kept in cold stowage

Effects of atmospheric-thermosonication process on phenolic compounds extraction, extraction productivity and antioxidant activity of freeze-dried green tea and green coffee aqueous extracts

The atmospheric-thermosonication extraction (ATSE) of bioactive compounds from freeze-dried aqueous extract of green tea (FDGT) and green coffee (FDGC) herbal plants was performed to improve the separation of phenolic compounds. The extraction process was optimized by considering the operating conditions of temperature (25–85 °C), extraction time (15–35 min) and the amplitude of ultrasonic waves (0–100%) to achieve freeze-dried herbal extracts (FDHEs). According to Pearson correlation statistics approach, strong and negative correlation was observed between two main quantitative indicators of (EC50 and TPC) for FDGT (r = −0.9717 & R2 = 0.944) and FDGC (r = −1.00 & R2 = 1.00), respectively. While the extraction productivity ratio (TPC/EC50) of FDGT and FDGC under conventional extraction (maceration extraction technique) was significantly increased to ∼24.61 and ∼76.60 respectively, the noted parameter increased at rates of ∼34.19 and ∼88.64 after applying ATSE treatment at the similar conditions. Additionally, the caffeine content of FDGT was ∼50% more than FDGC. Overall, ultrasound-assisted extraction of phenolic antioxidants from herbal plants used much less energy than those extracted with conventional method and obtained extracts had a higher quality and inhibiting components against pathogenic microorganism than those extracted with commercial method due to extraction at lower temperatures

Internal evaluation and its roles in improving the quality of technique & engineering training, Case: Department of Technique and Engineering Faculty at Shahed University

Internal evaluation is a process in which faculty members of departments make judgments about their own performance and plan to improve their future activities. Internal evaluation in the department can be an effective step for increasing the quality of higher education system. Internal evaluation with data collection, analysis and feedback, supports management in decision-making. As internal evaluation project has been performed and approved in different departments of technique & engineering faculty at Shahed University. In the present paper the meta-analysis of the reports are presented. These departments include: 1) Department of Electrical Engineering 2) Department of Computer Engineering and3) Department of Medical Engineering. Data have been collected by analyzing internal evaluation reports. At the end, a framework for improving the quality of teaching and research has been recommende

Modeling of drying kiwi slices and its sensory evaluation

In this study, monolayer drying of kiwi slices was simulated by a laboratory‐scale hot‐air dryer. The drying process was carried out at three different temperatures of 50, 60, and 70°C. After the end of drying process, initially, the experimental drying data were fitted to the 11 well‐known drying models. The results indicated that Two‐term model gave better performance compared with other models to monitor the moisture ratio (with average R2 value equal .998). Also, this study used artificial neural network (ANN) in order to feasibly predict dried kiwi slices moisture ratio (y), based on the time and temperature drying inputs (x1, x2). In order to do this research, two main activation functions called logsig and tanh, widely used in engineering calculations, were applied. The results revealed that, logsig activation function base on 13 neurons in first and second hidden layers were selected as the best configuration to predict the moisture ratio. This network was able to predict moisture ratio with R2 value .997. Furthermore, kiwi slice favorite is evaluated by sensory evaluation. In this test, sense qualities as color, aroma, flavor, appearance, and chew ability (tissue brittleness) are considered

Expression of recombinant parvalbumin from wolf-herring fish and determination of its IgE-binding capability

In this study, we produced the recombinant form of parvalbumin from wolf-herring fish and determined its IgE reactivity. Parvalbumin cDNA was sub-cloned into pET28 and expressed in Escherichia coli BL-21. The immunoreactivities of the recombinant and native parvalbumins were compared, and the effect of calcium binding was determined by sera from 25 fish-allergic patients. ELISA and Western blotting confirmed similar IgE-reactivities of the recombinant and native proteins and confirmed that this phenomenon is highly dependent on calcium binding. The recombinant protein was 94.5% similar to carp parvalbumin (Cyp c1). Approximately 72% of patients reacted strongly with recombinant parvalbumin, 80% of them reacted with the native form and only 56% showed IgE reactivity with crude extract. Because the IgE-binding capacity of recombinant wolf-herring parvalbumin is retained and is highly similar to Cyp c1, the wild and hypoallergenic forms of this allergen could be used for diagnosis and immunotherapy of fish allergy, respectively