Lifetime cost analysis of concrete barriers and steel guardrails.

This study investigates the lifetime costs associated with concrete barriers and steel guardrails. We introduce a cost analysis methodology that incorporates critical factors such as construction costs, maintenance costs, exposure risks during maintenance activities, and the costs imposed to traveling public through the increased traffic and the crash outcomes. We integrate various parameters including economic factors, road geometry, general weather condition, and traffic mix to estimate a location-dependent cost for each type of barrier accurately. A software tool, named CalBarrier, was developed during this study to carry out the calculations and the comparison of lifetime cost of aforementioned barriers. An inherent strength of this research is its reliance on recent real data extracted from various databases of California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), ensuring precision and relevance in accounting for various influential factors. Drawing insights from Caltrans practices and interviews with their personnel, this study emphasizes the intricate decision-making process involved in mitigating safety risks and reducing operational expenses. Although our data originates from California, the methodology for life cycle cost analysis, and our software are applicable for regions with different socio-economic conditions by deploying user input costs, making our findings a valuable resource for other areas facing comparable challenges

The Consequence of Iran’s Nationalization of oil in Iraq’s Parliament and Government

Iranian Parliament passed the law regarding Nationalization of oil in March 15, 1951. This event had a great impact on domestic, regional, and international conditions of the oil-rich countries. Thus, in Iraq, parties and political groups and a number of parliamentary representatives called on Nuri al-Said government to propose a national oil industry law to be approved by the government. The British statesmen planed a new strategy regarding the oil privileges in order to confront the impact of Iran’s movement in Iraq. This research examines the question of how Iran’s nationalization movement had an impact in Iraq. The working hypothesis is that the nationalization of oil in Iran, and the weakening of the royal power and tension in Iran-West relations gave a strong motivation to the confrontation of the royal power and western colonialis

2-Amino­pyridinium diphenyl­phosphinate monohydrate

In the crystal of the title hydrated salt, C5H7N2 +·C12H10O2P−·H2O, the cations, anions and water mol­ecules connected by N—H⋯O and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds into a layer along the bc plane; the phenyl rings protrude into the space between the layers. The dihedral angle between rings of anion is 86.1 (1)°

Removal of Arsenic (III, V) from aqueous solution by nanoscale zero-valent iron stabilized with starch and carboxymethyl cellulose

In this work, synthetic nanoscale zerovalent iron (NZVI) stabilized with two polymers, Starch and Carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) were examined and compared for their ability in removing As (III) and As (V) from aqueous solutions as the most promising iron nanoparticles form for arsenic removal. Batch operations were conducted with different process parameters such as contact time, nanoparticles concentration, initial arsenic concentration and pH. Results revealed that starch stabilized particles (S-nZVI) presented an outstanding ability to remove both arsenate and arsenite and displayed ~ 36.5% greater removal for As (V) and 30% for As (III) in comparison with CMC-stabilized nanoparticles (C-nZVI). However, from the particle stabilization viewpoint, there is a clear trade off to choosing the best stabilized nanoparticles form. Removal efficiency was enhanced with increasing the contact time and iron loading but reduced with increasing initial As (III, V) concentrations and pH. Almost complete removal of arsenic (up to 500 μg/L) was achieved in just 5 min when the S-nZVI mass concentration was 0.3 g/L and initial solution pH of 7 ± 0.1. The maximum removal efficiency of both arsenic species was obtained at pH = 5 ± 0.1 and starched nanoparticles was effective in slightly acidic and natural pH values. The adsorption kinetics fitted well with pseudo-second-order model and the adsorption data obeyed the Langmuir equation with a maximum adsorption capacity of 14 mg/g for arsenic (V), and 12.2 mg/g for arsenic (III). It could be concluded that starch stabilized Fe(0) nanoparticles showed remarkable potential for As (III, V) removal from aqueous solution e.g. contaminated water

Monoclinic modification of 1,2-bis­(diphenyl­seleno­phosphino­yl)ethane

The complete mol­ecule of the title compound, C26H24P2Se2, is generated by crystallographic 2-fold symmetry, with the rotation axis bisecting the central C—C bond. The dihedral angle between the terminal aromatic rings is 74.1 (1)°

Effect of cinnamon supplementation on blood glucose and lipid levels in type2 diabetic patients

   This study was planned to investigate the effects of supplementation of cinnamon on fasting blood glucose levels and lipid profiles among type2 diabetic patients. 60 subjects with type 2 diabetes from both sexes (30 males and 30 females) were allocated to the intervention and control groups (30 individuals per group). The doses of 1.5 g of cinnamon were equally administered orally in the form of cinnamon powder into 500 mg per capsule with breakfast, lunch, and dinner for 60 days. Control group received capsules of containing placebo. Blood samples were obtained on the beginning day of the experiment and at the end of 60 days. The fasting blood glucose levels and lipid profiles including total cholesterol, LDL-C, HDL-C and triglycerides of types 2 subjects were measured. Fasting blood glucose levels and lipid profiles in intervention group were significantly lower than control group (

Distribution of Blood Groups in Patients with Angiographically Defined Coronary Artery Disease in Iranian Community

In the past, the relationship between coronary artery disease (CAD) and been studied extensively. The ABO blood group has a significant effect on homeostasis and is therefore associated with adverse cardiovascular events. This study aimed to determine the distribution of ABO blood group and rhesus (Rh) status (ABO/Rh) in patients with different severity of CAD in Iranian community. A total of 1,236 CAD patients undergoing angiography were evaluated and their ABO/Rh blood type was determined in a study center between February 2005 and December 2010. Of the 1,236 records, only 1,046 medical documents recorded the number of involved vessels. The patients were classified according to the number of significantly affected stenotic vessels into single vessel (1VD), two vessels (2VD), and three vessels (3VD) disease subgroups. A substantially different ABO/Rh blood groups distribution was seen in the examined samples (O: 29.7%, A: 39.7%, B: 22.2%, AB: 8.3%, Rh positivity: 89.2%). The ABO/Rh blood group phenotype distribution in CAD patients with 1VD, 2VD, and 3VD was as follows: 37.5%, 41.3%, and 41.5%, respectively, for group A; 24.1%, 20.5%, and 20.6%, respectively, for group B; 31.2%, 26.8%, and 30.2%, respectively, for group O; 7.1%, 11.4% and 7.7%, respectively, for group AB (p = 0.26), and 88.7%, 90.5%, and 87.6%, respectively, for Rh positivity, (p = 0.47).  In addition, no significant correlation was not found among the ABO/Rh blood group distribution and the number of vessels involved, however, according to the different distribution of ABO/Rh blood group in CAD patients and healthy population, ABO/Rh might have an unknown role in CAD patients. Keywords: Coronary artery disease, Blood group, Stenosis, Vessel, Rhesus

Mesostigmata diversity by manure type. A reference study and new datasets from southwestern Iran.

Manure-inhabiting Mesostigmata mites are important biological control agents of pest flies. However, the biodiversity of this mite community is mainly known from Europe or America and, especially, from cattle manure. This study examined the diversity and abundance of Mesostigmata mites associated with different types of manure in an (intensive) agricultural region of the middle East, Ahvaz and its suburbs, southwest Iran. Mite samples were extracted from manure of cattle, buffalo, sheep, horse, poultry and quail in 30 livestock and poultry farms. In total, 40 species belonging to 24 genera and 16 families were identified. The most diverse families were Laelapidae with eight species, Macrochelidae with seven and Parasitidae with six. Macrocheles muscaedomesticae and Uroobovella marginata were the most widespread species, recorded in 28 and 27 out of 30 collecting sites, respectively. Two species, M. sumbaensis and U. marginata, were found in all studied manures. Simpson’s diversity index recorded the highest diversity in buffalo and sheep manure. Real and theoretical species richness (rarefaction curves) were congruent in number of individuals. The presence of seven species of Macrochelidae in the manure confirms that these are important predators of the house fly for the region of Ahvaz and its suburbs. Members of the Parasitidae were highly prevalent; with one species known as a specialized predator of house fly eggs. This work aims to encourage further studies on the biology and the predatory traits of these Mesostigmata, to continue assessing the feasibility of these mites as effective biological control agents of filth flies in different types of manure and from different corners of the world

Simulation of Dehydration Unit with a Pre-cooler to Improve the Hydrate Formation Temperature of Natural Gas

The presence of water vapor in natural gas can cause several problems such as corrosion in transmission pipelines, blockage of equipment, and reduction of pipeline capacity. Dehydration is a critical step to reduce the water content to prevent these serious drawbacks. The adsorption process is one of the efficient technologies for producing natural gas with low water content. In this study, the industrial molecular sieve-based dehydration unit is simulated. After validating the simulation results with the plant data, the effect of feed gas cooling before entering the dehydrator on the hydrate formation temperature of the produced dry gas is investigated. To do so, we simulate the dehydration unit with a pre-cooler and design the heat exchanger to reduce the feed gas temperature. In addition, we investigate the effect of temperature reduction on the temperature of hydrate formation and water content for dry gas products. On the other hand, the effect of heating time in the regeneration step on the unit performance is discussed. Because of sufficient cooling operation, the temperature of hydrate formation reduces significantly. For the reduction of 15℃ in the feed temperature, about 50% reduction in the product water content is attained. As a result, the improvement of 6 to 7˚C in the temperature of hydrate formation is achieved for the proposed dehydration process with the pre-cooler in comparison with a simple dehydrator scheme depending on pressure. For the proposed heating time of 8000s, the rise of 6.8% in the total amount of the removed water is achieved