Effect of gamma irradiation on fatty acid composition of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fillets

The present study was conducted to evaluate the effect of low-dose gamma irradiation (0, 1, 3 and 5 kGy) on fatty acid composition of Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) fillet. Among all of the fatty acids, oleic acid (C18:1) (with mean 33.50±3.02 g/100 g fatty acids) and myristoleic acid (C14:1) (with mean 0.41±0.26 g/100 g fatty acids) were the most predominant and the lowest fatty acids in all irradiated and non-irradiated samples, respectively. Statistical analysis showed that there were no significant differences (P>0.05) in level of all fatty acids, saturated fatty acids (SFA), unsaturated fatty acids (USFA), mono unsaturated fatty acids (MUFA) and poly unsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) between Rainbow trout fillet control and irradiated in 1, 3 and 5 kGy. Therefore irradiation process and different doses of irradiation in this study (1, 3 and 5 kGy) had no significant effect (P>0.05) on fatty acid composition

Passive Solar Building Design Using Genetic Programming

Passive solar building design is the process of designing a building while considering sunlight exposure for receiving heat in winter and rejecting heat in summer. The main goal of a passive solar building design is to remove or reduce the need of mechanical and electrical systems for cooling and heating, and therefore saving energy costs and reducing environmental impact. This research will use evolutionary computation to design passive solar buildings. Evolutionary design is used in many research projects to build 3D models for structures automatically. In this research, we use a mixture of split grammar and string-rewriting for generating new 3D structures. To evaluate energy costs, the EnergyPlus system is used. This is a comprehensive building energy simulation system, which will be used alongside the genetic programming system. In addition, genetic programming will also consider other design and geometry characteristics of the building as search objectives, for example, window placement, building shape, size, and complexity. In passive solar designs, reducing energy that is needed for cooling and heating are two objectives of interest. Experiments show that smaller buildings with no windows and skylights are the most energy efficient models. Window heat gain is another objective used to encourage models to have windows. In addition, window and volume based objectives are tried. To examine the impact of environment on designs, experiments are run on five different geographic locations. Also, both single floor models and multi-floor models are examined in this research. According to the experiments, solutions from the experiments were consistent with respect to materials, sizes, and appearance, and satisfied problem constraints in all instances

Effects of Chemical and Biological Fertilizers on Growth, Yield and Essential Oil of Salvia officinalis

This experiment was conducted in 2012 at the research field of Alborz Research Station, Research Institute of Forests and Rangelands, Karaj, Iran, to study the effect of chemical and biological fertilizers on Sage (Salvia officinalis L.) and replacing biofertilizers instead of high doses of chemical fertilizers. The experiment was conducted in factorial in the form of a randomized complete block design with three replications and two factors: chemical nitrogen and phosphorus fertilizers in four levels (N0P0, N0P150, N300P0 and N300P150) and biological fertilizers in four levels (non inoculated control, mycorrhizal inoculation with Glomus mosseae (T.H. Nicolson & Gerd.) Gerd. & Trappe + Glomus intraradices N.C. Schenck & G.S. Sm., bacterial inoculation with Pseudomonas fluorescens, and dual inoculation with G. mosseae +G. intraradices + P. fluorescens). The measured traits included: plant height, the number of tillers, leaf area, leaf yield, shoot yield, root weight, essential oil percentage and essential oil yield. Results indicated the significant effect of chemical fertilizer on all measured traits except for the number of tillers. Biofertilizer application had also significant effect on all measured traits except for essential oil percentage. The interaction of the two factors had only a significant effect on leaf area and leaf yield. Mean comparison showed that the highest essential oil yield (37.02 kg/ha) was achieved in N0P150×Pseudomonas which was significantly the same as N0P150×mycorrhizal inoculation and N0P150×dual inoculation with mycorrhizae + Pseudomonas. Generally, results of this experiment indicated that it is possible to replace biofertilizers instead of high doses of chemical fertilizers in order to reduce the need for chemical fertilizers and prevent the associated problems

A New Variant of the Winternitz One Time Signature Scheme Based on Graded Encoding Schemes

The Winternitz one-time signature (WOTS) scheme, which can be described using a certain number of so-called ``function chains , plays an important role in the design of both stateless and stateful many-time signature schemes. This work introduces WOTS^GES, a new WOTS type signature scheme in which the need for computing all of the intermediate values of the chains is eliminated. This significantly reduces the number of required operations needed to calculate the algorithms of WOTS^GES. To achieve this results, we have used the concept of ``leveled multilinear maps which is also referred to as graded encoding schemes. In the context of provable security, we reduce the hardness of graded discrete-logarithm (GDL) problem to the EU-CMA security of WOTS^GES in the standard model

Urinary Neutrophil Gelatinase-Associated Lipocalin (NGAL) and Cystatin C in Early Detection of Pediatric Acute Kidney Injury; a Diagnostic Accuracy Study

Introduction: There is a controversy regarding accuracy of neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL) and Cystatin C in early detection of acute kidney injury (AKI). The present study aimed to compare the diagnostic value of two biomarkers in this regard. Method: In the present diagnostic accuracy study, all children between the ages of 1 month to 14 years were entered. Pediatric Risk, Injury Failure, Loss, End-stage renal disease (pRIFLE) criteria was used for identification of children with AKI as the reference test. Blood samples were taken from all patients at baseline and 48 hours after admission to assess serum creatinine and Cystatin C level. In addition, a urine sample was obtained within 6 hours of admission in order to measure NGAL level. In the end, area under the receiving operating characteristics (ROC) curve, sensitivity, and specificity of urine NGAL (uNGAL) and Cystatin C in early detection of AKI were compared. Results: Data from 96 children with the mean age of 27.31±36.24 months were entered (56.25% girls). Area under the ROC curve of uNGAL level in diagnosis of AKI in children was 0.91 (95% CI: 0.80 to 1.00) and area under the ROC of Cystatin C was 0.90 (95% CI: 0.77 to 1.00). Both tests had the same value in diagnosis of AKI (p=0.89). The best cut-off point of uNGAL for diagnosing AKI was 125 mg/L. uNGAL had a sensitivity and specificity of 0.92 (0.62 to 0.99) and 0.69 (0.57 to 0.78), respectively. The best cut-off point of serum Cystatin C level was 0.4 mg/L. Cystatin C had a sensitivity and specificity of 0.92 (0.62 to 0.99) and 0.64 (0.52 to 0.74), respectively. Conclusion: The present study showed that uNGAL level has the same value as serum Cystatin C level in early diagnosis of AKI

Multiobjective optimization of cluster-scale urban water systems investigating alternative water sources and level of decentralization

In many regions, conventional water supplies are unable to meet projected consumer demand. Consequently, interest has arisen in integrated urban water systems, which involve the reclamation or harvesting of alternative, localized water sources. However, this makes the planning and design of water infrastructure more difficult, as multiple objectives need to be considered, water sources need to be selected from a number of alternatives, and end uses of these sources need to be specified. In addition, the scale at which each treatment, collection, and distribution network should operate needs to be investigated. In order to deal with this complexity, a framework for planning and designing water infrastructure taking into account integrated urban water management principles is presented in this paper and applied to a rural greenfield development. Various options for water supply, and the scale at which they operate were investigated in order to determine the life-cycle trade-offs between water savings, cost, and GHG emissions as calculated from models calibrated using Australian data. The decision space includes the choice of water sources, storage tanks, treatment facilities, and pipes for water conveyance. For each water system analyzed, infrastructure components were sized using multiobjective genetic algorithms. The results indicate that local water sources are competitive in terms of cost and GHG emissions, and can reduce demand on the potable system by as much as 54%. Economies of scale in treatment dominated the diseconomies of scale in collection and distribution of water. Therefore, water systems that connect large clusters of households tend to be more cost efficient and have lower GHG emissions. In addition, water systems that recycle wastewater tended to perform better than systems that captured roof-runoff. Through these results, the framework was shown to be effective at identifying near optimal trade-offs between competing objectives, thereby enabling informed decisions to be made when planning water systems for greenfield developments.J. P. Newman, G. C. Dandy, and H. R. Maie

Impact Assessment of “Targeting Subsidies Low” on Benefit to Cost Index in Agriculture Sector: A System Analysis

In this paper, we assess the various impacts of “Targeting Subsidies Low” on Benefit to Cost Index (B/C) of pistachio arbor in Rafsanjan plain during 2010 to 2025. The results show that because of an 85 percent contribute to total income for pistachio exportation, under the condition of government intervention for foreign exchange costing, the huge inflation effects of “Targeting Subsidies Low” implementation will cause a significant decrease in B/C index of pistachio production. To avoid this, we suggest governors to make a supportive package of foreign exchange costing for pistachio farmers during the “Targeting Subsidies Low” implementation

Effects of fasting in the holy month of Ramadan on the uric acid, urea, and creatinine levels: A narrative review

Fasting during the month of Ramadan is one of the Five Pillars of Islam. During this holy month, healthy Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, and smoking from dawn to dusk. Although fasting is obligatory for every adult Muslim, if it has hazardous effects on the body, it is prohibited. Due to some Islamic principles, patients are exempted from fasting; however, due to the willingness of some individuals to fast, there are concerns about its effects on urea, uric acid, and creatine levels. Atypical levels of these compounds can cause serious disorders or indicate abnormal renal function. The present narrative review is aimed to investigate the effect of abnormally high levels of urea, uric acid, and creatinine on one’s health and effects of fasting during Ramadan on these indicators. Articles were searched from PubMed, Elsevier and Google Scholar and then they were evaluated. It can be concluded that fasting does not have any adverse effects on the urea, uric acid, and creatinine levels according to the above-mentioned studies.</span