Biostratigraphy of the Danian/Selandian transition: A case study from Kamestan anticline section, northwest of Izeh city in Khuzestan province, Southern Iran

The planktonic foraminifera turnover across the Danian-Selandian boundary (early to late Paleocene, ~60 Ma) has been studied in the Kamestan anticline section. The studied interval span planktonic foraminifera zones P2-P3. In this section Danian-Selandian boundary is located in Pabedeh – Gurpi Formations transition. Here, the boundary of Pabeh and Gurpi Formations is a transitional one and identified by with color change of from grey shale to purple shale of Gurpi Formation to Pabdeh Formation .

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Short-Term Effects of Glutamine Supplementation on Levels of Blood Lactate and Fatigue Index in Male Elite Swimmers

Food supplementations are public assistance for a variety of championships sports. Competitive and recreational athletes use the nutritional supplements to improve their performance in a long time. In this context, there is lack of information about whether glutamine supplementation has the potential to help improve the muscle recovery after a period of intense aerobic exercise to exhaustion. This study aimed to assess short-term effect of glutamine supplementation on the levels of lactate and fatigue index in male elite swimmers.  Research method was mid-experimental and research design was a pretest-posttest with control group that was administered as double-blind. Twenty swimmers with age range of 26-18 years were selected based on convenient sampling. Then, based on swimming record results of 50 and 100 m freestyle breasts  were randomly divided into glutamine and swimming training group (n = 10) or placebo and exercise swimming group (n=10 ). Then the glutamine was given to supplementation group and the placebo was given to the control group, both groups began to swim for 4 weeks. Studied variables including lactate levels, fatigue and athletic performance index were measured before and after the study.  The results showed that use of glutamine amino acids led to a significant reduction in the fatigue index and produced lactate in the supplementation group compared to the placebo group. The time of athletes' performance wasn’t significantly increased.  The results showed the glutamine supplementation in areas such as swimming where the athlete must take part in a day in several competition, has a significant impact on the reduction of blood lactate concentration and more endurance of athletes than accumulation of lactic acid and reduction of swimming athletes fatigue index . However, more research is needed in this area

The Role of Fiscal Policy in Human Development (Macroeconomic Approaches)

This study aims to analyze the relationship between financial policy and human development is one of the most prominent concerns of the modern era, as it is a way to know the impact and role of financial policy in the human development process, The main purpose of the research is to know The role of fiscal policy in human development the current study is looking for the future of human development in light of the developments that occurred in Iraq after 2003, Analysis of the reality of fiscal policy in Iraq

Short-Term Effects of Glutamine Supplementation on Levels of Blood Lactate and Fatigue Index in Male Elite Swimmers

Food supplementations are public assistance for a variety of championships sports. Competitive and recreational athletes use the nutritional supplements to improve their performance in a long time. In this context, there is lack of information about whether glutamine supplementation has the potential to help improve the muscle recovery after a period of intense aerobic exercise to exhaustion. This study aimed to assess short-term effect of glutamine supplementation on the levels of lactate and fatigue index in male elite swimmers.  Research method was mid-experimental and research design was a pretest-posttest with control group that was administered as double-blind. Twenty swimmers with age range of 26-18 years were selected based on convenient sampling. Then, based on swimming record results of 50 and 100 m freestyle breasts  were randomly divided into glutamine and swimming training group (n = 10) or placebo and exercise swimming group (n=10 ). Then the glutamine was given to supplementation group and the placebo was given to the control group, both groups began to swim for 4 weeks. Studied variables including lactate levels, fatigue and athletic performance index were measured before and after the study.  The results showed that use of glutamine amino acids led to a significant reduction in the fatigue index and produced lactate in the supplementation group compared to the placebo group. The time of athletes' performance wasn’t significantly increased.  The results showed the glutamine supplementation in areas such as swimming where the athlete must take part in a day in several competition, has a significant impact on the reduction of blood lactate concentration and more endurance of athletes than accumulation of lactic acid and reduction of swimming athletes fatigue index . However, more research is needed in this area

Gene Expression in Two Cyanobacteria, Freshwater Synechococcus sp. PCC 7942 and Oceanic Synechococcus sp. WH 7803, in response to ammonium, nitrate or iron

The transcriptional response of freshwater Synechococcus sp. PCC 7942 and oceanic Synechococcus sp. WH 7803 to ammonium, nitrate or iron was studied in single or multiple factor limited cultures. Both strains showed maximum production of NiR mRNA when grown in nitrate-containing media. When grown in ammonium-containing medium, they did not show any signal for NiR mRNA synthesis. The influence on the transcription of NiR mRNA by iron as sole limiting nutrient was also evaluated. Iron increased the NiR mRNA whether or not the positive effect of nitrate was already present. The hybridization signal of mRNA for the large subunit of ribulose bisphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase enzyme (rbcl), was increased in both strains when iron was added. The relative response of NiA was larger than that of rbcL to iron addition. In the final set of experiments, combinations of iron, ammonium, or nitrate nutrient limitation were studied to understand their interactive effect on NiR and rbcL mRNA production. The ammonium-grown cells were allowed to starve for iron and then transferred to +iron+nitrate, +iron-nitrate, or -iron+nitrate cultures. rbcL mANA was increased gradually up to 168 hr. NiR mRNA increased initially but, for unknown reasons, decreased after 24 hr to a minimum that was similar for +iron+nitrate, +iron-nitrate, and -iron+nitrate cultures. A comparison of the rbcL or NiR mRNA from multiple nutrient limitation with that of single nutrient limitation showed different time dependent patterns of synthesis. The response to iron starvation could be different when cells experience a co-limitation with nitrate. This response is also influenced by species specific differences by evolutionary adaptation to different environments. This difference is confirmed in the NiR and rbcL mRNA response in two strains of marine and freshwater Synechococcus for single (iron) or multiple (iron+nitrate) limitation. Physiological studies commonly assume a single factor will constrain cell growth at any moment and when conditions change, the limiting factor will switch. The differential response in the synthesis of NiA and rbcl mANA observed shows that cells exhibit unique responses to combined limitations

Agent-Based Model of Fab Lab Communities

RÉSUMÉ : Étant donné que les concepts d'innovation socio-technologique ont accéléré à la direction de la personnalisation massive, la fabrication par des laboratoires "Fab Lab" sera le prochain domaine intéressant à trouver son chemin vers la personnalisation dans un contexte collaboratif. Elle a été reconnue comme la prochaine révolution industrielle (Morel & Le Roux, 2016; Troxler, 2013), puisqu'elle peut soutenir de nouvelles innovations technologiques collaboratives en autorisant des individus à utiliser leurs ressources locales et de trouver leurs solutions économiques pratiques (Gershenfeld, 2006; Morel, Dupont, & Lhoste, 2015). Ce nouveau concept de collaboration communautaire peut être utilisé dans différents segments de service fournissant, c'est-à-dire des fins éducatives, des solutions de production, des pratiques personnelles, etc. Pourtant, il n'y a pas assez d'études pratiques pour aider le processus de choisir les stratégies les plus appropriées et des méthodes pour développer des interactions personnelles par les types différents de communautés Fab Lab. En conséquence, une simulation à base d'agent semble être un outil utile pour soutenir la conception des Fab Labs comme le futur modèle répandu pour les processus d'innovation, de fabrication ou d'apprentissage des compétences. Cette étude propose un modèle à base d'agent qui a été simulé en utilisant la plateforme AnyLogic et a été développé par un codage Java supplémentaire. En tenant compte de divers facteurs, il a été évalué par certaines techniques de vérification et de validation. De plus, deux séries d'expériences ont été menées pour soutenir la validité de ce modèle puisqu'il n'y a pas de données empiriques ni de variantes historiques disponibles pour comparer et vérifier les résultats de cette simulation avec une communauté Fab Lab réelle. En plus, d'autres expériences ont été menées afin d'étudier l'impact du seuil de déclenchement et l'intensité des programmes de motivation sur les interactions des membres de la communauté. Les résultats ont découvert des influences indéniables des programmes de motivation avec différentes configurations sur des communautés Fab Lab en termes de durée de la vie active, niveau de fait d'être actif, la compétence/ la connaissance transférée. Néanmoins, l'application des résultats dans certaines situations réelles peut révéler les contraintes cachées réelles pour améliorer ce modèle.----------ABSTRACT : Considering that socio-technological innovation concepts have been accelerating in the direction of mass customization, fabrication through labs “Fab Lab” is going to be the next interesting domain to find its way toward customization in a collaborative context. It has been recognized as the next industrial revolution (Morel & Le Roux, 2016; Troxler, 2013) since it can support new collaborative technological innovations by empowering individuals to use their local resources and to find their practical economic solutions (Gershenfeld, 2006; Morel et al., 2015). This new concept of community-based collaboration can be used in different service providing segments, i.e. educational purposes, production solutions, personal practices, etc. Yet, there are not enough practical studies to assist the process of choosing the most appropriate strategies and methods to develop personal interactions through different types of Fab Lab communities. Accordingly, an agent-based simulation seems to be a useful tool to support the design of Fab Labs as the future widespread model for innovation, fabrication, or skill learning processes. This study proposes an agent-based model that was simulated using the AnyLogic platform and was developed by supplementary Java coding. In consideration of diverse factors, it was evaluated by some verification and validation techniques. Moreover, two series of experiments were carried out to support the validity of this model since there is neither related empirical data nor historical variants available to compare and check the results of this simulation with a real Fab Lab community. Besides, other experiments were conducted in order to study the impact of the triggering threshold and the intensity of motivation programs on interactions of the community members. The results uncovered undeniable influences of motivation programs with different setups on Fab Lab communities in terms of active lifespan, level of activeness, transferred skill/ knowledge. Nevertheless, applying the results in some real situations can reveal the actual concealed constrains to improve this model

Physico-mechanical properties of rough rice (Oryza sativa L.) grain as affected by variety and moisture content

 M. Sadeghi, H. Ashtiani Araghi, A. Hemmat(Department of Farm Machinery, College of Agriculture, Isfahan University of Technology, Isfahan 84156-83111, Iran) Abstract: Rice varieties in Isfahan Province (central Iran) have high breakage losses during processing.  In order to optimize the design of machinery used for milling of these varieties it is quite important to determine their engineering properties.  In this study, physical and mechanical properties of Sorkheh and Sazandegi varieties were determined at three moisture content levels.  To determine the mechanical properties, compression and three-point bending tests were conducted.  It was observed that, by increasing moisture content, geometric mean diameter, sphericity, true density, and angle of repose were all increased, whereas bulk density decreased.  In contrary to the moisture content at the tested range, variety had a significant effect on rough rice mechanical properties.  For Sorkheh, the average fracture force, fracture energy, modulus of elasticity, and toughness obtained by compression test, were 169.1 N, 44.2 J×10-3, 996.1 MPa, and 1.88 MJ/m3, respectively.  The corresponding values for Sazandegi were 125.1 N, 24.4 J×10-3, 555.6 MPa, and 1.11 MJ/m3.  In three-point bending test, the average fracture force, fracture energy, and bending strength of Sorkheh were 24.2 N, 5.1 J×10-3, and 23.4 MPa, respectively.  For Sazandegi, these values were 19.1 N, 3.7 J×10-3, and 17.7 MPa, respectively.  Comparison of obtained mechanical properties with the literature revealed that the high milling losses of Isfahan province rice varieties could be due to the methods and devices used for their processing operations.Keywords: mechanical characteristic, milling, moisture content, physical property, Iran Citation: Sadeghi M, H. Ashtiani Araghi, A. Hemmat.  Physico-mechanical properties of rough rice (Oryza sativa L.) grain as affected by variety and moisture content.  Agric Eng Int: CIGR Journal, 2010, 12(3): 129-136. &nbsp

Vulnerability and Security Risk Assessment of a Thermal Power Plant Using SVA Technique

The philosophy behind the creation of every organization is bound up with the objectives for each it has been created. There are always factors threatening the continuation of the organization’s activities or even its existence. Some of these factors involve common threats in the security area which should be identified, assessed and controlled through a systematic risk management pattern. In the present study, Security Vulnerability Assessment (SVA) technique and a local version of SVA-Pro software called Joshan-Pro was used to estimate the vulnerability and security risk of a combined cycle power plant. In this Plant, 17 assets were identified and among them, 13 assets with higher priority were entered into Joshan-Pro software for further detailed analysis. Gas oil storage tanks with the vulnerability of 2.33 out of 5 and security risk of 46.60 out of 125 were identified as the most important asset in terms of security and the 230 kV substation with the vulnerability of 0.96 and security risk of 8.64 were labeled as asset with the lowest security risk in the plant. The results showed that Joshan-Pro software, using expert’s opinion, has acceptable capability to determine the security vulnerability of the infrastructures