Experimental Study of Influencing Factors and Kinetics in Catalytic Removal of Methylene Blue with TiO

Abstract In this research, degradation of methylene blue as a dye pollutant was investigated in the presence of TiO 2 nanopowders using photolysis and sonolysis systems separately and simultaneously. Effect of different parameters such as catalyst dosage, initial concentration of dye, UV power, pH and type of catalyst on the removal efficiency was ascertained. The results showed that basic pH is proper for the photocatalytic removal of the dye. Furthermore higher UV power and lower initial concentration of dye leads to higher removal percent. Moreover TiO 2 showed more photocatalytic activity than ZnO in the nanopowder form. The experimental kinetic data followed the pseudo-first order model in both photocatlytic and sonophotocatalytic processes but the rate constant of sonophotocatalysis is higher than it at photocatalysis process. Finally the reaction order of the rate law respect to nanocatalyst dosage in photocatalysis process is obtained 1.45. High activation energy of this process shows its high sensitivity to temperature

A study on relationship between quality of life and employee performance

This paper studies the relationship between quality of life and its eight components with employee performance in general directorate of youth and sport in province of Golestan, Iran. The study uses a questionnaire developed by Walton (1974) [Walton, R. E. (1974). Improving quality of work life. Harvard Business Review, 52(3), 12.] for quality of life and a standard questionnaire named ACHIEVE consists of 25 questions for measuring the performance. Using Spearman correlation test, the study has determined a positive and meaningful relationship between employee performance and eight components of Walton’s model including adequate and fair compensation, safe and healthy working conditions, development of human competencies, growth and security, social integration, constitutionalization and total life space and social reliance

Avaliando o comprometimento organizacional dos professores da escola secundária com base na teoria dos dois fatores de higiene de motivos de Herzberg

main aim of the present study is evaluating organizational commitment of secondary school's teachers based on Herzberg's Motive- hygiene two-factor theory. A descriptive-survey method is used in this study. The statistical population of this study included the secondary school's teachers of the education administration of Jahrom city. They were 330 persons at the time of study. The sample size was 178 persons based on Kerjesi-Morgan's table and the sampling was done by a stratified- randomized method. Two questionnaires of organizational commitment (Allen and Meyer) and motive- hygiene two-factor (job expectation) (Lussier) were used for gathering information. The validity and reliability of questionnaires were confirmed. Indexes such as mean and standard deviation, One – Sample T Test, Pearson correlative coefficient, Independent- Samples T – Test, stepwise multivariate regression analysis and One - Way Analysis of Variance of two parts of descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were used for analyzing the data respectively. Results of the analyzed data showed that there is a significant relationship between motive- hygiene factors and organizational commitment. There is no significant difference between hygiene factors of male and female teachers but the rate of hygiene factors of female teachers is more than the male teachers. There is also no significant difference between organizational commitment of male and female teachers but the rate of teachers with associate of arts is more than the teachers with Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts (or sciences).El objetivo principal del presente estudio es evaluar el compromiso organizacional de los docentes de la escuela secundaria basado en la teoría de Herzberg sobre la motivación de dos factores. Un método de encuesta descriptiva se utiliza en este estudio. La población estadística de este estudio incluyó a los profesores de la escuela secundaria de la administración educativa de la ciudad de Jahrom. Eran 330 personas en el momento del estudio. El tamaño de la muestra fue de 178 personas según la tabla de Kerjesi-Morgan y el muestreo se realizó por un método estratificado y aleatorizado. Se utilizaron dos cuestionarios de compromiso organizacional (Allen y Meyer) y de motivación por motivos de dos factores (expectativa de trabajo) (Lussier) para recabar información. La validez y fiabilidad de los cuestionarios fueron confirmadas. Se usaron índices como media y desviación estándar, prueba T de una muestra, coeficiente correlativo Pearson, prueba T de muestras independientes, análisis de regresión multivariante por pasos y análisis de varianza de una vía de dos partes de estadística descriptiva y estadística inferencial para analizar el datos respectivamente. Los resultados de los datos analizados mostraron que existe una relación significativa entre los factores de higiene motivacional y el compromiso organizacional. No hay una diferencia significativa entre los factores de higiene de los docentes masculinos y femeninos, pero la tasa de factores de higiene de las maestras es más que la de los docentes masculinos. Tampoco hay una diferencia significativa entre el compromiso organizacional de maestros y maestras, pero la tasa de maestros con asociado de artes es más que la de maestros con Licenciatura en Artes y Maestría en Artes (o ciencias).O principal objetivo do presente estudo é avaliar o comprometimento organizacional de professores do ensino médio baseado na teoria de Herzberg sobre a motivação de dois fatores. Um método de pesquisa descritiva é usado neste estudo. A população estatística deste estudo incluiu os professores do ensino médio da administração educacional da cidade de Jahrom. Havia 330 pessoas no momento do estudo. O tamanho da amostra foi de 178 pessoas, de acordo com a tabela de Kerjesi-Morgan, e a amostragem foi realizada por método estratificado e randomizado. Dois questionários de comprometimento organizacional (Allen e Meyer) e motivação foram usados por razões de dois fatores (expectativa de trabalho) (Lussier) para coletar informações. A validade e confiabilidade dos questionários foram confirmadas. índices como média e desvio padrão, amostra teste t, Pearson coeficiente de correlação, t-teste em amostras independentes, análise de regressão multivariada e análise de variância através de duas partes de estatística descritiva e estatística inferencial foram utilizados para analisar o dados, respectivamente. Os resultados dos dados analisados mostraram que existe uma relação significativa entre fatores de higiene motivacional e comprometimento organizacional. Não há diferença significativa entre os fatores de higiene de professores do sexo masculino e feminino, mas a taxa de fatores de higiene das professoras é maior do que a dos professores do sexo masculino. Também não há uma diferença significativa entre o comprometimento organizacional dos professores, mas a taxa de professores de artes associados é mais do que professores com Bachelor of Arts e Master of Arts (ou ciência)

Study of The Relation Between the Status of The Isin Bandar Abbas Plain Aquifer and Land Use Changes

IntroductionGroundwater is among the most precious natural resources for human health, economic development and environmental diversity. Since the measurement of groundwater parameters and water quality is difficult, costly and far from being available, interpolation techniques are an easy solution. At the same time, there is a strong correlation between groundwater quality and land use in areas with sensitive aquifers. Changes in land use caused by factors such as rapid growth and expansion of urban centers, rapid population growth, and the lack of land, the need for increased production and the evolution of technologies are important concerns. The literature review shows that the quantitative and qualitative decline in groundwater is a global crisis. As a result, the factors affecting the quantitative and qualitative decline in groundwater range from climate factors to socio-economic factors.In the current research, find an answer to the poor condition of the Isin Plain aquifer by looking at the relationship between some hydrological factors and changes in cultivation pattern of the region is the main goal. For this purpose, the water table and EC of groundwater were interpolated using geostatistical methods. Using satellite imagery, the trend of culture pattern changes over time was obtained. Finally, the relation between the factors on the Isin plain was established. Material and MethodsFor this purpose, the quantity and quality of groundwater in eastern and western Isin plains were interpolated using the Kriging and IDW methods, during the four statistical years of 2004, 2011, 2018, and 2021 and the time series of 2004-2021. The RMSE statistic was used to evaluate the performance of the methods.Then, satellite images and ground truth data was used for land use change classes to investigate the land use changes during the cropping season, along with the determination of changes in the quantity and quality of groundwater in the eastern and western Isin plains for the mentioned years. Satellite data including Landsat 5 multi-temporal satellite images in 2004, 2011, and 2018 and Landsat 8 and Sentinel 2 images for February 2021 were obtained from the USGS.Following preparation of the related images using the flash module, atmospheric and radiometric corrections were performed. Then, the corrections information was extracted into the text file appended to each image. With field survey, the coordinates of the representative pixels were determined and seven land use classes of gardens, vegetables, bare lands, residential and industrial areas, saline lands, and Prosopis Cineraria and Juliflora species were determined. The maximum likelihood classification method was used to separate seven main land use classes based on 127 training samples. For the purpose of assessing accuracy, an error matrix was created for the producer's accuracy, the user's accuracy, the overall accuracy, and the kappa coefficient calculation. Finally, to examine the relationship, the land use map and the groundwater and EC interpolation maps were overlapped into the Arc Map software environment. Results and DiscussionBy comparing the interpolation methods of IDW and Kriging with the RMSE validation technique, it was found that the best interpolation method for estimating water table and EC is Kriging, followed by the IDW method. A review of the land use maps of the Eastern and Western Plains of Isin showed the increase and decrease of different land use categories over the years under study. The overall accuracy and Kappa coefficient were over 82% and 0.79, indicating the acceptable accuracy of the classification and maps obtained. The results of overlapping land use maps and spatial changes in ground water indicate that the location of agricultural land, especially gardens in the eastern Isin plain and vegetables in the western Isin plain, is compatible with the areas of having low water table. The results of overlapping the land use map obtained from Landsat 8 data and EC spatial changes showed the highest amount of EC in can be observed in Prosopis Cineraria and Juliflora species and residential and industrial uses in eastern and western Isin plain. The results obtained from Sentinel2 indicate that the value of EC was significant in the bare lands of eastern Isin and in the saline lands of western Isin. However, the increase in agricultural use, especially for gardens and vegetables, and the pairing with areas with the lowest water table indicates an over-extraction of groundwater for agricultural purposes. On the other hand, the significant extent of bare lands and the upward trend of saline lands, residential and industrial areas, and matching with areas with high EC and the adaptation of maximum EC with Prosopis Cineraria and Juliflora species uses may be a warning for poor condition of the Isin plain aquifer

Genetic linkage analysis of DFNB93 locus in a group of families with autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss in Chahar Mahal & Bakhtiari and Kohkiluyeh & Boyer Ahmad provinces of Iran

زمینه و هدف: ناشنوایی یک اختلال حسی، عصبی است و بیشترین اختلال موجود در هنگام تولد است. بیش از 60 موارد ناشنوایی ارثی است. انواع ژنتیکی آن به دو نوع سندرومی و غیر سندرومی تقسیم می شود که نا شنوایی غیر سندرومی مغلوب اتوزومی (ARNSHL) با بیشترین درصد (70) رخ می دهد. این مطالعه با هدف تعیین پیوستگی ژنتیکی به لوکوس DFNB93 در خانواده های مبتلا به ARNSHL انجام شد. روش بررسی: این مطالعه توصیفی آزمایشگاهی بر روی 40 شجره بزرگ مبتلا به ARNSHL دارای حداقل دو بیمار، والدین سالم و عمدتاً دارای ازدواج خویشاوندی و منفی از نظر جهش های ژن GJB2، از استان های چهارمحال و بختیاری و کهگیلویه و بویراحمد انجام گردید. سپس خانواده ها برای پیوستگی ژنتیکی به لوکوس DFNB93 با استفاده از نشانگرهای STR و روش PCR و سپس ژل پلی اکریل آمید بررسی شدند. یافته ها: از تعداد 40 خانواده، 1 خانواده (5/2) به لوکوس DFNB93 پیوستگی نشان داد. ارزش SLINK این خانواده 67/2 و LOD بیشینه دو نقطه ای 05/2 و LOD بیشینه چند نقطه ای 05/2 محاسبه شد. نتیجه گیری: بر اساس نتیجه پژوهش حاضر، این لوکوس احتمالاً نقش کمی در ایجاد ناشنوایی در جمعیت مورد مطالعه (دو استان) دارد ولی برای تعیین نقش دقیق تر این لوکوس در ایجاد ناشنوایی در جمعیت ایرانی، مطالعات بیشتری ضروری می باشد

Patients with Covid 19 have significantly reduced CH50 activity

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), is a new virus that emerged in China and immediately spread around the world. Evidence has been documented that the immune system is impressively involved in the pathogenesis of this disease, especially in causing inflammation. One of the important components of the immune system is the complement system whose increased activity has been shown in inflammatory diseases and consequently damage caused by the activity of its components. In the present study, serum levels of C3 and C4 factors as well as the activity level of complement system in the classical pathway were measured by CH50 test in patients with SARS-CoV-2. Participants in the study consisted of 53 hospitalized patients whose real-time PCR test was positive for SARS-CoV-2. The mean age of these patients was 42.06 ± 18.7 years, including 40% women and 60% men. The most common symptoms in these patients were cough (70%), fever (59%), dyspnea (53%) and chills (53%), respectively. Analysis of biochemical and hematological test results revealed that 26 (49%) patients had lymphopenia, 34 (64%) patients were positive for C-reactive protein (CRP) and 26 (49%) patients had ESR and LDH levels significantly higher than normal. In addition, 27 patients (51%) had vitamin D deficiency. The mean CH50 activity level in COVID-19 patients was significantly reduced compared to healthy individuals (84.9 versus 169.9 U/ml, p = < 0.0001). Comparison of the mean CH50 activity levels between different subgroups of patients indicated that COVID-19 patients with decreased peripheral blood lymphocyte count and positive CRP had a significant increase in activity compared to the other groups (p = 0.0002). The serum levels of C3 and C4 factors had no significant change between patients and healthy individuals. Conclusion: The activity level of complement system in the classical pathway decreases in COVID-19 patients compared to healthy individuals, due to increased activity of complement system factors in these patients

Molecular docking evaluation of celecoxib on the boron nitride nanostructures for alleviation of cardiovascular risk and inflammatory

Celecoxib (CXB) is a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) that can be used to treat rheumatoid arthritis and ischemic heart disease. In this research, density functional theory (DFT) and molecular docking simulations were performed to study the interaction of boron nitride nanotube (BNNT) and boron nitride nanosheet (BNNS) with CXB and its inhibitor effect on pro-inflammatory cytokines. The calculated adsorption energies of CXB with the BNNT were determined in aqueous phase. The results revealed that adsorption of CXB molecule via its SO2 group on BNNT is thermodynamically favored than the NH2 and CF3 groups in the solvent environment. Adsorption of CXB on BN nanomaterials are weak physisorption in nature. This can be attributed to the fact that both phenyl groups in CXB are not on the same plane and require significant activation energies for conformational changes to obtain greater H-π interaction. Both BNNT and BNNS materials had huge sensitivity in electronic change and short recovery time during CXB interaction, thus having potential as molecular sensor and biomedical carrier for the delivery of CXB drug. IL-1A and TNF-α were implicated as vital cytokines in diverse diseases, and they have been a validated therapeutic target to manage cardiovascular risk in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. A molecular docking simulation confirms that the BNNT loaded CXB could inhibit more pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-1A and TNF-α receptors as compared to BNNS loaded to CXB

Comparison between antibiotic therapy of Brucellosis with and without vitamin A

Background: Brucellosis is one of the endemic diseases in our country and it can be in the types of acute, sub-acute or chronic. It estimates that about 20% of Brucellosis may change from acute to chronic. Because cell mediated immunity (CMI) is the main defense of body against Brucella species, it seems that some degree of Immunologic disorders existed in the patients with chronic form of diseases and some supplements such as Vitamin A (Vit A) as an immunomodulator can stimulate CMI and may decrease the rate of chronicity. Materials and Methods: In a single-blind randomized clinical trial 120 patients with the clinical and serological diagnosed Brucellosis were randomized. A total of 60 patients received streptomycin and Doxycycline as standard therapy for 6 weeks and others in addition to this Regimen received Vit A for about 4 weeks. Results: In the case group, only 1 case (1.6%) relapsed and in the control group 8 (13.5%) with significant difference (P < 0.005) between two groups. Morbidity of disease was different between two groups. Conclusion: Vit A therapy in the patients with Brucellosis with may reduce the disease morbidity and rate of chronicity

The Comparison of Primary Verbal, Nonverbal and Mathematical Concept Formation in 4-6-Year-Old Children with Normal and Impaired Hearing

Background and Aim: Hearing impairment through the primary episode of development has an undeniable effect on communicative language and cognitive ability of children. The purpose of this study was to compare primary verbal, nonverbal and mathematical concept formation, between children with and without hearing impairment.Methods: In this study 88 children with normal and impaired hearing were compared in four-, five- and six-year old age groups. Normal children were selected randomly and the other group consisted of the available children with impaired hearing. To evaluate verbal, nonverbal and mathematic concepts, a test was designed and developed based on language and cognitive developmental scale in normal children.Results: Significant difference was seen in the average scores in each concept class between normal and impaired hearing group in all age groups (p<0.05). There was no statistical significance between girls and boys. Hearing groups had statistical significant difference in each group of concepts (p<0.001). Age had statistical significance only in mathematics’ concepts (p=0.001).Conclusions: This study supports the necessity of assessing the understanding of verbal, nonverbal and mathematic concepts, as well as cognitive and verbal skills in children with hearing impairment, prior to any formal education program planning. The curriculum should be arranged according to these abilities and skills. Otherwise it would be hardly practical and functional for these children to go through the curriculum which is planned without any notion to their basic abilities

The effect of Helicobacter pylori eradication on liver enzymes in patients referring with unexplained hypertransaminasemia

Background: Evidence has shown an association of Helicobacter pylori infection with liver dysfunction and damage. We investigated if H. pylori eradication affects liver enzymes in patients referring with unexplained hypertransaminasemia. Materials and Methods: Patients with mild unexplained hypertransaminasemia accompanied with dyspepsia and confirmed H. pylori infection were studied. Viral, metabolic, autoimmune, and drug/toxin induced hepatitis as well as fatty liver were all ruled-out by appropriate tests. Patients received bismuth-containing quadruple-therapy for 2 weeks. Serum levels of liver enzymes (alanine transaminase (ALT) and aspartate transaminase (AST)) and successful eradication (with stool antigen test) were evaluated 4 weeks after the medication. Results: A total number of 107 patients (55 males, mean age = 35.0 ± 8.4 years) were studied. Eradication was successful in 93 patients (86.9%). Serum levels of AST (6.3 ± 19.6 IU/L, P = 0.002) and ALT (7.8 ± 24.9 IU/L, P = 0.001) were significantly decreased after eradication. Levels of AST and ALT decreased to normal range respectively in 46.6% and 45.7% of the cases who had baseline levels above the normal range. Conclusion: This study showed a decrease in liver enzymes after receiving eradication regimen of H. pylori, suggesting a role for H. pylori infection in at least some of patients with mild unexplained hypertransaminasemia. Further studies are warranted to find the underlying mechanisms by which H. pylori infection affects the liver and clinical importance of such effects