Axial and torsional fatigue behavior of Waspaloy

The cyclic flow response and crack growth behavior of Waspaloy at room temperature and 650 C under tensile loading and torsional loading was studied, for two conditions of Waspaloy: fine grain, large gamma prime size; coarse grain, small gamma prime size. The fine grain material showed 5 to 10 percent hardening after about 10 percent of life, with sequent softening to failure at both themperature levels. The coarse grain material showed either stable response or monotonic softening to failure. Early crack initiation was observed on planes of maximum shear, with eventual branching to principle planes under torsional loading; cracks were always normal to load axis under tensile loading. Also, crack paths were intergranular at 650 C, mostly transgranular at room temperature

Association between organizational justice and productivity of human resources: a study at the Jundishapur Medical Sciences University of Ahvaz

Objective: From the management perspective, productivity is defined as the successful utilization of resources to achieve the desired goals. training and improvement of human resources are one of the several ways for increasing the productivity of human resources. Organizational justice is another factor affecting the productivity but has received little or no consideration. Organizational justice refers to the perceptions of employees about the fairness and fair behavior of the management on the job. Justice processes play an important role in all organizations. Besides, the manner in which the organizations deal with their employees can greatly influence their beliefs, feelings, attitudes, and behavior This correlational descriptive study aims to determine the association between organizational justice and productivity of human resources in Jundishapur Medical Sciences University of Ahvaz.Methods: 376 employees of the university were randomly sampled. Persian version of Niehoff and Moorman's organizational justice questionnaire and Hersey and Goldsmith's human resources productivity questionnaire were used for data collection.Results: The results of this study based on the dimensions of organizational justice indicated that the perception of total organizational justice among the included employees was relatively inappropriate, and only the dimension of interactional justice was estimated to be in the relatively appropriate condition.The study also showed a positive and significant association between organizational justice and human resources' productivity.Conclusions: As the organizational justice scenario is bad, therforeit is essential that the managers ensure a fair and just environment for the employees. This is essential to maximize the efficiency and productivity of the employees to achieve organizational goals. It was found that that the higher the perception of organizational justice especially procedural justice, the more was the productivity index in the organization. In addition, a medium, positive, and significant association was observed between distributive justice and the productivity of the employees.Keywords: Organizational Justice, Human Resources, Productivity, Administration, Workforc

Penerapan kemahiran insaniah dalam kalangan perantis program sistem latihan dual nasional (SLDN) di Negeri Johor

Kerajaan telah melaksanakan Sistem Latihan Dual Nasional (SLDN) pada tahun 2005 dengan tujuan untuk memenuhi keperluan tenaga kerja industri yang berkemahiran dan berketerampilan. Kajian ini bertujuan untuk mengenal pasti tahap kemahiran insaniah pelajar yang terlibat dalam bagi program Sistem Latihan Dual Nasional di mana tujuh aspek utama telah dikaji iaitu kemahiran komunikasi, kemahiran bekerja dalam kumpulan, kemahiran menyelesaikan masalah, kemahiran menggunakan teknologi, kemahiran interpersonal dan kemahiran mendisiplinkan diri. Kajian juga akan meninjau tahap kemahiran insaniah di institusi terbabit dan meninjau bagaimana penerapan kemahiran insaniah in diterapkan di institusi terbabit. Kajian berbentuk kuantitatif dan kuantitatif ini akan dijalankan di Negeri Johor dan data yang dikutip akan dianalisis dengan menggunakan SPSS 16.0. Hasil dapatan kajian mendapati secara keseluruhannya perantis yang dikaji mempunyai kemahiran insaniah yang tinggi dengan min 2.42. Dapatan juga menunjukkan pihak majikan juga telah turut memainkan peranan dalam menerapkan kemahiran insaniah ini. Perbincangan dan cadangan juga dikemukakan bagi mengukuhkan dapatan kajian

Precise predictions for Dirac neutrino mixing

The neutrino mixing parameters are thoroughly studied using renormalization-group evolution of Dirac neutrinos with recently proposed parametrization of the neutrino mixing angles referred to as 'high-scale mixing relations.' The correlations among all neutrino mixing and CP violating observables are investigated. The predictions for the neutrino mixing angle θ23 are precise, and could be easily tested by ongoing and future experiments. We observe that the high-scale mixing unification hypothesis is incompatible with Dirac neutrinos due to updated experimental data

The Epigenetic Assessment of Human Spermatogenic Cells Derived from Obstructive Azoospermic Patients in Different Culture Systems

Purpose: Generating functional gametes for patients with male infertility is of great interest. We investigated different cultural systems for proliferation of SSCs derived from obstructive azoospermic patients. Materials and Methods: Testicular cells were obtained from men with obstructive azoospermia. After enzymatic digestion process, cells were assigned to various groups: culture of SSCs in the dish without cover (control group), co-culture of SSCs with infertile Sertoli cells (I), co-culture of SSCs with fertile Sertoli cells (II), culture of SSCs on nanofiber (covered with laminin) (III), culture of testicular cell suspension (IV). Then cells were cultured and colony formation, gene-specific methylation (by MSP), quantitative genes expression of pluripotency (Nanog, C-Myc, Oct-4) and specific germ cell (Integrin α6, Integrin β1, PLZF) genes were evaluated in five different culture systems. Results: Our findings indicate a significant increase in the number and diameter of colonies in IV group in compare to control group and other groups. Expression of germ specific genes in IV group were significantly increased (P < 0.05) and levels of expression of pluripotency genes were significantly decreased in this group (P < 0.05) compared with other groups. Gene-specific pattern of methylation of examined genes showed no changes in culture systems during the culture era. Conclusion: A microenvironment capable of controlling the proliferation of cell colonies can be restored by testicular cell suspension

Resistance of different grape cultivars to grape erineum mite, Colomerus vitis (Acari: Eriophyidae), in the laboratory

The grape erineum mite (GEM), Colomerus vitis Pagenstecher, is a serious pest of grape orchards in western Iran and sometimes causes a considerable damage to the crop. Initial observations in Hamedan region showed that the damage of the pest is not the same on different cultivars. Therefore, the resistance of different vine cultivars to GEM was studied to determine the potential use of resistant cultivars in the pest management programs. The resistance of ten vine cultivars including White Thompson seedless, Red Thompson seedless, Fakhri, Yaghuti, Asgari, Muscat Gordo, Khalili, Flame seedless, Gazne and Shahani were studied under laboratory conditions at a temperature of 25 ± 1°C, 65 ± 5% R.H. and a photoperiod of L16: D8 h using a pot disk method. Muscat Gordo, Gazne and White Thompson seedless cultivars showed the lowest feeding repellency to the GEM with 100.4 ± 0.45, 95.5 ± 0.77 and 87.4 ± 0.64 mites per leaf and the highest feeding repellency was observed in Shahani, Flame seedless and Yaghuti with 20 ± 1.23, 24.2 ± 1.24 and 24.7 ± 2.15 mites per leaf, respectively. The highest oviposition rate was observed in Muscat Gordo and Gazne with 148.31 ± 1.26 and 129.3 ± 2.26 eggs per leaves, respectively, and the lowest on Shahani with 10 ± 1.37 eggs per leaves. There was no significant difference between infested and non-infested leaf areas in Shahani. Moreover, Shahani and Yaghuti had the highest bristle-like trichome density, whereas, Muscat Gordo and Gazne had the highest hair-like trichome density. According to the obtained results, Shahani and Yaghuti had the highest, and Muscat Gordo and Gazne had the lowest resistance level to the GEM

Scintigraphic evaluation of remote pre-conditioning protection against unilateral renal ischemia/reperfusion injury in rats: a longitudinal study

Purpose: To determine the role of remote perconditioning (RPeC) on renal function and histology in an animal model of unilateral renal ischemia and reperfusion (IR) injury. Methods: Rats were subjected to 60 min unilateral renal ischemia. RPeC protocol was the application of four cycles of 5 min IR of left femoral artery during renal ischemia. Assessments of histological changes and renal function were made 24 h, 1 week, or 3 weeks later. 99mTc-DMSA scan was performed using a small-animals SPECT system. Results: 24-h reperfusion decreased the 99mTc-DMSA uptake in the left kidney compared to the intact kidney of control animals. RPeC group has higher uptake compared to the IR group. After 1 week and 3 weeks, uptakes were gradually increased in both groups and no differences were observed. Severe morphological changes in the ischemic kidneys of both groups were observed after 24 h which attenuated after 1 week and 3 weeks. Moreover, no differences in creatinine and BUN levels between IR-treated and intact animals were observed. Conclusion: These data suggest that RPeC exerts a partially transient improvement in the renal function in the first day after reperfusion. However, long-term follow-up study showed no beneficial effects of RPeC. Moreover, noninvasive 99mTc-DMSA scan revealed a suitable tool in the follow-up evaluation of recovery process in the unilateral renal IR injury models

Reserach Paper: Trans-differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells into cholinergic-like neurons via nerve growth factor

Introduction: Cell therapy has been widely considered as a therapeutic approach for neurodegenerative diseases and nervous system damage. Cholinergic neurons as one of the most important neurons that play a significant role in controlling emotions, mobility, and autonomic systems. In this study, Human Dental Pulp Stem Cells (hDPSCs) were differentiated into the cholinergic neurons by β-mercaptoethanol in the preinduction phase and also by the nerve growth factor (NGF) in the induction phase. Methods: The hDPSCs were evaluated for CD73, CD31, CD34, and Oct-4. Concentration-time relationships for NGF were assessed by evaluating the viability rate of cells and the immune response to nestin, neurofilament 160, microtubule-associated protein-2, and choline acetyltransferase. Results: The hDPSCs had a negative response to CD34 and CD31. The optimal dose for the NGF was 50 ng/mL seven days after the induction when the highest percentage of expressing markers for the Cholinergic neurons (ChAT) was detected. Conclusion: The results of this study provided a method for producing cholinergic neurons by hDPSCs, which can be used in cytotherapy for degenerative diseases of the nervous system and also spinal cord injury