Development of a condenser for the dual catalyst water recovery system

Conceptual evaporation/condensation systems suitable for integration with the catalytic water recovery method were evaluated. The primary requirements for each concept were its capability to operate under zero-gravity conditions, condense recovered water from a vapor-noncondensable gas mixture, and integrate with the catalytic system. Specific energy requirements were estimated for concepts meeting the primary requirements, and the concept most suitable for integration with the catalytic system was proposed. A three-man rate condenser capable of integration with the proposed system, condensing water vapor in presence of noncondensables and transferring the heat of condensation to feed urine was designed, fabricated, and tested. It was treated with steam/air mixtures at atmospheric and elevated pressures and integrated with an actual catalytic water recovery system. The condenser has a condensation efficiency exceeding 90% and heat transfer rate of approximately 85% of theoretical value at coolant temperature ranging from 7 to 80 deg C

The bidirectional complementarity between market orientation and launch proficiency affecting new product performance

Purpose- Based on the resource-based view and dynamic capabilities theory, this study examines the complementarity between market orientation and launch proficiency as a driver of new product performance. Design/methodology/approach- In this research, an on-site survey of Iranian, R&D-intensive, manufacturing firms was carried out to examine the proposed hypotheses. Based on the 179 workable survey responses, a covariance-based structural equation modeling was applied to verify the proposed theoretical model. Findings- The empirical findings reveal that the effects of market orientation or launch proficiency alone are not significant while the complementarity between them significantly influences new product performance. These research outcomes suggest that this complementarity leads to a bidirectional co-specialization relationship in firms, promoting both market intelligence generation processes and product-launch capabilities and therefore resulting in superior new product performance. Originality/value- The current characterization of the resource-based theory signifies that strategic resources merely have potential value, and actualizing this value needs complementary organizational capabilities. Furthermore, the literature notably lacks empirical findings supporting these complementarities. Therefore, the findings concerning the bidirectional co-specialization between market orientation and launch proficiency not only provide empirical support for the dynamic capabilities theory but also address recent research calls to identify and calibrate the importance of dynamic capabilities for leveraging market orientation on new product performance

Catalytic distillation water recovery subsystem

An integrated engineering breadboard subsystem for the recovery of potable water from untreated urine based on the vapor phase catalytic ammonia removal was designed, fabricated and tested. Unlike other evaporative methods, this process catalytically oxidizes ammonia and volatile hydrocarbons vaporizing with water to innocuous products; therefore, no pretreatment of urine is required. Since the subsystem is fabricated from commercially available components, its volume, weight and power requirements are not optimized; however, it is suitable for zero-g operation. The testing program consists of parametric tests, one month of daily tests and a continuous test of 168 hours duration. The recovered water is clear, odorless, low in ammonia and organic carbon, and requires only an adjustment of its pH to meet potable water standards. The obtained data indicate that the vapor phase catalytic ammonia removal process, if further developed, would also be competitive with other water recovery systems in weight, volume and power requirements

Relationship between emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior in critical and emergency nurses in south east of Iran

Background: Several factors including emotional intelligence affect the efficiency of people. It seems that organizational behavior of each person is strongly influenced by emotional intelligence. Therefore, the present study is aimed to examine the relationship between emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior in critical and emergency nurses in teaching hospitals supervised by Kerman Medical University in Southeast of Iran.Methods: This study employed a descriptive cross sectional design. A census sample consisted of 150 critical and emergency nurses working in teaching hospitals supervised by Kerman Medical University participated in this study. Emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior questionnaire was used to assess nurses’ emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior by available sampling method.Results: The results showed that the mean age of the participants was 35 years. Most participants (94%) were females and belonged to the age group of 26-30 years. Overall mean score of organizational citizenship behavior scale was 88.21 (±10.4). In the organizational citizenship behavior categories, altruism mean score was higher than the other mean scores. Overall mean score of emotional intelligence was (121.08 ± 17.56). In the subgroups of emotional intelligence, mean score of the relationship management, was higher than the average of other factors. Pearson's correlation coefficient showed no significant relationship between emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior (p ≥ 0.05).Conclusion: The study suggests that health care managers should organize systematic and dynamic policies and procedures in dealing with emotional intelligence and organizational citizenship behavior to assist critical and emergency nurses.Keywords: Emotional intelligence, Oorganizational citizenship behavior, nurse, critical ward, emergency war

Structural growth in iron oxide clusters: Rings, towers, and hollow drums

It is shown that the transition from an elementary FeO molecule to the bulk rock-salt FeO proceeds via hollow rings, towers, and drums. Our first-principles electronic structure calculations carried out within a gradient-corrected density functional framework show that small FenOn (n=2,3,4,5) clusters form single, highly stable rings. Starting at Fe6O6, these elementary rings begin to assemble into nano columnar structures to form stable Fe6O6, Fe7O7, Fe8O8, Fe9O9, Fe10O10, and Fe12O12 towers. The rings and the empty towers can be further stabilized by capping O atoms at the ends, leading to FenOn+1 and FenOn+2 sequences. The theoretical results provide insight into the progression of mass intensities in the experimental mass spectra and account for the observed peaks in the negative ion photodetachment spectra of iron oxide clusters

Persuasive Discourse Impairments in Traumatic Brain Injury

Background: Considering the cognitive and linguistic complexity of discourse production, it is expected that individuals with traumatic brain injury (TBI) should face difficulties in this task. Therefore, clinical examination of discourse has become a useful tool for studying and assessment of communication skills of people suffering from TBI. Among different genres of discourse, persuasive discourse is considered as a more cognitively demanding task. However, little is known about persuasive discourse in individuals suffering from TBI. Objectives: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the performance of adults with TBI on a task of spoken persuasive discourse to determine the impaired linguistic measures. Patients and Methods: Thirteen TBI nonaphasic Persian speaking individuals, ranged between 19 to 40 years (Mean = 25.64 years; SD = 6.10) and 59 healthy adults matched by age, were asked to perform the persuasive discourse task. The task included asking the participants to express their opinion on a topic, and after the analysis of the produced discourse, the two groups were compared on the basis of their language productivity, sentential complexity, maze ratio and cohesion ratio. Results: The TBI group produced discourses with less productivity, sentential complexity, cohesion ratio and more maze ratio compared the control group. Conclusions: As it is important to consider acquired communication disorders particularly discourse impairment of brain injured patients along with their other clinical impairments and regarding the fact that persuasive discourse is crucial in academic and social situations, the persuasive discourse task presented in this study could be a useful tool for speech therapists, intending to evaluate communication disorders in patients with TBI

Preliminary test of group acceptance and commitment therapy on obsessive-compulsive disorder for patients on optimal dose of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of adding group acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) to adults diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) who were already on an optimal dose of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). Forty-six Iranian women, on SSRIs, were randomized to group ACT + SSRI or continued SSRI conditions. SSRI dosages stayed stable during the study. Assessments included the Structured Clinical Interview (SCID-I), Yale-Brown Obsessive-Compulsive Scale Self report (Y-BOCS-SR), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II), Ruminative Response Scale (RRS), and Acceptance and Action Questionnaire (AAQ-II). The results showed significant reductions on the Y-BOCS-SR and BDI-II in both conditions at posttreatment with significantly greater reductions in the ACT + SSRI condition at follow-up. The RRS and AAQ-II saw significant improvements in the ACT + SSRI condition at posttreatment and follow-up compared to the SSRI condition. Results provide cross-cultural support for group ACT as a treatment for OCD and as a successful adjunct to SSRI treatment. © 201

Quantum mechanics and geodesic deviation in the brane world

We investigate the induced geodesic deviation equations in the brane world models, in which all the matter forces except gravity are confined on the 3-brane. Also, the Newtonian limit of induced geodesic deviation equation is studied. We show that in the first Randall-Sundrum model the Bohr-Sommerfeld quantization rule is as a result of consistency between the geodesic and geodesic deviation equations. This indicates that the path of test particle is made up of integral multiples of a fundamental Compton-type unit of length $h/mc$.Comment: 5 pages, no figure

The effect of PGPR inoculation on the growth of wheat

Many agricultural soils of Iran have high pH, resulting in low availability of Fe and Zn. The potentials of nonsymbiotic plant growth-promoting rhizbacteria (PGPR) for stimulating plant growth have been extensively used during recent decades. This experiment was carried out in growth chamber to evaluate the effects of siderophoreproducing Pseudomonads on the growth as well as Fe and Zn uptake of wheat. A randomized complete block design experiments was conducted using with Alborz genotype (an efficient phytosiderophore-producing bread wheat) treated with either 7NSK2 strain as a siderophore positive (sid+) or with MPFM1 mutant strain of the same isolate as a siderophore negative (sid-) treatments with three replications. The potentials of these strains for auxin production and phosphate solubilizing activity were evaluated by standard methods. The results showed that inoculation with sid+ strain increased dry matter production in shoots as compared with the control (sterile condition) or with sid - strain. Likewise, the concentration of chlorophyll a in leaves of sid+ and sid - treatments were 1.27 and 0.41 g mg-1 of fresh weight, respectively, and the concentration of chlorophyll b were measured to be 1.09 and 0.35 g mg-1 of fresh weight, respectively, indicating significantly more chlorophyll formation due to inoculation with sid+ as compared with sid -. The uptake of Fe by roots and its rate of translocation to the shoots were greater for the sid+ treated plants as compared with the sid - treated ones, indicating that siderophores increased the rate of Fe uptake by wheat. The effect of microbial inoculation on shoot Zn was not significant, but increased the concentration of Zn on roots compared with control. The results suggested that the siderophores of Pseudomonads may involve on increasing bioavailability of iron