Study of Sea level changes with Leckie method of the Abderaz Formation (Middle Turonian-Early Campanian) at type section based on foraminifera

In this research the Abderaz Formation at its type section with an age of Turonian-early Campanian and a thickness of 300 m containing.light grey shale and marls was investigated. Statistical Studise of the morphotype groups of planktonic foraminifera shows that the majority of them are of shallow water forms (SWF) and deep water forms (DWF) and planktonic to benthic ratio is high indicating specific condition of oligotrophy and sedimentation in a relatively deeper marine conditio

COX inhibition: Catalepsy and Striatum Dopaminergic-GABAergic-Glutamatergic Neurotransmission

Selective COX-2 and COX-1 inhibitors were administered (i.p. acutely) to normal and parkinsonian rats, followed by the analysis of the striatal dopamine, GABA and glutamate concentrations using the microdialysis technique, simultaneously, the catalepsy of animals was evaluated. Selective COX-2 inhibition showed improving effects on the catalepsy followed by decreasing the striatum glutamatergic-GABAergic and enhancing the dopaminergic neurotransmission. Nonetheless COX inhibition had no significant improving effects on damaged Substantia Nigra Pars Compacta (SNc) neurons

Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) and Determination of Surface Defects in Large Metallic Structures using Ultrasonic Guided Waves

Ultrasonic guided wave (UGW) is one of the most commonly used technologies for non-destructive evaluation (NDE) and structural health monitoring (SHM) of structural components. Because of its excellent long-range diagnostic capability, this method is effective in detecting cracks, material loss, and fatigue-based defects in isotropic and anisotropic structures. The shape and orientation of structural defects are critical parameters during the investigation of crack propagation, assessment of damage severity, and prediction of remaining useful life (RUL) of structures. These parameters become even more important in cases where the crack intensity is associated with the safety of men, environment, and material, such as ship’s hull, aero-structures, rail tracks and subsea pipelines. This paper reviews the research literature on UGWs and their application in defect diagnosis and health monitoring of metallic structures. It has been observed that no significant research work has been convened to identify the shape and orientation of defects in plate-like structures. We also propose an experimental research work assisted by numerical simulations to investigate the response of UGWs upon interaction with cracks in different shapes and orientations. A framework for an empirical model may be considered to determine these structural flaws

Corrosion Behaviour of Cupronickel 90/10 Alloys in Arabian Sea Conditions and its Effect on Maintenance of Marine Structures

The composition of seawater plays a very significant role in determining the severity of corrosion process in marine assets. The influential contributors to the general and pitting corrosions in marine structures include temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), salinity, PH, chlorides, pollutants, nutrients, and microbiological activities in seawater. The Cu-Ni (90/10) alloy is increasingly used in marine applications such as heat exchangers and marine pipelines because of its excellent corrosion resistant properties. Despite the significant advancements in corrosion shielding procedures, complete stoppage of corrosion induced metal loss, especially under rugged marine environments, is practically impossible. The selection of appropriate metal thickness is merely a multifaceted decision because of the high variability in operating conditions and associated corrosion rate in various seawater bodies across the globe. The present research study aims to analyze the early phase of corrosion behavior of Cu-Ni (90/10) alloy in open-sea conditions as well as in pollutant-rich coastal waters of the Arabian Sea. Test samples were placed under natural climatic conditions of selected sites, followed by the mass loss and corrosion rate evaluation. The corrosion rate in the pollutant-rich coastal waters was around five times higher than in the natural seawater. A case study on marine condenser (fitted with of Cu-Ni 90/10 alloy tubes) is presented, and a risk-based inspection (RBI) plan is developed to facilitate equipment designers, operators, and maintainers to consider the implications of warm and polluted seawater on equipment reliability, service life, and subsequent health inspection/ maintenance

Relationship between managers’ emotional intelligence and organizational effectiveness: A case study in Farhangian University

The goal of this study is to clarify existing relations between Emotional Coefficient and Organizational Effectiveness (OE) among Farhangian University managers during 2013-14. The sample size, according to Cochran formula, is 156 people, which were selected based on the simplified random sampling. Besides, two questionnaires were used having the reliability index of 0.87 and 0.97 respectively. The findings of this study suggested that there is a direct and positive relation between emotional intelligence along with its subscales including self-awareness, self-adjustment, self-motivation, compassion and social skills found in managers with organizational effectiveness in Farhangian University

Relationship between managers’ emotional intelligence and organizational effectiveness: A case study in Farhangian University

The goal of this study is to clarify existing relations between Emotional Coefficient and Organizational Effectiveness (OE) among Farhangian University managers during 2013-14. The sample size, according to Cochran formula, is 156 people, which were selected based on the simplified random sampling. Besides, two questionnaires were used having the reliability index of 0.87 and 0.97 respectively. The findings of this study suggested that there is a direct and positive relation between emotional intelligence along with its subscales including self-awareness, self-adjustment, self-motivation, compassion and social skills found in managers with organizational effectiveness in Farhangian University

An Overview of Maintenance Management Strategies for Corroded Steel Structures in Extreme Marine Environments

Maintenance is playing an important role in integrity management of marine assets such as ship structures, offshore renewable energy platforms and subsea oil and gas facilities. The service life of marine assets is heavily influenced by the involvement of numerous material degradation processes (such as fatigue cracking, corrosion and pitting) as well as environmental stresses that vary with geographic locations and climatic factors. The composition of seawater constituents (e.g. dissolved oxygen, salinity, temperature content, etc.) is one of the major influencing factors in degradation of marine assets. Improving the efficiency and effectiveness of maintenance management strategies can have a significant impact on operational availability and reliability of marine assets. Many research studies have been conducted over the past few decades to predict the degradation behaviour of marine structures operating under different environmental conditions. The utilisation of structural degradation data – particularly on marine corrosion – can be very useful in developing a reliable, risk-free and cost-effective maintenance strategy. This paper presents an overview of the state-of-the-art and future trends in asset maintenance management strategies applied to corroded steel structures in extreme marine environments. The corrosion prediction models as well as industry best practices on maintenance of marine steel structures are extensively reviewed and analysed. Furthermore, some applications of advanced technologies such as computerized maintenance management system (CMMS), artificial intelligence (AI) and Bayesian network (BN) are discussed. Our review reveals that there are significant variations in corrosion behaviour of marine steel structures and their industrial maintenance practices from one climatic condition to another. This has been found to be largely attributed to variation in seawater composition/characteristics and their complex mutual relationships

Biostratigraphy of the Ruteh Formation at Harijan section (Central Alborz) northern Iran using foraminifera and conodont

In order to study the fossil contents of the Ruteh Formation for biostratigraphical purposes, the 200 meters thick section was sampled at Harijan section, Central Alborz. The sequence is mainly made up of limestone and shale's. The lower contact of the formation with Dorud Formation is disconform while the upper contact with under learing Dorud Formation is disconformable with overling Nesen Formation is as well as disconformable. Fifty four species belonging to 27 genera (foraminifera and conodonts) were identified and three biozones were differentiated. These are formation: 1- _Schubertella giraudi_- _Codonofusiella distincta_ Assemblage Zone, 2- _Cribrigenerina sumatruna_- _Langella ocarina_ Assemblage Zone, 3- _Sweetognathus whitei_ Biozone. Based on, these an age of Yackhtaschian - Murghabian is quoted to the formation

Review Article Biological Activities and Pharmacokinetics of Praeruptorins from Peucedanum Species: A Systematic Review

Praeruptorins belonging to the angular-type pyranocoumarins are bioactive constituents that have been isolated from some Peucedanum species such as P. praeruptorum, which is used in traditional Chinese medicine for treatment of cold, cough, upper respiratory infections, and so forth. Many reports have demonstrated that the beneficial pharmacological effects of P. praeruptorum root on cardiovascular, pulmonary, immune, and nervous system diseases were attributed to the presence of praeruptorins. The aim of this review is to explain the recent efforts of scientists in pharmacological screening of natural and synthetic praeruptorin derivatives, studying the mechanisms of some praeruptorins action, pharmacokinetics, toxicity, and relevant structure-activity relationships. Based on reported data about the pharmacological properties of praeruptorins and semisynthetic derivatives of them, it is hopeful that in the near future more studies focus on the discovery of the new application and therapeutic uses of these bioactive compounds and understanding the specific mechanisms of them. The present discusses the reports on molecular and biological activities of praeruptorins of the genus Peucedanum, from 1976 onwards

Using Improved DDAO Algorithm to Solve Economic Emission Load Dispatch Problem in the Presence of Wind Farms

In power systems planning, economic load dispatch considering the uncertainty of renewable energy sources is one of the most important challenges that researchers have been concerned about. Complex operational constraints, non-convex cost functions of power generation, and some uncertainties make it difficult to solve this problem through conventional optimization techniques. In this article, an improved dynamic differential annealed optimization (IDDAO) meta-heuristic algorithm, which is an improved version of the dynamic differential annealed optimization (DDAO) algorithm has been introduced. This algorithm has been used to solve the economic emission load dispatch (EELD) problem in power systems that include wind farms, and the performance of the proposed technique was evaluated in the IEEE 40-unit and 6-unit standard test systems. The results obtained from numerical simulations demonstrate the profound accuracy and convergence speed of the proposed IDDAO algorithm compared to conventional optimization algorithms including, PSO, GSA, and DDAO, while independent runs indicate the robustness and stability of the proposed algorithm