First record of two hard coral species (Faviidae and Siderastreidae) from Qeshm Island (Persian Gulf, Iran)

Abstrak. Moradi M, Kamrani E, Shokri MR, Ranjbar MS, Hesni MA (2009) Rekaman pertama dua spesies karang keras (Faviidae dan Siderastreidae) dari Pulau Qeshm (Teluk Persia, Iran). Nusantara Bioscience 2: 34-37. Dua jenis karang keras termasuk Cyphastrea chalcidicum (Forskal 1775) (Faviidae) dan Coscinaraea monile (Forskal 1775) (Siderastreidae) dikumpulkan dari selatan Pulau Qeshm (Teluk Persia, Iran) pada akhir tahun 2008. Spesies ini sebelumnya dilaporkan terdapat di Teluk Persia selatan, Teluk Aden, Afrika Tenggara dan Indo-Pasifik. Tinjauan literatur pada distribusi kedua jenis mengungkapkan bahwa spesies ini pertama kali tercatat dari Teluk Persia. Temuan ini semakin menunjukkan tingginya keragaman fauna karang di perairan Iran di bagian utara Teluk Persia. Kata kunci: catatan pertama, Coscinaraea monile, Cyphastrea chalcidicum, Qeshm island, Persian gulf

Economic Feasibility of the Profitability of Insurances Related to Oil and Gas Wells

Insurance is among the most important tools that have been devised to prepare readiness for dealing with threats. These valuable man-made tools with their capabilities have controlled many undesirable effects of unforeseen events. In each country, growth and development of insurance industry is considered as an indicator for evaluating the level of development. From the perspective of insurers, the risks of energy, especially the oil and gas industry, are known as high risks. Economic feasibility of the profitability of insurance related to oil and gas wells is the aim of this study that was performed through damage coefficient indicators and profit margin with scenario planning using engineering economics method. The results of this research indicate that the damage coefficient of this field of insurance is much lower than the whole insurance industry and have a suitable and very high profit margin. Therefore, due to the low damage coefficient and high profit margin and the stability of these types of insurance, their profitability is confirmed economically and investment and providing insurance coverage is adequately justifiable for these types of risk

Economic Feasibility of the Profitability of Insurances Related to Oil and Gas Wells

Insurance is among the most important tools that have been devised to prepare readiness for dealing with threats. These valuable man-made tools with their capabilities have controlled many undesirable effects of unforeseen events. In each country, growth and development of insurance industry is considered as an indicator for evaluating the level of development. From the perspective of insurers, the risks of energy, especially the oil and gas industry, are known as high risks. Economic feasibility of the profitability of insurance related to oil and gas wells is the aim of this study that was performed through damage coefficient indicators and profit margin with scenario planning using engineering economics method. The results of this research indicate that the damage coefficient of this field of insurance is much lower than the whole insurance industry and have a suitable and very high profit margin. Therefore, due to the low damage coefficient and high profit margin and the stability of these types of insurance, their profitability is confirmed economically and investment and providing insurance coverage is adequately justifiable for these types of risk

On comparison between Cooray-Rubinstein and FDTD methods for ground conductivity effect on horizontal electric field evaluation in time domain

Ground conductivity parameters are effective on the horizontal electric field due to impact of lightning near the power lines. In this paper, the FDTD method and Caligaris et al. algorithm (Cooray-Rubinstein method in time domain) are applied for evaluation of horizontal electric field in the close distance from lightning channel case. Therefore, the results are compared together .Also new method by combination of dipole method by FDTD method and Caligaris algorithm is recommended

The effects of l-carnitine supplementation on inflammatory factors, oxidative stress, and clinical outcomes in patients with sepsis admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU): study protocol for a double blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial

Background: Sepsis is a common cause for admission to the intensive care unit (ICU), and its incidence has been increasing. It is associated with a significant increase in serum inflammatory biomarkers such as C-reactive protein (CRP) and cytokines such as interleukin 1 (IL-1), IL-6, and tumor necrosis factor (TNF). Sepsis is also associated with pathophysiological changes that include fluid accumulation in the lungs, eventually leading to acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), tissue edema, hypotension, and acute kidney injury (AKI). Conventional therapies include antibiotics, but these may have important adverse effects, so novel therapeutic approaches are required. In animal studies, l-carnitine improves antioxidant status, and in some clinical trials, it has been shown to reduce inflammation. It has also been shown to improve respiratory distress and help maintain coenzyme A homeostasis, metabolic flexibility, promoting the normal function of the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, and oxidation of fatty acids by peroxisomes. We aim to determine the effects of very high doses of l-carnitine on inflammatory factors, oxidative stress, and clinical outcomes of patients with sepsis in ICU. Method and design: In this double-blind, randomized controlled clinical trial, we will use block randomization of 60 patients with sepsis, aged between 20 and 65 years from Al-Zahra Hospital, Isfahan, Iran. The intervention group (n = 30) will receive three capsules of l-carnitine (each capsule contains 1000 mg l-carnitine; totally 3000 mg/day) for 7 days, and a control group (n = 30) will receive a placebo with the same dose and for the same duration in addition to usual care. At baseline, scores for clinical and nutritional status (Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II), Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA), Quick SOFA (qSOFA), and NUTRIC Score) will be assessed. At beginning and end point of the study, inflammatory markers (CRP, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR)), oxidative stress status (total oxidative stress (TOS), total antioxidant capacity (TAC)), and clinical variables will be evaluated also. The mortality rate will be assessed within 28 days of the beginning of the intervention. Discussion: Because of the anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties of l-carnitine, it is possible that using a high dose of 3000 mg daily of this nutritional supplement may reduce inflammation and oxidative stress and improve subsequent mortality of critically ill patients with sepsis. Trial registration: Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials IRCT20201129049534N1. Registered on 2 May 2021

An improved TOPSIS/EFQM methodology for evaluating the performance of organizations

Studies showed that the scoring system of the EFQM has got some problems that can cause a deviation from the correct assess performance of organization. One of the reasons of this deviation could be due to the scoring approach of EFQM questionnaire. This study is to investigate relationship of each question of the questionnaire with TQM criteria and give a practical way to overcome the existing problem. In this study, with 50 questions of the EFQM and criteria of TQM, a questionnaire has been created. Then, opinions of 175 assessors dealing with EFQM are gathered about the relationship between the questions of EFQM with any of TQM criteria. The data have been processed using SPSS software and the nearest point of a fuzzy number and Topsis model. The results revealed that amount of relationship between each EFQM’s question with TQM criteria isn’t same therefore the weight of each question in EFQM’s questionnaire is not equal to the rest of questions and TQM criteria. Also assigning equal scores to all questions of EFQM’s traditional questionnaire is nonrealistic and consequently, the simplicity additive calculation of assessing performance of organization is also nonrealistic and this is created a deviation to assess properly performance of organization. According to the findings of this study, one should consider the EFQM assessors’ point of view regarding the relationship between criteria of the two models in order to improve organization performance assessments. Finally, considering the level of priority in Topsis method, a relevant scoring system should be created. This can overcome the problem of deviation in assessing the organization’s performance

Investigate the effect of variations of ambient temperature on HST of transformer

Temperature, especially the hot spot temperature (HST) and top oil temperature (TOT), have played the most effective factor on the insulation life of the transformer. To determine HST and TOT, ambient temperature enter to equation that show the importance of ambient temperature on hot spot temperature of transformers, and Clause 7 (classic model) has been used as a standard thermal model in this research. In this article has been tried to show the effect of the variations of ambient temperature on a power transformer and at last has been compared by situation that the ambient temperature has been assumed constant

An enhanced EFQM methodology for evaluating the performance of organization

Previous studies show that traditional scoring system in EFQM model is not robust and is suffering a problem causing deviation in assessing the performance of an organization. This study aims to establish a realistic scoring system and accurate using one of the MCDM methods. AHP method is used in order to consider the effect of interaction EFQM criteria. Moreover, traditional scoring of EFQM model is used in this analysis. Results show that new scoring system is more efficient than the traditional scoring system. This is because that the traditional scoring system of EFQM is based on additive calculations whereas AHP method considers interaction effects of criteria and sub criteria in EFQM model. Also the efficiency and effectiveness of the new scoring system were confirmed by the data obtained from the performance evaluation of 35 organizations in a case study. The integration EFQM and AHP models can create a new scoring system to help prevent the deviation of organization performance assessment

Global, regional, and national incidence of six major immune-mediated inflammatory diseases: findings from the global burden of disease study 2019

BACKGROUND: The causes for immune-mediated inflammatory diseases (IMIDs) are diverse and the incidence trends of IMIDs from specific causes are rarely studied. The study aims to investigate the pattern and trend of IMIDs from 1990 to 2019. METHODS: We collected detailed information on six major causes of IMIDs, including asthma, inflammatory bowel disease, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriasis, and atopic dermatitis, between 1990 and 2019, derived from the Global Burden of Disease study in 2019. The average annual percent change (AAPC) in number of incidents and age standardized incidence rate (ASR) on IMIDs, by sex, age, region, and causes, were calculated to quantify the temporal trends. FINDINGS: In 2019, rheumatoid arthritis, atopic dermatitis, asthma, multiple sclerosis, psoriasis, inflammatory bowel disease accounted 1.59%, 36.17%, 54.71%, 0.09%, 6.84%, 0.60% of overall new IMIDs cases, respectively. The ASR of IMIDs showed substantial regional and global variation with the highest in High SDI region, High-income North America, and United States of America. Throughout human lifespan, the age distribution of incident cases from six IMIDs was quite different. Globally, incident cases of IMIDs increased with an AAPC of 0.68 and the ASR decreased with an AAPC of −0.34 from 1990 to 2019. The incident cases increased across six IMIDs, the ASR of rheumatoid arthritis increased (0.21, 95% CI 0.18, 0.25), while the ASR of asthma (AAPC = −0.41), inflammatory bowel disease (AAPC = −0.72), multiple sclerosis (AAPC = −0.26), psoriasis (AAPC = −0.77), and atopic dermatitis (AAPC = −0.15) decreased. The ASR of overall and six individual IMID increased with SDI at regional and global level. Countries with higher ASR in 1990 experienced a more rapid decrease in ASR. INTERPRETATION: The incidence patterns of IMIDs varied considerably across the world. Innovative prevention and integrative management strategy are urgently needed to mitigate the increasing ASR of rheumatoid arthritis and upsurging new cases of other five IMIDs, respectively. FUNDING: The Global Burden of Disease Study is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The project funded by Scientific Research Fund of Sichuan Academy of Medical Sciences & Sichuan Provincial People's Hospital (2022QN38)