Studying effects of gold nanoparticle on dose enhancement in megavoltage radiation

Background: Gold nanoparticles are emerging as promising agents for cancer therapy and are being investigated as drug carriers, photothermal agents, contrast agents and radiosensitisers. Objective: The aim of this study is to understand characteristics of secondary electrons generated from interaction of gold nanoparticles GNPs with x-rays as a function of nanoparticle size and beam energy and thereby further understanding of GNPenhanced radiotherapy. Methods: Effective range, defection angle, dose deposition, energy, and interaction processes of electrons produced from the interaction of x-rays with a GNP were calculated by Monte Carlo simulations. The MCNPX code was used to simulate and track electrons generated from 30 and 50 nm diameter GNP when it is irradiated with a cobalt-60 and 6MV photon and electron beam in water. Results: When a GNP was present, depending on beam types used, secondary electron production increased by 10- to 2000-fold compared to absence of a GNP. Conclusion: GNPs with larger diameters also contributed to more doses. © 2015, Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved

Study of clonal variation of 'Bidaneh Ghermez' grapevine cultivar in Iran

ArticleGrapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) is a well - known plant including different cultivars and clones. In spite of the extensive works at the cultivar level, identification and determination of clonal genetic variation has remained as a challenge. To assess the genetic variation between clones of grapevine cv. 'Bidaneh Ghermez', 20 selected clones were analyzed for cluster weight (CW), cluster length (CL), cluster width (CWI), berry weight (BW), berry length (BL), berry width (BWI) and total soluble solids (TSS) in randomized complete block design with three replications. Analysis of variance reveale d considerable genetic variation for all measured traits (except cluster width) among clones. Cluster analysis, discriminant function analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) showed same results and all clones assigned in 2 groups. First group was including 9 clones and second group was including 11 clones. Overall, our results indicated C7, C10, C12 and C14 clones were best clones and have potential to introduce promising clones for stablishing new vineyard with high yield

Grade Uncertainty and its Impact on Ore Grade Reconciliation between the Resource Model and the Mine

Major differences between estimated grade and actual grade are a usual problem in many open pit mines. The estimated grade is predicted in exploration stage from data obtained from boreholes, whereas the actual grade would be determined only after the mining operation. The poor reconciliation between the values of estimated and actual grades can cause major economic losses to the mining industry. Many different factors affect the reconciliation process in a mining operation. The nature of the orebody, the random uncertainty and the systematic errors are three main sources affecting the reconciliation process in exploration stage of the orebody. In this paper each source of uncertainty is studied and a probabilistic model is presented to determine the role of each item in total uncertainty of the grade parameter. The model ability was investigated in the study of real data taken from an iron open pit mine in Iran. The results showed the systematic uncertainty, the nature of the orebody and the random uncertainty are the main causes of poor reconciliation in the case study respectively

1,10-Bis(4-nitro­phen­oxy)deca­ne

The title compound, C22H28N2O6, crystallizes with four half-mol­ecules in the asymmetric unit: each mol­ecule is located about a crystallographic inversion centre. The central methyl­ene groups of two mol­ecules are disordered over two sets of equally occupied sites. The crystal packing is characterized by sheets of mol­ecules parallel to (14)

4,4′-(Hexane-1,6-diyldi­oxy)dianiline

The complete molecule of the title compound, C18H24N2O2, is generated by a crystallographic inversion centre. The torsion angles in the hexa­methyl­ene chain are consistent with an anti­periplanar conformation, whereas the conformation of the O—CH2—CH2—CH2 unit is gauche. The three-dimensional crystal packing is stabilized by N—H⋯O and N—H⋯N hydrogen bonding

The evolution of food security: where are we now, where should we go next?

Food security is one of the most challenging topics globally; however, the concept of food security has taken on additional dimensions that are general and are less detailed. This study aims to identify the intellectual structure of food security research and the changes in this structure. This paper analyzed 3169 documents from the Web of Science database through a bibliometric review. A review of the published documents shows an increasing trend over the past 46 years. In accordance with co-occurrence analysis, 125 keywords were grouped into five clusters: food security and sustainable development; food security and socioeconomic factors; food security policy and governance; coping strategies for poverty, inequality, and hunger; and modern food security management. This study identifies four streams within food security research: sustainability and environmental, socioeconomic, cultural, and political factors. The paper concludes that even though food security might investigate many significant areas, other new dimensions should still be considered. Further gaps in the literature emerge that present avenues for future research directions. Reviewing indicators and techniques of food security assessment and identifying high-risk groups should be a priority

1,5-Bis(4-nitro­phen­oxy)penta­ne

The title compound, C17H18N2O6, crystallizes with two mol­ecules in the asymmetric unit. In both molecules, one of the C—C bonds of the penta­methyl­ene chain connecting the two aromatic rings is in a trans conformation and another displays a gauche conformation. The aromatic rings within each mol­ecule are nearly coplanar [dihedral angles = 3.36 (9) and 4.50 (9)°] and the nitro groups are twisted slightly out of the planes of their attached rings [dihedral angles = 8.16 (3)/6.6 (2) and 4.9 (4)/3.8 (3)°]

Feeding habits of yellowfin seabream (Acanthopagrus latus) in the northern region of the Persian Gulf

Feeding habits of yellowfin seabream (Acanthopagrus latus) was investigated in coastal waters of the Northern Persian Gulf. This investigation was conducted by monthly sampling of thirty fish from September 2011 through August 2012. Fish size ranged from 17.98 ± 2.07 to 32.31 ± 6.52 cm in total length and from 134.01 ± 45.62 to 720.46 ± 292.58 g in weight. The highest value of gastro-somatic index was obtained in September (5.22 ± 0.04) and the lowest in December (1.61 ± 0.03) with annual average of 2.50 ± 0.60. The result of gastro-somatic index revealed that the highest feeding activity of A. latus was during autumn. The highest level of vacuity index was observed in summer (34.95 ± 4.71) and the lowest in autumn (25.88 ± 2.71) indicating that the highest number of empty stomachs was in summer. Annual average of vacuity index was 30.14 ± 5.72 exhibiting that A. latus was comparatively gluttonous in the Northern Persian Gulf. Bivalves and shrimps were the major food items found in the stomach of A. latus showing food preference indices of 45.86% and 30.67%, respectively. Other food items included crabs (12.66%), aquatic plants (4.05%), animal derivatives (4.52%) and gastropods (2.23%). According to the results, animal derivatives, aquatic plants and gastropods were eaten accidentally and were not the food items of A. latus in coastal waters of Hormozgan. The average relative length of gut was 1.41 ± 0.15 showing that A. latus was omnivorous in this region

Sandwich structure polymer electrolyte membranes containing phosphotungstic acid immobilized electospun nanofibers

The advances in proton exchange membranes (PEM)s is critical for improving the performance of fuel cells [1]. Membranes compromising perfluorosulfonic acid polymers such as Nafion have been used extensively due to their desired conductivity and stability. However, these materials need to be saturated with water to obtain practical level of proton conductivity. There is a strong demand for the PEMs to work at lower relative humidity or under anhydrous conditions because the electrochemical reactions will be accelerated and water management of fuel cell will be simpler. Various designing strategies and advanced materials have been developed to mitigate for this issue without causing serious loss in proton conductivity or stability [2]. Among all, the introducing of inorganic proton conductors such as heteropoly acids have been considered widely. Generally, HPAs (such as phosphotungstic acid H3PW12O40, PWA) have a very strong Brønsted acidity approaching the superacid region (more acidic than Nafion) [3]. In this work, high level of PWA was self-anchored onto nylon electrospun nanofiberous sheet (Figure 1b). Sandwich structured proton conducting membranes were fabricate by assembling nanofibrous central layer with outer Nafion layers (Figure 1b). Since the PWA is attached to the polymer backbones, the risk of leaching out is minimized. Moreover, the significant synthetic versatility of the method helps to increase PWA immobilization level. As shown in the Figure 1c, proton conductivity of as high as 60 mS cm-1 at 30 °C was achieved which is comparable with Nafion 115. The durability of the proton conductivity of sandwiched membrane