Practical philosophy in epic poetry of Faramarz Nameh

Paying attention to the themes and moral teachings consist the most important part of literature؛and thereby many studies are written in this field that their content is advice and most of them have wisdom and moral aspects. The book of Faramarz Nameh which is addressed in the research is written in the fifth century AD. Although Faramarz-Nameh is known as an epic in literature, looking deep at its verses, can achieve to abundance of advices and moral teachings that the poet is included in his speeches due to status and dignity.The purpose of this study is review of the wisdom and moral teachings in this work. The study showed that, however, morality and wisdom can be in the main properties of epics position, but can attract the reader’s idea across the whole stories.Faramarz Nameh, is one of the national epics of fifth century AH that explains Faramarz adventures in India.Keywords: Faramarz Nameh, practical wisdom, refinemen

Fouling in direct contact membrane distillation during treatment of produced water from unconventional (shale) gas production

Hydraulic fracturing used for natural gas extraction from unconventional onshore resources (i.e., shale plays) generates large quantities of produced water. This water needs to be managed efficiently and economically to ensure further development of this industry. The most common solution for produced water management is disposal by deep well injection. This approach is being scrutinized by public and regulatory agencies due to increasing number of seismic events associated with this practice. The industry is now striving to reuse the produced water for hydraulic fracturing, which is feasible only as long as there are sufficient number of new gas wells being developed. The total dissolved solids (TDS) content of produced water can be in excess of 300,000 mg/l with sodium and chloride being the primary ions, followed by calcium, barium, strontium and magnesium. This water also contains some organics and heavy metals at low concentrations. Most membrane-based technologies employed today for seawater desalination are not feasible in this industry due to extremely high TDS of produced water. Membrane distillation (MD) can achieve complete rejection of ions and non-volatile organics as long as the membrane pores are not wetted. MD may be a cost effective method to treat produced water due to its reasonably high permeate flux and ability to operate using low-quality heat (i.e., it operates at temperatures well below the boiling point of water). This study focuses on the potential for membrane wetting and/or fouling by inorganic salts present in produced water in the case of direct contact membrane distillation (DCMD) treatment of actual produced water from unconventional gas wells in Pennsylvania. The produced water was concentrated to near halite saturation limit to evaluate potential scaling and its impact on DCMD performance. Initial experiments showed that no membrane wetting occurred as evidenced by extremely low conductivity of the permeate stream. Iron-based scale accumulated on the membrane surface along with embedded islands of barium chloride and sodium chloride. The inorganic scale that formed on PTFE membranes during several hours of operation had negligible effect on MD performance in terms of permeate flux and thermal efficiency. Inspection of these inorganic scales suggests that they are typically very thin (i.e., several microns) and highly porous, which may explain the lack of observable impact on the transport of water vapor in DCMD module. Initial results suggest that DCMD has great potential for desalination of highly concentrated wastewaters generated by the unconventional gas industry. However, inorganic scale that may form on the feed side could potentially impact the performance of this technology. Further insights into the composition and morphology of inorganic scales that may form under realistic operating conditions will be presented at the conference together with pretreatment options and scale mitigation approaches to minimize the effect of scaling on DCMD performance when treating produced water from the most productive shale plays in the U.S

Smart hybrid composite sensor technology to enhance the detection of low energy impact damage in composite structures

This paper introduces novel structural health monitoring (SHM) sensors to improve the detection of low energy impact damage in laminated composites. The sensor is a purposely designed thin-ply hybrid composite, composed of a layer of unidirectional S-glass/epoxy and another layer of unidirectional ultra-high modulus (UHM) carbon/epoxy. The sensor was incorporated onto both the impacted face and back of a substrate plate made from unidirectional T800 carbon/MTM49-3 epoxy prepregs with the stacking sequence of [45/0/90/-45]4S. A series of drop tower tests were conducted on the composite plates with and without the attached hybrid sensing layer, with two different in-plane dimensions and varying energy levels ranging from 3 J to 124 J. The results indicate that the sensors functioned satisfactorily and provided direct correlations between visible and internal hidden damage detected by C-scan. The sensor can be optimized by selecting appropriate material properties and adjusting it to the in-plane dimensions of the substrate

Stimulus-Responsive Polymeric Nanogels As Smart Drug Delivery Systems

Nanogels are three-dimensional nanoscale networks formed by physically or chemically cross-linking polymers. Nanogels have been explored as drug delivery systems due to their advantageous properties, such as biocompatibility, high stability, tunable particle size, drug loading capacity, and possible modification of the surface for active targeting by attaching ligands that recognize cognate receptors on the target cells or tissues. Nanogels can be designed to be stimulus responsive, and react to internal or external stimuli such as pH, temperature, light and redox, thus resulting in the controlled release of loaded drugs. This “smart” targeting ability prevents drug accumulation in non-target tissues and minimizes the side effects of the drug. This review aims to provide an introduction to nanogels, their preparation methods, and to discuss the design of various stimulus-responsive nanogels that are able to provide controlled drug release in response to particular stimuli

Bioresorbable Composite Polymeric Materials for Tissue Engineering Applications

This review covers the development of bioresorbable polymeric composites for applications in tissue engineering. Various commercially available bioresobable polymers are described, with emphasis on recent bioresorbable composites based on natural and synthetic polymers. Bioresorbable polymers contain hydrolyzable bonds, which are subjected to chemical degradation via either reactive hydrolysis or enzyme-catalyzed active hydrolysis. For synthetic polymers, chemical hydrolysis is the most important mode of degradation. The degradation rate can be controlled by varying the molecular weight and crystallinity. Examples of bioresorbable polymers are: polyurethane, poly(D,L)lactide, poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid, poly(α-hydroxy acids), cross-linked polyester hydrogels, poly(orthoesters), polyanhydrides and polyethylene glycol

Investigating the fatigue behaviour of quasi-isotropic pseudo-ductile thin-ply carbon/glass epoxy hybrid composites

This paper investigates the fatigue behaviour of pseudo-ductile Quasi-Isotropic (QI) interlayer hybrids with un-notched and open-hole configurations. Two different types of QI pseudo-ductile hybrids were evaluated; HighC, with carbon to glass thickness ratio of 0.29, that is made of thin-ply M46JB-carbon/epoxy and thin-ply Xstrand-glass/epoxy prepregs, and LowC, with carbon to glass thickness ratio of 0.19, that is made of thin-ply T300-carbon/epoxy and standard-ply S-glass/epoxy prepregs. The hybrid configurations were loaded at 4 Hz in tension–tension fatigue without any initial damage and at different percentages of the pseudo-yield stress (σpy) at which damage initiates. It was observed that there is no stiffness reduction, after 100000 cycles, for a stress level of 80% and 50% of the σpy for the un-notched and open-hole laminates, respectively. By increasing the stress level to 90% and 70% of the σpy for the un-notched and open-hole laminates, respectively, there is a gradual stiffness reduction due to the appearance of matrix cracking and delamination in LowC, but no gradual reduction and no visible damage were observed for HighC. The final failure is more brittle and happens at a lower number of cycles for HighC compared with LowC. Different damage extents were observed for the investigated laminates before the final sudden failure due to variables such as the ply thickness, the cyclic energy release rate and the interfacial fracture toughness

Pre- and during-labour predictors of low birth satisfaction among Iranian women: a prospective analytical study

BackgroundMaternal childbirth dissatisfaction has short- and long-term negative effects on the mothers’ health and life, as well as on relation with her child and family. Due to lack of studies in Iran and other counties, we aimed to determine pre- and during- labour predictors of low birth satisfaction.MethodsSeven hundred women with low risk singleton pregnancy participated in this prospective analytical study. The participants were hospitalized for vaginal delivery with fetus in cephalic presentation and gestational age of 370–416 at two teaching centers in Tabriz (Iran). Woman characteristics, anxiety state (using Spielberger inventory) and dehydration were assessed at cervical dilatation of 4–6 cm. Iranian (Persian) birth satisfaction scale-revised was applied 12–24 h after birth. Multiple linear regression was used to determine the predictors.ResultsExcluding 26 women who were outliers, 674 women were analyzed. The mean birth satisfaction score was 23.8 (SD 6.5) from an attainable score of 0–40. The during-labour predictors of low birth satisfaction score were severe and moderate anxiety, labour dystocia, insufficient support by staff, vaginal birth with episiotomy and tear, emergency cesarean section, labour induction and labour augmentation with oxytocin, and woman dehydration. The pre-labour predictors included being primiparous, sexual and emotional violence during pregnancy, gestational age of 400–416, preference for cesarean section, no attendance at pregnancy classes, and insufficient household income. The proportion of the variance explained by the during-labour variables was 75%, by pre-labour variables was 14% and by overall was 76%.ConclusionsThe controllable during-labour predictors explains most of the variance of the satisfaction score. It seems that responding to women’s physical and psychological needs during labour and applying less interventions could improve women’s childbirth satisfaction

Effect of a peer-educational intervention on provider knowledge and reported performance in family planning services: a cluster randomized trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Peer education is an interactive method of teaching or learning which is widely used for educating school and college students, in a variety of different forms. However, there are few studies on its effectiveness for in-service education. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of an educational programme including peer discussions, based on a needs assessment, on the providers' knowledge and reported performance in family planning services.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>An educational programme was designed and applied in a random selection of half of in-charges of the 74 family health units (intervention group) in Tabriz at a regular monthly meeting. The other half constituted the control group. The programme included eight pages of written material and a two-hour, face-to-face discussion session with emphasis on the weak areas identified through a needs assessment questionnaire. The educated in-charges were requested to carry out a similar kind of programme with all peers at their health facilities within one month. All in-charges received one self-administered questionnaire containing knowledge questions one month after the in-charge education (follow-up I: 61 responses), and another one containing knowledge and self-reported performance questions 26 months later (follow-up II: 61 responses). Also, such tests were done for the peers facilitated by the in-charges one (105 responses) and 27 months (114 responses) after the peer discussions. Multiple linear regression was used for comparing mean total scores, and Chi square for comparing proportions between control and intervention groups, after defining facility as the unit of randomization.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean total percentage scores of knowledge (percent of maximal possible score) in the intervention group were significantly higher than in the control group, both at follow-up I (63%) and at follow-up II (57%); with a difference of 16 (95% CI: 11, 22) and 5 (95% CI: 0.4, 11) percentage units, respectively. Only two of the nine reported performance items were significantly different among the non in-charges in the intervention group at follow-up II.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The educational programme including peer discussions using existing opportunities with no need for additional absence from the workplace might be a useful complement to formal large group education for the providers.</p

Efficacy of vitamin D3-fortified-yogurt drink on anthropometric, metabolic, inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers according to vitamin D receptor gene polymorphisms in type 2 diabetic patients: a study protocol for a randomized controlled clinical trial

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Development of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is determined by the interactions of genetic and environmental factors. This study was designed to evaluate the possible role of VDR single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on different aspects of diabetic host response (anthropometric, metabolic, oxidative stress and inflammatory) to daily intake of vitamin D through fortified yogurt drink for 12 weeks.</p> <p>Methods/Design</p> <p>This study comprises two parts: (i) a case-control study; and (ii) an intervention trial. In the first part, VDR polymorphisms <it>(Taq1</it>, <it>FokI</it>, <it>Apa1</it>, <it>Bsm1</it>, and <it>Cdx2) </it>are determined in 350 T2DM patients and 350 non-diabetic subjects. In the second part, the possible effects of daily intake of two servings of vitamin D3-fortified yogurt drink (FYD; 500 IU vitamin D/250 mL) on some selected metabolic (including insulin resistance), inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers in 135 T2DM patients are assessed. To relate the resulted changes in the biomarkers to vitamin D replenishment, another group of diabetic patients (n = 45) are also included in the study who receive 2 servings of plain yogurt drink (PYD) a day. The primary outcome is serum level of 25(OH) D, which it is expected to be elevated only in FYD group. Secondary outcomes include improvements in glycemic, metabolic, inflammatory and oxidative stress biomarkers in FYD group compared to PYD group. Three VDR <it>FokI </it>polymorphisms are determined only in FYD group followed by comparison of changes in the biomarkers among these genotypic variants.</p> <p>Discussion</p> <p>The present study, at least in part, elucidates the discrepancies in the results of different vitamin D-diabetes studies pertaining to the genetic variations of the population. If VDR polymorphisms are found to influence the response to our intervention, then knowing distribution of VDR polymorphisms in both diabetic and non-diabetic populations can give a picture of the proportion of the community in whom up to 1000 IU/d vitamin D may not be effective enough to improve insulin resistance and related morbidities. Therefore, they should ideally receive further nutritional support according to their genotype.</p> <p>Trial Registration</p> <p>ClinicalTrials.gov: <a href="http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT01236846">NCT01236846</a></p