Oil-Polluted Water Treatment Using Nano Size Bagasse Optimized- Isotherm Study

The preliminary studies were conducted in order to evaluate the ability and behavior of sugarcane bagasse (generated as waste material from sugar mill) to remove oil by-products from aqueous. In this work adsorption experiments were carried out in a batch reactor to obtain adsorption isotherms of oil by-product on sugarcane bagasse. The capacity of sugarcane bagasse to adsorb oil by-product from aqueous solutions was evaluated at different pH, adsorbent dose and initial concentration. Equilibrium isotherms were analyzed by Langmuir isotherm equations. Compare the result and Langmuir isotherm shown that adsorption of oil by-product on a sugarcane bagasse is favorable. The concentration which was reviewed in this study was much closed to concentration in the industrial water disposal effluents and Langmuir isotherm did describe well the adsorption behavior obtained for these systems

R&D Management in Iran, Opportunities and Threats

Research and Development (R&D) management in Iran has faced many barriers and obstacles, in which R&D units are considered as the basic core of the product development and innovation. Due to structural shortcomings, a great number of organizations and industries have not yet been able to position themselves in the market. There are about 1141 R&D units throughout Iran, due to the geographical decentralization of these units this paper considers and analyzes the R&D case study in one of the provinces located in the north part of Iran, and the findings can be generalized to the other industrialized areas and zones in Iran. In this province, there are about 2504 industrial units of which there are only 44 R&D units certified by the state government. However, there is limited number of these R&D units that are extensively active. This paper also addresses the current status in respect with the R&D activities to find out why little attention has been paid to these activities in the industrial units. Considering the opportunities and challenges of these R&D units reveals that there is a need to activate these units so that they can quickly respond to changes in the market. Finally, a few alternative solutions and improvement plans are proposed, in which the Iranian R&D Society is responsible for supporting and fostering these action plans towards the organization goals. The research methodology was based on a previous field research conducted in Hamedan province, and after the analysis of the research results, a model for the efficiency of R&D units will be presented.R&D management, R&D Society, Innovation, Industrial sectors

Modified Projective Synchronization of Chaotic Systems with Noise Disturbance, an Active Nonlinear Control Method

The synchronization problem of chaotic systems using active modified projective nonlinear control method is rarely addressed. Thus the concentration of this study is to derive a modified projective controller to synchronize the two chaotic systems. Since, the parameter of the master and follower systems are considered known, so active methods are employed instead of adaptive methods. The validity of the proposed controller is studied by means of the Lyapunov stability theorem. Furthermore, some numerical simulations are shown to verify the validity of the theoretical discussions. The results demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method in both speed and accuracy points of views

Adaptive Projective Lag Synchronization of T and Lu Chaotic Systems

In this paper, the synchronization problem of T chaotic system and Lu chaotic system is studied. The parameter of the drive T chaotic system is considered unknown. An adaptive projective lag control method and also parameter estimation law are designed to achieve chaos synchronization problem between two chaotic systems. Then Lyapunov stability theorem is utilized to prove the validity of the proposed control method. After that, some numerical simulations are performed to assess the performance of the proposed method. The results show high accuracy of the proposed method in control and synchronization of chaotic systems

Correlation Between Body Fat Distribution, Plasma Lipids and Apolipoproteins with the Severity of Coronary Involvement in Patients with Stable Angina

<p class="abstract"><strong>BACKGROUND:</strong> Previous studies reported that the distribution of body fat is an important risk factor for coronary artery diseases (CAD) and abdominal adipose tissue is associated with severe CAD. This study was conducted to evaluate the relationship between body fat distributions, plasma lipids and the severity of CAD in patients with stable angina.</p> <p class="abstract"><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp; METHODS:</strong><strong> </strong>Ninety seven patients who underwent coronary angiography for stable angina were allocated into two groups: patients with mild or sever coronary artery involvement. Lipid profile (total cholesterol, LDL, HDL) and triglyceride (TG) and apolipoprotein A and B, were measured for all of the participants and a demographic data questionnaire was filled by the subjects. Participants underwent abdominal computed tomography (CT-Scan) for measurement of adipose tissues that was classified to visceral and superficial and deep subcutaneous fat tissue compartment.</p> <p class="abstract"><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp; RESULTS:</strong> Patients with severe coronary artery involvement had higher level of apo B <br /> (P = 0.02). Significant correlation was seen between visceral fat index and TG (P = 0.01), HDL-C (P &lt; 0.01) in patients with mild coronary involvement and with total cholesterol (P = 0.02), LDL-C (P = 0.01) and apoB (P &lt; 0.01) in patients with severe coronary involvement .No significant relationship was seen among deep cutaneous fat index and lipid profile in both groups.<strong></strong></p> <p class="abstract"><strong>&nbsp;&nbsp; </strong><strong>CONCLUSION:</strong> Our findings showed that visceral adipose tissue is significantly associated with severe CAD and has a significant correlation with lipid profile as well as Apo B.</p><p class="abstract"><strong>Keywords:</strong> Visceral Abdominal Adipose Tissue, Superficial Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue, Deep Subcutaneous Adipose Tissue, Coronary Involvement, Lipid Profile.</p

Ameliorative effect of melatonin against contrast media induced renal tubular cell injury

Background and Objective: Reactive oxygen species (ROS) is a mediator of renal damage. Melatonin is a potent-free radical scavenger. Our objective was to test whether melatonin would protect against the nephrotoxicity of contrast media. Methods: In an experimental study 40 adult male Wistar rats were randomly divided into four equal groups including: 1) Control group (No drug), 2) Contrast media group (10 ml/kg iodixanol i.v. single dose), 3) Contrast media and melatonin (first 10 ml/kg iodixanol then 10 ml/kg/day melatonin by i.p. injection on days 3,4 and 5) and 4) Contrast media and melatonin pretreatment group (melatonin 10 ml/kg/day by i.p. injection on 1, 2 and 3 days, then 10 ml/kg iodixanol by i.v. injection on third day. The blood creatinine and BUN as well as the histological changes were evaluated for severity of renal injury (degeneration, vacuolization of tubular renal cells, dilatation of tubular lumen and presence of debris in the lumens), by scoring from one to four. Results: Contrast media significantly increased the creatinine and BUN and renal injury (p < 0.05). Melatonin prevented and reversed the injury induced by contrast media (P < 0.05). Pretreatment with melatonin reduced the renal injury induced by contrast media (P < 0.05). Conclusion: Melatonin is an effective drug to prevent contrast-induced renal injury. Therefore its usage (especially pretreatment) might be beneficial in patients who are planning to use contrast media agents

Brain-Included 18F FDG PET/CT Acquisition Protocol: Cancer-Specified Clinical Impact of Newly-Diagnosed Brain Metastasis in Extra-Cerebral Cancer Patients

Background: Evolution of individualized radiosurgical therapeutic methods for brain metastasis as an ominous prognostic finding may encourage a more extensive application of neuroimaging in patients with extracerebral cancer. The aim of the present study was to investigate the added value of brain-included 18 F FDG PET/CT acquisition protocol based on primary cancer type and clinical indication.Materials and Methods: A retrospective review was performed on 3945 18 F FDG PET/CT reports of patients with extra-cerebral cancer underwent brain-included PET/CT study. Cerebral lesions suggestive of brain metastasis were subsequently verified by MRI, MRI+MRS, surgical pathology and a 1-year clinical formal follow up. The detection rate of new brain metastasis and related impact on disease status were then investigated in each cancer type based on clinical indication.Results: Of a total 3933 eligible patients, 44 (1.12%) were finally verified to have new cerebral metastasis. The most common primary sources were lung cancer (19/385, 4.93%), cancer of unknown primary (CUP) (5/168, 2.97%) and breast cancer (8/468, 1.71%). The most common clinical indications were initial staging (17/44, 43.1%) and restaging (19/44, 36.4%). Change in disease status occurred in 12 out of 44 patients (27.3%), more frequently occurred in lung cancer (n=4), in all indications and breast (n=3) cancers at restaging (n=7, 43.8%).Conclusion: PET/CT acquisition protocol study may be best optimized based on the type of primary cancer and timing of evaluation. Brain-included field of view may be recommended for lung cancer regardless the clinical indication, cancer of unknown primary and breast cancer at restaging

Coral reefs and community around Larak island (Persian Gulf)

Field surveys pertaining to coral reef studies were performed from November 2010 to August 2011 around Larak Island in the Persian Gulf. The Line Intercept Transect (LIT) method was applied to record biotic and abiotic components of the coral reefs at two sites around Larak Island: North East (NE) and South West (SW) with two stations per site. Mean "Live Coral Coverage" (LCC) and “Dead Coral Coverage” (DCC) at SW 21.74% ± 1.92%, 4.58% ± 0.65%and NE sites were 5.69% ± 0.54%, 35.64% ± 3.28% respectively. Dead Coral Coverage was more prevalent in the NE than in SW. Based on Mann-Whitney U-test LCC and DCC showed significant difference (p< 0.05) among these two sites, (p< 0.05); The Kruskal-Wallis test also showed significant difference (p< 0.05) among four stations within two sites. This study indicated that coral communities of the NE site have been more destroyed by human impacts such as municipal run-off, breakwater construction, trap fishing, over-fishing and several other human activities