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Showing 9 results for Hazra


Volume 3, Issue 2 (Spring 2018)
Abstract

Aims: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) is a usual complaint among workers engaged in static work, tasks requiring repetitive motion, and prolonged computer work. The aims of the present study were to assess office work-associated ergonomic risk factors using ROSA method as well as to identify which office equipment is more conducive to musculoskeletal disorders in office workers.
Instruments and Methods: This cross sectional descriptive study was conducted among 163 employees of Fasa University of Medical Sciences (FUMS), Iran, in 2017. Data were collected by simple random sampling method. Demographic characteristics questionnaire, Standardized Nordic questionnaire (NMQ), and rapid office strain assessment (ROSA) checklist were used to collect data. Descriptive statistics and binary logistic regression were used for data analysis. All the statistical analyses was carried out using SPSS 20 software.
Findings: The majority of musculoskeletal disorders in the last 12 months had occurred in lower back (60.7%), neck (50.9%), and knee (48.5%). Risk level for 137 participants (84.04%) was at the notification area (Score 3 to 5) and for 26 participants (15.95%) was at the need for ergonomic intervention area (score>5). Chair was identified as the major cause of pain in many parts of the body including elbows, lower back, knees, and legs.
Conclusion: Various risk factors, such as office equipment, in the workplace, may contribute to MSDs in different body regions. Chair is the major cause of pain in many parts of the body.


Volume 10, Issue 4 (Winter 2022)
Abstract

The genre of war is a form of literature which has the nature of anti-war literature, aiming to spread peace and friendship rather than dealing with war and the dominant discourse resulting from its dark and sinister consequences. Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway and Burnt Earth by Ahmad Mahmoud are two good examples of anti-war literature in different contexts from two Iranian and American writers, which put forth a clear reflection of the social, economic, political and cultural unrest of war-torn society. A comparative study of this period and the analysis of the conceptual network, lead to a comparative assessment of the plot, and the use of linguistic and stylistic elements. Despite the artistic skills of Hemingway and Mahmoud to present events related to the war, their narrative approach differs in the author's narrative approach, conceptual network and themes. Burnt Earth is a notable native example of the war genre, while Farewell to Arms stands beyond the genre of war in the literary genre of the novel.

Volume 16, Issue 10 (1-2017)
Abstract

In this paper, the penetration process of anti-structure tandem projectiles are investigated by numerical and experimental methods. The used projectiles in this research have been composed of the forward shaped charge with conical copper liner and the following kinetic energy projectile with flat nose. For determination of cavity and tunnel geometry, at first follow projectile penetration test is done. In this process three shaped charge projectiles are tested. According to the same conditions for projectiles and concrete target, the obtained data of performed test are good agreement with each others. Then numerical simulation of forward and follow projectiles penetration are analyzed by finite difference hydro code; AUTODYN. The numerical results obtained from the forward projectile penetration have been compared with experimental results. The comparisons between experimental and numerical results for forward projectiles show good agreement with each other. At the end of this research, the residual velocities of the follow projectiles are investigated by numerical method. The results also indicate that the residual velocity of follow projectile increase due to the damage in the concrete target, that it is according to predictions.

Volume 18, Issue 9 (12-2018)
Abstract

Pedaling is recognized as one of the most widely used therapies in rehabilitation. Which is influenced by various factors. Studying the effect of saddle position and saddle height (horizontal and vertical distance of saddle from pedal, respectively) changes in the pedaling feasible places range (saddle height range: 49-80% of leg length) on the leg joints range of motion and muscles contraction velocity are the purposes of this study. The pedaling conditions with ergometer are obtained in the model (crank arm length and pedaling rate are 17.5 cm and 80 rpm, respectively). Results indicate that ankle, knee and hip joints range of motion are 11.08-37.54 (SD: 0.03-1.86), 69.61-80.58 (SD: 4.02-9.76) and 42.89-46.13 (SD: 0.07-2.89), respectively. The effect of saddle height changes on ankle>knee>hip and the effect of saddle position changes on knee>hip>ankle range of motion. By increasing the saddle height, ankle and knee joints range of motion increase significantly. The positive correlation between ankle-knee, ankle-hip and knee-hip joints, show the coordination and the cooperation of joints during cycling. The saddle place changes affect the contraction velocity of lower limb muscles. In particular, by changing the saddle place in the feasible places, the contraction velocity of ankle, knee and biarticular muscle groups change in a wide range.

Volume 19, Issue 2 (7-2019)
Abstract

Water shortage and wastewater discharge into environment have led to significant research in the field of environmental engineering for developing high efficient, fast, and cheap wastewater treatment. In recent years, advanced oxidation processes (AOP) have been subjected to significant attention for wastewater treatment due to feasibility of the process in mild reaction conditions, requiring low cost equipment, and short time of the process. Electro-Fenton process addresses the potential drawbacks of Fenton reaction including transportation of H2O2 and regeneration of ferrous ions which act as catalyst. In the present study, ZSM-5 catalyst was synthesized by hydrothermal technique and promoter was introduced through wet impregnation method. Ir-ZSM-5 catalyst w::as char::acterized by XRD, FE-SEM, BET, FT-IR and NH3-TPD techniques. The XRD patterns revealed the high crystallinity for the both parent and Ir impregnated ZSM-5 catalysts. FE-SEM images showed micro-spherical morphology. N2-adsorption-desorption confirmed mesoporous structure for the synthesized catalyst including 321.1 and 327.3 m2/g specific surface area for the parent and Ir-ZSM-5 catalysts, respectively. FT-IR spectrum confirmed formation of ZSM-5 zeolite and also revealed presence of surface hydroxyl groups. NH3-TPD revealed that acidity of the impregnated ZSM-5 catalyst was increased due to interaction of Ir with zeolite structure. Acidimetric-alkalimetric titration determined pHPZC for the parent and Ir-ZSM-5 catalysts equal to 3.6 and 3.9, respectively. Catalytic performance of Ir-ZSM-5 catalyst for removal of methylene blue (MB) from wastewater in heterogeneous electro-Fenton like reaction was evaluated. Different operation conditions were tested including concentration of catalyst, pH of wastewater solution and applied current between graphite electrodes. The results showed that Ir-ZSM-5 catalyst had acceptable performance in near neutral pH level due to the improved adsorption of MB molecules on Ir-ZSM-5 structure. The stable catalytic activity resulted from formation of no sludge related to active phase. Detected OH groups at the surface of the catalyst attained positive charge at pHpzc and negative charge at pH>pHpzc which influenced the adsorption capacity of the catalyst at different pH levels through electrostatic adsorption of ionized MB molecules on the catalyst. Blank test using no amount of Ir-ZSM-5 catalyst led to only 77% MB removal which was attributed to anodic oxidation on the surface of the graphite electrodes. Increasing applied current led to the improved MB removal owing to the faster degradation of the sacrificial graphite anode. The optimum operational conditions for the proposed system were pH=3, 0.2 gL-1 of Ir-ZSM-5 catalyst and 100 mA applied current which resulted in the highest MB removal (100%). The reusability test of the catalyst was carried out by 3 consecutive runs at the optimum conditions. After each run, the used catalyst was regenerated at 550 °C to remove the adsorbed organic molecules due to adsorption of either MB or its oxidation intermediates. The regenerated catalyst showd the high catalytic performance with insignificant change of the removal efficiency as result of the high crystallinity and specific surface area of the synthesized catalyst. A pseudo first order kinetic was proposed for the reaction of removal which fitted the experimental data with the high correlation factor. The results confirmed the high potential of the heterogeneous electro fenton-like process for wastewater treatment.

Volume 20, Issue 1 (4-2020)
Abstract

In this study, petrochemical complex wastewater was investigated by submerged membrane bioreactor (MBR). Initial sludge was prepared from returned sludge of petrochemical complex wastewater treatment plant. Applied membrane is of micro-filtration type made of polyvinylidene fluoride with effective surface of 0.004 m2, porosity of 73% and nominal pore diameter of 0.1 μm. Particle size distribution (PSD), soluble microbial products (SMP), and extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) for sludge were measured. In addition Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and EPS analysis were performed for determining the properties of the formed cake. Also was measured critical pressure for membrane in the MBR. The critical pressure value was 0.2 kPa. Therefore, the operating pressure was selected 0.12 kPa. This research was conducted in two phases. In the first phase, the pilot worked for 35 days. The results showed that despite the membrane fouling in initial days, the permission of the membrane still had a good efficiency, and after each 7 days, the membrane was cleaned physically and chemically, which showed a recovery of permeate more than 90%. The COD removal efficiency was achieved more than 85% in MLSS=3000±300 mg / L and HRT=14-16 hours. In addition, the TSS and turbidity in the output were below 1 mg/L and 12 NTU, respectively. In the second phase, for reducing fouling, the granule activated carbon was added in the sludge. In the reactor containing activated carbon (R2), membrane fouling was carried out with lower rate and also flux drop was lower about 22% compared to reactor without activated carbon. This phenomenon was due to increasing sludge particle size, SMP reduction.
 

Volume 22, Issue 5 (7-2020)
Abstract

The effects of abiotic stresses on medicinal plants metabolism are well known, but how plants respond to the interaction of these stressors is little understood. Therefore, the current experiment was aimed to investigate changes in growth and concentration of various primary and secondary metabolites of A. vera grown under water deficit and different light intensity conditions. A split-plot in time research was laid out in a randomized complete block design with four replications in a research greenhouse. The factorial combination of four irrigation regimes (irrigation after depleting 20%, 40%, 60%, and 80% of soil water content) and three light intensities (50%, 75%, and 100% of sunlight) were considered as the main factors. Sampling time was considered as sub factor. The results showed that the highest leaf, gel, and peel fresh weights were observed when the plants were subjected to low light intensity and irrigation was done after depleting 20% soil water moisture. Plants developed under full sunlight produced more pups (4.30, 3, and 3.75 per plant, 90, 180, and 270 days, respectively) and leaves (14.25, 18, and 21.25 per plant, 90, 180 and 270 days, respectively) and showed the higher fresh (165.75 g per plant) and dry root (37.60 g per plant) weight. These traits decreased with increasing water deficit severity during all the sampling times. Glucose (79.30 mg g DW− 1, 270 days), fructose (233.50 mg g DW− 1, 270 days), aloin (27.68%, 90 days), proline (2.07 mg [g FW]-1, 90 days) and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxylase (PEP-Case) (0.463 mmol NADH/g prot*min, 90 days) increased with increasing light intensity and water deficit severity during all the sampling times. Although high light intensity and water deficit led to yield and growth reduction, concentration of various primary and secondary metabolites increased. The results suggest that reduction in light intensity mitigates adverse effects of water deficit by inducing primary and secondary metabolites changes. It can be considered as an acclimation mechanism under water deficit conditions to avoid yield loss in A. vera production.

Volume 25, Issue 3 (March 2025)
Abstract

Background
Anthropometry, the scientific discipline concerning precise human body measurements, plays a pivotal role across various industries, particularly in medical applications where accurate data are essential for prosthetic and orthotic design. Conventional anthropometric data acquisition methods are often time-intensive and costly. This study establishes a comprehensive anthropometric database of Iranian ethnic groups utilizing three-dimensional scanning technology coupled with a Python-based algorithm for markerless foot measurement.
Methods and Materials
This cross-sectional study was conducted at the Iranian Foot Anthropometry Research Center (Sahand University of Technology, Faculty of Biomedical Engineering). The study population comprised 4,312 participants (2,527 males and 1,785 females), aged 6 to 76 years (mean 36.35 ± 14.76) from East Azerbaijan Province. A Python program has been developed to extract 35 anthropometric foot indices from three-dimensional scans without the need for physical markers. For validation purposes, 400 participants were randomly selected for two-dimensional foot scanning, with five foot-length indices and two foot-width indices extracted from both two-dimensional and three-dimensional scans. An independent samples t-test was performed using SPSS 26 to assess measurement reliability.
Results
Statistical analysis revealed that all indices demonstrated P-values exceeding 0.05, confirming the reliability of data extracted by the Python algorithm and establishing the methodological robustness of the three-dimensional scanning approach.
Conclusion
This study successfully validates the reliability of a Python-based algorithm for extracting anthropometric foot indices from three-dimensional scans, providing an efficient and accurate tool for foot measurement in clinical and research applications


Volume 26, Issue 2 (3-2024)
Abstract

Exploitation of heterosis is one of the potential means for improvement of sweet pepper (Capsicum annuum var. grossum L.) that can further be utilized for identification of desirable recombinants. Promising hybrids could be acceptable to growers of tropical and subtropical climates if it is a high yielder with attractive fruit colour and blocky shape. Seven diverse parents were selected through multivariate analysis and were crossed in half diallel mating design to determine the extent of heterosis, mode of gene action, combining ability effects, and dominance estimates for 18 quantitative characters. Expression of fruit colour and shape at physiological maturity stage in the F1 generation indicated the dominance of red coloured group over other fruit colour groups and dominance of blocky fruit shape over elongate and round fruit shape. Preponderance of non-additive gene action for most of the characters under study suggested the usefulness of exploitation of hybrid vigour. Three genotypes, 8/4, C/4, and Baby Bell were found most promising donors. The hybrids, Arya×Baby Bell, 8/4×Baby Bell and C/4×8/4 were identified as promising based on per se performance, heterosis manifested, and relevance of specific combining ability effects, for possible commercialization under low cost protected structure of tropical and subtropical climates after critical testing. Partial to over dominance response in inheritance of most traits contributed to the genetic basis of heterosis. Isolation of pure lines from the segregating generation of heterotic hybrids emerged as a promising approach to develop line-bred variety having improved fruit yield and quality.

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