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Showing 13 results for Mirshekar


Volume 4, Issue 4 (Fall 2018)
Abstract

Aims:  Uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) is one of the most important causative agents of urinary tract infection (UTI). UPEC isolates persist in the body through biofilm formation. The successful adhesion is the most important step of biofilm formation. Type 1 and P are bacterial surface appendices, which play a pivotal role in of UPEC. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of on the initial adhesion gene expression in UPEC isolates.
Materials & Methods: The presence of and genes among 60 UPEC isolates was investigated by PCR; 5 potent producer UPEC strains from patients with UTI were exposed to the sub-minimum inhibitory concentration of Expression of the and genes was evaluated by real-time PCR.
Findings: Of the 60 UPEC isolates, biofilm formation was seen in 27 (45%) of isolates, 5 of which produced strong The result of PCR assay showed that was seen in 57 (95%) of the 60 UPEC isolates and was seen in 58 (96.6%) of isolates, respectively. and expression 7 and 8 fold in all 5 isolates, respectively.
Conclusion: Sub-MIC concentrations of remarkably decreased the expression the and genes in strong forming UPEC strains, but cannot prevent biofilm formation.


Volume 5, Issue 1 (Winter 2019)
Abstract

 Aims
 Urinary tract infection (UTI) is one of the most common infections worldwide. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between ESBLs genes and quinolone resistance in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli isolated from patients with urinary tract infection .
Materials & Methods
A total of 150 E. coli isolates were collected from patients with urinary tract infection referring to Firouzgar Hospital in Tehran, Iran. Antimicrobial susceptibility of isolates were determined by disk diffusion method. Double-disk diffusion test was performed for phenotypic identification of extended-spectrum β-lactamase- (ESBL) producing isolates. PCR was used for the detection of ESBL-encoding genes in addition to quinolone (qnr) resistance genes.

Findings

 There was a high resistance rate to most of the studied antimicrobial agents. Phenotypically, 75% of the isolates produced an ESBL enzyme and were resistant to different antimicrobial classes. In overall, 83% of the isolates carried ESBL genes, especially blaTEM and blaCTX-M  . 75% were positive for the quinolone resistance genes including qnrA , qnrB ,qnrS and qepA. These results indicate the association between the presence of various ESBLs genes and quinolone resistance in uropathogenic E. coli.

Conclusion

Resistance patterns show the increased incidence of antibacterial resistance in E. coli. Results of the current study indicate the high prevalence of ESBL-producing isolates and quinolone resistance genes. Simultaneous presence of genes responsible for antibacterial resistance has made the treatment of UTI more challenging than ever before.



Volume 5, Issue 3 (Summer 2023)
Abstract

Introduction
Urban studies thinkers consider citizens' participation as one of the infrastructures for increasing in the capabilities of urban management. In order to citizens' participation to be meaningful and express the main concept of participation, it must be on a local scale and then reach the transnational arena. Neighborhoods, as the most fundamental elements of cities, have a special place in shaping and organizing the affairs of Tehran. With the establishment of the Pahlavi government and the effort to modernize Iran and the growth and increase in the population of cities, the traditional structures of urban life, including neighborhoods, underwent a transformation. The Law of City Associations was approved before the revolution, but it took many years to pay attention to neighborhood life again with the formation and implementation of the city's Islamic councils in 1998. In recent years, the neighborhood has been defined as the center of concentration and connection of urban services - people and municipality - in the smallest structural area of Tehran municipality. This center was chosen in such a way that all the possible capacities of the municipality can be delegated to it, and at the same time, concrete and objective participation of the citizens was directed to it in all areas that can be participated in, and new and up-to-date functions were defined for it. New social theories consider women's participation in sustainable development processes to be essential, and since the field of women's activity is traditionally wider in the fields of family and neighborhood, the local administration has envisioned a special role for women in city affairs and implemented special programs to improve their quality of life. In an environmental approach, women have the ability to play a greater role as leaders or active participants in smaller communities such as urban neighborhoods. It can be said that women play an essential role in local social cohesion. This type of connection is especially necessary to achieve social planning and successful management in multicultural societies. Because experience has shown that women pay attention to the dimensions of the needs of all groups in society and are not limited to the views and desires of powerful and effective members of society and often seek to create bridges over social, cultural and racial divisions as well as incompatibilities in society. That society will lead to a better life.
Research findings
Based on this, the current research tries to investigate the effect of local women's participation in the programs of active organizations (Serai Mahlah) on improving their quality of life. Angeh, Homayun Shahr and Aqdasiye neighborhoods were introduced and selected as examples by the neighborhood management strategic headquarters because of their active role in this matter. In the current research, a survey method was used with the two goals of description and explanation. At the level of description, the goal is to provide information on the level of participation of women in the administration of neighborhood affairs, and at the level of explanation and analysis, the goal is to find the existence or non-existence of a relationship between independent and dependent variables. At the same time, it has been used to compile the theoretical foundations and review previous researches in a documentary (library) way. The statistical population of the research is made up of the women of Tehran's active neighborhoods in the field of participation in the administration of city affairs, and on this basis, two groups of active and inactive women were selected from among the women of these neighborhoods and investigated. In this research, the sample size is 240 tons, which was determined based on Cochran's formula, which is divided into two parts (124 active tons and 116 inactive tons). In the sampling method, there are two important reasons for choosing the neighborhood center, one is that the manager of the neighborhood is a woman, and the other is the introduction by the neighborhood management strategic headquarters as the most active centers in the neighborhoods of Tehran, which are Angeh, Homayoun Shahr, and Aqdasiyeh neighborhoods. Available sampling method was used to select local activists and random sampling method was used for inactive people. A questionnaire was used to collect information. After verifying its validity and reliability in the preliminary stages of the research, the questionnaire was used to collect the required data in the final stage. The results obtained from this research show that the existence of the neighborhood management institution shows that the participation of citizens is recognized as a necessity and need for collective life, and women are not excluded from this as citizens of the society. Sarai Mahalat is active as one of the sub-institutions of neighborhood management, and the use of the services provided in it can have a significant impact on improving the quality of life of women in various dimensions, and the officials are required to provide the necessary conditions to create the necessary infrastructure and facilities in this regard. On the other hand, they should create the necessary motivation in women in different ways so that they also become eager to participate in local affairs (various aspects), because compared to men, women devote more time to work inside and around the house (local area), so they have deeper experiences, knowledge and insight to build the environment around them. According to Arnstein and Hannah Arendt, if women can have an active participation in the administration of local affairs and not just a theatrical participation, they can actualize and realize their potential talents in various fields. It seems that if the participation of women at the local level has positive results (as the results of this research confirm this), it will lead to this fact that women are encouraged to participate at higher levels of society, which will facilitate the development of the country.
Conclusions
In the present study, the impact of the use of services provided in Sarai Mahalat on the quality of life of service users was investigated in different dimensions. At first, the presence or absence of a relationship was measured using Pearson's correlation coefficient, which confirmed the existence of a relationship between women's local participation and the improvement of their quality of life in different dimensions. In the following, the difference between the average scores of the group that used the services and the group that did not use the services was investigated using the T-test, and according to the obtained scores, the hypotheses of the research were confirmed. After that, two-dimensional tables were used to clarify the relationship between dependent and independent variables. The results of these tables show that the intensity of the relationship between local participation with the quality of life and physical health is greater than the intensity of its relationship with economic empowerment.

Volume 6, Issue 1 (3-2020)
Abstract

The spider wasps (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae) of Kerman province were faunistically investigated. A total of 17 species of 12 genera belonging to three subfamilies, Ceropalinae, pepsinae and pompilinae were collected during 2017–2018 and identified. Among the collected material, three species of Ceropalinae, Ceropales juncoi Giner, 1945, Ceropales kriechbaumeri Magretti, 1884, Ceropales maroccana de Beaumont, 1947 and a single species of Pompilinae, Agenioideus gentilis (Klug, 1834) are recorded for the first time for the fauna of Iran. Geographical distribution of each species in Kerman province, Iran and outside Iran are presented.

Volume 6, Issue 4 (Fall 2018)
Abstract

Aims: It has been shown that sea turtles have temperature-dependent sex determination. Therefore, their sex determination is useful in understanding their reproduction ecology and population status. The aims of the present study were to estimate the sex ratio and to study the effect of inundation on the sex ratio of the hatchling green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas).
Materials & Methods: This experimental study was carried out on the 300km of Chabahar Beach on the northern coast of the Sea of Oman in July to December, 2015. Five areas which have the highest densities of nesting green sea turtles were chosen. The temperature of three different depths of green sea turtle clutches laid (50cm; above the egg hole, 85cm; center of egg hole and 120cm; below the egg hole) were recorded using automated intra-nest recording devices. Linear Regression Analysis and Pearson correlation coefficient were used. Statistical analyses of the data were conducted by SPSS 20 and Microsoft Office Excel 2010.
Findings: The statistical mean temperature in thermosensitive period (TSP) of the nests at three depths of 50cm, 85cm, and 120cm at the chabahar beaches were recorded between 26.1±1.1 to 30.6±1.0. The storm had decreased the mean temperature in thermosensitive period of the nests.
Conclusions: The storm decreases the mean temperature in thermosensitive period of the nests. The Nilofar storm stops the increasing feminization. It can be an important step in the implementation of conservation, rehabilitation, and reconstruction programmers.


Volume 7, Issue 29 (12-2019)
Abstract

The local and indigenous ceremonies in Sistan region shows the rich and old culture of this region. Following the rural culture, people of this region have used poetry and songs sufficiently for maintaining and reviving the mourning ceremonies. Ardah-mourning or reading quatrain is a deeply sad and mournful song in the mourning ceremonies of Sistan. This study employs library study as well as some interviews with the informants to investigate Ardah-mourning and its uses in the mourning ceremonies of Sistan. The history, the performants, the performance, and the time and place show that people of Sistan use their own dialect for this cultural practice. Compared with other types, this practice takes the lyrics and the music as basic aspects of the ancient ethnic groups within Iran. moreover, the study analyzes the Sistani quatrains, its tone, rhythm, form, language, content, and literary features. It is general claimed that the songs and lyrics are devices to soothe the sadness among the people in Sistan.
 

Volume 13, Issue 1 (Spring & Summer 2009)
Abstract

Targets and mechanism of the political organization of space could be considered as a framework for providing national security, citizens’ contributions and supporting social investment, establishing regional balances, and all in all for nationalization. What has taken place in Iran regarding the divisions of the country indicates that in the past there has been one factor which had constantly a more influential role in such divisions; sometimes tax receipt or defending the country’s borders against the probable attacks of the neighboring countries, and sometimes the authorities’ wills have formed such divisions; in Pahlavi and Ghaghara periods, with respect to ethnic, cultural, and military affairs and in order to increase the government’s control over khans and different states’ behaviors we have witnessed divisions which led to an increase in political pressures and, therefore, the dominance of these pressures over special characteristics of regions. As a result, the system of the divisions of the country had a tendency towards an imbalance in measures, inappropriate dispersion of facilities, population, services, and infrastructures in different regions all over the country. It is felt that the political organization after the “Islamic Revolution” has been influenced by several various factors, and this, in its own right, has been mostly affected by the geography of power and support. This means that it is not possible to interpret and analyze the political organization and the changes occurring in Iran simply by means of the identified and reliable geographical, political, and administrative indices; rather, it is necessary to determine people’s political culture, the political system, and the internal power relations.

Volume 15, Issue 3 (5-2013)
Abstract

Field experiments were conducted to investigate the effects of sowing dates and irrigation on seed quality of a spring-type safflower cultivar, in Karaj-Iran, during 2008 and 2009 growing seasons. A split plot design based on a randomized complete block layout with three replications was used in which sowing dates and irrigation treatments comprised the main plot and sub-plot, respectively. The results showed the highest oil yield, oil content, protein yield, and linoleic acid content of safflower seed for sowing date of 19th of April and under non-water stress conditions. The highest seed protein, oleic acid, and palmitic acid contents were obtained for sowing dates of May 5th and 20th along with ceasing irrigation at heading, flowering, and seed filling stages, respectively. Under arid and semiarid Mediterranean conditions prevailing in Karaj, late sowing date led to a greater simultaneity of reproductive stages and higher temperature, which made the negative effect of water stress more prominent than in the early sowing dates.

Volume 16, Issue 8 (10-2016)
Abstract

In this study, the effects of geometrical parameters of 6-DOF Hexa parallel robot on kinematic, and dynamic performance indices are investigated and its structure is optimized using the intelligent multi-objective Bees Algorithm. In this way, after describing the structure and specifying the geometrical parameters of the robot, inverse kinematic relations of the robot are obtained. Jacobian matrix that maps velocity from joint space to Cartesian space is developed. Mass matrix is obtained from calculating the total kinetic energy of the manipulator in terms of the actuated joints vector. Inverse of the homogen jacobian based condition number is considered as a index to evaluate the kinematic dexterity. based on mass matrix as relation between acceleration vector of the end effecter and torque vector of actuated joints, dynamic dexterity index is presented. Using the multi-objective Bees Algorithm and considering dynamic and kinematic performance indices in a pre-determined workspace as the objective functions, structure of Hexa parallel robot is optimized. In this way, the proper geometrical constraints such as limitation of universal and spherical joins, and the constraints to singularity avoidance are considered. Pareto front of the multi objective optimization of the robot is drawn. Diagrams of the kinematic and dynamic performance indices variation in the workspace and the effects of geometrical parameters variation on them are presented.

Volume 17, Issue 4 (7-2015)
Abstract

Berangan banana were treated with hot water at 50 ºC for 0 (control), 10, and 20 min and then kept at room temperature (25±2 ºC), 75-80% RH to observe the ripening progress. Firmness and activity of cell wall degradation enzymes such as polygalacturonase (PG), pectin methylesterase (PME), and pectate lyase (PL) were determined for treated and untreated banana. The microstructure of banana peel cell wall was observed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Treated fruit was firmer than the control fruit during ripening process. PG, PME, and PL activities were reduced in the treated bananas when compared with the control treatment. Hot water treatment disturbed cell wall degrading enzymes activity and delayed the disassembling of pectin fraction of Berangan banana. The micrographs of SEM and TEM exhibited lower changes in cell compartment and less loosening of cell wall fibril fractions in treated fruits. The electrolyte leakage in Berangan banana decreased with the increase of exposure time. The results of this study indicated that hot water treatment at 50 ºC slowed down the ripening process and extended shelf lifeof banana.

Volume 17, Issue 8 (10-2017)
Abstract

The purpose of this research is design of solar panels for a satellite which put in to geostationary orbit considering siutable reliability. The process of solar panel design is conducted according to the Design Structure Matrix (DSM) method. In this regard, an initial plan, a subsequent design process improvement, and a final optimized design process are provided. The first level of designed mechanism product tree includes released mechanism, development mechanism, lock and rotation components. Given the importance of ensuring the proper operation of mechanisms in space and reported mission failures due to lack of mechanism’s operation, the reliability network of designed mechanism is constructed and the reliability of designed panel is calculated. The amount of achieved relaiability is then verified according to the mission and system engineering requirements. Nessecary changes are applied on initial design to achieve into the satisfactory reliability for whole solar mechanism. In this regard, the critical paths in reliability network which lead to reduced reliability are investigated, and improvement of the critical path are proposed, to the extend of increasing reliability by discarding redundant components for critical parts.

Volume 19, Issue 6 (12-2019)
Abstract

Recycled asphalt chips after shaving are considered to be a waste material that has an adverse environmental impact on the environment. On the other hand, the heavy cost of constructing new ways and damages caused by the destruction of existing roads will cause many problems. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effect of mixed bitumen with filler change on mechanical and functional properties of asphalt foam mixtures of recycled materials. Research method is field study. All experiments were carried out at the Technical and Mechanical Laboratory of the Ministry of Construction in Tehran.  In this project, aggregates consumed from asphalt tracks of the 29th straight Shahid Dastgheib International Airport in Shiraz were prepared. The bitumen used in this research was selected as bitumen from Tehran refinery in Tehran. Also, Portland cement fillers of type 425-1, lime and cement and lime mixture as active filler were used and the amount of active filler added in all designs was considered the same. Samples were made by adding cement fillers, lime with different bitumen content and under dry and saturated treatment conditions. Samples were made with filler cement (1.5%), lime (1.5%) and cement, lime (0.75% and 0.75%) and a control sample. Then, the experiments were performed on the modulus of resilience, the strength of the marshall and the indirect pull resistance. To increase the number of observations and increase the accuracy of the mathematical model, samples with cement filler with a ratio of 1 and 2 percent with bitumen 1, 2 and 3 were constructed using Marshall Hammer. Marshall Strength tests, modulus of resistivity and indirect pull resistance were carried out in dry and saturated conditions. Using the results of the modulus of resilience test, the finite element modeling was performed using ABAQUS and KenLayer software, and the effect of changing the modulus on the number of load repetitions that resulted in fatigue failure was evaluated. Finally, a mathematical model was presented. The results of this study, using SPSS and Statisca software, show that in Marshall's strength test, in all plans, increasing the bitumen from 1 to 2 percent, the Marshall Strength increases and then decreases with increasing bitumen by 2 to 3 percent. Marshall Strength ratio (obtained by dividing the Marshall strength of saturated samples to the Marshall strength of dry specimens) revealed that these types of mixtures are sensitive to moisture conditions and at best (2% bitumen and with cement lime filler) this amount reaches 0.46.  Also, results of indirect resistance test show that, with increasing bitumen from 1 to 3%, in all designs, indirect resistance is increased during drying, saturation is continuously increased.  The cement filler with lime in all treatment modes has the greatest effect on increasing the indirect pull resistance, and the effect of increasing the strength of the filler-containing specimens is more than dry in terms of saturation processing.  The results of three-dimensional modeling of Abacus showed that increasing the modulus of the base layer, the number of repetitions leads to fatigue failure greatly increases. Also, half-life parameters, expansion ratio and index of bitumen were measured and the parameters of these parameters were plotted against water percent.

Volume 25, Issue 1 (January 2024)
Abstract

This research examines the optimization of expansion loops in steam pipeline systems using a neuro-fuzzy network. Stress analysis was conducted based on the ASME B31.3 design code using CAESAR II software. Additionally, a neuro-fuzzy network was developed and optimized in MATLAB. The results indicate that the neuro-fuzzy network outperforms traditional methods and the MLP neural network. Combining this network with the Bee Colony Optimization algorithm led to the identification of an optimal loop that minimizes pipeline length and reduces static and thermal stresses. The optimized loop obtained from the Perceptron network increased the loop length by 20 cm (1.14%) and reduced the total sum of standard stresses by 14.6%. In contrast, the optimized loop from the neuro-fuzzy network reduced the loop length by 120 cm (6.78%) and decreased the total sum of standard stresses by 9.5%. These findings demonstrate that the application of artificial intelligence techniques in expansion loop design significantly reduces thermal stresses and enhances design efficiency

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