Classroom furniture and anthropometric characteristics of Iranian high school students: Proposed dimensions based on anthropometric data

The study evaluated the potential mismatch between classroom furniture dimensions and anthropometric characteristics of 978 Iranian high school students (498 girls, 480 boys), aged 15-18 years. Nine anthropometric measurements (stature, sitting height, sitting shoulder height, popliteal height, hip breadth, elbow-seat height, buttock-popliteal length, buttock-knee length and thigh clearance) and five dimensions from the existing classroom furniture were measured and then compared together (using match criterion equations) to identify any potential mismatch between them. The results indicated a considerable mismatch between body dimensions of the students and the existing classroom furniture, with seat height (60.9%), seat width (54.7%) and desktop height (51.7%) being the furniture dimensions with a higher level of mismatch. The levels of mismatch varied between the high-school grade levels and between genders, indicating their special requirements and possible problems. The proposed dimensions of the classroom furniture more appropriate for the students were given. This additional information on students' anthropometry can be used by local furniture industries as a starting point for designing more appropriate furniture for school children, or used by schools to aid in furniture selection.     

Ethanol production by Mucor indicus and Rhizopus oryzae from rice straw by separate hydrolysis and fermentation

Rice straw was successfully converted to ethanol by separate enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation by Mucor indicus, Rhizopus oryzae, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. The hydrolysis temperature and pH of commercial cellulase and β-glucosidase enzymes were first investigated and their best performance obtained at 45 °C and pH 5.0. The pretreatment of the straw with dilute-acid hydrolysis resulted in 0.72 g g^?1 sugar yield during 48 h enzymatic hydrolysis, which was higher than steam-pretreated (0.60 g g^?1) and untreated straw (0.46 g g^?1). Furthermore, increasing the concentration of the dilute-acid pretreated straw from 20 to 50 and 100 g L^?1 resulted in 13% and 16% lower sugar yield, respectively. Anaerobic cultivation of the hydrolyzates with M. indicus resulted in 0.36–0.43 g g^?1 ethanol, 0.11–0.17 g g^?1 biomass, and 0.04–0.06 g g^?1 glycerol, which is comparable with the corresponding yields by S. cerevisiae (0.37–0.45 g g^?1 ethanol, 0.04–0.10 g g^?1 biomass and 0.05–0.07 glycerol). These two fungi produced no other major metabolite from the straw and completed the cultivation in less than 25 h. However, R. oryzae produced lactic acid as the major by-product with yield of 0.05–0.09 g g^?1. This fungus had ethanol, biomass and glycerol yields of 0.33–0.41, 0.06–0.12, and 0.03–0.04 g g^?1, respectively.     

Effects of bovine serum albumin on the corrosion behaviour of AISI 316L, Co–28Cr–6Mo, and Ti–6Al–4V alloys in phosphate buffered saline solutions

The corrosion behaviour of AISI 316L, wrought Co–28Cr–6Mo and Ti–6Al–4V was studied in aerated solutions of phosphate buffered saline (PBS) at various concentrations of bovine serum albumin (BSA) at 37 °C. Open circuit potential, potentiodynamic polarization, linear polarization resistance (LPR) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) experiments along with X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) on Co–28Cr–6Mo oxide layer were conducted to study the interaction of BSA and passive layers and to measure the corrosion rates. Ti–6Al–4V alloy had the lowest corrosion rate and the highest breakdown potential. It was shown that BSA has enhanced the alloy passive film stability at higher concentrations.     

Dynamic finite element simulation of the gunshot injury to the human forehead protected by polyvinyl alcohol sponge

Although there are some traditional models of the gunshot wounds, there is still a need for more modeling analyses due to the difficulties related to the gunshot wounds to the forehead region of the human skull. In this study, the degree of damage as a consequence of penetrating head injuries due to gunshot wounds was determined using a preliminary finite element (FE) model of the human skull. In addition, the role of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) sponge, which can be used as an alternative to reinforce the kinetic energy absorption capacity of bulletproof vest and helmet materials, to minimize the amount of skull injury due to penetrating processes was investigated through the FE model. Digital computed tomography along with magnetic resonance imaging data of the human head were employed to launch a three-dimensional (3D) FE model of the skull. Two geometrical shapes of projectiles (steel ball and bullet) were simulated for penetrating with an initial impact velocity of 734 m/s using nonlinear dynamic modeling code, namely LS-DYNA. The role of the damaged/distorted elements were removed during computation when the stress or strain reached their thresholds. The stress distributions in various parts of the forehead and sponge after injury were also computed. The results revealed the same amount of stress for both the steel ball and bullet after hitting the skull. The modeling results also indicated the time that steel ball takes to penetrate into the skull is lower than that of the bullet. In addition, more than 21 % of the steel ball’s kinetic energy was absorbed by the PVA sponge and, subsequently, injury sternness of the forehead was considerably minimized. The findings advise the application of the PVA sponge as a substitute strengthening material to be able to diminish the energy of impact as well as the load transmitted to the object.     

Investigation of chitosan‐g‐PEG grafted nanoparticles as a half‐life enhancer carrier for tissue plasminogen activator delivery

Tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) a thrombolytic agent is commonly used for digesting the blood clot. tPA half‐life is low (4–6 min) and its administration needs a prolonged continuous infusion. Improving tPA half‐life could reduce enzyme dosage and enhance patient compliance. Nano‐carries could be used as delivery systems for the protection of enzymes physically, enhancing half‐life and increasing the stability of them. In this study, chitosan (CS) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) were used for the preparation of CS‐g‐PEG/tPA nanoparticles (NPs) via the ion gelation method. Particles’ size and loading capacity were optimised by central composite design. Then, NPs cytotoxicity, release profile, enzyme activity and in vivo half‐life and coagulation time were investigated. The results showed that NPs does not have significant cytotoxicity. Release study revealed that a burst effect happened in the first 5 min and resulted in releasing 30% of tPA. Loading tPA in NPs could decrease 25% of its activity but the half‐life of it increases in comparison to free tPA in vivo. Also, blood coagulation time has significantly affected (p ‐value = 0.041) by encapsulated tPA in comparison to free tPA. So, CS‐g‐PEG/tPA could increase enzyme half‐life during the time and could be used as a non‐toxic candidate delivery system for tPA.Inspec keywords: drug delivery systems, nanofabrication, drugs, nanomedicine, coagulation, biomedical materials, cellular biophysics, enzymes, biochemistry, toxicology, molecular biophysics, biological tissues, blood, nanoparticles, polymersOther keywords: chitosan‐g‐PEG grafted nanoparticles, half‐life enhancer carrier, tissue plasminogen activator delivery, tPA half‐life, prolonged continuous infusion, enzyme dosage, polyethylene glycol, cytotoxicity, enzyme activity, encapsulated tPA, enzyme half‐life, blood coagulation, time 5.0 min     

Classes of Discrete Decreasing and Increasing Mean-Residual-Life Distributions

Discrete failure-time distributions can be appropriate to model lifetimes. This paper represents two well-known non-parametric families of discrete distributions: decreasing and increasing mean-residual-life. It provides two parametric families of discrete distributions which are suitable for fitting decreasing and increasing mean-residual-life models to discrete life-test data.     

Investigation of the indentation size effect through the measurement of the geometrically necessary dislocations beneath small indents of different depths using EBSD tomography

We study the link between the indentation size effect and the density of geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) through the following approach: four indents of different depth and hardness were placed in a Cu single crystal using a conical indenter with a spherical tip. The deformation-induced lattice rotations below the indents were monitored via a three-dimensional electron backscattering diffraction method with a step size of 50 nm. From these data we calculated the first-order gradients of strain and the GND densities below the indents. This approach allowed us to quantify both the mechanical parameters (depth, hardness) and the lattice defects (GNDs) that are believed to be responsible for the indentation size effect. We find that the GND density does not increase with decreasing indentation depth but rather drops instead. More precisely, while the hardness increases from 2.08 GPa for the largest indent (1230 nm depth) to 2.45 GPa for the smallest one (460 nm depth) the GND density decreases from ≈2.34 × 10¹⁵ m^?2 (largest indent) to ≈1.85 × 10¹⁵ m^?2 (smallest indent).     

Putative mechanism for anticancer properties of Ag–PP (NPs) extract

One of the most important challenges in treating cancer is the invasion and the angiogenesis of cancer cells. The synthesis of green nanoparticles (NPs) and their use in therapeutic fields is one of the most effective methods with minimal side effects in cancer treatment. In this study, cytotoxic and anti‐angiogenic effects of silver NPs (AgNPs) coated with palm pollen extract [Ag–PP(NPs)] were evaluated. For this purpose, the cells were treated with NPs and then were subjected to trypan blue testing (48 h). Then, the cancer invasion was evaluated by the scratch procedure and the expressions of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor (VEGF‐R) genes were estimated using real‐time PCR assay. Also, the angiogenesis effect of the NPs was investigated with chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) assay. The Ag–PP(NPs) induced cytotoxicity on MCF7 cells. The findings also showed that Ag–PP(NPs) inhibit invasive cancer cells and reduce the expression of VEGF and VEGF‐R and significantly reduced the number and vessels lengths and the lengths and weights of the embryos in CAM assay. Ag–PP(NPs) with the induction of cytotoxic effects, metastatic inhibition and anti‐angiogenesis properties should be considered as an appropriate option for treatment of cancerInspec keywords: nanomedicine, genetics, cellular biophysics, toxicology, patient treatment, silver, cancer, biochemistry, biomedical materials, nanoparticles, nanofabrication, membranesOther keywords: minimal side effects, cancer treatment, silver NPs, cancer invasion, vascular endothelial growth factor, receptor genes, VEGF‐R, real‐time polymerase chain reaction assay, angiogenesis effect, chick chorioallantoic membrane assay, MCF7 cells, invasive cancer cells, cytotoxic effects, putative mechanism, anticancer properties, antiangiogenic effects, antiangiogenesis properties, Ag–PP‐induced cytotoxicity, metastatic inhibition, palm pollen extraction, trypan blue testing, time 48.0 hour, Ag     

家庭住宅 法国拉马蒂埃尔

正几个世纪以来,不同的地理环境一直都采用这类封闭的庭院形式——每一次都根据当地气候、风俗习惯和建筑实践进行改造。作为一种在建筑物内捕捉户外景观的手段,庭院由建筑内部结构决定。流畅的庭院不但提供内外部隐私保护,而且也不断地向外延伸,积极融入周边景观。该住宅遵守严格的分区指导方针,同时通过在屋顶上扩建自然植物区系与景观融合。坐落在橄榄树林、松树和葡萄园内,该住宅充分利用坡地,从而获得可持续的拓展和种植     

Optimization of Ozonation Process for a Composting Leachate-Contaminated Soils Treatment Using Response Surface Method

The ozonation process has become one of the most favorable processes among soil remediation technologies nowadays. Ozone, which has an oxidation potential of 2.07 V and acts as a powerful oxidizer, is capable of degrading organic pollutants of soil in a short period of time without producing any toxic residuals. In this study the capability of ozone, as an ex-situ method of soil treatment, in remediating the leachate-contaminated soil has been investigated. To maximize the removal efficiency of organic content of soil, design of experiments using the response surface method (RSM) and central composite design (CCD) have been employed. To select the range of effective parameters several experiments were performed at laboratory scale. Results showed a range of effective parameters on the ozonation process, including pH, humidity, and initial soil pollution. Present research shows that acid-washed ozone greatly enhanced the removal efficiency. According to the developed model, the maximum removal efficiency using acid-washed ozone was obtained by setting the parameters as pH = 10.8, humidity of 5% and initial organic content of soil to be 7720 mg/kg. Confirmation experiments showed that RSM could be effectively utilized for the optimization of the ozonation process. Analysis of variance also showed that pH was the most significant factor affecting removal efficiency.