a. jamshidi

In the past few decades, air pollution, especially PM10 particulate matter, has been a significant concern affecting people's health and is clearly visible as the most important environmental problem and air pollutant in Ahvaz, Iran. On the other hand, remote sensing (RS) has been introduced as a suitable source for air pollution monitoring by researchers in the last decade. Therefore, the aim of the present study was to determine and investigate the relationship between aerosol optical depth (AOD) data from MODIS sensor at different hours and PM10 air pollution index in Ahvaz, Iran, in 2022.

The present cross-sectional study was conducted in 2022. Given the critical role and widespread distribution of dust particles, the present study examined the relationship between AOD data from the MODIS sensor and PM10 data from the Environmental Protection Agency station in Ahvaz, Iran, over the course of one year. To evaluate the correlation between these two parameters, hourly PM10 values at 12:00, 13:00, 14:00, and 15:00 were analyzed for different seasons. The results of the present analysis allowed the researchers to assess seasonal and temporal effects on the correlation between these parameters. The collected data were analyzed using SPSS software and the statistical correlation coefficient test.

The correlation results revealed a significant relationship between the datasets, indicating a strong association between AOD and PM10 in the specified region. The daily correlations at different hours—12:00, 13:00, 14:00, and 15:00—showed coefficients of 0.41, 0.75, 0.72, 0.78, and 0.86, respectively, with the highest correlation observed at 15:00. The concentration of PM10 particles in the air is influenced by dust events, which intensify during the hot season, with the highest correlations mostly observed in spring and summer. Additionally, the correlation coefficient reached its lowest point during the cold season (fall and winter).

the present study examined various time intervals, each showing different levels of correlation. Based on the obtained correlation coefficients, remote sensing data can be used as a reliable source for air pollution monitoring.

The weathering agents in the nature are diverse, which can lead to the deterioration of an ancient monument and even its decay and destruction. In the present study, the deterioration of the lime mortar used in the ancient Gashmar road located in Nourabad city (Lorestan province) has been evaluated against weathering factors caused by wet-dry and heat-cool cycles. To achieve this goal, wet-dry and heat-cool tests up to 50 cycles were applied on mortar samples. After every 10 cycles, the appearance (color and shape), physical (dry weight and porosity) and mechanical (point load index and P wave velocity) characteristics were determined. The results indicate that the mortar has undergone minor changes in its appearance as a result of wet-dry and heat-cool cycles. On the contrary, the data analysis showed that with the increase of cycles, the values of the physical and mechanical properties of the samples have changed more significantly. Based on the study of microscopic thin sections, the change in the physical and mechanical properties of the mortar has been closely related to the development and propagation of microcracks after the test cycles. The comparison of the results reveales that the weathering agents caused by wet-dry and heat-cool cycles had almost the same effect on the deterioration intensity of the mortar sample. P-wave velocity is a more suitable and accurate parameter to evaluate mortar deterioration compared to other physical, physical and mechanical properties, while the appearance properties cannot be a suitable parameter in this context. According to the results, it is suggested that the protective solution to prevent from the mortar deterioration used as masonry materials in the ancient Gashmar road located in Nourabad city should be selected and designed based on both wet-dry and heat-cool weathering agents.

Shahbazan Formation is one of the Eocene carbonate units of Lorestan region. In present study, dolomitization models this formation were investigated by petrographic and geochemical (EDS) methods. The section under study is 71 m in the thickness and located at 65 km southwest of Khorramabad including carbonate and dolomitic carbonate rocks, and dolomite. The dolomites based on the texture are categorized into dolomicrite, dolomicrosparite, dolosparite, and filling of fractures, which except dolomicrite, the others are secondary. Dolomites of first type represent the formation in the tidal zone environment. In most cases, these dolomites are seen at the end of upwardly shallowing sequences, which indicate a drop in sea level. The secondary dolomites were formed in a shallow to medium burial digenesis environment as a result of seepage of evaporated basin floor sediments into the carbonate platform of the Shahbazan Formation. Low amounts of Fe and high amounts of Sr and Na in dolomicrites, high concentration of Fe and Mn in dolomicrosparites and doloasparites along with evidences such as algal laminae, intraclasts, fenestral porosity and absence of evaporate minerals indicate the formation of this dolomite from the model of tidal, seepage and the following shallow to medium burial. Low values of Sr and high concentration of Fe and Mn in coarse crystal dolomites can indicate the increase in the size of dolomite crystals and their recrystallization during burial. The absence of saddle dolomites probably indicates the non-interference of hydrothermal solutions and fluids during the process of dolomitization of Shahbazan Formation carbonates.

Bromine-76 (half-life = 16.2 hours) is a positron emitter radionuclide which has a high potential for use in nuclear medicine; but due to the difficulty of producing commercial quantities, it is only used in laboratory studies. This radionuclide is usually produced through the reaction of 76Se(p,n)76Br. The purpose of this research is to investigate the possibility of 76Br commercial production by bombarding targets made of stable germanium isotopes with 7Li+ heavy ion. The excitation functions of 70Ge(7Li+,n)76Br, 72Ge(7Li+,3n)76Br, 73Ge(7Li+,4n)76Br, 74Ge(7Li+,5n)76Br and 76Ge(7Li+,7n)76Br reactions were drawn using the EMPIRE and LISEcute++ codes, and from the comparison of these excitation functions, the 72Ge(7Li+,3n)76Br in the energy range of 30 to 40MeV was selected as the premier reaction. The maximum theoretical production yield in the energy of 40MeV for these codes are 32.46MBq/µAh and 61.43MBq/µAh, respectively. The theoretical and experimental yields of the 76Se(p,n)76Br at energy of 16MeV are 506.61MBq/µAh and 88MBq/µAh, respectively. From the comparison of the theoretical production yield of 72Ge(7Li+,3n)76Br and 76Se(p,n)76Br reactions, it can be concluded that the 72Ge(7Li+,3n)76Br reaction is considered only when the target of 72Ge or a combination of that have long-term irradiation capability (without melting) and thus produce more 76Br activity in practice.

Medicinal plants are some of the most important sources of medicine in several countries. Urinary tract infection is one of the most common infections and blood infection is an important cause of death worldwide. Antibiotic resistance has increased as a fundamentally global problem that needs appropriate alternatives. Fumaria parviflora Lam, Myrtus communis L., Matricaria recutita L. and Nigella sativa L. are some of the most important plants in traditional medicine.

First, plants were powdered using electric grinder and then the hydroalcoholic extract was prepared using maceration method. After dispersing alcohol, this was lyophilized and three concentrations of 64, 160, and 220 mg/ml were prepared. Antimicrobial effects were assessed using disk diffusion method and antioxidants were investigated using DPPH method.

The highest percentage of inhibition for the Myrtus was against Escherichia coli bacteria (86%) and Pseudomonas aeruginosa (100%) compared to gentamicin and 100% resistance was observed for Staphylococcus aureus compared to erythromycin. Nigella sativa included the highest antioxidant effect (nearly 60%) and Myrtus with 43% had the lowest antioxidant effect. Using Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, it was detected that the most effective substances in Myrtus, Nigella sativa, Fumaria parviflora and Matricaria respectively were benzotriol (30.97%), octadecadienoic acid (44.35%), pyran (13.26%) and benzopyran (50.24%).

Myrtus plant includes the most antimicrobial effects and Nigella sativa includes the most antioxidant effects.

So far, many ways have been provided to solve multiple criteria decision making problems with interval numbers. Most of these methods rank the alternatives according to two criteria, that is, being close to the positive ideal solution and far away from the negative ideal solution. In this paper, a method is presented for solving multiple criteria decision making problems with interval numbers, such that being close to positive ideal solution and being away from negative ideal solution have the same effect in alternatives ranking. In the proposed method, the first positive ideal solution and negative ideal solution are determined as interval numbers and distance of each alternative from positive ideal solution and negative ideal solution is calculated by extension of Euclidean distance. Then, a compromise index is defined to rank the alternatives. Three numerical examples are given to compare the proposed method with other methods presented in the literature.

Air pollution is one of the most important health risk factors in the world and one of the major causes of death and disability in the world. According to the report of the World Health Organization in 2012, about 3.7 million people in the world die due to air pollution. The purpose of the present study was to determine and investigate the health effects of air pollution in Yasuj city in 2015 using the AirQ+ model.

In the present descriptive-analytical study conducted in 2019, the hourly concentrations of particulate pollutants with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns, ozone and nitrogen dioxide in the monitoring station of Yasuj, Iran, from the environmental organization and related pressure and temperature information was obtained from the meteorological organization of the province in 2015. Validation of air quality data was done according to APHEKOM and WHO methodology, and the average specific to each pollutant was calculated and the final data file was entered into the model after processing. Finally, the city-specific annual population, the population at risk and the base incidence for each health outcome were prepared and entered into the model. At the end, the results were displayed in the form of mortality tables by the model. Collected data were analyzed using Kolmogorov Smirnov, Post hoc and Kruskal Wallis statistical tests.

The average concentration of pollutants with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns, nitrogen dioxide and ozone were 21.68±13.91, 25.41±26.88, 25.41±6.92 and 25.69±6.92 micrograms/square meter, respectively. It was micrograms per square meter. The value of SOM weight 5 was also 17.83. Regarding the long-term effects in 2015, the attributed component and the number of attributed cases of natural deaths caused by nitrogen dioxide from pollutants with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns were less, which accounted for 6.01 and 6.79% of deaths, respectively. The total number of deaths caused by pollutants with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns and nitrogen dioxide were 23 and 20, respectively. Ozone had no effect on respiratory mortality (zero cases). In the case of natural mortality, the highest and lowest attributed components were observed in pollutants with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns and ozone, respectively.

Contrary to the insignificant effect of ozone pollutant and the non-attribution of deaths to this pollutant, for other pollutants such as pollutants with a diameter of less than 2.5 microns and nitrogen dioxide, effects on the number of deaths were observed, and these effects may impose direct and indirect costs on the city.

Diarrheal strains of Escherichia coli (DEC) are common pathogens that cause acute intestinal diseases in humans through the consumption of contaminated food. The present study was conducted on 240 samples including strudel, pizza, sandwiches, and salad. E. coli was isolated by conventional culture tests and confirmed by PCR (using uidA gene). Out of 240 samples, 123 isolates (51.25%) were found positive as E. coli. Amongst 103 isolates (42.9%) contained no pathogenic genes. 11 isolates (4.6%) were identified as EPEC, 5 isolates (2%) as EHEC, 2 isolates (0.8%) as EAEC. ETEC and EIEC were not detected in any of the samples. Due to the contamination of ready-to-eat food samples with intestinal pathogenic pathotypes, continuous monitoring of the field of ready-to-eat food is suggested.

Loose soils (CL-ML silty clays) are one of the most important problematic soils that have caused various geological hazards in the world, especially in Iran. Therefore, in order to reduce the geological hazards of such soils, it is necessary to make changes in their geotechnical properties. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effect of nano-illite on the geotechnical properties of loess soil including Atterberg limits and compressibility. For this purpose, a loose soil sample was prepared from Gonbad Kavous city of Golestan province and geotechnical tests including Atterberg limits and compaction were performed on it. Tests were performed on soil samples with percentages of 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 8 nano-ilite. The results show that in the Atterberg limits test, the plastic limit is from 19% (without nano-illite) to 36% (in 8% nano-illite) and the liquid limit is from 26% (without nano-illite) to 40% (with 8% nano-illite) have increased. Also, in the compaction test, the maximum dry unit weight increased from 1.97 g /cm3 (without nano-illite) to 1.99 g /cm3 (in 2% nano-illite) and then decrease to 1.96 g /cm3 (in 4% nano-illite), while the optimum moisture has continuously increased from 12 to 12.9% in 0 to 4% nano-illite, respectively.

Worldwide, Iran is the first producer of pistachio, which is one of the most economically important agricultural products for this country. Idiocerus stali Fieber (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) is one of the most important pests of this plant. Adults and nymphs pest feed on leaf tissues and fruit clusters, and they cause damage by sucking the sap. This pest has one generation per year. In this research, population fluctuations of the pistachio leafhopper associated to the temperature and humidity changes and its spatial distribution, using both statistical and geostatistical methods were studied in 2018-2019. The spatial distribution of all life stages in both years was cumulative according to Iwao model, whereas considering Taylorchr('39')s power law model it was cumulative in 2018 and random in 2019. Considering coefficientschr('39') values, both models of Taylorchr('39')s power law (R2= 0.93) and Iwao model (R2= 0.92) are appropriate for estimating the type of spatial distribution for this pest, however, Taylor model showed a better data fitting. Concerning geostatistics models, Kriging interpolation method was more accurate than Inverse Distance Weighting (IDW) and it was used to produce pest distribution maps. The movement process of adults, nymphs, and the sites of laying areas per week was precisely determined. Hence, contamination foci can be identified and used to apply appropriate management methods at the right time at a low cost.

Nosud water transfer tunnel with a length of 45 km has been constructed to guide and transfer water in the northwest of Kermanshah. The tunnel passes through several anticlines and synclines and as soon as its axis enters the Garo and Gurpi formations, gases with a volume of more than 400 ppm are drained into the tunnel, which is mainly related to the Azgleh and Kurdish Qasman anticlines. In the Zagros Basin, the Garou and Gurpi Formations are known as high potential oil source rocks. In the study area, despite the predominant type III kerogen, which is mainly of dry origin, a large volume of gases, mainly methane and carbon dioxide, are found. Due to the expansion of Garo and Gurpi formations in the region, gas-prone zones in the tunnel axis are divided into four parts A, B, C, D, which is the largest volume of gas produced in the Kurdish anticline of Qasman and is related to zone D. The gases produced from these areas along with a large volume of water are led into the tunnel through tectonic fractures, which are mainly joints and faults, among which faults play a very important role in the Kurdish anticline of Qasman and the anticline of the herd.

School health, especially in primary schools, is important in that children spend an important period of their lives in school. The favorable school environment facilitates the academic performance of students. The aim of this study was to investigate the environmental health and safety status of primary schools in Gachsaran in 2017.

The present descriptive-analytical study was conducted in the 2018-2017 academic year. Schools were surveyed by census, in which out of 42 schools, 37 primary schools in Gachsaran were willing to cooperate. The data collection tool (checklist) was the evaluation form of environmental health and safety regulations of the schools, the collected data were extracted from the checklists. These data were then analyzed using chi-square test and 95% confidence level.

According to the results of the present study, only 3 schools (8.1%) were newly built (less than 15 years old). In terms of the proportion of Faucet to students, there was one drinking water for every 45 people in 18 schools (48.6%). Desks in twenty-six schools (70.3%) were in good condition. Thirty schools (81.1%) were not close to environmental and noise pollution sources, factories and cemeteries. Classrooms in seventeen schools (45.9%) did not have proper ventilation and cooling systems. a significant relationship was seen between public and private schools with cooling and ventilation systems (P=0.04).

Based on the present results, the environmental health and safety status of primary schools in Gachsaran was not assessed as appropriate. These schools faced with shortcomings related to the building (such as being old or unsuitable location of the school building and the mismatch between the school area and the number of students), drinking fountains, toilets, benches, green space and ventilation and cooling system. These deficiencies require more attention from the authorities to improve the current situation.

Pistachio is one of the most important and economical agricultural products of Iran from the standpoint of exportation. Iran is the first largest producer of pistachio in the world. Due to expansion of pistachio orchards in Kermanshah province, this research was done in 2017, 2018 and 2019 to identify the pests of these trees. Different sampling methods such as direct collection, rearing in laboratory, sweep in net, white tray, light trap, aspirators were used to collect insects. Finally, 13 species of insect pests including Sulamicerus stali Fieber, Agonoscena pistaciae Burckhardt and Lauterer, Forda hirsuta Mordvilko, Anapulvinaria pistaciae Bodenheimer, Lepidosaphes pistaciae Archangelskaya, Acrosternum heegeri Fieber, Polydrosus davatchii Hoffman, Anthaxia judinae Stepanov, Carphoborus perrisi Chapuis, Recurvaria pistaciicola Danilewski, Eurytoma plontnikovi Nikolskaya were reported on pistachio trees in pistachio orchards. Labidostomis luristanica Warchalowski (Col .: Chrysomelidae) was first report from Kermanshah province and Thrips minutissimus Linnaeus (Thy .: Thripidae) is reported for the first time on pistachio trees.

This study was conducted to investigate the heavy metal contamination and their origin in eastern Azna city in Lorestan province. For this purpose, heavy metals of surface soil samples 113 (5-15 m) were analyzed in the eastern Azna city by AAS flame atomic absorption spectrometry. Origin indices and degree of contamination including enrichment factor (Ef) and its percentage, Geoaccumulation Index (Igeo), contamination factor (Cf) were calculated to evaluate soil contamination. Based on the results, the mean concentrations of heavy metals including Zn, Y, V, Sn, Sr, Sc, Pb, Ni, Cu, Cr, Cd, B, Br were 86.9, 51, 161, 14.5, 160, 26, 32.6, 65.4, 34, 22.9, 0.7, 102, 393 mg/kg, respectively, which Br has the highest and Cd the least. Maximum and minimum enrichment factors are also Cd and Br, respectively. The results showed that the studied area is not heavily contaminated with heavy metals but the concentration of some metals is very high in some places and in the case of a natural source of contamination (rock and soil), these sites can be used as potential mining and resource sources.

In this study, we propose a method to determine the weight of decision makers (DMs) in group multiple criteria decision making (GMCDM) problems with interval data .Here, we obtain an interval weight for each DM and the relative closeness of each decision from the negative ideal solution (NIS) and the positive ideal solution (PIS) is then computed. In the proposed method, after weighting the decision matrix of each DM, the alternatives are ranked using interval arithmetic. A comparative example together with a real world problem on air quality assessment is given to illustrate our method. Our findings show that the proposed approach is a suitable tool to solve GMCDM problems.

Heavy metals can easily contaminate the aquatic environment, especially shrimp. Considering the high nutritional value of shrimp and the importance of assessing its wholesomeness, this study aimed to determine the amount of some heavy metals (zinc, lead, arsenic, cadmium, nickel, copper, chromium, mercury, manganese, and titanium) and Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon in shrimp samples in Tehran, during winter of 2017. A total of 120 samples of shrimp packaged from 10 equal weight packages with similar production date and size which packed by 5 different companies randomly sampled. To determine the amount of heavy metal concentration, Atomic absorption spectrophotometry and to determine polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon gas chromatography were used. All of the heavy metals measured in this experiment were found below the standard specified by the World Health Organization. The highest mean concentrations of heavy metals were related to zinc (6193.4 ppb), copper (1597 ppb), and arsenic (496 ppb), respectively, and the lowest mean concentrations were related to cadmium (4.8 ppb). Naphthalene (1.2ppb), acenphetylene (0.14 ppb), chrysene (7.6 ppb), and acenaphthene (5.32ppb) were present in the samples of collected shrimp, the values of which were determined higher than standard except for acenphetylene. Additionally, there was no significant difference between heavy metals and PAHs in cultivated and marine samples. In general, the consumption of these shrimps is not dangerous for humans in terms of heavy metals. However, due to the possibility of transmitting PAHs through the human food chain, contamination with PAHs can be considered as a warning for excessive consumption of shrimp.

Considering the diverse climatic conditions of Iran with a varying from hot and dry and also coastal areas it can be seen that salt weathering is one of the most important agents affecting on the durability of stones used as wall cladding of the building. As a result it is necessary that durability of stones be assessed and the most resistance and appropriate those be selected for use as wall cladding of the buildings. In this research, durability of six samples of travertines from Azarshahr and Mahallat areas against salt weathering were investigated. For this purpose, salt weathering test at sulfate sodium (Na2SO4) up to 60 cycles was carried out and, after every 5 cycles, changes in the samples appearance (color, efflorescence, chemical and physical decay), mechanical properties (point load strength, Brazilian tensile strength and P-wave velocity) and Dry Weight Loss of samples were monitoring and measured. The results indicated that changes in samples appearance including the color, efflorescence, chemical and physical decay due to criteria of measure those is qualitative, can not to be appropriate for assessment of samples durability against salt weathering. Moreover, results show in among parameters that criteria of measure those is quantitative, Brazilian tensile strength and P-wave velocity are more reliable in compare with point load strength and Dry Weight Loss for assessment of samples durability. Also, macroscopic monitoring of samples appearance against salt weathering show that petrological properties have major role in chemical and physical decay and therefore their durability.

Listeriosis is acknowledged as a major foodborne disease throughout the world caused by Listeria monocytogenes. Different factors can affect the growth of food borne microbial pathogens. The aim of this study was to investigate the combined effects of different concentrations of Bunium persicum essential oil (EO) (0%, 0.08%, 0.16%, 0.24%), three incubation temperatures (35ºC, 25ºC, 4ºC), three levels of pH (5, 6, 7) and two inoculum sizes (103 and 105 cfu ml-1) on the growth of Listeria monocytogenes inbrain heart infusion (BHI) broth. To evaluate effects of explanatory variable on time to detection (TTD) of bacterial growth, parametric survival models based on the log normal distribution were used. All explanatory variables had significant association with TTD (P<0.05). The final model accurately predicted the growth initiation and inhibition of L. monocytogenes.

Uniaxial compressive strength (UCS) and elastic properties of rocks play a major and vital role for the design of any engineering structure. The specimen diameter size is one of the main factors that influencing on UCS، elasticity modulus and Poisson’s ratio (E and υ). Here، an attempt has been made to investigate the effect of specimen diameter size on UCS، E and υ. Moreover، we studied the correlation between E and υ with UCS together with the effect of specimen diameter size on them. For this purpose، 9 different travertine samples were selected and core specimens with a diameters size of 38، 44، 54، 64 and 74 mm were prepared. Then، UCS، E and υ of samples in different diameter were determined. The test results were statistically analyzed using the method of least squares regression between the different specimen diameters with UCS، E and υ. The data analysis results showed that specimen diameter size significantly affects on UCS، E and υ. Moreover، it was found that the best correlation between E and UCS was for the specimen diameter of 38 mm، whereas there is not meaningful correlation between υ and UCS.

To test the hypothesis that an n-3 fatty acids (n-3) plus vitamin E supplementation is more effective than n-3 supplementation alone in improving the clinical, laboratory and inflammatory indices in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

A total of 55 RA patients (50 female, 5 male mean age = 47 + 11y), in 3 groups, were included a double-blind randomized clinical trial. The groups were assigned to treatments as follows: group 1 (G1), placebo (2 g/d MCT oil + vitamin E placebo) group 2 (G2), n-3 fatty acids (1/2 g/d EPA/DHA) +vitamin E placebo group 3 (G3), n-3 fatty acids (1/2 g/d EPA/DHA) + vitamin E (100 IU/d). Clinical, inflammatory, and laboratory indicators were determined at the baseline and at the end of the 6the and 12th weeks. Intra- and inter-group comparisons of the values obtained were made using repeated measure-ANOVA and ANOVA, respectively (p<0.05).

In G2 and G3, improvements in clinical, biochemical, inflammation, and oxidative indicators, as well as in the score of health status assessment (by interview) were more pronounced than in G1 (P<0.01). Also, compared to G1, at the end of week 12 there were higher improvements in morning stiffness and the score of health status assessment in G2 and G3 groups (P<0.05).

Combination of n-3 fatty acids with vitamin E improved most of the clinical and laboratory indices in RA patients. However, there were no significant differences between G2 and G3 other than decreased oxidation and ESR.