hossein ghahremani

The extensive and detailed network of oil and gas transmission lines in the National Oil Company passes through overpasses and underpasses in various places. The 33 km oil pipeline from Mansouri oil field to Booster Ahvaz, will bring many personal and environmental risks from residential areas. In order to assess the risk of constructing this pipeline, the amount of oil release in three different types of small, medium and large leaks was evaluated hydraulically and dynamically by OLGA software. Among the 6 analyzed scenarios, in the case of complete pipeline rupture about 220 tons of oil will be released in the environment within 5 minutes, which will cause many individual, and environmental risks. At the next step, the consequences of leaking this amount of oil were evaluated with PHAST software. Based on the results, the maximum safe space related to individual risk has been created in the vicinity of Masharahat village, where the individual risk area of the ALARP is 760 meters away and near the village of Abu Bakriyeh 730 meters from the center of the oil pipeline, and practically a part of the mentioned villages is in Within the ALARP zone, individual risk is placed. By installing line break valves in the middle and end of the pipeline, trying to reduce the corrosion rate of the pipeline, trying to reduce human errors in incorrect operation of the line will reduce the risk of using the pipeline, especially in places where the line is located near the mentioned villages.

Urea (NH2CONH2) is very important for the agriculture industry as a nitrogen-rich fertilizer. Urea synthesizes from ammonia (NH3) and carbon dioxide (CO2) at 170 - 180˚C and 143 kg/cm3. This study aims to reduce the amount of urea dust from the flue gas emitted from the Urea Prilling Tower of Khorasan Petrochemical Company. Since the conversion process of molten urea to urea seeds produce much dust, a large amount of environmental pollution caused by this industry can be prevented by examining various factors in dust production in this plant. Thus, the project was divided and implemented into six general phases (Six Sigma project), including problem definition and study phase, measurement and estimation of time and cost required, preliminary analysis, design, and implementation (DMAIC methodology). After implementing the plan, a significant reduction in urea emissions was observed, about 38%. Therefore, the results show that Six Sigma is a useful tool that can accurately predict the removal of urea dust from flue gases.

Today, the role of probiotics has been confirmed as beneficial microorganisms that play a role in improving health, preventing, and controlling host clinical disorders. According to the World Health Organization, if probiotics are prescribed to the host in sufficient and appropriate amounts, they can be very beneficial for health. In order to transfer the effects of probiotics to the consumer, it is necessary for probiotic microorganisms to be metabolically stable, active in food products, and able to survive in most parts of the digestive tract while also providing their beneficial effects in the host intestine. One major issue in this field is the ability of probiotic cells to survive physical and chemical attacks during their journey through the digestive system to the intestine. Recent advances have focused on improving micro-scale encapsulation techniques in order to achieve high cell viability, resistance to stomach acid, temperature resistance, and longer shelf life. However, these microencapsulation approaches still face limitations and challenges in terms of clinical translation. This present study offers a brief overview of the current progress of various probiotic encapsulation methods, with a particular emphasis on modern and emerging single cell encapsulation strategies that use nanocoatings for individual probiotic cells. Furthermore, the advantages of different nanoencapsulation methods are discussed, and future developments in coated probiotics with advanced properties and health benefits are anticipated.

Prion diseases in livestock can be a potential danger for humans as well. The Makuei sheep breed is one of the most important sources of protein in Iran. In this study, the polymorphism status of codons 136 and 171 of prion protein and their genotypes was investigated in Makuei ecotype sheep. Blood samples were obtained from 60 Makuei sheep and DNA was extracted. The codon 136 (A-V) and codon 171 (H-Q-R) polymorphisms were evaluated by PCR with specific primers. The results showed that allele A (65%) at codon 136 was significantly higher than allele V (35%). AA genotype (46.67%) was also the most common genotype. At codon 171, the Q and R alleles were significantly higher than the H allele. In addition, the allele R was significantly lower than the allele Q. Allele Q (58.33%) and QQ genotypes (40%) were the most common alleles and genotypes. In conclusion, the findings provide strong preliminary lines of evidence that motive large-scale genotyping studies to establish an effective breeding control and successful eradication of scrapie-susceptible genotypes.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the main cause of the neurodegenerative disorder, which is not detected unless the cognitive deficits are manifested. An early prediagnostic specific biomarker preferably detectable in plasma and hence non-invasive is highly sought-after. Various hypotheses refer to AD, with amyloid-beta (Aβ) being the most studied hypothesis and inflammation being the most recent theory wherein pro-and anti-inflammatory cytokines are the main culprits.

In this study, the cognitive performance of AD patients (n=39) was assessed using mini-mental state examination (MMSE), AD assessment scale-cognitive subscale (ADAS-cog), and clinical dementia rating (CDR). Their neuropsychiatric symptoms were evaluated through neuropsychiatric inventory–questionnaire (NPI-Q). Moreover, plasma levels of routine biochemical markers, pro-/anti-inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α), interleukin-1 α (IL-1α), IL-1β, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12p70, IL-10, Interferon-gamma, chemokines, including prostaglandin E2 (PGE-2), monocyte chemoattractant protein-1, interferon gamma-induced protein 10, Aβ peptide species (42, 40) and Transthyretin (TTR) were measured.

Our results revealed that Aβ 42/40 ratio and TTR were correlated (r=0.367, P=0.037). IL-1α was directly correlated with ADAS-cog (r=0.386, P=0.017) and Aβ 40 (r=0.379, P=0.019), but was inversely correlated with IL-4 (r=-0.406, P=0.011). Negative correlations were found between MMSE and PGE2 (r=-0.405, P=0.012) and TNF-α/ IL-10 ratio (r=-0.35, P=0.037). CDR was positively correlated with both PGE2 (r=0.358, P=0.027) and TNF-α (r=0.416, P=0.013). There was a positive correlation between NPI-caregiver distress with CDR (r=0.363, P=0.045) and ADAS-cog (r=0.449, P=0.019).

Based on the observed correlation between IL-1α, as a clinical moiety, and ADAS-cog, as a clinical manifestation of AD, anti-IL-1α therapy in AD could be suggested.

Alteration of metabolic pathways in cancer cells can intensely modulate their migration as an important step in invasion and metastasis. Ketogenic diet showed some contradictory results in cancer patients. In this study the impact of metabolic reprogramming of A2780CP as a model of ovarian cancer stem-like cells on cell migration by two in vitro

wound healing and soft agar colony-forming assays.

short term and long term metabolic reprogramming were done by restriction of glucose to 250mg/L with or without enrichment with beta-hydroxybutyrate (5 milimolar) for 48 hours and 30 days, respectively. Wound healing assay was done and the wound ratio was calculated for 24 and 48 hours. Soft agar colony formation assay was also done in treated and control cells. For method comparison, ten biological replicates were analyzed in triplicate.

Migration of A2780CP ovarian cancer stem-like cells were significantly alleviated by long term glucose restriction but no significant changes were observed in short term study. Beta-hydroxybutyrate enrichment did not produce significant impacts on glucose restriction in short or long term studies.

The results of colony formation in soft agar and wound or scratch healing assay were in good correlation and convergence which could be used interchangeably in the investigation of metabolic reprogramming in cancer cells.

The objective of the present study was to investigate the effect of concentration of osmotic solution (30, 45 and 60%, w/w), temperature osmotic solution (30, 40 and 50°C), immersion time (4, 5 and 6 h) on water loss (WL), solids gain (SG), weight reduction (WR), vitamin C content, shrinkage, rehydration ratio (RR), and color indexes (L, a, b) during osmotic dehydration-drying of turnip slices. Response surface methodology (RSM) was also used to find out the optimum condition. The results showed that during osmotic dehydration of turnip samples, the variables of temperature of osmotic solution, solution concentration and time of immersion had significant effects on mass transfer parameters (WL, SG, and WR), vitamin C content, shrinkage, RR, and color index (L). Optimal conditions of osmotic dehydration for turnip were found to be: solution temperature of 45 °C, osmotic solution concentration of 58.29, and immersion time of 20 min. Under these conditions, the amounts of WL, SG, WR, shrinkage, rehydration ratio (RR), vitamin C content, and color indexes (L, a, b) were 83.10, 12.91 and 70.19%, 27.76, 4.19 and 11.64 (mg/100 g solids), 33.85, 25.49 and 15.91, respectively. The results of this study can be used in the minimal processing of turnips slices using osmotic dehydration and subsequent drying of samples.

Alkylhydroperoxide reductase (AhpC, the 26 kDa antigen) is one of the abundant antioxidant enzymes in Helicobacter pylori and seems to have a good potential for use in development of immunoassays to detect H. pylori infection in clinical specimens. This study aimed to investigate some properties of this antigen by the produced monoclonal antibodies.Five established hybridoma cell lines secreting monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) against 26 kDa antigen of H. pylori were cultivated and MAbs were purified by affinity chromatography. Subsequently, MAbs were conjugated with biotin, and different combinations of capture and tracer antibodies used in sandwich ELISA. Immunoblotting of bacterial extracts were performed to estimate aggregation status of the antigen. Release of antigen from the cultivated bacteria on solid media was examined by sandwich ELISA, and also, existence of interference in fecal extract was investigated by immunoblotting and sandwich ELISA.Our findings showed that the MAbs against 26 kDa antigen of H. pylori could recognize three bands of nearly 25 kDa, 50 kDa, and 75 kDa in immunoblotting. This study also indicated presence of more antigens in the culture medium around the bacteria than the bacterial extract itself. The results of sandwich ELISA and immunoblotting on fecal extracts suggest the presence of interfering agents that prevent detection of antigen by antibody in ELISA but not in immunoblotting.In this study the oligomerization of the 26 kDa antigen, presence of interfering agents in stool matrix, and release of antigen to outside of bacteria, were demonstrated.