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Aim: Regular physical activity has several physical, psychological and social benefits. However, it is a global health problem, especially among ICU nurses. Therefore, in order to improve nurses’ physical activity, it is required to determine the effective correlated factors. The aim of this study was to delineate predictive factors on the physical activity of ICU nurses based on a trans-theoretical model (TTM) using path analysis.
Method: Accordingly, in this cross-sectional study, 82 nurses from eight intensive care units of six hospitals in Guilan University of Medical Sciences completed the translated version of Global Physical Activity Questionnaire (GPAQ) and another questionnaire, which included a range of constructs from the TTM. Data were analyzed using bivariate correlation and path analysis.
Findings: It was revealed that self-efficacy (β=0.24) and Pros (β=0.18) had a direct effect on the participants’ physical activities. It is important to state that self-efficacy was effective on the participants, behavioral physical activity both directly and indirectly. Totally, self-efficacy with the path coefficient of 0.62 was considered as the strongest predictive factor of physical activity among the ICU nurses.
Conclusion: To enclose, the determined effective factors in improving the ICU nurses’ physical activity were expected to be of more concern, especially self-efficacy as the strongest one.

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Gas turbine power and thermal efficiency increase with inlet temperature. Considering the temperature limitations for the alloys used in gas turbine components, employment of techniques for reduction of these components temperatures seems to be an essential subject. Based on the research conducted on this subject, among all the proposed methods, rib cooling yields higher heat transfer coefficient and among various types of ribs, V-shaped ribs have higher heat transfer compared to angled rib. The purpose of this feasibility study is to investigate the two proposed ribs for use in gas turbine from heat transfer and fluid flow view and compare their thermal performance. In this work, 3-D numerical simulation has been performed for V-shaped ribs with an angle of 〖60〗^° for the two cases of staggered and inline ribs in two opposite walls in a rectangular channel. Experimental results have been used for validation. The results indicate an enhancement of ~22% in heat transfer if V-shaped ribs with an angle 〖60〗^° and downstream orientation are located in staggering form in two opposite walls of a channel. In this case, an increase of 10% is observed for pressure drop, however, its thermal performance increases 12% which is positive and considerable.

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Flatbreads have a small thickness and flat surface and, unlike bulk breads, are only used in few countries such as Iran. Given the lack of research on this type of bread, the objective of this study was to numerically and experimentally investigate the porosity and surface brightness of flatbreads baked under different ascending step heat flux profiles. In order to investigate the effect of different heat flux profiles on the baking process of porous flatbread, the required breads were baked in a laboratory-scale device and the equations of heat and mass transfer, porosity, and brightness were numerically modeled using the finite difference method in MATLAB. The results showed were suggestive of the good consistency between the experimental and numerical values. A total of 3 ascending step heat flux profiles with different time steps was experimentally and numerically investigated. The results also showed that the porosity of the bread baked under an ascending heat flux profile with 4 steps was more regular and that the average diameter and area of porosities obtained from the SEM imaging were higher in this profile compared to the other profiles. Moreover, based on the experimental and numerical results, the surface bright parameter (L*) was within the appropriate range for the breads baked under the ascending heat flux profile with 4 steps.

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Dashte Abbas is one of the fertile plains of the Ilam Province situated in the southwest of Iran, where water resources are scarce, and often the quality of water is not suitable for agricultural uses. To solve the problem of water scarcity, the Karkheh-Dashte Abbas inter-basin water transfer project started operation in 2008. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of different agricultural water management scenarios on the environmental and economic conditions in the Dashte Abbas using the System Dynamics (SD) approach. The conceptual model was considered based on five sub-models, including water demand, water supply, environmental stresses, environment, and water economics. The evaluated water transfer scenarios were allocation of 160, 170, 180, 200 Million Cubic Meters (MCM) water transferred from the Karkheh Dam and 90, 80, 70, and 60 MCM annual groundwater withdrawal from the aquifer, respectively. The results showed that in all scenarios, water transfer increased groundwater level, decreased groundwater quality, reduced soil aeration and drainage, increased salinity of root zone and, consequently, reduced agricultural production in the plain. The results of the SD model demonstrate that the need for drainage is reduced with increasing groundwater consumption. The alternative cropping systems with higher water requirements, including forage crops and sugar beet, may be helpful to reduce drainage problems and to prevent construction of an underground drainage system. The results also confirmed that with the implementation of the first water allocation scenario (allocation of annual 160 MCM surface water transfer and annual 90 MCM of groundwater withdrawal) and cultivation of higher water requirement crops can reduce the rise in groundwater level and drainage problems. In these conditions, the water table remains almost constant at a depth of 10 meters.