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Mercury levels in hepatopancreas, muscle and exoskeleton tissues of male and female green tiger prawn, P.semisulcatus, from the Persian Gulf were compared. Significantly higher levels (p<0.05) of mercury in female prawn and hepatopancreas tissue were encountered (p<0.05). Significantly higher concentration (p<0.05) of the mercury was also observed in summer than in winter season. This variation could result in internal biological cycle of the organism or variation in bioavailability of mercury in environment.

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The Xanthomonas citri pv. citri (Xcc) is causal agent of bacterial citrus canker which is major disease of citrus throughout the world. The pthA bacterial effector protein is presented within the infected plants and indispensable of canker. The scFv antibodies are valuable tools for diagnosis and suppression of pathogens within plants. The present article describes developing and characterization of specific recombinant monoclonal scFv antibodies against pthA effector protein. For this aim, the gene encoding pthA protein was heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli and used for screening of Tomlinson phage display antibody library to pinpoint specific single chain variable fragment (scFv). In each round of panning, the affinity of phage towards pthA was checked by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The data was indicative of about 50% of the monoclonal phages to be reactive strongly against pthA protein. Among the positive clones, 5 samples (A12, B8, C1, H8 and G8) were capable of detecting Xcc-infected plant samples and recombinant pthA protein. Restriction fragment length polymorphism showed similar banding pattern for all 5 scFvs as renamed to pthA-scFG8. HB2151 E. coli cells were infected by the phage bearing pthA-scFG8, and the expression of the peptide was induced by IPTG to produce a 30 kDa recombinant molecule. I-TASSER was used for homology modeling of both scFv and pthA and docking was carried out by Hex program. The latter demonstrated binding energy of −784 kcal/mol in scFv-pthA. 

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Aims: Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a prevalent central nervous system (CNS) disorder characterized by inflammation and demyelination of nerves. The incidence of this disease has markedly risen in diverse regions, including the Middle East. Any factor that alters the quality and quantity of immune system components or influences the migration of immune cells toward the CNS may contribute to MS development. Evidence suggests that paragenetic, genetic, and environmental factors may be involved in increasing MS risk. This study aimed to investigate the effect of various infections on MS incidence.
 
Materials & Methods: This study included 475 MS patients and 260 healthy individuals from the Azeri population of East Azerbaijan province. Both groups filled out a questionnaire about their history of exposure to specific pathogens and infections before the age of 15.The relationship between a history of various infections and MS risk was examined.Findings: Mycoplasma pneumonia infection was significantly more prevalent in MS patients than in healthy individuals (p< .05). MS patients were more likely to suffer from common colds (p< .05), but no significant difference was observed regarding other infectious diseases (p> .05). Additionally, the prevalence of chronic infections was higher among MS patients (p< .05).
Conclusion: M.pneumoniae infection, common colds, and chronic infections were significantly more common in MS patients than in healthy controls. However, no significant association was found between other infectious diseases and MS risk. These findings emphasize the possible role of specific pathogens in MS development, warranting further investigation into underlying mechanisms and contributing factors.

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Objective: Hearing loss is the most frequent neurosensory defect in human. Mutations in GJB2 and GJB6 are responsible for 50% of autosomal recessive non-syndromic hearing loss (ARNSHL) cases. Here we report on the frequencies of GJB2 and GJB6 mutations and three large deletions spanning the GJB6 gene including Del (GJB6-D13S1830), Del (GJB6-D13S1854) and a >920 kb deletion in patients affected by ARNSHL referred to Kawsar's Human Genetics Research Center. Materials and Methods: In this study, 94 patients from 63 families with ARNSHL were investigated. Patient's homozygote for 35delG were screened and left out of the study and the remaining samples were analyzed by sequencing of GJB2 and GJB6 genes. Also the three large deletions spanning the GJB6 gene were analyzed by Real Time PCR Results: In this study we found GJB2 mutations in 13 families (20.6%) out of 63. The 35delG mutation was the most common mutation in the studied population (61.5%). Other GJB2 mutations were delE120, R127H, W24X, and V37I. The heterozygous or negative cases for the GJB2 mutations were screened for mutation in the GJB6 gene by sequencing and no mutation was observed. Also, we checked the three large deletions in GJB6, we found no mutations. Conclusion: Low frequency of mutations in the GJB2 gene implies that other genes may be involved in causing non-syndromic hearing loss in our country.

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Aims: Presenting practical strategies to enhance the quality of temporary housing and elucidating the role of prefabrication and semi-prefabrication on achieving efficient architectural goals. Outlining the prefabrication and semi- prefabrication process are among the main aims of the research.

Methods: In this study, a combination of descriptive-analytical and exploratory methods was employed to examine specialized texts in the field of temporary housing design and the implemented examples in both domestic and international contexts. The study also investigated innovative approaches to semi-prefabricated construction. The main objective was to investigate and extract design approaches and indicators for temporary housing. Questionnaires were distributed to experts in the field of temporary housing design and implementation.

Findings: According to the research findings, attention to user privacy (as a people-centric component) with an average rank of 5.14, resistance of materials against earthquakes and fires (as a materials-centric component) with an average rank of 4.03, and ultimately, the utilization of innovative prefabrication and semi-prefabrication methods (as a design-centric component) with an average rank of 3.44 play the most significant role in enhancing the quality of temporary housing

Conclusion: From the standpoint of experts, there is a greater emphasis on material-centric and people-centric approaches in the design of temporary housing, while design-centric approaches and their components are deemed less significant by expert groups. Consequently, by utilizing the existing indicators within the design-centric component and enhancing the qualitative aspects of its strategies (including the incorporation of innovative semi-prefabrication methods), the quality of temporary housing can be elevated.

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Achieving economic growth requires an optimal allocation system of resources at national level. This is not possible without a perfect and efficient financial market. The stock exchange as a part of capital market can provide the required national financial resources and lead to economic growth. In the capital market, information is regarded as the most valuable asset. The more the transparency of information in the stock exchange, the lower the information asymmetry and the more efficient capital market will be. This study aims to analyze the effects of the ownership share of institutional investors, the board size, the role of non-executive board and separation of chief executive officer and chairman of the board roles (separation variable) on information asymmetry in the stock exchange. It estimates a panel data regression for the companies listed in the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) during the fourth national development plan. The results indicate that the ownership share of institutional investors and board size have negative effects on information asymmetry, while the ratio of non-executive members to board size and separation variable have no significant effects on information asymmetry. 

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Free vibration analysis of a cracked rotating multi-span Timoshenko beam is studied in this article to determine the natural frequencies and mode shapes of this beam. First, the relationships between each two segments are obtained by considering the compatibility requirements in the frame angles and in the cracks. To determine the transformed compatibility requirements, the boundary conditions, and the vibrational equations, the so-called differential transform method (DTM) is used. Then, these equations are performed to determine the natural frequencies. The mode shapes of the beam are determined by using the inverse of differential transform method. The results have been validated against those obtained from Abaqus software for a rotating multi-span beam and the ones obtained from transfer matrix method for a non-rotating case that an appropriate agreement is observed. Finally, the effects of the angle of break, the rotational speed, and the crack location on the natural frequencies are investigated. It is shown that the natural frequencies will be increased by increasing the rotational speed. Also, it is seen that the first natural frequency will be increased by moving the crack location from the cantilever support to free support and the variations of other frequencies are dependent to the crack distance to the vibrational nodes. The validation results show the accuracy of DTM in the process of studying the free vibration of this problem.

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In this study, effects of Persian gum-chitosan and Persian gum-chitosan incorporated with Garlic (Allium sativum L.) essential oil edible coatings on change in chemical deterioration index (peroxide value (PV), free fatty acids (FFA), thiobarbituric acid index (TBA) and total volatile basic nitrogen (TVB-N)) and sensory properties (Taste, appearance, color, odor and overall acceptability) during 6 months frozen storage (-18 ºC) was investigated. Silver carp fillets were immersed in the Persian gum-chitosan and Persian gum-chitosan incorporated with Garlic essential oil (5%) solutions and then packed and frozen. Experiments were carried out at months 0, 2, 4 and 6 of storage on frozen fillets. Comparing to control, lipid oxidation was significantly delayed in samples treated with Persian gum-chitosan and Persian gum-chitosan incorporated with Garlic essential oil (P ≤0.05). According to the results, application of Persian gum-chitosan incorporated with Garlic essential oil gave the best antioxidative activities and sensory scores. Keywords: Persian gum, chitosan, Allium sativum, silver carp

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Rice bran is an inexpensive, underutilized major by product of milling, consisting approximately 10% weight of rough rice. Protein concentrates were prepared from defatted rice bran and analyzed for their functional properties. Rice bran proteins were prepared by alkaline extracted. The yield of rice bran proteins Hashemi were 76%. The water solubility of Hashemi was less at pH 6.0 and increased gradually below pH 6.0 and above pH 6.0. Above pH 8.0, the solubility continued to increase but at a slower rate. The pH was found to influence the emulsifying activities and emulsion stabilities of Hashemi. The emulsifying activity of Hashemi significantly increased at pH 8.0. Maximum emulsion activity increased in Hashemi (0.135). As emulsifying stability data showed, maximum emulsion stabilities increased at pH=8, (110.6 min). At pH=10 protein exhibited the best foaming capacity, the foaming stability was not desirable. At pH=8 the most emulsifying activity and the most emulsion stability was observed. The results indicated that RBP isolate of Hashemi can be effectively used for various food formulations like weaning foods, dry mixes, baked foods, whipped toppings, salad dressings etc. due to its high foaming and emulsifying properties. Furthermore, the functionality of RBP was also affected by pH and approaching to alkaline conditions can be improved the various functional properties and extension field of application in food systems.

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The present paper aims to evaluate a class of discontinuous Galerkin methods for modeling of coupled flow and mass transport equations in porous medium. Various combinations of primal discontinuous Galerkin methods were used for discretization of the coupled nonlinear system of flow and mass transport equations in a saturated porous medium and a fully implicit backward Euler scheme was applied for temporal discretization. The primal DGs have been developed successfully for density-dependent flows by applying both Cauchy and Dirichlet boundary conditions to the mass transport equation. To avoid the errors arising from non-compatible selection of DG methods for flow and mass transport equations, only compatible combinations were applied. To linearize the resulting nonlinear systems, Picard iterative technique was applied and a slope limiter was used to eliminate the nonphysical oscillations appeared in solution. For the purpose of consistent velocity approximation, Frolkovic-Knabner method was used. Three benchmark problems were simulated for validation and verification of the numerical code, which the results from the simulations show a good accuracy and low numerical dispersion for the model. Finally, to highlight the significance of consistent velocity approximation, a hydrostatic test problem was prepared.

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Mulberry is a fruit that has a considerable acceptance among consumers. The short harvest season and low persistence of this fruit have led to the use of methods such as freezing that have the least effect on phenolic compounds and antioxidant properties and sensory properties of the mulberry. One of the problems of sensory evaluation is the non-parametric results of the answers and the low accuracy of their analysis. Today, methods such as fuzzy logic allow inaccurate parameters to be analyzed by mathematical methods. In the present study, mulberry was stored in a freezer at -18 °C for six months and removed from the freezer at 0, 72 h, one month, two months and six months. After juice making, the sensory evaluation was performed using five-point hedonic method and the data were analyzed using fuzzy logic methodology, while attributes were color, aroma, taste, and feel mouth. Also, pH, acidity, antioxidant activity and total phenol content were evaluated. Sensory evaluation of the samples showed that the freezing of the mulberry increased the overall suitability of the samples in 72 hours and did not show a decrease in sensory properties during 6 months. Panelists assessed the importance of sensory attributes including taste, mouthfeel, fragrance, and color, as well. Although, sensory evaluation did not decrease the sensory of juice, significant decrease of pH (19.83%), increase in acidity (0.31%) and a decrease in antioxidant activity (about 14%) and phenolic compounds (about 21%) during freezing was observed. According to the obtained results, freezing can be suggested as an acceptable method for long storage of mulberry fruit.

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Rice bran protein is a valuable plant protein that has received much attention in recent years due to its unique functional, nutritional, and hypoallergenic properties. The purpose of this paper is to study the utilization of the rice bran protein (RBP) in low-fat dairy dessert for children who have been shown milk protein allergy. Protein concentrates were prepared from defatted rice bran and analyzed for their functional properties. Rice (Champa Variety) bran proteins were prepared by alkaline extracted. The functional properties of rice bran protein (solubility, foaming capacity and stability, water and oil absorption capacity and Emulsifying properties) were determined. Also physicochemical, sensory properties and texture of low-fat dairy dessert were determined. It was found that pH was significantly effective in the RBP functional properties (P<0.05). Water absorption capacity and oil absorption capacity of RBP were obtained 4.21 g/g and 3.87 g/g, respectively. The results indicated that RBP concentrate can be effectively used for various functional food formulations like dairy dessert. The effect of protein on the color properties of dairy dessert was significant. Whiteness Index was, however, decreased by increasing rice bran protein but yellowness index was increased by increasing rice bran protein in the dessert. There was no significant difference between protein-containing dessert samples (P<0.05). Textural characteristics of dairy dessert containing rice bran protein were significantly different from dairy dessert containing milk protein. Dairy dessert containing rice bran protein showed more desirable sensory properties than the protein-free sample but dairy dessert containing skim milk was better.

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In this study, some physicochemical properties of apple powder produced by different drying methods were evaluated. In order to investigate the storage effect on the nutritional properties of apple powders, the samples were packed in a modified atmosphere and examined at intervals of 135 and 270 days. Apple slices were dried by freeze drying, microwave and oven drying methods as well as apple juice by spraying and foam mat drying methods. The results showed that the highest levels of vitamin C (ASA), flavonoid compounds (TF) and phenolic compounds (TP) were related to powders produced by freezing and spray drying, respectively. Minimal color changes compared to fresh samples were observed in powders produced with freeze and then microwave dryers. Packaging in the modified atmosphere resulted in a significant reduction in the degradation of ASA, TF and TP compared to the normal atmosphere during 270 days of storage. The results showed that the drying method had a significant effect on the properties of apple powder and among the studied methods, freeze-dried and sprayed drying were suitable for drying apples sliced and its juice, respectively.

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Additives analysis plays important role in food quality control and has a great impact on public health. Therefore, rapid detection of these compounds in food samples is important in food safety. In this study, reduced graphene oxide /Fe₃O₄ nanocomposite (rG-Fe₃O₄-NC) was synthesized in the presence of sour lemon peel extract as a reducer and stabilizer agent in aqueous solution. For the first time multivariate optimization based on rotatable central composite design (RCCD) coupled with response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize effective experimental variables for fabrication of electrode. An experimental design has been used to examine and optimize the impacts of diverse experimental parameters like the pH and concentration of the nanocomposite in rG-Fe₃O₄-NC. The optimal conditions were pH: 6 and the concentration of the nanocomposite: 8%. The synthesized nanocomposites were characterized by TEM and XRD techniques. The rGO modified carbon paste electrode (rG-Fe₃O₄-NC/CPE) was used as a highly sensitive electrochemical sensor for the detection of vanillin. Interference of vitamin B₂, methionine, valine, glycine and KBR, KCl and glucose were checked in the presence of 25 µM vanillin at surface of rG-Fe₃O₄-NC/CPE with acceptable error 5%. Results confirmed that 500-folde of above compounds have not any important interference in monitoring process of 25 µM vanillin. The vanillin sensor showed linear range between 01 nM – 250 μM and a low detection limit of 0.3 nM. Finally, the rG-Fe₃O₄-NC/CPE was successfully used for determining vanillin in food samples. Therefore, this sensor can be used in food industry to the online determination of vanillin in flavored milks and ice cream.

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An experimental study on the critical buckling load of aluminum columns reinforced with glass/epoxy composite belts containing carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are presented in this paper. The columns with solid circular cross section are subjected to axially pressure load. Aluminum column specimens reinforced with glass/epoxy and CNT/glass/epoxy are fabricated. CNTs with 0.25, 0.5 and 1 weight percent (wt.%) are dispersed into the epoxy resin. Three layers composite belts are wrapped around the column. Glass fibers are placed along the column axes in each layer. The columns are tested under fix ended boundary conditions utilizing Instron hydraulic universal testing machine. Pressure load with respect to the end shortening are plotted for each specimen. To achieve the average value of critical buckling load, four specimen is examined for each composite belt material.  Results show that when 0.5%CNT/glass/epoxy composite belt is used to reinforce the column, the critical buckling load of the column increases by 45% with respect to the column with glass/epoxy composite belt. The proper dispersion of CNTs into the matrix material along with appropriate adhesion between the nanocomposite belt and the aluminum column lead to the increase of buckling load. Furthermore, to validate the results, buckling analysis of aluminum column reinforced with glass/epoxy composite belt was done in Abaqus finite element software. Finite element simulation confirms the experimental results obtained.