Southern Region Of Iran Research Articles

Prediction of long-term chloride diffusion in silica fume concrete in a marine environment

Chloride-induced corrosion is the main factor in determining the durability and service life of the reinforced concrete structures exposed to marine environments. Recognition of chloride diffusion phenomenon in concrete and developing a prediction model that can estimate the service life of the concrete structures subject to long-term exposure is vital for aggressive marine environments. The present study focuses on developing such a prediction model of chloride diffusion coefficient for silica fume concrete under long-term exposure to a durability site located in the southern region of Iran. All investigations are based on 16 concrete mix designs containing silica fume with variable water-to-binder ratios exposed to sea water for maximum period of 60months. This empirical model is developed by applying regression analysis based on Fick’s second law on the experimental results and is compared with previous studies in this area. This comparison indicates that the predicted chloride diffusion coefficient level is within a ±25% error margin in the specimens. The results indicate that reducing the water-to-binder ratio and adding the silica fume to a dosage of 10% reduces the chloride diffusion coefficient in concrete. This study also confirms that the chloride diffusion coefficient increases with temperature and decreases over time.

A predictive model of apartment-living based on socio-economic and demographic factors with health-based approach in Iran.

Objective:Due to importance and progressive growth of apartment-living phenomenon in the world today, it is essential to survey the different dimensions of this modern lifestyle. The aim of this study is to predict rate of apartment-living based on the different predicted variables of socio-economic and demographic factors with approach to different health aspects.Methods:A descriptive- analytic study was carried out between 600 apartment and 800 non-apartment residents in the Shiraz (Southern Region of Iran) through multi-stage cluster sampling during the year 2011. The statistical analysis was performed on the obtained data using multi-variable logistic regression as well as ANOVA analysis.Result:The rate for apartment-living in above 30 years old age group was 8.31 times more than 15-30 years old, 9.6 times more in employed vs. unemployed; 6.57 and 9.49 times more in families with average and high monthly incomes, respectively, vs. family with low monthly income; 8.73 times more in owner sub-group vs. renter sub-group; and 1.30 times more in people living lonely than those living with family. People living in an apartment are in poor health status considering physical, mental and social aspects.Conclusion:Based on the results, it is very important that policy makers in urban areas consider the determinative role of socio-economic and demographic factors, which are involved in selecting apartment-living lifestyle by urban residents and also are effective on health.

Study of patients absconding behavior in a general hospital at southern region of Iran.

Patients' escape from hospital imposes a significant cost to patients as well as the health system. Besides, for these patients, exposure to adverse events (such as suicide, self-harm, violence and harm to hospital reputation) are more likely to occur compared to others. The present study aimed to determine the characteristics of the absconding patients in a general hospital through a case-control design in Shiraz, Iran. This case-control study was conducted on 413 absconded patients as case and 413 patients as control in a large general hospital in Shiraz, southern Iran. In this study, data on the case and control patients was collected from the medical records using a standard checklist in the period of 2011-3. Then, the data were analyzed using descriptive and analytical statistics, through SPSS 16. The finding showed that 413 patients absconded (0.50%) and mean of age in case group was 40.98 ± 16.31 years. In univariate analysis, variables of gender [Odds Ratio (OR)= 2], ward (OR= 1.22), insurance status (OR= 0.41), job status (OR= 0.34) and residence expenditure were significant. However, in multivariate analysis significant variables were age (ORadj= 0.13), gender (ORadj= 2.15), self-employment/unemployed (ORadj= 0.47), emergency/admission (ORadj= 2.14), internal/admission (ORadj= 3.16), insurance status (ORadj= 4.49) and residence expenditure (ORadj= 1.15). Characteristics such as middle age, male gender, no insurance coverage, inability to afford hospital expenditures and admission in emergency department make patients more likely abscond from the hospital. Therefore, it may be necessary to focus efforts on high-risk groups and increase insurance coverage in the country to prevent absconding from hospital.

Energy use and carbon dioxide emission analysis in sugarcane farms: a survey on Haft-Tappeh Sugarcane Agro-Industrial Company in Iran

Abstract Energy use, natural resources use and corresponding pollution impacts are indicators of production process intensification. On the other hand, population growth and the need for more amounts of food with safer and cleaner quality have encouraged producers to improve their energy efficiency at its height. The aim of this study was to examine energy input in per hectare of sugarcane production in ratooning and planted systems of Iran. The study was performed in Haft-Tappeh Sugarcane Agro-Industrial Company situated in southern region of Iran in 2012. As a result of this study, total energy expenditure was about 198 GJ ha −1 and 43% of that was consumed directly and about 57% was indirect energy form in planted farms. The input–output energy ratio and energy productivity indices were also calculated as 1.18 and 0.63 kg MJ −1 respectively. In ratoon farms, the total energy use and the shares for direct and indirect forms of energy were nearly 144 GJ ha −1 , 33% and 67%, respectively. The lower energy use in ratoon farms can be attributed to lack of land preparation operations need and sugarcane stalk cuttings use. The quantity of greenhouse gas (GHG) emission of inputs for the planted and ratoon systems i.e. CO 2eq emitted from sugarcane production operations were therefore 8.2 ton ha −1 and averagely 6.3 ton ha −1 , respectively. As a recommendation, decreasing machinery operations by applying zero or no tillage systems, modern irrigation systems and renewable energy sources can lead to improve energy efficiency and consequently diminish the GHG emissions.

Inflammatory Bowel Disease Is Frequently Encountered in Turkey and Iran but Less Than North and West Europe

We read with great interest the article by Taghavi et al. (1) presenting data on epidemiological factors of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in the southern region of Iran. The study included a great number of patients and the data was analyzed retrospectively. First of all, the article demonstrated an overall increase in the incidence rates of both Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn’s Disease (CD). The study raises several important issues about the presentation of IBD epidemiology and provided some interesting data. First, Taghavi et al. mentioned the female predominance in both UC and CD. In our study, we found male predominance in UC (2) with a rate of 1.4:1 and this finding was compatible with the results of a multicenter IBD epidemiologic survey from Turkey (3). In the mentioned study, male to female ratio was 1.3:1 in both UC and CD groups (3). Secondly, in Taghavi et al. study the mean age was 34.68 ± 1.44 years (range: 8 79 years) in UC patients and 32.97 ± 1.34 years (range: 9 – 80 years) in CD patients. The peak age range was 20 to 29 years for IBD and no second peak was detected (1). In our multicenter study, the mean age was 42.6 ± 14.6 years in UC patients and 37.4 ± 12.8 years in CD patients (3) and two peaks were detected for IBD between 20 to 30 and 50 to 70 years (3). Third, in Iranian population, the frequency of smoking was 5.2% in UC patients and 7.4% in CD patients and no significant correlation was detected between smoking and the type of the disease (1). In Turkish population, the frequency of smoking was 15.5% in UC patients and 49.3% in CD patients, and smoking was obviously more frequent in CD than UC (P < 0.001) (3). In conclusion, IBD is frequently encountered in Turkey and Iran but less seen in North and West Europe. In our region, IBD incidence is gradually increasing by two decades because of the community and physicians’ increased knowledge about IBD, using new diagnostic techniques and also a real increase in the IBD incidence rate. So, health authorities and the researches should properly and professionally focus IBD.

Antifungal efficacy of propolis against fluconazole-resistant Candida glabrata isolates obtained from women with recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis

⁎ Corresponding author at: Mycology Research Center, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, University of Tehran, Tehran, PO Box 14155 6453, Iran. Tel.: +98 2161117151; fax: +98 2166933222. E-mail address: Khosravi@ut.ac.ir (A.R. Khosravi). Recurrent vulvovaginal candidiasis (RVVC), which affects approximately 5% of women of reproductive age, is defined as 4 or more episodes of symptomatic Candida vaginitis within a year [1]. At present, there is no satisfactory treatment for RVVC, owing to difficulties in managing the high incidence of resistant nonalbicans Candida species such as Candida glabrata[2]. This organism is the second most common agent of candidiasis (occurring in 30% of cases) after Candida albicans and is of particular importance because of its innately increased resistance to fluconazole [3]. Natural products are currently considered to be an interesting alternative to synthetic antifungals for the control of resistant fungal agents, owing to their more effective, safe, and low-cost properties [4]. Propolis, a resinous wax-like substance produced by honey bees, is well known for its antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, local anesthetic, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, hepatoprotective, immunostimulating, and cytostatic activities [5]. Thepurposeof thepresent studywas to evaluate the effect of ethanol extract of propolis samples collected from the southern region of Iran (Hormozgan province) against different fluconazole-resistant C. glabrata isolated from women with RVVC. The chemical composition of thepropolis extractwasdeterminedusinggas chromatography–mass spectrometry. Female outpatients attending the Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran, Iran, who had experienced a symptomatic and culture-confirmed episode of RVVC and at least 4 documented episodes of Candida vaginitis within the previous 12 months were enrolled in the present study in 2010. The study was approved by the Iranian Ministry of Health and all women gave informed consent. Candida glabrata isolates were identified via urease test, differential culture medium (CHROMagar Candida; CHROMagar Microbiology, Paris, France), and sugar fermentation and assimilation tests (RapID Yeast Plus System; Remel, Lenexa, KS, USA). Minimal inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and minimal fungicidal concentrations of propolis and fluconazole (Diflucan; Pfizer, New York, NY, USA) were determined via broth microdilution [4]. Stock solutions of fluconazole were prepared at 10 times the desired concentration and diluted with different amounts of yeast nitrogen base to achieve concentrations of 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, and 128 mg/L. The propolis samples were diluted (1 g of propolis, 1 mL of ethanol, and 4 mL of sterile distilled water) to concentrations of 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 15, and 20 mg/mL. The density of the yeast-cell suspension in the yeast nitrogen base was adjusted via spectrophotometer to up to 1×105 cells/mL. The tests were performed in sterile, flat-bottomed, 96-well microtiter plates. The fluconazole solutions and prepared C. glabrata samples (2×100 μL of each) were dispensed into the wells. For the propolis test, 100-μL aliquots of prepared C. glabrata samples were distributed to 11 microtiter plates and propolis solutions were added at different concentrations. After 48 hours, readings from both the fluconazole and the propolis samples were obtained using a microplate reader (Digiscan; Asys Hitech, Eugendorf, Austria). Data were analyzed via t test with 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Pb0.05 was considered to be statistically significant. The propolis extract was composed mainly of phenolic acid (89.8%), sugars (3.2%), and caffeic acid (2.2%). Other elements were oleic acid (0.8%), hexadecanoic acid (0.5%), cinnamic acid (0.4%), 3quinoline carboxamide (0.4%), 12β-hydroxypicrasan-3-one (0.3%), octadecanoic acid (0.2%), butanedioic acid (0.2%), ferulic acid (0.2%), levomenol (0.2%), isoferulic acid (0.1%), and unknown components (1.5%). Under mycologic analysis, 14 C. glabrata strains (C. glabrata1– C. glabrata14) were isolated and identified as being fluconazole resistant. The ethanol extract of propolis showed efficacy against all resistant isolates of C. glabrata (Table 1). The mean MIC values of antifungal drug and propolis against the yeast strains were 109.9 μg/mL (95% CI, 0.5–128.0) and 3.8 mg/mL (95% CI, 0.5–5.0), respectively (Pb0.05). At a propolis concentration of 8 mg/mL, 57.1% of the isolates did not grow at all.

Composition and Antimicrobial Activity of the Essential Oil from Leaves and Flowers of Anvillea garcini (Burm.) DC.

The essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation from the leaves and flowers of Anvillea garcini (Burm.) DC. growing wild in the southern region of Iran (near the Persian Gulf) were investigated by GC and GC/MS. The major constituents of the leaf oil were α-pinene (16.1%), limonene (12.9%) and sabinene (12.5%). The flower oil was found to contain bornyl acetate (41.5%), camphene (12.4%) sabinene (8.3%), α-pinene (7.5%) and limonene (6.5%) as the major constituents. Antimicrobial activity was carried out using the well diffusion method. Minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) values ranging 2.5–10 mg/mL.

Salinivibrio proteolyticus sp. nov., a moderately halophilic and proteolytic species from a hypersaline lake in Iran

A novel moderately halophilic, Gram-negative, curved-rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain AF-2004T, was isolated from Bakhtegan Lake, a hypersaline lake with 17 % (w/v) total salt located in the southern region of Iran. Strain AF-2004T was a facultative anaerobe, motile by one polar flagellum, non-sporulating and oxidase- and catalase-positive. It grew at salinities of 1-17 % (w/v) NaCl, showing optimal growth at 5 % (w/v). Growth occurred at 10.0-45.0 degrees C and pH 5.0-9.5, with optimum growth at 32.0-35.0 degrees C and pH 8.0-8.5. Phylogenetic analyses based on 16S rRNA gene sequence comparisons indicated that strain AF-2004T is a member of the genus Salinivibrio. Strain AF-2004T had C18 : 1omega7c (31.6 %), C16 : 1omega7c (22.1 %) and C16 : 0 (20.7 %) as the predominant fatty acids and Q-8 as the major respiratory lipoquinone. The DNA G+C content was 49.5 mol%, which is in the range of values for members of the genus Salinivibrio. On the basis of differentiation from Salinivibrio costicola by phenotypic and chemotaxonomic characteristics, 16S rRNA sequence analysis and DNA-DNA relatedness, it is proposed that strain AF-2004T (=DSM 19052T =CIP 109598T) should be placed in the genus Salinivibrio as the type strain of a novel species, Salinivibrio proteolyticus sp. nov.

Effect of root refuse of liquorice on different characteristics of soil from southern regions of Iran. I. microbial characteristics

ABSTRACT Population increase and increasing demand for food have extended agriculture to troublesome areas such as arid and semi-arid regions in which their soils faced with different problems, e.g., deficiency of organic matter, which has great effects on microbial, chemical, and physical soil properties. Attempts to improve the properties of such soils through soil management practices based on organic residue incorporation and build up of soil organic matter. Root refuse of liquorice is added to soils as a soil amendment in some parts of Iran, but its effects on microbial activities of soils has not been studied yet. The present experiment was conducted to study: a) the decomposition rate of root refuse of liquorice in comparison with those of wheat straw and alfalfa in different soils as a function of incubation time, and b) the effect of application of root refuse of liquorice on bacterial and fungal population of the studies soils. In the first series of experiments, in 24 soil samples of Kerman and Fars provinces from southern region of Iran, the decomposition rate of root refuse of liquorice in comparison with those of wheat straw and alfalfa was investigated by determining the evolved CO2 during an eight-week incubation period. And, in the second series, six soil samples were chosen and root refuse of liquorice was applied at the equivalent rates of 0,10, 20, and 30 tons ha−1, the samples were incubated under room temperature and moisture content of field capacity for 50 days, and the numbers of bacteria and fungi were counted. The decomposition rate of different organic matters (root refuse of liquorice, wheat straw, and alfalfa) was different in various soils with that of root refuse of liquorice being the slowest. The rate of decomposition of root refuse of liquorice was affected by C:N ratio of the tested soils, and lower C:N ratio was associated with higher microbial activity and population of the soil. Decomposition rate was the highest in first and second weeks, and gradually slowed down and finally became steady. The bacteria and fungi populations increased as the amount of applied root refuse increased.

Time and Frequency of Irrigation in Relation to Growth Stages of Barley1

AbstractCompetition of winter and summer annual crops for irrigation water is a vital problem in areas of short water supply. Proper time and frequency of irrigation are essential for the most effective use of water and optimum grain yield of barley (Hordeum vulgare L.). This experiment was conducted in a calciorthids clay loam soil and in a region with 10‐year average rainfall and evaporation of 252 and 1,453 mm, respectively. Complete randomized design was used to compare the effects of no irrigation (I0); one irrigation at either heading (I1), flowering (I2) or dough stage (I3); two irrigations at either heading and flowering (I12), heading and dough stage (I13) or flowering and dough stage (I23); and three irrigations at the heading, flowering, and dough stage (I123) on the grain yield, yield components and water use efficiency of Zarjo barley for 2 years. One irrigation at the flowering stage resulted in an average grain yield increase of 35% compared with no irrigation treatment and was found to be preferable to irrigations at any other stages of growth with respect to both grain yield production and water use efficiency. The lower grain yields at the no irrigation and the one irrigation at dough stage treatments were resulted mainly from the lower weight of 1,000‐seed. Flag leaf xylem water potential lower than −25.8 bars possibly reduced the translation of assimilates into the grain and caused the lower weight of 1,000‐seed. The straw yield was not affected by the irrigation treatments since they were imposed after completion of vegetative growth. One irrigation a the flowering period may be suggested for obtaining both higher water use efficiency and grain yield of barley as winter‐annual crop under irrigation in the southern region of Iran.