Experimental investigation on the effectiveness of under-foundation isolator against train-induced vibrations considering foundation type

Ehsan Haghighi,Javad Sadeghi,Morteza Esmaeili 국제구조공학회 2024 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.89 No.2

In this paper, the performance of under-foundation isolators against generally annoying train-induced vibrations was examined experimentally. The effect of foundation type on the efficacy of such isolators was investigated for the first time. To this end, laboratory models including a soil container, soil, building with three types of foundation (i.e., single, strip, and mat), and isolator layer were employed. Through various dynamic tests, the effects of foundation type, isolation frequency, and the dominant frequency of train load on the isolator’s performance were studied. The results demonstrated that the vibration level in the unisolated building with the strip and mat foundation was, respectively, 29 and 38% lower than in the building with the single foundation. However, the efficacy of the isolator in the building with the single foundation was, respectively, 21 and 40% higher than in the building with the strip and mat foundation. Furthermore, a lower isolation frequency and a higher excitation frequency resulted in greater isolator efficacy. The best vibration suppression occurred when the excitation frequency was close to the floor’s natural frequency.

Effect of Intravenous Intraoperative Esmolol on Pain Management Following Lower Limb Orthopedic Surgery

( Mohammad Haghighi ),( Abbas Sedighinejad ),( Ahmadreza Mirbolook ),( Bahram Naderi Nabi ),( Maral Farahmand ),( Ehsan Kazemnezhad Leili ),( Masoumeh Shirvani ),( Sina Khajeh Jahromi ) 대한통증학회 2015 The Korean Journal of Pain Vol.28 No.3

Background: Lack of proper control of acute postoperative pain often leads to lingering or chronic pain. Several studies have emphasized the role of beta-blockers in reducing postoperative pain. Esmolol is a selective short-acting beta-blocker that produces few side effects. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of intravenous intraoperative esmolol on postoperative pain reduction following orthopedic leg fracture surgery. Methods: In a clinical trial, 82 patients between 20-65 years of age with tibia fractures and American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) physical status I & II who underwent surgery were divided into two groups. Group A received esmolol and group B received normal saline. Postoperative pain was measured at three time points: entering the recovery unit, and at 3 h and 6 h following surgery, using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). A P value of < 0.05 was considered significant. Results: Mean VAS scores at all three time points were significantly different between the two test groups (P = 0.02, P = 0.0001, and P = 0.0001, respectively). The consumption of pethidine was lower in group A than in group B (P = 0.004) and the duration of its effect was significantly longer in time (P = 0.026). Conclusions: Intravenous intraoperative esmolol is effective in the reduction of postoperative pain following leg fracture surgery. It reduced opioid consumption following surgery and delayed patient requests for analgesics. (Korean J Pain 2015; 28: 198-202)

The Prostaglandin Synthase 2/cyclooxygenase 2 (PTGS2/COX2) rs5277 Polymorphism Does not Influence Risk of Colorectal Cancer in an Iranian Population

Khorshidi, Fatemeh,Haghighi, Mahdi Montazer,Mojarad, Ehsan Nazemalhosseini,Azimzadeh, Pedram,Damavand, Behzad,Vahedi, Mohsen,Almasi, Shohreh,Aghdaei, Hamid Asadzadeh,Zali, Mohammad Reza Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.8

Background: The prostaglandin-endoperoxide synthase 2 [PTGS2, commonly known as cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2)] is an enzyme induced by proinflammatory stimuli that is often overexpressed in malignant tissue and involved in the synthesis of prostaglandins and thromboxanes, regulators of processes such as inflammation, cell proliferation, and angiogenesis, all relevant for cancer development. We investigated whether a functional genetic polymorphism, rs5277, in COX-2 may have a risk-modifying effect on sporadic colorectal cancer in an Iranian population. Materials and Methods: We conducted a case-control study on 167 patients with colorectal cancer and 197 cancer-free controls in Taleghani Hospital in Tehran, Iran, between 2007 and 2011. Peripheral blood samples of both groups were processed for DNA extraction and genotyping of the COX-2 gene polymorphism (rs5277) using PCR-RFLP. RFLP results were confirmed by direct sequencing. Logistic regression analysis was performed to calculate the adjusted odds ratio (OR) and 95% confidence interval (95% CI). Results: There was no significant difference in the distribution of COX-2 gene rs5277 polymorphism genotype and the allelic form, among CRC patients compared with the healthy control group (p: 0.867). Conclusions: Our results suggest that rs5277 polymorphism in COX2 could not be a good prognostic indicator for patients with CRC.

Performance of under foundation shock mat in reduction of railway-induced vibrations

Javad Sadeghi,Ehsan Haghighi,Morteza Esmaeili 국제구조공학회 2021 Structural Engineering and Mechanics, An Int'l Jou Vol.78 No.4

Under foundation shock mats have been used in the current practice in order to reduce/damp vibrations received by buildings through the surrounding environment. Although some investigations have been made on under foundation shock mats performance, their effectiveness in the reduction of railway induced-vibrations has not been fully studied, particularly with the consideration of underneath soil media. In this regard, this research is aimed at investigating performance of shock mat used beneath building foundation for reduction of railway induced-vibrations, taking into account soil-structure interaction. For this purpose, a 2D finite/infinite element model of a building and its surrounding soil media was developed. It includes an elastic soil media, a railway embankment, a shock mat, and the building. The model results were validated using an analytical solution reported in the literature. The performance of shock mats was examined by an extensive parametric analysis on the soil type, bedding modulus of shock mat and dominant excitation frequency. The results obtained indicated that although the shock mat can substantially reduce the building vibrations, its performance is significantly influenced by its underneath soil media. The softer the soil, the lower the shock mat efficiency. Also, as the train excitation frequency increases, a better performance of shock-mats is observed. A simplified model/method was developed for prediction of shock mat effectiveness in reduction of railway-induced vibrations, making use of the results obtained.

Lack of Influence of the SMAD7 Gene rs2337107 Polymorphism on Risk of Colorectal Cancer in an Iranian Population

Akbari, Zahra,Safari-Alighiarloo, Nahid,Haghighi, Mahdi Montazer,Vahedi, Mohsen,Mirtalebi, Hanieh,Azimzadeh, Pedram,Milanizadeh, Saman,Shemirani, Atena Irani,Nazemalhosseini-Mojarad, Ehsan,Aghdaei, Ha Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2014 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.15 No.11

SMAD7 has been identified as a functional candidate gene for colorectal cancer (CRC). SMAD7 protein is a known antagonist of the transforming growth factor beta ($TGF-{\beta}$) signaling pathway which is involved in tumorigenesis. Polymorphisms in SMAD7 may thus alter cancer risk. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of a SMAD7 gene polymorphism (rs2337107) on risk of CRC and clinicopathological features in an Iranian population. In total, 210 subjects including 105 patients with colorectal cancer and 105 healthy controls were recruited in our study. All samples were genotyped by TaqMan assay via an ABI 7500 Real Time PCR System (Applied Biosystems) with DNA from peripheral blood. The polymorphism was statistically analyzed to investigate the relationship with the risk of colorectal cancer and clinicopathological properties. Logistic regression analysis revealed that there was no significant association between rs2337107and the risk of colorectal cancer. In addition, no significant association between genotypes and clinicopathological features was observed (p value>0.05). Although there was not any association between genotypes and disorder, CT was the most common genotype in this population. This genotype prevalence was also higher in the patients with well grade (54.9%) and colon (72.0%) tumors. Our results provide the first evidence that this polymorphism is not a potential contributor to the risk of colorectal cancer and clinicopathological features in an Iranian population, and suggests the need of a large-scale case-control study to validate our results.

Multi-project Time-cost Optimization in Critical Chain with Resource Constraints

Mohammad Javad Taheri Amiri,FarshidReza Haghighi,Ehsan Eshtehardian,Ozeair Abessi 대한토목학회 2018 KSCE JOURNAL OF CIVIL ENGINEERING Vol.22 No.10

The simultaneous reduction of the project cost and time has paramount importance in today's competitive world; however, it is necessary to balance the project time and cost because of the reduction asymmetry of the two factors in a project. How to balance the cost and time parameters in managing construction projects is also critical and there have always been some attempts made to provide different approaches to control it. Given the immense importance of considering resource constraints for project scheduling problems, and the proximity of the study conditions to the real world, resource constraints were also included. In a project, project managers need to be aware of resource constraints. As resource constraint scheduling problem is considered NP-hard, the metaheuristic models were developed in this paper in order to obtain results contributing to project managers’ decision-making. For this purpose, a non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm method was developed to optimize a time-cost trade-off problem. Furthermore, to solve a multi-project scheduling problem, the critical chain method was used. In order to evaluate the performance of the model, the developed model was first studied in a small scale and then simultaneous projects with 7, 8 and 10 tasks were planned. Because resource availability is essential in such problems, after solving the proposed model, a sensitivity analysis was performed for daily resources and the results were discussed. Results shows the ability of the proposed model and methodology to optimize the time-cost tradeoff considering resource constraints in sample problems. Solutions obtained showed that in some cases of scheduling without this algorithm, resource consumption exceeded above resource availability. After solving the model by proposed algorithm, resource allocation is implemented considering resource constraint. This model determined these resources as crucial and helped managers to control them.