Microbial fuel cell for oilfield produced water treatment and reuse: Modelling and process optimization

Majid Mohammadi,Mehdi Sedighi,Rajamohan Natarajan,Sedky Hassan Aly Hassan,Mostafa Ghasemi 한국화학공학회 2021 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.38 No.1

Oilfield produced water is one of the vast amounts of wastewater that pollute the environment and cause serious problems. In this study, the produced water was treated in a microbial fuel cell (MFC), and response surface methodology and central composite design (RSM/CCD) were used as powerful tools to optimize the process. The results of two separate parameters of sulfonated poly ether ether ketone (SPEEK) as well as nanocomposite composition (CNT/Pt) on the chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal and power generation were discussed. The nanocomposite was analyzed using XRD, SEM, and TEM. Moreover, the degree of sulfonation (DS) was measured by NMR. A quadratic model was utilized to forecast the removal of COD and power generation under distinct circumstances. To obtain the maximum COD removal along with maximum power generation, favorable conditions were achieved by statistical and mathematical techniques. The findings proved that MFC could remove 92% of COD and generate 545mW/m2 of power density at optimum conditions of DS=80; and CNT/Pt of 14 wt% CNT- 86 wt% Pt.

Identification of novel Leishmania major antigens that elicit IgG2a response in resistant and susceptible mice

Mohammad Reza MOHAMMADI,Majid ZEINALI,Sussan K. ARDESTANI,Amina KARIMINIA 대한기생충학열대의학회 2006 The Korean Journal of Parasitology Vol.44 No.1

Factors Affecting Breast Self-examination Behavior Among Female Healthcare Workers in Iran: The Role of Social Support Theory

Saeed Bashirian,Majid Barati,Leila Moaddab Shoar,Younes Mohammadi,Mitra Dogonchi 대한예방의학회 2019 Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health Vol.52 No.4

Objectives: In women, breast cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death. Screening tests are the basis for early diagnosis. In Iranian women, the mortality rate of breast cancer is high due to insufficient screening examinations and delayed visits for care. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the factors affecting breast self-examinations among Iranian women employed in medical careers. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 501 women working in the medical professions at Hamadan University of Medical Sciences in western Iran in 2018. The subjects were selected by stratified random sampling. Data were collected using a researcher-developed, self-report questionnaire that contained demographic information and questions based on protection motivation theory and social support theory. Descriptive data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 23 and model fitting with PLS version 2. Results: The mean age of the participants was 37.1±8.3 years, and most of the women (80.4%) were married. Most women had a bachelor’s degree (67.5%). The findings of this study showed that the coping appraisal construct was a predictor of protection motivation (β=0.380, p<0.05), and protection motivation (β=0.604, p<0.05) was a predictor of breast self-examination behavior. Additionally, social support theory (β=0.202, p<0.05) had a significant positive effect on breast self-examination behavior. Conclusions: The frequency of practicing self-examinations among women employees in the medical sector was low; considering the influence of social support as a factor promoting screening, it is necessary to pay attention to influential people in women’s lives when designing educational interventions.

A Novel PCR Assay for Detecting Brucella abortus and Brucella melitensis

Saeed Alamian,Majid Esmaelizad,Taghi Zahraei,Afshar Etemadi,Mohsen Mohammadi,Davoud Afshar,Soheila Ghaderi 질병관리본부 2017 Osong Public Health and Research Persptectives Vol.8 No.1

Objectives: Brucellosis is a major zoonotic disease that poses a significant public health threat worldwide. The classical bacteriological detection process used to identify Brucella spp. is difficult and time-consuming. This study aimed to develop a novel molecular assay for detecting brucellosis. Methods: All complete sequences of chromosome 1 with 2.1-Mbp lengths were compared among all available Brucella sequences. A unique repeat sequence (URS) locus on chromosome 1 could differentiate Brucella abortus from Brucella melitensis. A primer set was designed to flank the unique locus. A total of 136 lymph nodes and blood samples were evaluated and classified by the URS-polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method in 2013–2014. Results: Biochemical tests and bacteriophage typing as the golden standard indicated that all Brucella spp. isolates were B. melitensis biovar 1 and B. abortus biovar 3. The PCR results were the same as the bacteriological method for detecting Brucella spp. The sensitivity and specificity of the URS-PCR method make it suitable for detecting B. abortus and B. melitensis. Conclusion: Quick detection of B. abortus and B. melitensis can provide the most effective strategies for control of these bacteria. The advantage of this method over other presented methods is that both B. abortus and B. melitensis are detectable in a single test tube. Furthermore, this method covered 100% of all B. melitensis and B. abortus biotypes. The development of this URS-PCR method is the first step toward the development of a novel kit for the molecular identification of B. abortus and B. melitensis.

Investigating the chaperone activity of β-casein in preventing amyloid formation in j-casein in the presence of dextran

Arezou Ghahghaei,Majid Mohammadi Dareh mianeh 한국약제학회 2015 Journal of Pharmaceutical Investigation Vol.45 No.5

In vitro studies into proteins which are prone to form amyloid are very important. Today, researchers are trying to understand the exact mechanism of amyloid fibril formation because it causes many diseases. κ-Casein is a glycoprotein belonging to the family of milk phosphoprotein which plays an important role in the size, stability and performance of the casein micelles. This study investigates amyloid fibril formation by κ-casein and its prevention by β-casein in the presence and absence of crowding agent, dextran. Interaction between the chaperone and the κ-casein is investigated by thioflavin T fluorescence, intrinsic fluorescence intensity, ANS binding assay and CD spectroscopy. Fluorescence data show that dextran accelerated amyloid fibril formation of κ-casein. β-Casein acts as a molecular chaperone preventing the stress-induced amyloid formation of κ-casein. The effect of b-casein in preventing fibril formation of κ-casein in the presence of dextran was reduced, however, in the absence of dextran. This shows that dextran increases the rate of amyloid formation in κ-casein and causes some structural change in β-casein as assessed by CD spectroscopy. In summary, β-casein interacts with κ-casein and prevents amyloid formation but not as well as it does in the presence of the crowding agent, dextran.

Application of machine learning methods for predicting the mechanical properties of rubbercrete

Miladirad, Kaveh,Golafshani, Emadaldin Mohammadi,Safehian, Majid,Sarkar, Alireza Techno-Press 2022 Advances in concrete construction Vol.14 No.1

The use of waste rubber in concrete can reduce natural aggregate consumption and improve some technical properties of concrete. Although there are several equations for estimating the mechanical properties of concrete containing waste rubber, limited numbers of machine learning-based models have been proposed to predict the mechanical properties of rubbercrete. In this study, an extensive database of the mechanical properties of rubbercrete was gathered from a comprehensive survey of the literature. To model the mechanical properties of rubbercrete, M5P tree and linear gene expression programming (LGEP) methods as two machine learning techniques were employed to achieve reliable mathematical equations. Two procedures of input variable selection were considered in this study. The crucial component ratios of rubbercrete and concrete age were assumed as the input variables in the first procedure. In contrast, the volumes of the coarse and fine waste rubber and the compressive strength of concrete without waste rubber were considered the second procedure of the input variables. The results show that the models obtained by LGEP are more accurate than those achieved by the M5P model tree and existing traditional equations. Besides, the volumes of the coarse and fine waste rubber and the compressive strength of concrete without waste rubber are better predictors of the mechanical properties of rubbercrete compared to the first procedure of input variable selection.

Factors Affecting Breast Self-examination Behavior Among Female Healthcare Workers in Iran: The Role of Social Support Theory

Bashirian, Saeed,Barati, Majid,Shoar, Leila Moaddab,Mohammadi, Younes,Dogonchi, Mitra The Korean Society for Preventive Medicine 2019 Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health Vol.52 No.4

Objectives: In women, breast cancer is the most common cancer and the leading cause of cancer death. Screening tests are the basis for early diagnosis. In Iranian women, the mortality rate of breast cancer is high due to insufficient screening examinations and delayed visits for care. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the factors affecting breast self-examinations among Iranian women employed in medical careers. Methods: This cross-sectional study included 501 women working in the medical professions at Hamadan University of Medical Sciences in western Iran in 2018. The subjects were selected by stratified random sampling. Data were collected using a researcher-developed, self-report questionnaire that contained demographic information and questions based on protection motivation theory and social support theory. Descriptive data analysis was conducted using SPSS version 23 and model fitting with PLS version 2. Results: The mean age of the participants was $37.1{\pm}8.3years$, and most of the women (80.4%) were married. Most women had a bachelor's degree (67.5%). The findings of this study showed that the coping appraisal construct was a predictor of protection motivation (${\beta}=0.380$, p<0.05), and protection motivation (${\beta}=0.604$, p<0.05) was a predictor of breast self-examination behavior. Additionally, social support theory (${\beta}=0.202$, p<0.05) had a significant positive effect on breast self-examination behavior. Conclusions: The frequency of practicing self-examinations among women employees in the medical sector was low; considering the influence of social support as a factor promoting screening, it is necessary to pay attention to influential people in women's lives when designing educational interventions.

Evaluation of solvent dearomatization effect in heavy feedstock thermal cracking to light olefin: An optimization study

Mostafa Ghasemi,Mohsen Nouri,Mehdi Sedighi,Majid Mohammadi 한국화학공학회 2013 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.30 No.9

Response surface method was used to study the effect of aromatic extraction of heavy feedstock in thermal cracking. N-methylpyrrolidone as the solvent performing dearomatization of feedstock was at different temperature and molar solvent to oil ratios. Temperature, flow rate and steam-to-hydrocarbon ratio were in the range of 1,053-1,143K, 1-2 g/g, and 0.75-1.2 g/min, respectively. From the CCD studies, the effects of flow rate and coil outlet temperature were the key factors influencing the yield of light olefins. Ethylene and propylene yields increased more than 10%by dearomatization. C5+ decreased by 13% on average. Finally, we obtained the single maximum yield of ethylene,propylene, and simultaneous maximum yields for untreated and raffinate.

Does the c.-273T>C variant in the upstream region of the HBB gene cause a thalassemia phenotype?

Hassan Dastsooz,Mohsen Alipour,Sanaz Mohammadi,Fatemeh Dehghanian,Fatemeh Kamgarpour,Majid Fardaei 대한혈액학회 2017 Blood Research Vol.51 No.4

Optimized QCA SRAM cell and array in nanoscale based on multiplexer with energy and cost analysis

Moein Kianpour,Reza Sabbaghi-Nadooshan,Majid Mohammadi,Behzad Ebrahimi Techno-Press 2023 Advances in nano research Vol.15 No.6

Quantum-dot cellular automata (QCA) has shown great potential in the nanoscale regime as a replacement for CMOS technology. This work presents a specific approach to static random-access memory (SRAM) cell based on 2:1 multiplexer, 4-bit SRAM array, and 32-bit SRAM array in QCA. By utilizing the proposed SRAM array, a single-layer 16×32-bit SRAM with the read/write capability is presented using an optimized signal distribution network (SDN) crossover technique. In the present study, an extremely-optimized 2:1 multiplexer is proposed, which is used to implement an extremely-optimized SRAM cell. The results of simulation show the superiority of the proposed 2:1 multiplexer and SRAM cell. This study also provides a more efficient and accurate method for calculating QCA costs. The proposed extremely-optimized SRAM cell and SRAM arrays are advantageous in terms of complexity, delay, area, and QCA cost parameters in comparison with previous designs in QCA, CMOS, and FinFET technologies. Moreover, compared to previous designs in QCA and FinFET technologies, the proposed structure saves total energy consisting of overall energy consumption, switching energy dissipation, and leakage energy dissipation. The energy and structural analyses of the proposed scheme are performed in QCAPro and QCADesigner 2.0.3 tools. According to the simulation results and comparison with previous high-quality studies based on QCA and FinFET design approaches, the proposed SRAM reduces the overall energy consumption by 25%, occupies 33% smaller area, and requires 15% fewer cells. Moreover, the QCA cost is reduced by 35% compared to outstanding designs in the literature.