A curtain traveling pluviator to reconstitute large scale sand specimens

Kazemi, Majid,Bolouri, Jafar B. Techno-Press 2018 Geomechanics & engineering Vol.14 No.2

The preparation of repeatable and uniformly reconstituted soil specimens up to the specified conditions is an essential requirement for the laboratory tests. In this study for large samples replication, the simultaneous usage of the traveling pluviation and curtain raining technique is used to develop a new method, called the curtain travelling pluviator (CTP). This simple and cost effective system is based on the air pluviation approach, whilst reducing the sample production time, can reproduce uniform samples with relative densities ranging from 25% to 96%. In order to investigate the resulting suitability and uniformity from the proposed method, a series of tests is performed. The effect of curtain traveling velocity, curtain width, drop height, and flow rate on the parameters of the sample is thoroughly investigated. Increase in the curtain velocity and drop height leads to the increase in relative density for the sand specimen. Increase in curtain width typically resulted in the reduction of relative density. Test results reveal that the terminal drop height for the sand specimen in this study is more than 500 mm. Relative density contour lines are presented that can be utilized in optimizing the drop height and curtain width parameters. Sample uniformity in the vertical and horizontal orientation is investigated through the sampling containers. Increasing relative density tends to result in the higher sample repeatability and uniformity.

Factors Related to Sleep Disturbance in Patients of AIi-Ibne Abitaleb Educational and Therapeutic Center

Majid Kazemi,Gholamreza Refine,Ali Ansari,Sima Karimi 한국간호과학회 2007 한국간호과학회 학술대회 Vol.2007 No.11

Field Study of Effects of Night Shifts on Cognitive Performance, Salivary Melatonin, and Sleep

Kazemi, Reza,Motamedzade, Majid,Golmohammadi, Rostam,Mokarami, Hamidreza,Hemmatjo, Rasoul,Heidarimoghadam, Rashid Occupational Safety and Health Research Institute 2018 Safety and health at work Vol.9 No.2

Background: Night shift work is associated with many problems such as sleep deprivation, sleepiness, decreased cognitive performance, increased human errors, and fatigue. This study set out to measure cognitive performance, melatonin rhythms, and sleep after different consecutive night shifts (7 vs. 4) among control room operators (CORs). Methods: The participants included 60 CORs with a mean age of 30.2 years (standard deviation, 2.0) from a petrochemical complex located in Southern Iran. Cognitive performance was assessed using the n-back task and continuous performance test. To evaluate melatonin, saliva was collected and tested by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. To assess sleep and sleepiness, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Karolinska Sleepiness Scale were used, respectively. Results: Individuals who worked 7 consecutive night shifts had a significantly better cognitive performance and sleep quality than those who worked 4 consecutive night shifts. However, salivary melatonin profile and sleepiness trend were not affected by shift type. Conclusion: The main duty of CORs working night shifts at the studied industry included managing safety-critical processes through complex displays; a responsibility that demands good cognitive performance and alertness. It is suggested that an appropriate number of consecutive night shifts in a rotating shift system should be planned with the ultimate aim of improving CROs performance/alertness and enhancing safety.

Synthesis and characterization of magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles for controlled release of letrozole

Majid Abdouss,Ali Asghar Sarabi,Saeedeh Kazemi 한국화학공학회 2016 Korean Journal of Chemical Engineering Vol.33 No.11

Synthesis and characterization of magnetic letrozole imprinted polymer nanoparticles is described herein for the first time. Magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (MMIPs) were synthesized by precipitation polymerization using methacrylic acid (MAA) as functional monomer and trimethylolpropane trimethacrylate (TRIM) as crosslinker in the presence of letrozole as template and MAA-modified magnetite nanoparticles as magnetic component. The nanoparticles were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The synthesized MMIP nanoparticles, with particle size of about 100 nm, showed superparamagnetic features with a saturation magnetization of 12.5 emu·g−1 and had thermal stability below 240 oC. The adsorption experiments indicated better template recognition of MMIP than magnetic nonimprinted polymer (MNIP) nanoparticles. Moreover, the release profile of letrozole from MMIP and MNIP revealed the controlled release ability of MMIP nanoparticles for the letrozole anticancer drug. We also found that applying an external alternative magnetic field results in increasing the rate of the drug release.

Field Study of Effects of Night Shifts on Cognitive Performance, Salivary Melatonin, and Sleep

Reza Kazemi,Majid Motamedzade,Rostam Golmohammadi,Hamidreza Mokarami,Rasoul Hemmatjo,Rashid Heidarimoghadam 한국산업안전보건공단 산업안전보건연구원 2018 Safety and health at work Vol.9 No.2

Background: Night shift work is associated with many problems such as sleep deprivation, sleepiness, decreased cognitive performance, increased human errors, and fatigue. This study set out to measure cognitive performance, melatonin rhythms, and sleep after different consecutive night shifts (7 vs. 4) among control room operators (CORs). Methods: The participants included 60 CORs with a mean age of 30.2 years (standard deviation, 2.0) from a petrochemical complex located in Southern Iran. Cognitive performance was assessed using the n-back task and continuous performance test. To evaluate melatonin, saliva was collected and tested by enzymelinked immunosorbent assay. To assess sleep and sleepiness, the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index and Karolinska Sleepiness Scale were used, respectively. Results: Individuals who worked 7 consecutive night shifts had a significantly better cognitive performance and sleep quality than those who worked 4 consecutive night shifts. However, salivary melatonin profile and sleepiness trend were not affected by shift type. Conclusion: The main duty of CORs working night shifts at the studied industry included managing safety-critical processes through complex displays; a responsibility that demands good cognitive performance and alertness. It is suggested that an appropriate number of consecutive night shifts in a rotating shift system should be planned with the ultimate aim of improving CROs performance/alertness and enhancing safety.

Health Care Services of Women Clients at Health Centers in Sirjan of Iran

Sima Karimi,Majid kazemi 한국간호과학회 2007 한국간호과학회 학술대회 Vol.2007 No.11

Income-related inequality in completed suicide across the provinces of Iran

Mohammad Hassan Kazemi-Galougahi,Asieh Mansouri,Samaneh Akbarpour,Mahmood Bakhtiyari,Majid Sartipi,Rahmatollah Moradzadeh 한국역학회 2018 Epidemiology and Health Vol.40 No.-

OBJECTIVES: The aim of this study was to measure income-related inequality in completed suicide across the provinces of Iran. METHODS: This ecological study was performed using data from the Urban and Rural Household Income and Expenditure Survey-2010 conducted by the Iranian Center of Statistics, along with data on completed suicide from the Iranian Legal Medicine Organization in 2012. We calculated the Gini coefficient of per capita income and the completed suicide rate, as well as the concentration index for per capita income inequality in completed suicide, across the provinces of Iran. RESULTS: The Gini coefficients of per capita income and the completed suicide rate in the provinces of Iran were 0.10 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.06 to 0.13) and 0.34 (95% CI, 0.21 to 0.46), respectively. We found a trivial decreasing trend in the completed suicide incidence rate according to income quintile. The poorest-to-richest ratio in the completed suicide rate was 2.01 (95% CI, 1.26 to 3.22). The concentration index of completed suicide in the provinces of Iran was -0.12 (95% CI, -0.30 to 0.06). CONCLUSIONS: This study found that lower income might be considered as a risk factor for completed suicide. Nonetheless, further individual studies incorporating multivariable analysis and repeated cross-sectional data would allow a more fine-grained analysis of this phenomenon.

Comparison of Effects of Local Anesthesia and Two-Point Acupressure on the Severity of Venipuncture Pain Among Hospitalized 6e12-Year-Old Children

Parisa Shahmohammadi Pour,Golnaz Foroogh Ameri,Majid Kazemi,Yones Jahani 사단법인약침학회 2017 Journal of Acupuncture & Meridian Studies Vol.10 No.3

The aim of the present study was to compare the effects of topical anesthesia and acupressure at the Yintang (Extra 1) and the Laogong (P-8) points on the severity of venipuncture pain among hospitalized 6–12-year-old children. A sample (n = 120) of 6–12-year-old hospitalized children was recruited from two teaching hospitals located in Rafsanjan, Iran. The children were allocated to the topical anesthesia, acupressure, and control groups. For children in the topical anesthesia and the acupressure groups, eutectic mixture of local anesthetic (EMLA) cream and two-point acupressure were used, respectively, prior to performing venipuncture, whereas children in the control group only received routine prevenipuncture care. The severity of venipuncture pain was evaluated 5 minutes after performing venipuncture by using the Face, Leg, Activity, Cry, and Consolability behavioral pain assessment scale. The findings revealed that pain severity in both experimental groups was significantly lower than that in the control group, whereas there was no significant difference between the experimental groups regarding pain severity. Although acupressure was as effective as topical anesthesia cream in alleviating children's venipuncture pain, nurses are recommending to use acupressure instead of pharmacological pain management agents because of its greater safety, cost-effectiveness, and applicability.

Effect of Acupressure on Symptoms of Postoperative Ileus After Cesarean Section

Faezeh Abadi,Maryam Shahabinejad,Foziyeh Abadi,Majid Kazemi 사단법인약침학회 2017 Journal of Acupuncture & Meridian Studies Vol.10 No.2

Postoperative ileus (POI) is a common complication after most abdominal surgeries including cesarean section. It is associated with longer hospitalization and increased medical costs. This study is a randomized controlled trial investigating the effect of acupressure, and low-cost noninvasive traditional treatment, on POI symptoms after cesarean section. A total of 120 patients were randomly divided into two groups; the treatment group received two sessions of acupressure (an hour after attending the women’s division; and 3 hours after the first session), each lasting 20 minutes. The time of flatus and defecation, time to presence of bowel sounds, and duration of postoperative bed rest were monitored. Patients in the treatment group had a shorter time to presence of bowel sounds compared with those in the control group (p < 0.001), as well as shorter time to first passage of flatus (p < 0.001) and shorter postoperative bed rest (pZ 0.005). However, the time to first defecation was not statistically significant (pZ 0.311). Acupressure has potential positive impacts on attenuating POI symptoms after cesarean section, and can be used as a low-cost noninvasive nursing care to reduce POI incidence and intensity after cesarean section.