• Structural Engineering and Mechanics
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• v.74 no.2
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• pp.175-187
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• 2020

The theories having been developed thus far account for higher-order variation of transverse shear strain through the depth of the beam and satisfy the stress-free boundary conditions on the top and bottom surfaces of the beam. A shear correction factor, therefore, is not required. In this paper, the effect of surface on the axial buckling and free vibration of nanobeams is studied using various refined higher-order shear deformation beam theories. Furthermore, these theories have strong similarities with Euler-Bernoulli beam theory in aspects such as equations of motion, boundary conditions, and expressions of the resultant stress. The equations of motion and boundary conditions were derived from Hamilton's principle. The resultant system of ordinary differential equations was solved analytically. The effects of the nanobeam length-to-thickness ratio, thickness, and modes on the buckling and free vibration of the nanobeams were also investigated. Finally, it was found that the buckling and free vibration behavior of a nanobeam is size-dependent and that surface effects and surface energy produce significant effects by increasing the ratio of surface area to bulk at nano-scale. The results indicated that surface effects influence the buckling and free vibration performance of nanobeams and that increasing the length-to-thickness increases the buckling and free vibration in various higher-order shear deformation beam theories. This study can assist in measuring the mechanical properties of nanobeams accurately and designing nanobeam-based devices and systems.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.315-326
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• 2020

The long-term behavior of rockfill material used in the construction of infrastructures such as dams is of great significance. Because of concerns about the application of weak rockfill material in dam construction, further experimental studies on the behavior of these materials are required. In this study, laboratory experiments were performed to investigate the one-dimensional deformation and particle breakage of the weak rockfill material under stress. A one-dimensional compression apparatus was designed and developed for testing of rockfill materials of different maximum particle sizes (MPSs). The compression tests were performed under dry, wet and saturated conditions on samples of rockfill material obtained from a dam construction site in Iran. The results of the experiments conducted at the specimen preparation stage and the 1D compression tests are presented. In weak rockfill, the effect of the addition of water on the behavior of the material was uncertain as there were both an increases and decreases observed in particle breakage. Increasing the MPS of the weak rockfill materials increased particle breakage, which was similar to the behavior of strong rockfill material. In all of the MPSs examined, the settlement of specimens under wet conditions was higher than that observed under dry conditions. Also, the greatest deformation occurred during the first hour of loading.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.63 no.12
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• pp.485-490
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• 2020

Background: Recurrent abdominal pain (RAP) is one of the frequent complaints in general practice, particularly in pediatrics and is among the common cause of referral to gastroenterology clinics. Purpose: This study is designed to investigate the effects of probiotics for the treatment of RAP and desired therapeutic outcomes. Methods: One hundred twenty-five children with the diagnosis of RAP according to Rome III criteria for irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), functional abdominal pain (FAP), functional dyspepsia (FD), and abdominal migraine (AM), were enrolled in this double-blind randomized controlled trial. Results: Sixty-five subjects received probiotics, and others received placebo treatment for 4 weeks. Lactobacillus reuteri was therapeutically effective in 32 patients compared to 8 patients, responding to the placebo treatment. Compared to baseline, all pain-related variables showed a significant reduction for the IBS and FD at the end of the 4th week. However, it did not respond well in FAP and AM groups. Pain-related outcomes such as, frequency of the pain, severity, and duration of the pain were decreased following the probiotic treatment. No therapeutic response was seen in AM group after the administration of probiotics. L. reuteri significantly led to pain relief in the overall population, and also in FAP, FD, and IBS subgroups. Conclusion: L. reuteri probiotics are likely to lead to RAP relief and can be recommended for the treatment of functional gastrointestinal disorders.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.31-36
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• 2021

Background: The diagnosis of esophageal varices (EV) is based on the findings of esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD), biopsy, and serum markers. Thus, noninvasive cost-effective tests through which high-risk EV children can be diagnosed are needed. Purpose: This cross-sectional study aimed to identify the noninvasive markers for EV in children with liver cirrhosis. Methods: A total of 98 children with liver cirrhosis were evaluated in this study. The spleen size, platelet count, serum albumin, liver function test results, and risk scores were evaluated prior to endoscopy. The endoscopic investigations aimed to identify the presence of EV and red signs, and determine varices sizes. Results: Endoscopy revealed varices in 43 subjects (43.9%). The spleen size, platelet count, international normalized ratio, aspartate aminotransferase to platelet ratio index (APRI), platelet count to spleen size ratio, and risk score differed significantly between patients with and without EV on univariate analysis; however, the logistic regression analysis showed no differences, indicating that none of these parameters were independently associated with the presence of EV. Conclusion: Platelet count, risk score, platelet count to spleen size, and APRI can be useful tools for the identification of high-risk patients with EV and might reduce the need for invasive methods like EGD.

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.239-252
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• 2019

Since conical sandwich shells are important structures in the modern industries, in this paper, for the first time, vibration behavior of the truncated conical sandwich shells which include temperature dependent porous FG face sheets and temperature dependent homogeneous core in various thermal conditions are investigated. A high order theory of sandwich shells which modified by considering the flexibility of the core and nonlinear von Karman strains are utilized. Power law rule which modified by considering the two types of porosity volume fractions are applied to model the functionally graded materials. By utilizing the Hamilton's energy principle, and considering the in-plane and thermal stresses in the face-sheets and the core, the governing equations are obtained. A Galerkin procedure is used to solve the equations in a simply supported boundary condition. Uniform, linear and nonlinear temperature distributions are used to model the effect of the temperature changing in the sandwich shell. To verify the results of this study, they are compared with FEM results obtained by Abaqus software and for special cases with the results in literatures. Eigen frequencies variations are surveyed versus the temperature changing, geometrical effects, porosity, and some others in the numerical examples.

• Journal of Forest and Environmental Science
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• v.39 no.2
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• pp.96-104
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• 2023

The successful restoration program requires a comprehensive understanding of variables influencing seedling efficiency. Below-ground is hypothesized to have a major impact on seedling performance of species when planted in agriculture, and degraded areas with different types of mulching. This study investigated on Sg. Terla Forest Reserve in Cameron Highlands Pahang, Malaysia. In this study randomized complete block design (RCBD) was used. The excavation method was applied to study the root system development, above, and below ground biomass distributions under different types of mulching: coconut mulching (CM), oil palm mulching (OM), plastic mulching (PM) and control (CK). The root diameter, main root length, lateral root length, root coiling, and root direction toward to sun were recorded. The results in this study indicate that mulching had significant effect on root diameter, main root length, and root distributions among treatments while for lateral root length, root: shoot ratio, dry biomass distributions, and above and below ground biomass did not showed significant effect among treatments. The highest values for root diameter, lateral root length, main root length, root distributions, dry biomass distributions and above and below ground biomass were showed in CM treatments. However 75% of root coiling was observed in seedlings between treatments.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.5
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• pp.1863-1870
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• 2023

Molybdenum-99 (⁹⁹Mo) is used for preparing Technetium-99 m (^99mTc), which is the most widely used isotope in nuclear medicine. In this work, a study for ⁹⁹Mo production based on a high-power electron accelerator has been performed as an alternative approach to produce ^99mTc. In this study, Monte Carlo MCNPX2.6 code has been used to examine a novel idea of simultaneous hybrid production of ⁹⁹Mo via both photoneutron and neutron capture reactions using an electron accelerator in heavy water tank. It is expected that this conceptual design including an arrangement of metallic plates of ¹⁰⁰Mo and ⁹⁸Mo produces total activity of 97.5 Ci at the end of 20-h continuous e-beam irradiation (30 MeV, 10 mA).

• Steel and Composite Structures
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• v.49 no.6
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• pp.603-614
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• 2023

In this paper, frequency analysis of curved functionally graded (FG) nanobeam by consideration of deepness effect has been studied. Differential transform method (DTM) has been used to obtain frequency responses. The nonlocal theory of Eringen has been applied to consider nanoscales. Material properties are supposed to vary in radial direction according to power-law distribution. Differential equations and related boundary conditions have been derived using Hamilton's principle. Finally, by consideration of nonlocal theory, the governing equations have been derived. Natural frequencies have been obtained using semi analytical method (DTM) for different boundary conditions. In order to study the effect of deepness, the deepness term is considered in strain field. The effects of the gradient index, radius of curvature, the aspect ratio, the nonlocal parameter and interaction of aforementioned parameters on frequency value for different boundary conditions such as clamped-clamped (C-C), clamped-hinged (C-H), and clamped-free (C-F) have been investigated. In addition, the obtained results are compared with the results in previous literature in order to validate present study, a good agreement was observed in the present results.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.55 no.11
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• pp.4246-4251
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• 2023

The optimized design of a Neutron Activation Analysis (NAA) system, including Delayed Gamma NAA (DGNAA) and Prompt Gamma NAA (PGNAA), has been proposed in this research based on Mevex Linac with 5 MeV electron energy and 50 kW power as a neutron source. Based on the MCNPX 2.6 simulation, the optimized configuration contains; tungsten as an electron-photon converter, BeO as a photoneutron target, BeD₂ and plexiglass as moderators, and graphite as a reflector and collimator, as well as lead as a gamma shield. The obtained thermal neutron flux at the beam port is equal to 2.06 × 10⁹ (# /cm².s). In addition, using the optimized neutron beam, the detection limit has been calculated for some elements such as H-1, B-10, Na-23, Al-27, and Ti-48. The HPGe Coaxial detector has been used to measure gamma rays emitted by nuclides in the sample. By the results, the proposed system can be an appropriate solution to measure the concentration and toxicity of elements in different samples such as food, soil, and plant samples.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.54 no.1
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• pp.55-60
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• 2016

The aim of the present study is to determine the characteristics of genotype and phenotype of Echinococcus granulosus derived from wild sheep and to compare them with the strains of E. granulosus sensu stricto (sheep-dog) and E. granulosus camel strain (camel-dog) in Iran. In Khojir National Park, near Tehran, Iran, a fertile hydatid cyst was recently found in the liver of a dead wild sheep (Ovis orientalis). The number of protoscolices (n=6,000) proved enough for an experimental infection in a dog. The characteristics of large and small hooks of metacestode were statistically determined as the sensu stricto strain but not the camel strain (P=0.5). To determine E. granulosus genotype, 20 adult worms of this type were collected from the infected dog. The second internal transcribed spacer (ITS2) of the nuclear ribosomal DNA (rDNA) and cytochrome c oxidase 1 subunit (COX1) of the mitochondrial DNA were amplified from individual adult worm by PCR. Subsequently, the PCR product was sequenced by Sanger method. The lengths of ITS2 and COX1 sequences were 378 and 857 bp, respectively, for all the sequenced samples. The amplified DNA sequences from both ribosomal and mitochondrial genes were highly similar (99% and 98%, respectively) to that of the ovine strain in the GenBank database. The results of the present study indicate that the morpho-molecular features and characteristics of E. granulosus in the Iranian wild sheep are the same as those of the sheep-dog E. granulosus sensu stricto strain.