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Background: Although medical students gain essential knowledge about healthy lifestyles, studies show that this group does not behave in a healthy way and no effective lifestyle courses are also available for this group. Objectives: The present study aimed to determine the health-promoting lifestyle in medical and non-medical students in Zanjan during 2016-2017. Methods: The population of this comparative-descriptive study included all students studying at the medical and non-medical universities of Zanjan Province. Census and randomized cluster sampling techniques were used for selecting medical and non-medical students, respectively. The senior students who showed their tendency could participate in the study. In addition, the data were collected by demographic information and health-promoting behavior (HPLPII) questionnaires. Finally, the data were analyzed through using descriptive (frequency, frequency percentage, mean, and standard deviation) and inferential (independent t-test and the Chi-square) statistics in SPSS 16 and P0.05). Conclusion: Based on the results, more accurate reviewing and planning are necessary regarding improving the health-promoting lifestyle, especially in the field of physical activity and nutritional habits while removing health promotion lifestyle barriers among students, especially medical students

Background: Nowadays, extensive technological advancements have made it possible to use nanopaints which show exciting properties. In IR Iran excessive radon levels (up to 3700 Bq m–3) have been reported in homes located in radon prone areas. Over the past decades, concerns have been raised about the risk posed by residential radon exposure. Objective: This study aims at investigating the effect of using nanomaterial containing wall paints on radon concentration in homes. Methods: Two wooden model houses were used in this study. Soil samples from Ramsar high background radiation areas were used for simulating the situation of a typical house in radon-prone areas. Conventional water-soluble wall paint was used for painting the walls of the 1st house model; while the 2nd house model was painted with the same wall paint with montmorillonite nanoclay. Results: Three days after sealing the house models, radon level was measured by using a portable radon survey meter. The mean radon level inside the 1st house model (conventional paint) was 515.3 ± 17.8 Bq/m3 while the mean radon concentration in the 2nd house model (nano-painted house model) was 570.8 ± 18.5 Bq/m3. The difference between these means was statistically signifcant (P

IntroductionInnovative technologies, such as smart sprayers, are pivotal catalysts for modernizing the agricultural sector and play an indispensable role in providing food for human consumption. Without the utilization of these technologies and the implementation of profa input management, it is predicted that environmental impacts will worsen in the future. Attaining sustainable production, while implementing programs to ensure food security, presents a considerable challene for researchers and policymakers worldwide. In this research, the faformance of a fixed-rate orchard sprayer was evaluated. Employing various equipment, the sprayer was then upgraded to a variable-rate sprayer, and its faformance was reevaluated and compared to the fixed-rate model.Material and MethodsThis research comprehensively evaluated a fixed-rate orchard sprayer and subsequently upgraded it to a variable-rate sprayer for further assessment. The primary components of the developed variable-rate sprayer, consists of an ON-OFF solenoid valve, a digital camera for imaging purposes, an ultrasonic sensor, a flow meter, and a control circuit. The necessary modifications were implemented on a fixed-rate turbine sprayer. The development of the variable-rate sprayer was devided into two distinct phases. The initial phase involved determining the canopy volume and acquiring the necessary information fataining to the spraying target, specifically the tree. The subsequent phase focused on decision-making and control of the spraying rate, thereby facilitating variable-rate application. Upon laboratory examination of the samples, spectroscopic results were obtained, and the total concentration of the pesticide solution was calculated across different sections of a one-hectare orange orchard. An investigation into the sedimentation of pesticide solution was conducted across different treatments in two spraying modes namely, variable-rate and fixed-rate and at three distinct speeds: low (1.6 km hr-1), medium (3.2 km hr-1), and high (4.8 km hr-1) resulting in six treatments.Results and DiscussionThe comparative analysis of average pesticide deposition on trees revealed a significant difference between the two spraying modes; variable-rate and fixed-rate. All indicators demonstrate that the type of sprayer and the spraying speed significantly influence changes in pesticide deposition across different treatments. However, the interaction effect of the type of sprayer and the speed of spraying did not significantly impact the amount of pesticide deposition on the trees and the total consumption of pesticide fa hectare. The results indicated that neither the type of sprayer, nor the speed of spraying, nor their interaction had a significant effect on the spraying quality index. Furthermore, the numerical median diameter and volume median diameter were not significantly different across the treatments.The maximum pesticide consumption savings in the variable-rate spraying mode was 46%, achieved at a speed of 1.6 km hr-1. The maximum efficiency was 70% in the variable-rate spraying mode, occurring at a speed of 3.2 km hr-1. The lowest amount of pesticide deposition on the canopy of trees was observed in the variable-rate spraying method at the speed of 4.8 km hr-1 (1303 L ha-1), and the highest amount of deposition occurred in the fixed-rate spraying at the speed of 1.6 km hr-1 (2121 L ha-1). The highest amount of pesticide release in the air was also calculated in the fixed-rate spraying mode with a speed of km hr-1 (241 L ha-1) and the lowest value was calculated in the variable-rate spraying mode with a speed of 3.2 km hr-1.ConclusionEmerging technologies, such as smart sprayers, play a crucial role in increasing the productivity of the agricultural sector. If these technologies are not utilized, the challenes related to the sustainability of production will increase in the future. One of the critical ofaations in the production of agricultural products is the spraying phase. In this research, a fixed-rate sprayer was upgraded to a variable-rate sprayer, both sprayers were evaluated, and the results of this evaluation were then used to compare the two spraying systems. The results revealed that because the amount of the pesticide sprayed is controlled in real time by canopy volume detection in the variable-rate sprayer, in the best case (speed 1.6 km hr-1), it reduced pesticide consumption by 46% and reached 70% efficiency. In all the studied treatments, both the type of sprayer and the speed of spraying significantly affected changes in pesticide deposition. However, the interaction between the type of sprayer and the speed of spraying did not have a significant effect on the amount of pesticide deposition on trees or total pesticide consumption fa hectare. There was no significant difference in the coverage facentage of the pesticide deposition on the target in different treatments, and the best spraying quality occurred in variable rate spraying with a speed of 4.8 km hr-1.By using a variable-rate sprayer, while saving on the costs of chemical pesticide consumption and spraying, toxic emissions that cause environmental pollution will also be reduced. Future research should focus on developing a variable-rate system based on independent nozzles, allowing for real-time control of each individual nozzle's spraying. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research aims to optimize the mixing process in gas-lift anaerobic digesters of municipal sewage sludge since mixing and maintaining uniform contact between methanogenic bacteria and nutrients is essential. Wastewater municipal sludge sampling was performed at the Ahvaz West treatment plant (Chonibeh, Iran) during the summer of 2022. A Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) model was implemented to simulate, optimize, and confirm the simulation process using ANSYS Fluent software 19.0. The velocity of the inlet-gas into the digester was determined and a draft tube and a conical hanging baffle were added to the digester design. Different inlet-gas velocities were investigated to optimize the mixing in the digester. Furthermore, turbulence kinetic energy and other evaluation indexes related to the sludge particles such as their velocity, velocity gradient, and eddy viscosity were studied. The optimal inlet-gas velocity was determined to be 0.3 ms-1. The simulation results were validated using the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) method and the correlation between CFD and PIV contours was statistically sufficient (98.8% at the bottom corner of the digester's wall). The results showed that the model used for simulating, optimizing, and verifying the simulation process is valid. It can be recommended for gas-lift anaerobic digesters with the following specifications: cylindrical tank with a height-to-diameter ratio of 1.5, draft tube-to-digester diameter ratio of 0.2, draft tube-to-fluid height ratio of 0.75, the conical hanging baffle distance from the fluid level equal to 0.125 of the fluid height, and its outer diameterto- digester diameter of 2/3. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Nowadays, machine vision systems are extensively used in agriculture. The application of this technology in the field can help preserve agricultural resources while reducing manual labor and production costs. In the field of agricultural automation, accurately detecting crop rows is recognized as a crucial and challenging issue for weed identification and the automatic guidance of machines. Therefore, it is necessary to explore practical solutions to optimize this process. Hence, the purpose of this study is the precise identification of basil cultivation rows to enable the automatic navigation of robots in the cultivation field. Materials and Methods In the first stage of this research, six images from each growth period of basil plants (third, fourth, and fifth week) were taken and weeds were removed from the area between the crop rows using three different methods of area opening, dimensional removal, and masking. In the next stage, six images of crop rows without weeds were examined by performing image processing operations and implementing several routing algorithms, namely, Hough transform, wavelet transform, Gabor filter, linear regression, and an additional algorithm proposed in this study. The output of each of these algorithms was compared with the ideal path identified by the user. For this purpose, after capturing an image, green areas were extracted from it by performing the segmentation process. By applying each of the routing algorithms to the image, plant cultivation lines were identified and their equations were determined. Finally, the performance of the designed robot was evaluated using the most appropriate routing algorithm. Results and Discussion Examining the performance of three different methods of weed removal in three periods of plant growth (third, fourth, and fifth week) showed that during this interval, the masking method had the lowest error rate compared to the ideal path and the shortest average operation time of 1.64 seconds, followed by the dimensional removal and the area opening methods. Comparing the routes detected by different routing algorithms with the ideal routes and according to the results of the t-test at 5% probability level, the order of the studied routing methods from the most superior is as follows: the proposed algorithm, Gabor filter, linear regression, Hough transform and wavelet transform algorithm. Overall, the proposed algorithm had the highest rate of adaptation to the ideal path (with an average error of 3.65 pixels) and the shortest operation time (4.79 seconds) and was selected as the most appropriate routing algorithm and the performance of the designed robot was evaluated using it. Conclusion A reliable crop row detection algorithm can reduce production costs and preserve the environment. In this study, the masking method was used for removing weeds from the images. The new proposed routing algorithm has superior performance when compared with common routing algorithms such as the Gabor filter, linear regression, Hough transform, and wavelet transform. Additionally, it was shown that the designed robot using the proposed algorithm (with an average error of 3.65 pixels) has the desired performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction Adopting new technologies for crop growth has the characteristics of improving disaster resistance and stress tolerance, ensuring stable yields, and improving product quality. Currently, the cultivation of seed trays relies on huge labor power, and further mechanization is needed to increase production. However, there are some problems in this operation, such as the difficulty of improving the speed of a single machine, seedling deficiency detection, automatic planting, and controlling the quality, which need to be solved urgently. To solve these problems, there are already some meaningful attempts. Si et al. (2012) applied a photoelectric sensor to a vegetable transplanter, which can measure the distance between seedlings and the movement speed of seedlings in a seedling guide tube, to prevent omission transplantation. Yang et al. (2018) designed a seedling separation device with reciprocating movement of the seedling cup for rice transplanting. Tests show that the structure of the mechanical parts of the seedling separation device meets the requirements of seed movement. The optimization of the control system can improve the positioning accuracy according to requirements and achieve the purpose of automatic seedling division. Chen et al. (2020) designed and tested of soft-pot-tray automatic embedding system for a light-economical pot seedling nursery machine. The experimental results showed that the embedded-hard-tray automatic lowering mechanism was reliable and stable as the tray placement success rate was greater than 99%. The successful tray embedding rate was 100% and the seed exposure rate was less than 1% with a linear velocity of the conveyor belt of 0.92 m s-1. The experiment findings agreed well with the analytical results. Despite the sharp decline in Iran's water resources and growing population, the need to produce food and agricultural products is greater than ever. In the past, most seeds were planted directly into the soil, and many water resources, especially groundwater, were used for direct seed sowing and plant germination. One way to reduce the consumption of water, fertilizers, and pesticides is to plant seedlings instead of direct seed sowing. Therefore, the purpose of this study was dynamic modeling and fabrication of seed planting systems in seedling trays. Material and Methods In this experiment, Flores sugar beet seeds (Maribo company, Denmark) were used. The seedling trays had dimensions of 29.5*60 cm with openings and holes of 5.5 and 4 cm, respectively. To plant seeds in seedling trays, first, a planter arm was modeled and its position was obtained at any time. Then, based on dynamic modeling, the arm was constructed and a capacitive proximity sensor (CR30-15AC, China) and IR infrared proximity sensor (E18-D80NK, China) were used to find the location of seedling trays on the input conveyor and position of discharging arm, respectively. To achieve a stable and effective control system, a micro-controller-based circuit was developed to signal the planting system. The seed planting operation was performed in the seedling tray according to the coordinates which were provided through the image processing method. The planting system was evaluated at two levels of forward speed (5 and 10 cm s-1). Moreover, a smartphone program was implemented to monitor the operation of the planting system. Results and Discussion The planting system was assessed for sugar beet seeds using two levels of forward speed (5 and 10 cm s-1). The nominal capacity of this planter ranged from 3579 to 4613 cells per hour, with a miss and multiple implantation indices of 0.03% and 8.17%, respectively, in 3000 cells. Due to its planting accuracy, speed, and low energy consumption (25.56 watt-hours), this system has the potential to replace manual seeding in seedling trays. Conclusion In the present study, a seed-sowing system for planting seedling trays was designed, constructed, and evaluated based on dynamic modeling. In the developed system, unlike previous research, planting location detection was conducted through image processing. Additionally, a smartphone program was established to monitor the operation of the planting system without interfering with its performance. This study demonstrates that image processing can successfully detect planting locations and can effectively improve efficiency over time for major producers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Regular network data envelopment analysis (NDEA) models for calculating the efficiency of decisionmaking units (DMUs) with two-stage construction requires the data set to be deterministic. In the real world, however, there are many observations that have stochastic behavior. This paper proposes a network DEA with two-stage structures models by the attention to stochastic data. The stochastic two-stage network DEA models are formulated based on the P-models of chance constrained programming and leader-follower concepts. On the basis of probability distribution properties and by the assumption of stochastic single factor components of data set, the probabilistic form of models is transformed to the equivalent deterministic linear programming model. In addition, the relationship between each stage as leader or follower is discussed. A real case on 16 commercial banks in China has been clarified to confirm the applicability of the proposed approaches under different levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Byline: S. Mehdizadeh, R. Faghihi, S. Sina, M. Zehtabian, S. Derakhshan The general purpose Monte Carlo N-Particle Radiation Transport Computer Code (MCNP4C) was used to calculate the equivalent dose to the person or people accompanying patients who have been exposed to radiation that was scattered from the patient. To do the calculations, two homogeneous water phantoms were used to simulate the patient and the accompanying person. Finally, in the case of source specification, only the focus of the X-ray tube was modelled, i.e., as a standard MCNP point source that emits a cone of photon. The X-ray spectra to be used in the MCNP simulations were generated with spectrum generating software. These calculations were done for different patient sizes and radiological operations. Dose measurements were made using standard methods that employ LiF TLD-100 dosimeters. A Thermoluminescent Dosimetry (TLD) card was placed on the main trunk of the body of the accompanying person(s), where the maximum dose was probable. In the case of TLD, for a group of 100 examinations, the dose equivalents ranged from 0.01 μSv to 0.13 mSv, with an average of 0.05 mSv. These results are seen to be in close agreement with Monte Carlo simulations. The results suggest that under the correct technical conditions, the radiation doses that are received by the accompanying person or people in radiodiagnostic examinations can be limited to acceptable values and can certainly be under the limits of a permissible dose to the public (1 mSv per year). However, if exposure is frequently repeated, it is probable that the limits that were mentioned above will be exceeded.

Byline: S.M.J. Mortazavi, S. Mehdizadeh, M. Zehtabian, S. Sina Radon is believed to be an important risk factor for lung cancer. Radon levels in some regions of Ramsar, a city in northern Iran, are up to 3700 Bq/m[sup.3]. On the other hand, in the hot springs of Mahallat, in the central part of Iran, the indoor mean radon concentration in air is as high as 480 Bq/m[sup.3]. In order to develop an economical radon-resistant construction technique, the radon-reducing properties of zeolite and bentonite minerals have been investigated. It was found that zeolite and bentonite both significantly decrease the indoor radon level. The efficiency of zeolite in radon reduction is significantly greater than that of bentonite. As both zeolite and bentonite can be found in many parts of Iran, these mineral sorbents can be used in national remedial action programmes.

Plated high saturation magnetization soft FeCo films are annealed in magnetic field and their stress, microstructure, and magnetic properties are investigated. The FeCO films consistently showed a reduced tensile stress after magnetic annealing at temperatures above 255 degree Celsius.

In this study, abstraction, desalination and recharge method and SEAWAT numerical model are used to investigate seawater intrusion repulsion in a hypothetical two-dimensional coastal aquifer to understand the relation of seawater intrusion with abstraction, desalination and recharge parameters (i.e. abstraction/recharge rate, wells distance and depth). Abstraction, desalination and recharge consists of abstraction and desalination of brackish water and recharge of desalinated water. The results of different defined scenarios showed that increase of recharge rate has a significant effect on the seawater intrusion mitigation (e.g. more than 80% variation in saline water volume) while the increase of abstraction rate does not have specific impact on seawater recession (e.g. less than 3% variation in toe position). The method efficiency in reducing seawater intrusion is increased when freshwater is recharged by well at outside of saltwater wedge and close to its toe position. Moreover, it is shown that the abstraction, desalination and recharge performance has slightly improved when the recharge and extraction wells are placed deeper into aquifer and close to aquifer bottom (almost 15% for all characteristics of salt wedge). Ultimately, dilution of saline water with recharged freshwater will widen the mixing zone but as salt wedge recedes toward the sea simultaneously, the mixing zone thickness cannot follow the steady reduction trend. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The majority of older people will enjoy good health and productive lives in their later years. But in 2000 there were an estimated 167,000 persons over age 65 in Ohio experiencing severe disability and requiring daily assistance in caring for themselves. 319,000 older persons were moderately disabled, needing help with at least one ADL, or two IADLs. The severely disabled population will increase to 172,000 by 2010 and to more than 450,000 by 2050. The state of Ohio will face not only an increasing older population, but also an increasing number of disabled older persons. This study examined who provides and pays for the care. First we determined the number of individuals with disability who receive formal care, informal care, and those with unmet care needs. Next, the value of the care was estimated. The more challenging part of this project was estimating the number of hours of care needed per each specific ADL deficiency and the value of that care, if purchased. We also examined the opportunity cost of caregiving and the impact of lost future income on financing the caregiver's own future care. The implications of maintaining the existing policies regarding long-term care financing during the years 2010-2050 when the baby boom generation reaches age 65 and beyond were explored for Ohio, and alternative scenarios are presented graphically.

Objective: Dried violet-blue petals of Echiumamoenum is of great interest because of its medicinal and nutritional properties but there is no reports about the effects of drying conditions on kinetic drying of Echiumamoenum. Design: Drying experiments were performed for temperatures of 40, 50 and 60°C, and air velocities of 0.5, 0.75 and 1.0 ms 'in a laboratory scale fluidized bed dryer. Materials and Methods: Different drying conditions were applied, and their influence on kinetic drying was investigated, to select the appropriate drying model, seven mathematical drying models were fitted to the experimental data. Results: It was observed that increase of the drying air temperature from 40 to 60°C caused decrease of the drying time from 430 and 75 minutes to 390 and 55 minutes for 0.5 ms-1 and 1 ms-1 air velocity, respectively. The results indicated that the temperature significantly affected the drying process while the velocity was not significant in the drying process. The highest values of drying rate were 3.7 x 10-6 gmin-1 obtained at air temperature of 60°C and air velocity of 1 ms-1. While the lowest values were 0.8 X 10-5 gmin-1 for at 40°C temperature and 0.5 ms-1. Conclusion: Considering the statistical criteria, Page model was found to fit well to describe the drying behaviour of Echiumamoenum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]