Current Applied Sciences

Abstract Ionic conduction of lithium-borate thin films shows a nontrivial increase when the layer thickness is less than 120 nanometers. In this research, the space-charge model is used to describe high conductivity in lithium-borate thin films. Regarding the amorphous structure of these layers, similar to the crystalline structure, we assume the Li+ ions and their counterparts as defects and the regions adjacent to electrode-electrolyte interfaces as space-charge regions. The electrochemical potential of defects arising from these regions leads to the well-known Poisson-Boltzmann equation. To solve this equation numerically, the fourth-order Rung-Kutta integration, together with a shooting method for two-point boundary value problems, is used. Since these two boundary conditions are at two different points, the shooting method is used to solve this problem. Finally, the calculated ionic conductivity is compared to the experimental one. A free parameter that is related to the size of the space-charge region is used to fit space-charge model data to the experimental results. Although the space charge model is used in this research to describe the ionic conductivity of lithium borate, it is expected that this model can be used for other ionic conductors by changing the model parameters.

Abstract Brucellosis or Malta fever (Mediterranean fever) is an important zoonosis caused by different species of Brucella – a small, Gram-negative, aerobic, non-motile, non-encapsulated, and non-spore-forming coccobacillus. Brucellosis can be easily transmitted to humans by Brucella-contaminated blood, meat, or milk. The lack of an effective tool for vaccination or efficient treatment has necessitated rapid bacterial detection methods for preventing this disease. In this study, we optimized the molecular detection of Brucella through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and multiplex-PCR. To this end, the Omp31 and BLS genes were amplified, resulting in two fragments of 347 bp and 256 bp, respectively. PCR and multiplex-PCR specificity and sensitivity for genomic DNA were 100% and 0.39 ng/μL, respectively. The detection time of Brucella was less than 2 hours, which is obviously shorter than the identification time of the traditional methods like culture, which usually takes more than a day. Given the high specificity and sensitivity of Brucella detection with these genes through multiplex-PCR, we suggest this approach for evaluating the contamination of livestock in veterinary reference laboratories.

Abstract Morphological variation between male and female populations of Anjak, Schizocypris altidorsalis species in Sistan basin of Iran was studied using landmark-based geometric morphometric and Traditional morphometric. A total of 27 specimens (16 males and 13 females) were caught from one basin. A total number of 16 landmark-points were defined and digitized on 2D pictures, and 29 morphometric characters were measured. To eliminate non-shape data, including size, direction, and position, the extracted data were analyzed by the generalized procrustes analysis. The data of TM were analyzed by Hoteling t-test, and data of GM were analyzed and compared using multivariate principal component analysis (PCA) which showed male and female populations overlapped. Deformation shape grid and Wireframe based on the consensus body shape, very little separation the two populations based on the head size, body depth, and caudal peduncle length characteristics. Based on TM analysis, these characters could not differentiate between the female and male, except for two characters, length of pectoral fin and maximum body depth (p <0.00). Comparative morphological studies revealed deformation of the grid and wireframe in more details. In the deformation grid, there are differences between the two populations due to folds and twists. Wireframe shows differences better in certain places, such as the head, caudal peduncle, and middle area of the body.

Abstract Non-reinforced brick structures around the world, especially in Iran and in small towns, have a major part of building types, and usually, these types of structures are major weaknesses in the earthquake. So, the vulnerability of these structures under earthquake, has particular features. Also, most of the structures that have historical significance are built using masonry. Hence, analyzing the behavior of these structures, the breaks, and assess, the risk factors on the mechanisms have a significant influence on the selection of appropriate methods of rehabilitation and retrofitting masonry buildings. Studies on masonry buildings after earthquake show that fragility of materials and non-continuity of these buildings are a main factor of destruction at the time of earthquake. There are similar damages occurred by earthquake on these structures regarding to the kind of construction of these structures. Nowadays, damage index is used as a tool for accurate evaluation of structure, and decision-making to determine the amount of damages to structures, the advantage of the damage indexes is identifying structure condition, besides identifying the amount of damages, and also is used as a criterion for decision-making. In this research, we are investigating mechanisms broke and vulnerability brick buildings. The comparison of data shows that by reducing the maximum acceleration of earthquakes for different seismic zones, the damage to the walls decreases so that for the medium and low seismic zones, none of the walls reach the limit of irreparable damage. Moreover, it is added to the number of walls that have minor damage.

Abstract Let H be a finite-dimensional complex Hilbert space. In this note, we determine all maps on S (H), which is the set of all density operators on H, that preserve the von Neumann entropy of convex combinations.

Abstract Severe plastic deformation (SPD) have been established to produce ultrafine-grained and nanostructure materials. One of the newly introduced methods is the constrained studded pressing (CSP) technique. A limitation of the CSP process is the creation of surface cracks. The most essential factors affecting surface cracks are residual stresses. In the current research, residual stresses distribution was studied on copper sheet under CSP using the finite element method. In addition, for laboratory study, microstructure and residual stress evaluation were studied before and after applying the CSP method. The microstructures of the annealed and deformed copper sheets have been observing by an optical microscope. The grain size, dislocation density, and the residual stresses were tested using an X-ray diffraction. The average grain size decreased from 27 μm in the annealed sample to 11 μm in the first pass sample. In the 10th pass, the average grain size decreased to 750 nm. The smallest reduction in grain size was achieved after applying the first pass, but with the increase of the applied strain in the final pass, the highest dislocation density was created in the microstructure. Therefore, by increasing the density of dislocations and followed by dynamic recovery, it caused the largest decrease in grain size compared to other samples. The residual stresses were altered from +153.2 MPa for the annealed sample to -48.6 MPa in the 10th pass sample. According to this research, the application of more strains is directly related to the creation of compressive residual stresses and grain refinement.