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The overarching goal of this research is to use polymeric composites enriched with diatomic soil to improve petroleum-contaminated clayey soil. The effect of petroleum on the geotechnical properties of clayey soil was investigated in the laboratory in the first stage using uniaxial, direct shear, and permeability tests. The polymeric composite material was then created and mixed with the diatomic soil. The geotechnical properties of petroleum-contaminated clayey soil were studied using a polymeric composite material mixed with diatomic soil (PCD). Petroleum reduced the shear resistance, internal friction angle, and uniaxial resistance of the clay for contamination percentages ranging from 0% to 12%. Whereas 12 percent petroleum content causes the greatest changes in soil mechanical resistance. According to the results of the direct shear test, adding 5.5 percent PCD increases the shear resistance of the base material and contaminated base material to average values of 32 and 48 percent, respectively. Furthermore, the results of the petroleum permeability test show that adding 5.5 percent PCD reduces soil permeability. The results show that the improved clay by PCD can be used as a liner for the base of petroleum reservoirs.

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Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) is a highly contagious and devastating disease that spreads rapidly and causes many economic damages. One of the important      methods for detection of FMD and particularly differentiation of vaccinated from infected animals, is the use of non-structural proteins as antigens in ELISA kits. The purpose of this study was cloning of the gene sequence and expression of the antigenic regions of 3D nonstructural protein as one of the diagnostic options. For amplification of the antigenic regions of FMD virus 3D protein, specific primers containing NdeI and EcoRI restriction sites were designed and the polymerase chain reaction was performed. The sequences cut by these two enzymes, were inserted into PET21a+ vectors. The recombinant plasmids were then transformed into E. coli (DH5α). Colony-PCR tests and enzymatic digestions were performed on the resulting colonies and the presence of the target gene was confirmed. The gene sequence was further confirmed after sequencing. For production of recombinant antigens, the recombinant vector was transferred to the expression host of E. coli-BL21. The bacteria containing the recombinant gene were induced with IPTG and the expression of the recombinant protein was confirmed using the SDS-PAGE method. The molecular weight of the recombinant protein was about 24 kDa, and it can be used in the design of ELISA diagnostic kit.

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The process of diphtheria toxoid production was designed by using SuperPro Designer and the effect of the applied changes in process on the yield and costs of the manufacturing was investigated. First, giving the information of the real process of the toxoid production, a bioreactor with improved operational conditions and a disc stack centrifuge instead of the filter press, which is applied for the bacterial debris separation, were utilized. Such alterations followed the addition of a pump between the bioreactor and centrifuge. The results indicated that improvement of the bioreactor operational conditions can lead to the 25% increase in the toxin production, i.e., the increase of toxoid production from 7,000,000 doses to 8,750,000 doses. The toxin waste through filter press (14%) may be remarkably reduced by using the centrifuge, which in turn resulted in the 44% enhancement in the toxoid production. Such alterations can result in the 16% reduction in the separation operation time, 29% reduction in water consumption and 32% increase in the energy consumption. Overall, the simulation results showed that the costs of the new equipment suggested to be used in the improved process can be recoverable through running two batches.
 

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Newcastle disease virus (NDV) causes one of the most dangerous infections in birds. High economic losses and high mortality are outcomes of this virus, which does not have any immediate cure. The natural reservoir of this virus can remain among bird and non-bird animals like farm animals. In Iran, this virus has reached a steady situation. Also, it should be mentioned that migrating birds can transfer the virus. The F protein of the virus is essential in pathogenicity and determination of pathogenic strain of NDVs, which has the regions that are essential in pathogenicity, immunogenicity, cell fusibility, and tissue necrosis. In this study, with computational analysis of this protein, some features related to this protein such as protein cleavage site, the conserved region in immunogenicity, infected species in Middle Eastern countries, and physicochemical properties of protein were determined. Results showed that the F protein of NDV consists of highly conserved regions that show a high rate of similarity and identity. Despite the majority of strains characterized as pathogenic, there were still non-pathogenic strains circulating in the Middle East. In this comprehensive study, protein regions essential in immunogenicity and epitope formation were identified, which may be used in the development of recombinant vaccines against this virus.
 

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This paper deals with the injection of twin oblique nanofluid jets into a channel with water cross-flow. In this regard, the effects of different geometric and physical parameters including the velocity, distance, and angles of the jets as well as the nanoparticles volume fraction therein are studied. The Eulerian-Eulerian two-phase model is employed to analyze the present problem. By solving separate equation sets for water and the nanoparticles, this approach provides the possibility of behavior prediction for each of the phases inside the flow field, separately. The accuracy of the current simulations is confirmed by comparing the obtained results with available experimental data. The results show that replacement of a single jet with twin jets increases the heat exchange from the target surface and makes its distribution more uniform along the surface. In addition, it is found that rise in the velocity and distance of the jets leads to heat transfer improvement. However, the effect of the nanoparticles volume fraction in the injected nanofluid on the heat transfer rate of the target surface is strongly dependent to the nanoparticles penetration into the water cross-flow. Closer scrutiny of the results reveals that the injection angles of the twin jets play an important role in the nanoparticles penetration as well as their distribution pattern inside the flow field and thereby, by adjusting these angles, the heat exchange from the target surface can be improved.

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This study was designed to investigate the effects of physical forms and hay contents of diets on gene expression of insulin-like growth factor (IGF) I and II in rumen epithelium of Holstein calves. Twelve male calves were assigned to 4 treatments: ground (GR), texturized (TX), pellet (PL), and ground+10% forage (GF). Calves were weaned on day 50 of age and then slaughtered on day 70 after birth. Rumen epithelial tissue samples were immediately collected for quantification of mRNA abundance. Results indicated that only IGF I expression was influenced by the dietary treatments. A significant (p<0.05) correlation between IGF I expression and each of histological parameters denoted as length of rumen villi and diameter of keratinocyte layer was observed. No significant correlation between IGF II expression and rumen histological parameters was found (p>0.05). Regarding the results, higher IGF I expression in PL and TX treatments despite the low growth rate might be due to the challenging condition of developing rumen in calves. In fact, the rumen tissue attempted to maintain rumen pH at least by induction of a higher IGF I expression.
 

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In this study, 1973-2003 data of 12,328 animals from Abbasabad Baluchi Sheep Breeding Station, Iran, were used to estimate genetic and phenotypic correlations between Total Weight of lambs Weaned per Ewe Joined in the first, 2^nd, 3^rd and 4^th lambing (TWW1/EJ, TWW2/EJ, TWW3/EJ, and TWW4/EJ, respectively), and TWW of the total four lambing (TWWt/EJ). Also, the study aimed to estimate correlations of TWW1/EJ...TWW4/EJ and Birth Weight (BW) as well as Weaning Weight (WW). The (co)variance components and genetic correlations were estimated by DFREML procedures. Genetic correlation between TWW1/EJ and TWWt/EJ was high and positive (0.76). Genetic correlations of TWW/EJ in different lambing with BW and WW ranged from 0.16 to 0.32 and 0.95 to 0.97, respectively. Repeatability of TWW/EJ for lambing 1-4 was 0.15. Results suggested that selection for increased lifetime reproductive performance could be based on TWW1/EJ in the first lambing. Overall, results indicate that TWW/EJ, as an important but sex-limited trait, may be used in selection criterion to indirectly improve the related traits.