Variable fill fluid couplings are used in the speed control units. Also, variation in coupling oil volume is used in adapting one size of coupling to a wider range of power transmission applications. Available model for the partially filled fluid couplings, has a good performance for couplings with fixed amount of oil but their performance will be degraded if they are used for the Variable fill couplings. In this paper, the current model for partially filled fluid couplings is modified to have better performance for Variable fill couplings. For this purpose, the circulation loss calculation is modified and also, the effect of oil temperature variations and blade thickness are included in the model. The effect of these modification on the model performance are investigated in couple of simulations. Comparing the simulation results with the available experimental data shows that the suggested modifications can improve the model performance very well.

In this paper, a new method for extending and relaxing the noise-coupling (NC) technique is proposed to enhance the noise-shaping order without adding the number of integrators. The noise-shaping order of the introduced ∑∆ modulator whit applying a second-order noise-coupling technique is enhanced and its performance with optimizing the noise transfer function (NTF) zeros is improved. Also, by removing the analog adder at feedforward path and transferring it to a new feedback branch before the last integrator and adding second-order NC path can be decreased the input voltage swing to the quantizer. Thus, by improving the modulator resolution, power consumption can be reduced. Mathematical analyses and behavioural simulation results confirm the effectiveness of the new NC method. To examine its performance, a 2nd-order single loop ΣΔ modulator was designed. The new noise-coupling method is used to achieve the three-order noise shaping to increase the resolution with low complexity and low-power. The results show an outstanding improvement in signal-to-noise and distortion ratio (SNDR) compared to the conventional structure.

Background: Common Variable immune deficiency (CVID) is the commonest symptomatic primary immunodeficiency and represents a heterogenous collection of disorders resulting mostly in antibody deficiency and recurrent infections. The syndrome includes impaired B-cell maturation, impaired somatic hyper mutation, reduced numbers of circulating memory and isotype-switched memory B cells, and absent or reduced plasma cells. B cell maturation antigen (BCMA) is a tumor necrosis family receptor superfamily member 17 (TNFRSF17), expressed only on B cell lines, and is essential for survival of long-lived plasma cells. The aim of this study was to evaluate mutations in BCMA in patients with CVID in compare with normal individuals in Isfahan, Iran.Methods: Blood samples were collected from 10 CVID patients with substitutive immunoglobulin therapy before immunoglobulins (Ig) infusion and 10 normal controls in ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) tubes then DNA samples were extracted and after the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was done, samples were sequenced.Findings: After reviewing the results of the sequence and alignment of the sequences, no mutations in the gene were seen.Conclusion: In addition to the study of mutation in BCMA gene, BCMA gene and protein expression level should be considered to understand more aspects of this disease.

The Shahr-e-Bijar dam is a 96.5 m high and 430 m long concrete faced rock-fill dam with reservoir volume of 105 million m3. Construction of the dam was completed in April 2014. Throughout the dam construction, comprehensive monitoring had been carried out to verify the dam behavior so that stability and safety of the dam were ensured. Monitoring of the dam be-havior was based on the measurement data of instruments which installed in the dam body and the foundation as well as daily visual inspection. In this study, a two dimensional finite element analysis of SEB dam is carried out and the computed displacements and internal stresses compared with those measured in situ by the instrumentation. The rock-fill material is represented by the hardening soil model which is a modified version of Duncan and Chang’s hyperbolic model. The maxi-mum recorded construction settlement is around 0.80 m at the maximum cross section and around 0.50 m at the sections on the abutments which correspond to 0.9% of the dam height. The deformations will further increase with first impounding and rising reservoir to full supply level and due to creeping of the rock-fill. The results of different instruments which are used for the settlement monitoring of the dam are shown that the accuracy of hydrostatic settlement cells is more than other in-struments and the measured settlements by the magnetic plates around the inclinometer’s tubes are usual below the actual settlement. The stress arching within the dam body and abutments is recorded as 50 % in the middle of dam body and 60 % in the near of the banks. Also, during the construction, the shrinkage is mobilized within the dam body along the axis of dam at the first stage of construction and then by increasing the overburden’s height, the expansion is recorded and increased up to the end of construction. The results are shown 65 mm as the maximum expansion which is mobilized at the middle part of the dam body.

The Effect of different culture conditions on growth and production of antimicrobial agents by Oudemansiella spp, using the Variable Size - Simplex Design, were investigated. The results obtained from the experiments indicated that the optimum condition for growth and production of antimicrobial agents, situated at pH between 5.6 and 6.8, temperature between 28°C and 30.6 ºC, shaking rate between 137 and 170 rpm. The results also showed the fungus grow and produced antimicrobial agents at a very wide range of glucose concentration. Increasing the concentration of glucose over 15 g/L, resulted in decreasing the activity of the fungus.

Objective: Bulk-fill composites are a group of composite resins designed for easy and fast filling of large cavities. This study aimed to assess the color stability of bulk-fill composites subjected to xenon radiation and evaluate their color change (DE) following polymerization.Methods: In this in vitro experimental study, 30 specimens (4mm in height and 8mm in diameter) were fabricated of x-traFil and Tetric N-Ceram universal color bulk-fill composites and A2 shade of Grandio composite (as control). Bulk-fill composites were placed in the mold in 4mm thickness according to the manufacturers’ instructions. In the control group, composite was applied to the mold in two layers each with 2mm thickness. Tetric and Grandio composites were cured for 20 seconds and x-traFil was cured for 10 seconds with a LED light-curing unit. A total of 15 specimens (five of each composite) were used for each test. For assessment of color change due to polymerization, L*, a* and b* color parameters were measured before and immediately after polymerization and also 30 days after immersion in distilled water in an incubator at 37oC and 70% humidity using a spectroradiometer. For xenon test, the specimens were subjected to color analysis after 48 hours of storage in distilled water. Next, they were subjected to xenon lamp radiation in xenon environment chamber for 122 hours at 22oC and 25% humidity and then the color parameters were measured again. The mean and standard deviation (SD) of all values were calculated. One-way and repeated measures ANOVA were used to compare DE and DL among the groups. Tukey’s HSD test was used for pairwise comparisons.Results: The value of DE immediately after polymerization was the lowest for Grandio (4.91) and the highest for Tetric (9.44). Thirty days after the polymerization, DE was the lowest in Grandio (3.07) and the highest in Tetric (9.27); DE showed a decreasing trend over time in all specimens. Under xenon light radiation, Grandio showed the lowest (1.50) and Tetric showed the highest DE (11.15).Conclusion: Following polymerization and under xenon lamp radiation, DE of conventional composite was less than that of bulk-fill composites.