Top News of Last Week with ANA

Azad News Agency (ANA) published a number of scientific and technological news during the past week whose top ones are as follows: 

Iran to Inaugurate First Smart Factory

Iran is slated to inaugurate the first innovation and smart factory to further support plans to promote development and application of the artificial intelligence.

The Digital Economy and Intelligence Development Headquarters of the Iranian Vice-Presidency for Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy has planned implementation of a project called the ‘Intelligence Leap’.

The supportive plan tries to target various driving elements for the development of the artificial intelligence ecosystem in Iran.

In this event, due to be held in cooperation with Omidboom Smartization and Innovation Factory, the winners of the top three plans will be introduced and awarded.

Researchers Identify Elusive Carbon Dioxide Sensor in Plants to Control Water Loss

Using a mix of tools and research approaches, scientists at the University of California recently identified a long-sought carbon dioxide sensor in plants, key for controlling water evaporation, photosynthesis and plant growth.

The discovery revealed that two proteins work together to form the sensor, carrying implications for trees, crops and wildfires, the Science Advances reported.

More than 50 years ago, researchers discovered that plants can sense carbon dioxide (CO2) concentrations. As CO2 levels change, "breathing" pores in leaves called stomata open and close, thus controlling evaporation of water, photosynthesis and plant growth. Plants lose more than 90% of their water by evaporation through stomata. The regulation of stomatal pore openings by CO2 is crucial for determining how much water plants lose, and is critical due to increased carbon dioxide effects on climate and water resources in a warming world.

But identifying the carbon dioxide sensor and explaining how it operates within plants has remained a longstanding puzzle.

Using a mix of tools and research approaches, scientists at the University of California San Diego recently achieved a breakthrough in identifying the long-sought CO2 sensor in Arabidopsis plants and unraveled its functioning parts. UC San Diego project scientist Yohei Takahashi, School of Biological Sciences Distinguished Professor Julian Schroeder and their colleagues identified the CO2 sensor mechanism and detailed its genetic, biochemical, physiological and predicted structural properties. 

Increasing Crop Yields by Breeding Plants to Cooperate

A simple breeding experiment, combined with genetic analysis, can rapidly uncover genes that promote cooperation and higher yields of plant populations, according to a new study by the University of Zurich.

The new study published in the open access journal PLOS Biology, was carried out by Samuel Wuest of the University of Zurich and Agroscope, Switzerland, and colleagues. The results have the potential to quickly increase crop productivity through conventional breeding methods.

In classic evolutionary theory, individuals compete, and those with the most competitively advantageous genes create more offspring that bear the same winning genes. This poses a challenge for plant breeders, who are often faced with selecting plants that cooperate, rather than compete. In a dense monoculture stand of corn or wheat, overall yield may be improved if individuals avoid growing too tall or spreading their leaves too wide (the "Green Revolution" of the mid-20th century was largely dependent on the introduction of dwarfing alleles into major cereal grains).

Iranian Scientists Develop Personal Planning Software for Treatment of Cancer Patients

Iranian researchers at Amirkabir University of Technology succeeded in developing a software package to determine the optimal treatment plan (including the dose and timing of chemotherapy and radiation therapy) based on the specific conditions of each patient.

 “The aim of this research is to provide a software package for designing a treatment plan (including dosage and timing of chemotherapy and radiation therapy), specifically for patients with glioblastoma, which helps doctors and specialists as a decision aid in finding the optimal treatment,” said Amir Ebrahimizadeh, one of the researchers of the project at Amirkabir University of Technology.

He added that the standard treatment of glioblastoma is a combination of radiotherapy and temozolomide, noting that since separate planning of each of them leads to ignoring the effects of the other method and obtaining unreliable results, the present research is unique in its kind.

“Results of the research showed that performance of the personal treatment planning enjoys a significant superiority over the common standard treatment program,” Ebrahimizadeh said.

Anti-Cancer Substance Produced in Iran by Using Plant Extract

The head of the Center for Innovation in Cultivation and Commercialization of Ornamental Plants affiliated to Islamic Azad University’s Gorgan branch announced production of an anti-cancer substance by using extract of plants.

 “One of the most important measures of the (Farhikhtegan) greenhouse (in Gorgan in Northern Iran) is the production of plant fungicide solution for disinfecting the seeds of ornamental plants and preparation of an anti-cancer substance by using plant extracts,” Mohsen Tajari told ANA.

He explained that the Iranian specialists at the Center also acquired the technical know-how of producing two types of ornamental flower seeds, saying, “We had a 200 percent increase in production in the first eight months of the current year compared to the same period last year.”

Iranian Researchers Make Microscope to Detect Forgery of Signatures, Writings

Engineers of a knowledge-based company manufactured an optical microscope which can detect forgery of different signatures and writings.

 “The microscope is used for imaging different samples in 3D,” said Ma’soumeh Nasseri, one of the researchers of the company who participated in designing the 3D optical microscope.

“It takes images of the sample’s surface in different steps and zooms, and based on the software defined for the system. Then the images are combined and provide researchers with a three-dimensional image,” she added.

Noting that the microscope can also be used for crime detection, Nasseri said, “Since the device provides a 3D image, the difference between two writings or signatures can be recognized.”

Iranian Company Produces Alumina Catalysts

An Iranian company succeeded in production of iron-promoted active alumina catalyst and recovery catalyst.

With the improvements made in activated alumina and the use of nanotechnology, advanced types of this product are used as the main catalyst in the sulfur recovery process through Claus method.

Activated alumina is one of the most widely used absorbent materials in various industries and has been used for a long time in production of compressed air, oxygen generation, chlorine, fluorine and arsenic removal from gaseous and liquid compounds.

Specialists at Ardakan Industrial Ceramics (A.I.C) Company managed to produce iron-promoted active alumina catalyst and recovery catalyst.

Astronomers Think 2 Exoplanets May Be Mostly Water

A team led by UdeM astronomers found evidence that two exoplanets orbiting a red dwarf star are ‘water worlds’ planets where water makes up a large fraction of the volume.

These worlds, located in a planetary system 218 light-years away in the constellation Lyra, are unlike any planets found in our solar system, the journal Nature Astronomy reported.

The team, led by Ph.D. student Caroline Piaulet of the Trottier Institute for Research on Exoplanets (iREx) at the Université de Montréal, published a detailed study of a planetary system known as Kepler-138.

Piaulet, who is part of Björn Benneke's research team, observed exoplanets Kepler-138c and Kepler-138d with NASA's Hubble and the retired Spitzer space telescopes and discovered that the planets -- which are about one and a half times the size of the Earth -- could be composed largely of water. These planets and a planetary companion closer to the star, Kepler-138b, had been discovered previously by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope.

Iranian Scientists Build Sensing Satellite System

Iranian researchers at a technological unit stationed at the Science and Technology Park of West Azerbaijan province designed and manufactured a satellite system consisting of five sensing satellites.

 “In this project, we put the design and construction of a small satellite in the dimensions of 10 x 10 x 30 cm on agenda,” said Mohammad Hossein Zolfaqar, the managing-director of the technological company.

“The advantage of small sensing satellites is gaining large advantages in the short term,” he said, adding that the satellite system is supposed to be upgraded to 300 satellites.

Zolfaqar explained that short-band [low Earth orbit (LEO)] satellites have applications in the fields of navigation and internet of things (IoT).

Knowledge-Based Company in Iran Manufactures Accurate Sperm Analysis Device

A knowledge-based company in Iran designed and developed a sperm analysis device with the ability to show accurate, correct and repeatable results.

“This device is an automatic sperm analysis device which has been designed and produced based on the standard of the World Health Organization (WHO),” Payam Heidari, the managing director of the knowledge-based ‘Saman Afarin Trita’ firm stationed at the incubator center of technological units of Islamic Azad University’s Roudehen branch, told ANA.

He explained that the software provides the possibility of having clinical results for the treatment of infertility and diseases related to the human reproductive system, simultaneously with providing the researchers with details related to the movement and appearance of sperms for research purposes.

“The sperm analysis device along with the related standard instructions creates accurate, correct and reproducible results and eliminates the personal judgments in analyzing the sperm,” Heidari added.

Iranian Researchers Fabricate Biodegradable Wound Dressing with Fast Absorption Capability

Biodegradable wound dressings with fast absorption capability were developed in a joint project between the University of Tehran and the University of Pisa in Italy.

Alireza Kheradvar Kelor, a master's student in polymer engineering at the University of Tehran, under the supervision of Mohsen Shahrousvand, a faculty member at the University of Tehran, and professor Dario Puppi from the University of Pisa in Italy, made the biodegradable wound dressings with fast absorption capabilities, which is currently in the animal (laboratory) stage.

Shahrousvand explained that the hydrogel dressings are based on gelatin and sodium alginate, and said, “Given the use of completely natural materials, these dressings do not have any cellular and systemic toxicity for the body, and their structure is similar to the structure of collagen fibers in the skin tissue.”

“These dressings accelerate the four-step process of wound healing, including hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation and tissue regeneration, and a clot is created at the bleeding site after using the dressings which acts like an obstacle to prevent blood loss and the entry of pathogens,” he added.

Iran Produces over 1,300 Nanotechnology Products in 9 Years

Iranian companies produced a total of 1,376 nano-based devices and equipment from the fiscal year of 2013-14 to 2021-22.

The Nanotechnology Development Headquarters of the Iranian Vice-Presidency for Science and Technology announced that the number of products and equipment based on nanotechnology in Iran has six-folded in a nine-year period.

The headquarters monitors the nanoscale of products and issues licenses, which show nano-based products and equipment have increased from the fiscal 2013-14 to 2021-22.

The figures released by the headquarters indicate that until the end of the ninth fiscal month (Nov. 22-Dec. 21, 2022), nanotechnology products of 271 companies had public uses and nano-based equipment manufactured by 64 firms had industrial applications.

Iranian Researchers Produce Primary Ingredients of MS, Intestinal Inflammation Drugs

Vice-President of Alborz University of Medical Sciences for Research and Technology announced production of raw materials for the treatment of MS disease and intestinal inflammation by the Iranian researchers.

Razieh Lotfi, the Vice President of Alborz University of Medical Sciences for Research and Technology, elaborated on the products presented by several knowledge-based companies in a recent provincial exhibition, and said, “Medical pillows with variable height, chemical pharmaceutical raw materials, vegetable and fruit disinfection tablets, absorbent pads for protein products, pyrolysis device (medical waste), new herbal medicines were among the important and technological products of the health sector presented in the exhibition by Alborz University of Medical Sciences.”

“Other products included a digital device for measuring the sensation of pain in humans, mouthwash solution, ginger suppositories, raw materials for the production of MS drugs, raw materials for the production of intestinal inflammation disease drugs, formulation for hydrocortisone mucus adhesive tablet, soybean extract mask formulation (anti-wrinkle ointment), formulation for Vitiligo (leprosy) disease and formulation of the scorpion oil for topical pain,” she added.

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