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 Unveils 2 Strategic Nanocatalysts for Petrochemical Industry

Iran’s Vice-President for Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy Rouhollah Dehqani Firouzabadi unveiled two new nanocatalysts of ethylene oxide and acetylene converter made by an Iranian knowledge-based company which are used in the petrochemical industry.

Ethylene oxide catalyst is one of the most important and sensitive catalysts of the group of precious metals, which is used in ethylene production petrochemicals, and 80% of this catalyst is made of silver.

As the first producer of this type of catalyst, Exir Novin Farayand Asia company succeeded in launching a production line with a capacity of two tons per day.

The acetylene converter catalyst was another unveiled product used in the oil industry. The main and key application of these catalysts is in the oil and gas industry.

“The produced ethylene oxide catalyst for Morvarid, Maroun, Arak and Bushehr petrochemicals, acetylene converter catalysts for Gachsar and Amirkabir petrochemicals, Ilam and Aria Sasoul, and the isomerization catalyst of xylenes and ethylbenzene for Bou Ali Sina petrochemicals have been applied,” said Alireza Rezayee, the chairman of the board of directors of the knowledge-based company.

Diagnosis of Jaundice in Newborns with Iran-Made Fluorescence Label

A group of researchers from an Iranian knowledge-based company managed to produce a special fluorescence label to diagnose jaundice in newborn babies through skin patches which obviates the need for blood sampling.

“These ‘tattoo’ skin patches make it possible to diagnose jaundice in newborns at home without a need for blood sampling,” Raziyeh Tabatabayee, the manager of the project, told ANA.

“These patches have been designed along with a mobile device and parents can monitor the jaundice in babies at home. When placed on the skin, these patches form a bunch of colorless tattoos on the skin,” she added.

Noting that these tattoos are fluorescent, Rezayee said, “When we place the device on these fluorescent tattoos, the user will be able to recognize the degree of jaundice with the changes made in the device. The accuracy of diagnosing jaundice through this method is equal to the accuracy of a blood test.”

Iranian Researcher Produce Dust Collector Bags to Tackle Air Pollution

In cooperation with researchers active in fields of nanotechnology, polymer chemistry and textile, an Iranian knowledge-based company has produced dust collection bags to prevent the shutting down of factories due to the release of dust particles in the air.

Dust collector bags, sometimes referred to as filter bags, are made of fabric or membrane material and act as a filter container. When polluting air passes through the filter bag, dust and polluting particles are separated inside it.

These filters, which are a kind of air filters, are considered as a favored solution in air pollution controling projects due to their capability to separate micrometer-sized particles and high efficiency in reducing air pollutants. They absorb and remove dust and other particles before they are released into the air, therefore, these filters are used in air conditioning systems, factories, industries, cooling towers, etc.

When the contaminated gas enters the filter, it is returned to the exit funnels by means of a baffle. After the dusty gas enters one of the filter houses, the large sized dust particles move towards the hopper under the pressure of their own weight.

With the efforts of a group of researchers in the fields of nanotechnology, polymer chemistry and textile, nano fibers of industrial dust collector bags were produced in one of the knowledge-based companies. By designing and building an industrial electrospinning machine, these researchers managed to produce nano-fiber air filters, with increasing the capability to absorb contaminants and separating nano-sized particles as some of their features.

Iranian Researchers Succeed in Regenerating Jawbone for Dental Implant with Self-Assembly Nanofibers

Researchers at a technological company in Iran have produced nano-structured scaffolds in the field of dentistry for jawbone regeneration for implant, which according to them, can regenerate the missing bone within two months.

In an interview with local Iranian media, Shima Tavakol, associate professor of Iran University of Medical Sciences (IUMS), considered "self-assembly peptide nanofibers" as one of the research achievements of their company and said, “Clinical trials phase of this project have been done and the results showed that for those who intend to have dental implants, these nanofibers can regenerate the jawbone.”

"These self-assembly nanofibers regenerate the jawbone in two months, much earlier that the six months that the previous methods took. These nanofibers are self-assembly peptide scaffolds that are used as osteogenic and bone-conducting scaffolds containing self-organized peptide nanofibers in the field of dentistry,” she added.

“This product is a mixture of injection scaffold that has a self-assembly core and an additive. This additive may include an angiogenic and osteogenic element such as peptides and ceramics, a small molcoccal drug, or an anti-inflammatory agent,” Tavakoli further said.

According to him, another important point about their product is that both the inorganic phase and the organic phase of the scaffold are in the form of gel and powder on a nanometer scale, which leads to increased biocompatibility and osteogenesis.

Measuring Ozone in Industrial Environment Possible with Iran-Made Instrument

Researchers at an Iranian company have designed and developed an instrument to measure ozone in industrial environment to help the personnel with their health.

Nasrin Nawab Safa, a member of the board of directors and one of the researchers of an Iranian company told Iranian media that the production line of this company is in two fields of ozone measurement using optical instruments and spectrometry device (ultraviolet light measuring devices).

“Our ozone analyzer device production was supported by the Optics and Quantum Taskforce,’ which is part of the Iranian Vice Presidency for Science and Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy," she said.

“Ozone gas analyzer is used in many industries where accurate measurement of the gas matters a lot,” Nawab Safa added.

Nawab Safa considered ozone gas as a poisonous gas that is harmful to human health, adding, “Moreover, this gas has many uses in various industries. In order to work with it, it needs to be regularly checked so that its amount is not too much that endangers the personnels' health and that has become possible with the Iranian-made instrument.”

The researcher went on to stress that the Iranian-made device can measure the amount of ozone gas online.

Iran-Made Nano-Based Dressing Decreases Healing Time

Specialists at an Iranian knowledge-based company managed to indigenize powder dressings and wound dressings by using nanotechnology which accelerate healing of acute wounds.

The nano-based dressing is used in the treatment of acute wounds, including first and second degree burns, wounds caused by trauma, skin grafts, wounds in the organ donation area, and surgical wounds.

“The ‘Nano Ex’ dressing can heal wounds, including diabetic foot ulcers, pressure ulcers (such as bedsores), wounds with low to moderate infectious and non-infectious secretions which have many challenges and complications,” said Behrouz Ra’oufi, the managing director of the knowledge-based company.

He also referred to the applications of ‘Nano Expo’ powder in healing the deep wounds, saying, “This product is also used in acute wounds, including trauma wounds, surgical wounds, 1st and 2nd degree burns, wounds in the area of organ donation and skin grafting, chronic wounds, including diabetic foot ulcers and pressure wounds (like bedsores) and wounds with moderate to high infectious and non-infectious secretions.”

Noting that both dressings are made based on nanotechnology and with chitosan as the raw material, Ra’oufi said, “These products do not have a chemical source and are obtained from plants; therefore, they do not cause skin allergy. Among the main properties of this substance, we can mention absorption of secretions and their antibacterial and antibiofilm features. They do not have counterparts among the Iran-made and foreign products, and compared to EU’s CE products, they heal the wounds two weeks earlier.”

Iranian Company Conducts Complete Prefabrication of Concreting Process in Construction Industry

Researchers at an Iranian knowledge-based company managed to make possible concreting process in the pre-construction stage of any building by using a special software.

“The main approach of our company is the prefabrication of the building skeleton or concrete structures,” Majid Ra’oufi, the managing director and founder of a knowledge-based company, told ANA.

“Until now, we did not have any prefabricated concrete structures in the country because prefabrication is time-consuming and expensive, and most of the companies that conduct this process do not have global standard approvals,” he added.

According Ra’oufi, the new system makes it possible to prepare the concrete structure that can be obtained from the factory and thus reduce the cost of the employer.

“The in-situ concreting system is designed in separate steps; then it goes to the factory and then it is transported to the project site with machines for installation. At the end, the concrete parts will be installed with bolts and nuts,” he explained.

“This process is very time-consuming and expensive especially when the project is in unstable weather conditions such as autumn and winter. One of the advantages of our system is, of course in accordance with the standard conditions and in a stable factory environment, concrete structures can be are built and installed at the project site. In fact, the construction process of the structures designed in this company is a combination of concrete and metal structures,” Ra’oufi said.

Iran-Made Anti-Cancer Nano Drugs Save over 7 Million US Dollars of Foreign Currency

The nano-based anti-cancer medicine produced by the Iranian scientists have saved over $7mln of foreign currency in the past few years.

With the efforts made to obtain standards, knowledge-based and technological companies in Iran have been able to market important products like anti-cancer drugs and health equipment by using nanotechnology in the health and pharmaceutical industry.

The drugs used for the treatment of breast, lung and pancreas cancers were produced with one-fifth of the price of foreign samples in the country. The nano drug for the treatment of metastasizing ovary cancer was also provided to patients. The mentioned medicines saved seven million dollars for the country.

Among the anti-cancer nano-based drugs mention can be made of Paclinab anticancer drug which is used to treat breast, lung and pancreas cancers. By penetrating into the cancerous tissue, Paclinab prevents the progress of tumor and destroys cancerous tissue.

Also, Sina Doxosome drug is used as an anti-tumor nano drug used for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, specially in patients who are exposed to or have heart problems. It can also treat advanced ovarian cancer.

Iranian Researcher, Colleagues Advance 'Placenta-on-a-Chip' with Sensing, Imaging Technology

Nicole Hashemi, an Iranian associate professor of mechanical engineering at Iowa State University, and her students have been working all these years to develop a ‘placenta-on-a-chip’ by using sensing and imaging technology.

In this case that’s a thin, rectangular, clear, polymer block with two tiny microchannels – just millionths of a meter wide and high – and a porous membrane in between.

One channel represents maternal blood flow. The other represents fetal blood flow. And the membrane between represents the placental barrier, especially when it’s lined with growing endothelial or barrier-forming cells. 

By pumping fluids through the model, researchers can test how substances such as medicines and nutrients cross the placental barrier from mother to fetus and vice versa.

That’s the basic concept introduced on that hallway poster. Now, with Hashemi recently winning a National Science Foundation (NSF) Mid-Career Advancement grant for the project, the next poster could describe all kinds of technological additions.

Iran Ranks 7th in Production of Vaccine Refrigerators

A knowledge-based company in Iran has turned the country into the seventh producer of vaccine-storage refrigerators in the world.

“Our company produces medical equipment, specially blood bank equipment and refrigerators, for storing drugs and vaccines,” said Parsa Daneshfar, the managing director of the knowledge-based Ebtekar Tajhiz Teb Yekta company.

“The knowledge-based product of our company is vaccine storage refrigerators, which were produced for the first time in the country, and if we count India, which produces under the license of the UK, a total of seven countries produce vaccine refrigerators,” he said, adding that the US, the UK, Luxembourg, Denmark, China and India are the producers of these refrigerators, and Iran is the seventh country that has manufactured them.

“Since the vaccine is a heat-sensitive product, in case of a power outage or failure of the refrigerator’s compressors, the temperature of the refrigerator must remain constant for at least 4 hours, and the refrigerator produced in our company enjoys this advantage,” Daneshfar explained.

“The monthly production capacity of our company is 200 medical refrigerators; so far, we have received orders for making nearly 700 vaccine refrigerators, and we can deliver them within three months,” he added.

Iranian Government Issues Exemption from Military Service for Researchers Living Abroad

The Iranian government has issued exemption from travel restrictions because of military services for researchers who live in other countries to ease travel for them.

Military service in Iran is compulsory for all males aged between 18 and 49 although there are some grounds for exemption.

The deputy chairman of the Scientific Relations and Human Resources Development Office of the Center for International Science and Technology Interactions which itself is part of the Vice Presidency for Science and Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy said in an interview that permanent exemption were issued for 20 Iranian researchers residing in other countries, adding, “Therefor, the travel of these people to the country is allowed.”

“This year, we had the implementation of the ‘Connect’ project on our agenda. The purpose of this program is to communicate with Iranian researchers, experts and entrepreneurs living abroad who are interested in cooperating with Iran or returning to the country. In the first step, we tried to establish connections with Iran's top universities and scientific parks within the ‘Connect’ project,” Ali Hosseini said.

Hosseini stated that the Connect project was warmly welcomed by companies and science and technology parks, adding that “This year, about 1,700 requests were registered in the system, showing an increase of 20% compared to the previous year.”

Iranian Researchers Design, Produce Rangefinder Cameras

A group of researchers at an Iranian technological company have designed and developed rangefinder cameras that are capable of detecting living data-x-items such as individuals and animals at a distance between 3 to 15 kilometers, which can be used for environmental monitoring and border guarding purposes.

In an interview with local Iranian media, Mohammadreza Sardarinejad, one of the researchers of the project to produce the rangefinder cameras said, “Our products are divided in two classes: solid state lasers and fiber lasers: fiber lasers are used for cutting metal, steel and iron, and solid state lasers are used for measuring distance.”

Solid state lasers have a lower beam quality than fiber lasers, but they can produce higher peak power and shorter pulses. Solid state lasers can also operate in CW or pulsed modes, but they require more cooling and maintenance than fiber lasers.

“With these solid state lasers, we can measure ranges from 3 to 15 kilometers away,” he went on to say. 

Sardarinejad point to the design and manufacture of cameras based on solid state lasers and added, “This camera is a thermal and range-finding module and is able to detect animals and individuals at a distance of up to 3 kilometers according its visual range.”

“Living things such as humans and animals emit thermal infrared waves which can be displayed on this camera,” he added.

Iranian Researcher’s Invention Increases Barberry Production by 30%

An Iranian researcher invented a special device for harvesting barberry which can increase production of the fruit up to 30% and is also applicable for harvesting other garden products like almonds.

“The ‘barberry harvesting head’ shakes the barberry tree and delivers the healthy product to the farmer, and dries the barberry with high safety in the dryer,” Mohsen Salimi Fard, the inventor of the device, told ANA.

“The most important thing is that when we harvest the barberry with this device, the tree is not harmed and the farmer receives a healthy product without stem,” he added.

“Our research has shown that if the barberry tree is harvested with our device, it will definitely produce next year too,” Salimi Fard said.

“We have increased barberry tree’s productivity to twice a year by using the device which means a 30% boost in barberry production in South Khorassan province (Eastern Iran), and this device should be available to all farmers to increase production and lead to a high-quality product for exports,” he underlined.

Iranian Company Develops AI-based Automated Quality Control System

A Iranian knowledge-based company has produced an intelligent quality control system that eliminates human errors and increases overall efficiency using artificial intelligence (AI).

“We registered a company in cooperation with a group of students from Islamic Azad University-Qazvin Branch last year. In this knowledge-based company, we provide intelligent quality control services and safety suggestions to industries, companies and industrial plants,” Mohammadreza Nadil, head of the Iranian knowledge-based company told ANA.

“We have focused on product quality control. Quality control used to be carried out using manpower, which resulted in many errors. But the use of artificial intelligence in the quality control issue will increase the speed and reduce human error, and will reduce the employer's costs” the researcher said.

“The company offers services in various fields and industries such as textile industry and fabric quality control, glass and bottle making factories, etc. Many factories have launched this system, and there are some foreign products that offer such services; but as a domestic manufacturer, we are trying to increase the precision in the quality control department with the help of the latest technologies. After-sales service is so important to us, upon which, sometimes we offer such service for free,” he went on to say. 

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