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 Holds 1st Int’l Exhibition of Gemstones, Machinery, Related Industries
The first International Exhibition of Gemstones, Machinery, Equipment and Related Industries was held in Tehran on February 22-25.
Dozens of companies and production units, government agencies and organizations participated in the exhibition which was held at Tehran Permanent International Fairground.
The International Exhibition of Gemstones, Machinery, Equipment and Related Industries covered the entire supply and value chain in this area, from exploration to processing.
“This exhibition is based on the approach of presenting the chain (exploration to processing) of gemstone production and trade with the aim of materializing the idea of development in the fields of industry, mining, technology, processing and production, infrastructure and business development and creating competition in domestic and foreign specialized markets,” said Mahmoud Bandarchi, the head of the headquarters for holding the first international exhibition of gemstones.
“This event is a great opportunity for the activists of this field to learn more about the latest achievements and diversity of gems,” he added.
Iranian Company Makes Preservative Fertilizers for Agricultural Products
The biotechnology specialists of an Iranian knowledge-based company succeeded in making preservative fertilizers for agricultural products by using helpful bacteria.
“Helpful bacteria have been used to produce these fertilizers,” Massoud Abbasi, the managing director of the knowledge-based firm told ANA.
He explained that the produced fertilizers are so safe and healthy that they can also be used as an edible ingredient, adding, “These fertilizers keep the agricultural products healthy for up to six months.”
“Preservative fertilizers can be used before planting the product in the soil and also after the fruiting of the agricultural products as a poison spray,” Abbasi said.
He noted that the technological level of this product is six and the specialists of the company are trying to heighten its technological level.
Iranian Specialists Use AI to Ease Treatment of Diabetic Wounds
Iranian IT specialists at a startup team succeeded in designing a smart diabetic wound treatment system based on artificial intelligence (AI).
“Since the wounds caused by diabetes cannot be examined and identified with the human eye, we decided to design a system by using machine vision,” Tohid Amadeh, the caretaker of the start-up team, told ANA.
He reminded that treatment methods for wounds caused by diabetes often have long processes, saying, “This system speeds up the treatment and diagnosis process of these wounds through artificial intelligence processors.”
“After scanning the image of the wound, artificial intelligence determines its type, intensity and depth by using the spectrum of colors defined for the physician,” Amadeh said.
“The remarkable thing about this system, which is considered as its advantage, is the provision of long-term treatment solutions after asking specific questions from the physician,” Abbasi noted.
Iran Replacing Foreign Surgical Drills, Saws with Domestically-Made Ones
Specialists of an Iranian knowledge-based company succeeded in producing a variety of orthopedic and surgical drills and saws used in orthopedics, neurosurgery, chest surgery, open heart surgery, etc.
“These surgical instruments and devices were supplied through imports so far, specially from the US, Germany and Switzerland. We had encountered many problems in this area, and our knowledge-based company resolved the problem forever by making these products,” said Khosro Afshar, the managing director of the knowledge-based company.
He explained that his company’s products and their sterilizable attachments are resistant to moisture and temperature and can be sterilized by steam and pressure (autoclave) in the shortest time, adding that handpieces produced by the company are rechargeable for ease of use.
“The special physical feature of saws and blades produced by our company is the number and angle of the ribs. The back and forth movement of the saw at a certain frequency causes the least pain, stress and injury in the patient's body,” Afshar underlined.
Iranian Minister of Science, Research and Technology Mohammad Ali Zolfi Gol underlined cooperation with the Islamic Azad University to attain the goal of knowledge-based development.
“In the 7th Development Plan, special attention has been paid to the development of knowledge,” Zolfi Gol said, addressing the closing ceremony of the National NEXT Technology Award, which was held in Isfahan on February 21.
“The goal of NEXT Award is to raise the flag of technology. Holding this festival is a symbol of new thinking and planning,” he added.
Noting that the birth and growth of knowledge-based companies is highly important, Zolfi Gold said, “The Ministry of Science, the Islamic Azad University, the Vice-Presidency for Science, Technology and Knowledge-Based Economy, and other institutions are members of a team that strive for the same goal.”
“In the ministry of science, we have collected people with (good) ideas and provided them with land and possibilities (for research and production),” he added.
Iran Approves 2 New National Standards on Nanobubbles
The Iran Nanotechnology Innovation Council (INIC) announced that two new standards were approved in the field of nanobubbles, increasing the number of national standards to 167.
According to the INIC, the first standard is related to the ‘microbubble technology - characterization of microbubbles – assessment of size and concentration indicators by laser diffraction method’.
Microbubble technology is used in various industries like cleaning, transportation, maintenance, agriculture, aquaculture, food and beverage, cosmetics and health care, and biomedicine. This list is expected to expand and become even more common as microbubble technology develops. Now, methods for assessing microbubble characteristics like size and concentration indices are becoming necessary to clarify the performance of microbubble generating systems used for various applications. The purpose of developing this standard is to determine the evaluation method of the size and concentration indices of small bubbles, which is applied to the combined use of number-based size analysis and volume-based size analysis with laser diffraction method, the INIC explained.
The second standard is related to ‘fine bubble technology - cleaning applications - cleaning hard flooring surfaces - test method’, and the purpose of developing this standard is to determine a test method for cleaning hard flooring surfaces. This test method can be used to show a comparison of the cleaning performance of a fine bubble solution with an alternative cleaning solution for removing contaminants from a contaminated surface. This solution can be a substitute cleaner for another fine bubble solution, municipal tap water, or a commercially available cleaning solution with composition features specified by the manufacturer, the INIC added.
Deputy Minister: Iran Ready to Provide Regional States with Transit Access to Free Waters
Iranian Deputy Minister of Roads and Urban Development Daryoush Amani announced that his country is prepared to provide the regional states with access to the international waters through its transit routes.
Amani made the remarks, addressing the 86th meeting of the United Nations (UN)’s Inland Transport Committee (ITC), held in Geneva on February 20-23 with a theme of ‘Taking ambitious climate action – Moving towards decarbonized inland transport by 2050’.
Amani underlined Iran’s diplomacy of international transportation development and its readiness to provide maximum transit access of the regional states to the free waters in an interactive framework via all kinds of passageways through the Iranian territory.
He pointed to the growth of road transport, which should lead to initiatives to reduce the negative impacts of transportation on the environment, and said, “Road transport services should maintain competitiveness for society with low-cost and quick-yielding solutions.”
Iranian Research Organization for Science, Technology to Make Portable Dialysis Machine
Specialists at the Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology are working on an engineering prototype of ‘portable dialysis machine’.
After making the first generation dialysis machine, the Iranian experts put the construction of an engineering prototype of the portable hemodialysis machine on their agenda, said Majid Moqaddam, a faculty member of the Research Institute of Electricity and Information Technology of the Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology.
“We have presented the design of the remote monitoring and management device for the dialysis machine for patients with kidney diseases,” he added.
“By using this technology, it is possible to monitor and control the dialysis machine remotely, and the patient does not need to go to the hospital to perform the dialysis process,” Moqaddam said.
Iran-Made Nano-Based Brake Pad Adhesive Exported to Turkiye
An Iranian knowledge-based company has managed to use nanotechnology to produce brake pad adhesive, which was previously imported from Turkiye, and is now exporting the product to Turkiye.
The Iran-made nano-based brake pad adhesive increases the durability of the pad and is produced at a lower cost than the foreign samples.
“This pad adhesive was imported from Turkiye to Iran in the past but it is now exported from Iran to Turkiye after development and mass-production,” said Mohammad Amir Negini, the commercial manager of the knowledge-based company.
Also, Seyed Abbas Hosseini Majd, the director of research and development of the company, said that the production stages of the adhesive include the combination of raw materials and synthesis inside the reactor, and then the separation of water and other materials.
“Next, the obtained solution is concentrated and nanomaterials are added to it. Then, depending on the type of adhesive grade, be it disc or roller, additives are added to it,” he added.
Hosseini Majd explained that the adhesive can tolerate a temperature of 400 degrees while the properties of the brake pad are still maintained.
Iranian Company Produces, Exports 3 Livestock Vaccines
An Iranian knowledge-based company succeeded in production and export of 3 animal vaccines for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), peste des petits ruminants (PPR) and lumpy skin disease (LSD).
“Our company started working 6 years ago with the aim of producing livestock vaccines. Our first product, peste des petits ruminants (PPR), was sent to the market 4 years ago, and 3 years ago, we presented the second product of our company, called the contagious ecthyma vaccine. The third product of our company was the lumpy skin disease (LSD) vaccine which was produced two years ago,” said Sajjad Pezeshki, the managing director of the knowledge-based company.
He explained that the speed of immunogenicity of oil-based FMD vaccine is two weeks longer than that of water-based vaccine, but the length of its immunogenicity period is 2-3 months longer than that of water-based vaccine.
Pezeshki noted that the company has managed to export the PPR and LSD vaccines to Uganda, Eritrea, Rwanda, Kenya, Tanzania and a number of other African countries.
“Our new product, foot and mouth vaccine, is being registered in several regional countries, including Iraq, Syria, Pakistan and Afghanistan, and its export will start soon,” he added.
Iran's Domestically-Made 'Pars 1' Satellite Launched into Orbit
Iran, on Thursday morning, successfully launched its new home-made observation satellite named 'Pars 1' into space on a Russian carrier.
The Iranian research satellite will scan Iran's topography from an orbit of 500 km.
The remote Pars 1 research-sensing satellite, launched by a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Vostochny Cosmodrome, weighs 134 kg (295 pounds). The satellite is equipped with three cameras.
The Pars 1 will advance the utilization of measurement data among various institutions and devices while fostering the growth of the measurement data market within the country.
Its mission revolves around transmitting images to the ground, facilitated by a transmitter operating in the X-band telecommunication spectrum at a rate of Mbps.
This satellite marks the inaugural use of the X-band link, a significant achievement poised to enhance data transmission speeds from satellite to Earth for subsequent satellites. Ground stations are equipped to receive satellite images efficiently, further bolstering the functionality of the Pars 1 mission.
Eco-Friendly Hydrogen Production Method Developed in Iran with Minimal Energy Consumption
Iranian researchers managed to produce hydrogen for nanocone-shaped electrocatalysts through deposition method which reduces the amount of energy consumption in hydrogen production.
“We used the electrochemical deposition method to synthesize cone-shaped nanostructures. In other words, for the first time, we used conical nanostructures for hydrogen production electrocatalyst by electrochemical deposition method,” Qassem Barati Darband, a faculty member of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in the field of materials engineering and metallurgy, told ANA.
He explained that in the electrochemical deposition method, the in-situ formation of electrocatalysts without glue happens which leads to a decrease in resistance and, as a result, an increase in electrocatalytic activity.
“The development created by this method is that it reduces the amount of hydrogen consumption in the electrochemical splitting of water, and the best electrode used in water electrolysis is the platinum electrode,” Barati Darband said.
Iranian University Researchers Produce Phosphatic Fertilizer from Sludge
Researchers at Urmia University in the Northwestern part of Iran have successfully produced biochar/struvite composite as a fertilizer after treating wastewater.
“Struvite in the presence of biochar as a slow- release phosphate fertilizer from wastewater” is the title of a post-doctoral research conducted by researcher Marziyeh Piri under supervision of Ebrahim Sepehr at Urmia University and was sponsored by Iran National Science Foundation (INSF).
Biochar is a carbon-enriched biomaterial generated by combustion of the biomass through a process called pyrolysis. Phosphorus such as struvite is used as a fertilizer in soils because it contains some of the major nutrients.
“Studies have showen that urban wastewater contains a large amount of phosphorus which is removed in treatment plants before releasing the wastewater into the environment given the irreparable effects of phosphorus on the surface waters through the enrichment process,” said Piri, who has a PhD from Urmia University in soil science.
“Due to the limited resources of phosphate rock in the world, recycling phosphorus from wastewater to produce phosphate fertilizer is a promising path. Struvite crystal mineral is one of the poorly soluble phosphorus minerals, which contains three essential plant nutrients, including nitrogen, phosphorus and magnesium,” she added.
Iranian Scientists Make Dust Fall Measurement Device
Iranian researchers at a technological company managed to produce a dust particle mass analyzing device which measures the risk of cancerous hazards in air by polluting particles.
“The device includes an inverse Frisbee trap. The Frisbee dust meter is a non-directional passive device that includes two dry and wet handles, and the Frisbee-shaped fall sediment collection container is made of anodized aluminum which is put 8.1 meters above the ground level and has a drain pipe which leads down from the pole to the rainwater collection bottle on the ground,” Mohammad Bayati Poudeh, a faculty member of the Islamic Azad University’s Nayeen branch in the field of electricity and the chairman of Rashta System Ramand Company’s board of directors, told ANA.
“This device also has a protector made of fine fishing wire in the form of a ring (with a thickness of 1 mm), which is placed 5 cm above the dust collector container on the bases (made of stainless steel or aluminum),” he added.
Bayati Poudeh explained that after a month, the Frisbee is removed from the bottom disk, which is still in place, and sent to the laboratory for measurement, and the insoluble matter is weighed, dried and assessed.
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