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:
Iranian Researcher MHN Device to Find Calcified Root Canals in Tooth
A faculty member of Tehran University of Medical Sciences announced the production of an Electronic Micro Hole Negotiator (MHN) device in the field of dentistry to find blocked (calcified) root canals in the tooth.
“When the space inside the root canal is completely blocked by calcium tissue due to age or a disease, finding the canal becomes a serious problem for the dentist,” Mohammad Hossein Nekoufar, a specialist in root canal therapy, told ANA.
“To settle this problem, I designed a device that can find the microscopic holes carved in the bottom of the cavity by sending different types of alternating currents into the root,” he added, noting that the holes can be seen with neither a naked eye nor a microscope, and this electronic tool can find them for the dentist.
Nekoufar said that an agreement with a Chinese company has been made to commercialize the MHN device, adding that the company provided 10 dentists across the world with the device and they confirmed its good quality.
Iranian Scientist, Colleagues Use Gold Nanoparticles to Kill Mouth, Tooth Bacteria
Maryam Hajfathalian, an Iranian researcher at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, in cooperation with her colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania and Stanford University have developed sugar-coated gold nanoparticles that can be utilized for both imaging and destroying biofilms, a report said, adding biofilm is a slimy and hard layer which pave the way for bacteria to develop on the teeth or wounded skin if left unattended.
In a study published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation, the authors demonstrated the diagnostic and therapeutic potential of the nanoparticles on the teeth and wounded skin of rats and mice, eliminating the biofilms in as little as one minute and outperforming common antimicrobials.
“With this platform, you can bust biofilms without surgically debriding infections, which can be necessary when using antibiotics,” Luisa Russell, a program director in the Division of Discovery Science & Technology at the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB), said in a media statement. “Plus, this method could treat patients if they are allergic to antibiotics or are infected by strains that are resistant to medication. The fact that this method is antibiotic-free is a huge strength.”
Oral biofilms, also known as plaques, formed by bacteria such as Streptococcus mutans can cause significant tooth decay. Wound infections, which are commonly caused by Staphylococcus bacteria, can greatly delay the healing process. In either case, the densely packed network of proteins and carbohydrates within biofilms can prevent antibiotics from reaching microbes throughout the affected area.
Over 236 Million Tons of Goods Loaded, Unloaded at Iranian Ports Last Year
Over 236 million tons of goods were loaded and unloaded at the Iranian ports under the supervision of the Ports and Maritime Organization (PMO) in the past Persian calendar year (ended om March 19).
The PMO announced that 236,512,240 tons of commodities were loaded and unloaded at the Iranian ports in the said period, showing a 10% hike compared to a year earlier.
Also, over 29 million tons of oil products were unloaded at the Iranian ports from March 21, 2023, to March 19, 2024.
In this period, over 51 million tons of non-oil goods were unloaded at the ports.
Totally, more than 80 million tons of oil- and non-oil goods were unloaded at the Iranian ports in the previous Iranian calendar year.
More than 81 million tons of oil products were loaded at the ports from March 21, 2023, to March 19, 2024, while over 74 million tons of non-oil goods were loaded at the country’s ports.
Iranian Company Saves Country $25 Million by Producing Metal Toy Cars
A creative technological company in Iran has created jobs for 140 people and saved the country $25 million by building a factory to produce toy cars.
“The production of metal toy cars for children is one of our fields of activity. We launched our operation professionally in 2018 and now produce nine million toy vehicles annually,” said Mehdi Assadi, managing director of the technological company said.
“In 2018, with the efforts of a professional team and in line with the goal of increasing domestic production, we built the first factory to produce tow truck in the country in this complex,” he also said.
The products of this company have saved the country $25 million by preventing imports, Assadi continued.
“This company has generated jobs for 150 people in Eyvanaki Industrial Town in Seman Province,” the managing director of the company went on to say, calling for more restrictions on importing foreign-made decorative or metal toy cars into the country in support of domestic production.
He considered imposing customs duties on the imports of the product to be one of the solutions to resolve the challenge, adding, “We are not against imports. On the contrary, we think that with imports domestic production grows. Anyway there is need for customs valuation.”
Iran, Turkey Agree to Operationalize Electricity Exchange
High-ranking Iranian and Turkish officials in a meeting in Tehran underlined the need to operationalize the electricity exchange project between the two neighbors.
“Iran and Turkey enjoy outstanding relations in the political sphere, and in the field of economic relations, there are very high capacities for the development of cooperation between the two countries," said Iranian Energy Minister Ali Akbar Mehrabian in a meeting with Minister of Energy and Natural Resources of Türkiye Alparaslan Bayraktar.
"One of the most important economic fields in which there is a possibility of developing cooperation between Iran and Turkey is the field of energy, especially electric energy, which was also emphasized in the recent meeting between the presidents of the two countries," he added.
The Turkish official visited Iran for the follow-up to the energy deals signed in January in Ankara during the eighth Türkiye-Iran High-Level Cooperation Council, adding that the two countries aim to increase the bilateral trade to $30 billion.
Researchers in Iran Produce One-Megawatt Solar Inverters
Head of the Academic Center for Education, Culture and Research (ACECR) of Iran University of Science and Technology (IUST) Valiollah Roshan announced production of one-megawatt solar invertors by the Center’s scientists.
“Since the very beginning, we were looking for high-capacity inverters, 50 kilowatts and above, and megawatt-scale production for the country's huge power plants, and therefore, inverters with a production capacity of one megawatt were produced,” Roshan told ANA.
“Before the production of inverters with a capacity of 1 megawatt, 250-KW inverters had been indigenized by the experts of our Center,” he added.
Roshan explained that an inverter in a power plant receives solar energy by the panel, stores it and then converts it into electricity that can be used in the power grid.
He also underlined the need for introduction of one-megawatt solar inverters to the domestic market.
Iranian Company Makes Strong Nano-Based Profiles for Construction Industry
An Iranian knowledge-based company has succeeded in production and commercializing nano-based unplasticized polyvinyl chloride (UPVC) profiles with twice the mechanical strength of normal profiles.
“Two features are highly important in the UPVC profile production industry; long lifespan, at least 20 years, and the brittleness of the profile so that it does not break when exposed to the cold. We use polymer materials to produce these profiles which are degradable to sunlight so we had to add compounds to the product to reduce its degradability,” said Armin Nazari, the sales manager of the knowledge-based company.
“We have reached the international standards in production of normal profiles, but for further strengthening, we used nanoparticles, by adding which we managed to improve the mechanical properties,” he added.
“Laboratory tests on color change due to sunlight also showed that there is a significant improvement in the resistance to color change in nano-based profiles,” Nazari said.
Iranian Knowledge-Based Company Domestically Produces Fire Alarm System
Iranian experts at a knowledge-based company have successfully designed and produced a smart fire alarm system and set up a laboratory to test those for detection systems in the country using local know-how.
Yusef Nasseri, the managing director the Iranian knowledge-based firm which operates in the field of fire alarm system technology development said that their company locally produces smart and accurate fire alarm systems, adding, “Technicians in different departments of this company work independently or together to develop technology and improve the functions of fire alarm systems.”
He said that after the production of knowledge-based fire alarm systems, since there was no laboratory to refer to go to test the products in the country, he decided to establish the first fire alarm system laboratory to work jointly with the standards department to set conditions to receive standards for fire detectors.
The managing director of the knowledge-based company pointed to some of the fire alarm and detection equipment in their company, saying, domestically manufactured fire alarm systems including "conventional panel" and "addressable panel" are the two equipment that have broad applications and consist of a variety of electronic equipment and systems.
“Using a set of electronic sensors and controllers, the addressable fire alarm system provides accurate information on where and how the fire is occurring. The capability to collect data, send them to the central system and analyze the data in the least time possible that would allow for accurate and swift response for more effectively putting out the fire.”
Iranian Researchers Find New Antibiotics to Treat Infections
Researchers at Tehran University's Biochemistry and Biophysics Research Center have identified a new antimicrobial peptide as a new generation of effective antibiotics.
Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are the small molecular peptides that play a crucial role in the innate immunity of the host. They are at the forefront of immune system of the host against the invasion of microorganisms.
The lack of new antibiotics for the treatment of gram-negative bacterial infections, together with the emerging problems of multidrug-resistant organisms highlights the need for new antimicrobial strategies for the treatment of such infections.
Identifying the colossal role that antimicrobial peptides play in preventing infection by microbial pathogens in many organisms, it has been found out that these peptides could lay the ground for producing a new variant of clinical antimicrobials.
Peptide HHC10-4 identified by researchers at the University of Tehran (UT)'s Biochemistry and Biophysics Research Center has antimicrobial activity, which can be used to solve some antibiotic resistance problems and treat bacterial infections.
Iranian-Made Cloud Call Center to Be Unveiled in INOTEX 2024 Exhibition
The manager of a technological company based in the Pardis Technology Park said that a cloud call center system developed in their company will be unveiled at the upcoming INOTEX 2024 exhibition.
"We started designing this system almost three years ago when the global view of the traditional phone call changed to multi-faceted one," Mohammad Reza Sakhavar, the managing director of a technological company operating in the field of smart communications and telecommunications based in Pardis Technology Park’s growth center, told ANA.
“Previously in the past years, focus used to be only on voice and video in the communication networks; but over time and with the progress of engineering and the world of high-tech, there was a move towards the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) with the world of video and voice calls,” he said.
“We coded specific data from call centers and telephone networks for any organization and group that wanted this smart system,” he also said.
Iran-Made Mobile Table Laboratory Suitable for Small, Village Schools
Specialists of a creative company succeeded in designing and building a mobile table laboratory that can be used in rural areas and small schools.
“The goal of making a mobile table laboratory is education with an emphasis on experience. This mobile table laboratory is a small and portable table that provides a space like a classroom for the students,” Mostafa Rahvar, a faculty member of university and the managing-director of the company, told ANA.
“This table laboratory is used in schools where students do not have the possibility to use the laboratory or in rural schools,” he added.
Noting that the creative product has been patented inside Iran, Rahvar said, “The mobile table laboratory provides a safe and personal space for the student to do scientific, practical and laboratory work and has other applications, including a desk and a library.”
Iranian Knowledge-Based Company Produces System to Detect Driver’s Drowsiness
Researchers at a knowledge-based company in Iran that makes car driving simulators have developed a system that detects driver’s drowsiness using artificial intelligence(AI).
"We work in the field of manufacturing different kinds of driving simulators for light and heavy vehicles, motorcycles and specific cars," Oveis Hosseini, the director of research and development department of the knowledge-based company that operates in the field of car simulation said in an interview with ANA.
He clarified that by specific vehicles he meant the ones that are used in mines. “We have been able to set up mining simulators in four mines in the country."
Stating that they have also worked in the field of driver assistance systems, Hosseini said, "A very important product of the company is the monitoring of drivers' movements using artificial intelligence. This product receives 30 features from people's faces and when the driver is drowsy, it will deliver the necessary alarms to him."
Hosseini further said that the system not only alerts the driver himself, but also the control room that monitors the driver to avert undesired incidents.
Iranian Knowledge-Based Company Develops Crop Management Software
The researchers at a knowledge-based company in Iran have taken a step towards the localizing agricultural knowledge by developing a software that uses collected data from across the country to help farmers to plan what to grow in their farms.
“The management software initiative, for which we obtained the knowledge-based badge, collects a series of data from across the country about the crop, soil, climatic conditions and the requirement of that crop, and after processing this information, it calculates which region of the country is suitable for growing that crop,” Mohammad Hossein Hosseini, the managing director of the technological company explained about the software developed in their knowledge-based company and how it operates.
“This software shows where each crop is grown. For example, suppose we want to grow oilseeds for food security reasons and we need to know in which part of the country the suitable conditions for growing this product exists. Using this technology, we can give the software the information we need (for example, the type of oilseed such as safflower or sunflower), and the software will assess for you which region of the country is most suitable for growing that crop,” he said.
Hosseini said that the main activities of their firm focuses on plant conservation, soil-related science, veterinary medicine, biotechnology, and research.
Iranian Researchers Making Efforts to Produce Low-Cost Fresh Water with Artificial Leaves
Iranian researchers at Khajeh Nasir Toosi University have conducted research on production of artificial leaves which can be used to produce fresh water on a large scale and at a low cost.
“The expertise of our team is photonanobiocatalysts, and we are seeking to produce artificial leaves which is very important for water splitting, and pure hydrogen energy can be produced through this method without any waste,” said Mohammad Hossein Siyadati, a member of the Faculty of Engineering and Materials Science of Khajeh Nasir Toosi University.
“Also, if we don't want to separate hydrogen and oxygen and direct them to another tank, half an hour later they will combine and produce fresh water, and since the country is in the North and South connected to vast water resources, we can produce fresh water abundantly and cheaply,” he added.
“As our knowledge improves, we can increase the efficiency of these photobiocatalysts, which, of course, cannot be achieved with normal techniques, but we should identify the synchrotron, the active points of the catalyst, as best as we can to produce better catalysts with higher efficiency and finally, artificial leaves with better quality,” Siyadati said.
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