Sharif Digital Repository

Background: Type-2 diabetes mellitus is characterized by insulin resistance and impaired insulin secretion in the human body. Many endeavors have been made in terms of controlling and reducing blood glucose via the medium of automated controlling tools to increase precision and efficiency and reduce human error. Recently, reinforcement learning algorithms are proved to be powerful in the field of intelligent control, which was the motivation for the current study. Methods: For the first time, a reinforcement algorithm called normalized advantage function (NAF) algorithm has been applied as a model-free reinforcement learning method to regulate the blood glucose level of type-2 diabetic... 

Apathy is a stressor and debilitating common condition for both stroke survivors and their caregivers. However, its effects on the postural control of these patients have not yet been investigated. Improved postural stability through withdrawing attention from postural control by concurrent cognitive task (i.e. dual-task condition) has been reported previously, but the effect of apathy, as a confounding factor, remains unknown. This study aimed to examine the effects of apathy and dual-task condition on postural control of chronic stroke survivors from biomechanical and neurophysiological perspectives. Twenty non-apathetic stroke survivors, 20 apathetic stroke survivors, and 20 sex-, age-,... 

Background: Impairments of upper limb (UL) sensory-motor functions are common in Parkinson's disease (PD). Virtual reality exercises may improve sensory-motor functions in a safe environment and can be used in tele-rehabilitation. This study aimed to investigate the effects of supervised and non-supervised UL virtual reality exercises (ULVRE) on UL sensory-motor functions in patients with idiopathic PD. Methods: In this clinical trial study, 45 patients with idiopathic PD (29 male) by mean ± SD age of 58.64 ± 8.69 years were randomly allocated to either the control group (conventional rehabilitation exercises), supervised ULVRE or non-supervised ULVRE. Interventions were 24 sessions, 3... 

In the current study, thin-film nanocomposite membranes (TFN-Mx) based on a zwitterion-functionalized metal-organic framework (MOF) have been developed for the forward osmosis (FO) salt-water separation process. The active polyamide layer was formed through the interfacial polymerization of the m-phenylenediamine aqueous phase (with or without the presence of MIL-125-NH-CC-Cys) and the trimesoyl chloride organic phase. In comparison with the results from the surface of the unmodified membrane, a nanofiller-incorporated TFN-M0.10 membrane represents a smoother and more wettable surface that collaborates synergically to enhance the membrane antifouling ability. Among the examined membranes,... 

Knee osteoarthritis (KOA) is a common musculoskeletal disorder resulting in altered gait patterns. Uncontrolled manifold (UCM) analysis has been demonstrated as a useful approach for quantitative analysis of motor variability and synergies. The present study aimed to investigate the changes in the kinematic synergy, controlling the center of mass (COM) position while walking on normal and narrow paths in people with KOA compared to asymptomatic participants. In this cross-sectional study, twenty people with mild to moderate KOA and twenty asymptomatic individuals walked at their comfortable preferred speed across normal and narrow paths on a treadmill. The UCM analysis was performed... 

Conventional electromyography-driven (EMG) musculoskeletal models are calibrated during maximum voluntary contraction (MVC) tasks, but individuals with low back pain cannot perform unbiased MVCs. To address this issue, EMG-driven models can be calibrated in submaximal tasks. However, the effects of maximal (when data points include the maximum contraction) and submaximal calibration techniques on model outputs (e.g., muscle forces, spinal loads) remain yet unknown. We calibrated a subject-specific EMG-driven model, using maximal/submaximal isometric contractions, and simulated different independent tasks. Both approaches satisfactorily predicted external moments (Pearson's correlation ∼... 

The selection of a suitable duty factor (DF) remains a major challenge in respiratory-gated treatments. Therefore, this study aims at presenting a new methodology for fast optimizing the gating window width (duty factor (DF)) in respiratory-gated proton partial breast irradiation (PBI). To do so, GATE Monte Carlo simulations were performed for various target sizes and locations in supine and prone positions. Three different duty factors of 20, 25, and 33% were considered. Sparing factors (SF) for four organs-at-risk (OARs) were then assessed. The weighted-sum method was employed to search for an optimal DF. The results indicate that an SF higher than unity was obtained for all plans. The SF... 

In spite of the extensive literature on the analysis of the muscle synergies during gait, the functionality of these synergies has not been studied in detail. This study explored the relationship between the motor modules and the kinematic maneuvers involved in human walking. Motion and surface electromyography data (of 28 trunk and lower extremity muscles) were acquired from ten healthy subjects during ten trials of self-selected speed gait each. The joint angle trajectories were half-wave rectified and divided into two independent positive directional degrees-of-freedom. The muscle and kinematic synergies were both extracted using the non-negative matrix factorization (NNMF) technique and... 

Chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyneuropathy (CIDP) is an acquired immunological disorder. Although the precise pathoetiology of CIDP has not been clarified yet, it is believed that both B and T cells of immune system contribute in this disorder. Based on the importance of human leukocyte antigen (HLA) cluster in the regulation of immune responses, this family of proteins is putative determinants of risk of CIDP. We conducted the current investigation to appraise association between HLA alleles/genotypes/haplotypes and risk of CIDP in Iranian patients. HLA-DQB1*02 allele was significantly more prevalent among cases compared with controls (OR [95% CI] = 4.82 [2.06, 11.3], P value =... 

Lung cancer (LC) is the leading cause of cancer mortality so, the analysis of exhaled human breath has great significance for early non-invasive diagnosis. Poor selectivity and strong humidity are two bottlenecks for the application of gas sensors to exhaled breath analysis. The development of novel extractive phases for the analysis of exhaled breath by chromatography is therefore a lucrative object. Polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxanes (POSS) are among the 3D porous materials whose unique properties make them promising coatings for solid-phase microextraction (SPME). Selective enrichment of polar or nonpolar targets depends on the pore size and functional groups on the POSSs. Herein, we... 

In this study, multivariate classification techniques combined with proton nuclear magnetic resonance (1HNMR) spectroscopy is proposed to identify breast cancer biomarkers that can precisely distinguish between healthy control and breast cancer (BC) patients. In this regard, first optimizing the metabolite extraction procedure was performed using Box-Behnken design (BBD). Then, data-driven soft independent modeling of class analogy (DD-SIMCA) model and partial least squares-discriminant analysis (PLS-DA) were successfully utilized for separating healthy from BC patient's classes. On this matter, both DD-SIMCA and PLS-DA models could successfully distinguish the healthy class from the BC... 

Freezing of gait (FOG) is a debilitating symptom in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), which may be associated with motor control impairments in tasks other than gait. This study aimed to examine whether symmetric and asymmetric bimanual coordination is impaired in PD with FOG (PD +FOG) patients and whether dual-task and drug phases may affect bimanual coordination in these patients. Twenty PD +FOG patients, 20 PD patients without FOG (PD –FOG) performed symmetric and asymmetric functional bimanual tasks (reach to and pick up a box and open a drawer to press a pushbutton inside it, respectively) under single-task and dual-task conditions. PD patients were evaluated during on- and... 

Slow-gamma (35-45 Hz) phase synchronization and the coupling between slow-gamma and low-frequency theta oscillations (4–8 Hz) are closely related to memory retrieval and cognitive functions. In this pilot study, we assess the Phase Amplitude Coupling (PAC) between theta and slow-gamma oscillatory bands and the quality of synchronization in slow-gamma oscillations using Phase Locking Value (PLV) on EEG data from healthy individuals and patients diagnosed with amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment (aMCI) and Alzheimer's Disease (AD) during an oddball olfactory task. Our study indicates noticeable differences between the PLV and PAC values corresponding to olfactory stimulation in the three groups... 

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease associated with a high prevalence of psychiatric disorders. There are specific brain networks responsible for emotional processes, including two important networks associated with psychiatric problems: the default mode network (DMN), which is more active in the resting state, and the salience network (SN), which is structurally connected to DMN. Although previous studies suggested that neuro-phenotypes of asthma may be recognizable by the neural activity of brain circuits, an association between the brain's functional alterations and psychiatric impairments induced by asthma remains unknown. We aimed to assess DMN and SN activity and its association... 

We perform large-scale quantum Monte Carlo simulations of SLAC fermions on a two-dimensional square lattice at half filling with a single Dirac cone with N=2 spinor components and repulsive on-site interactions. Despite the presence of a sign problem, we accurately identify the critical interaction strength Uc=7.28±0.02 in units of the hopping amplitude, for a continuous quantum phase transition between a paramagnetic Dirac semimetal and a ferromagnetic insulator. Using finite-size scaling, we extract the critical exponents for the corresponding N=2 chiral Ising Gross-Neveu universality class: the inverse correlation length exponent ν-1=1.19±0.03, the order parameter anomalous dimension... 

Introduction: Paranormal beliefs are defined as the belief in extrasensory perception, precognition, witchcraft, and telekinesis, magical thinking, psychokinesis, superstitions. Previous studies corroborate that executive brain functions underpin paranormal beliefs. To test this hypotheses, neurophysiological studies of brain activity are required. Methods: A sample of 20 students (10 girls, Mean±SD age: 22.50±4.07 years) were included in the current study. The absolute power of resting-state electroencephalogram (EEG) was analyzed in intra-hemispheric and inter-hemispheric coherence with eyes open. The paranormal beliefs were determined based on the total score of the revised paranormal... 

Chinese hamster ovary cells are the main cellular factories for production of a wide range of recombinant proteins in biopharmaceutical industry. Recombinant human Interferon beta-1a (rh-IFN β-1a), as a cytokine is broadly used to treat multiple sclerosis. In this work, the cell line producing rh-IFN β-1a was studied to improve cell density along with the specific expression. For this reason different cell culture experiments were done using different commercial serum-free media to find the appropriate media providing higher cell density. It was shown DMEMF12, DMEM:ProCHO5, and CHO-S-SFM II led to higher cell density and shorter doubling time. Next, using these media, fed-batch, and... 

Background: Ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) is a rare autosomal recessive disorder caused by mutations in the ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) gene. A-T patients manifest considerable variability in clinical and immunological features, suggesting the presence of genetic modifying factors. A striking heterogeneity has been observed in class switching recombination (CSR) in A-T patients which cannot be explained by the severity of ATM mutations. Methods: To investigate the cause of variable CSR in A-T patients, we applied whole-exome sequencing (WES) in 20 A-T patients consisting of 10 cases with CSR defect (CSR-D) and 10 controls with normal CSR (CSR-N). Comparative analyses on modifier... 

Purpose: Alzheimer's disease (AD) starts years before its signs and symptoms including the dementia become apparent. Diagnosis of the AD in the early stages is important to reduce the speed of brain decline. Aim of the study: Identifying the alterations in the functional connectivity of the brain during the disease stages is among the main important issues in this regard. Therefore, in this study, the changes in the functional connectivity during the AD stages were analyzed. Materials and methods: By employing the functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) data and graph theory, weighted undirected graphs of the whole-brain and default mode network (DMN) network were investigated... 

Background: Cerebral palsy (CP) is a non-progressive encephalopathy before, dur-ing, or after childbirth with almost the most common type, i.e. spastic diplegic, leading to a frequent walking problem, In-toeing. Orthoses can reduce the consequences of CP. Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the effect of combining twister wrap orthoses (TWO) with high-top shoes on the balance parameters of children with spastic diplegic CP. Material and Methods: In this quasi-experimental study, twenty children (aged 6.8 ± 0.5 years) with spastic diplegic CP with in-toeing gait participated. The tests were conducted in three conditions: 1) in bare-foot, 2) with high-top shoes, and 3) with high-top shoes...