Sharif Digital Repository

The first example of a heterogeneous catalytically active system for Buchwald–Hartwig and Ullmann homocoupling of unactivated aryl halides (fluorobenzene) is presented. The novel magnetic heterogeneous palladium catalyst was synthesized by immobilization of palladium ions onto an aminopyridine-functionalized Fe3O4. The catalyst was fully characterized by FTIR spectroscopy, temperature-programmed reduction, thermogravimetric analysis, CHN elemental analysis, transmission electron microscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and atomic absorption spectroscopy. By using this catalyst system, various types of primary and... 

This is the first study of samarium powder catalyzed cyanation reaction of aryl halides, bearing electron-withdrawing and electron-releasing substituents, in the presence of NaCN to afford corresponding benzonitriles in high yields. This protocol takes the advantage of being done in the absence of additive, ligand and precious transition metals such as palladium. © 2019 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim  

In this manuscript, synthesis of cobalt/poly vinyl alcohol (PVA)/gamma alumina nanocomposite via a simple room temperature, as well as its catalyst performance were explored. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analysis, X-ray diffraction, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy were conducted. The surface area of the polymeric composite was obtained to be 280 m2/g. The cobalt loading on the nanocomposite was measured using inductivity couple plasma. Transmission electron microscopy analysis showed that the size of cobalt crystalline encapsulate inside the polymer was confined to 5 nm. Magnetic property analysis, using vibrating sample magnetometer, confirmed... 

Spinal cord is a long, thin, tubular bundle of nervous tissue located in the vertebral column. Since the spinal cord is one of the most crucial pathways for information connecting of the central nervous system, it has to stay safe under any blunt impact loading, i.e., accident, punch, gunshot, burst, etc. Therefore, it is important to investigate the possible injuries that may occur in the vertebral column, especially the spinal cord, as a result of blunt loading. However, due to various experimental limitations, numerical modelling, specifically finite element (FE) models, has been beneficial in predicting the injury to the spinal cord. This study, thus, aimed at predicting the stresses and... 

Previous studies on wireless sensor networks indicate one of the most important research topics is to consider both significance of the reduction in sensor nodes energy consumption and improving network lifetime. Regarding results of some researchers using sinks, mobility has a substantial impact on the performance of sensor networks concerning reducing total energy consumption, increasing the number of active nodes and solving the energy-hole problem. In this study, we consider hexagons beehives feature where sensor nodes are distributed across a hexagon randomly. This hexagonal is divided into equal clusters based on the radius of hexagonal. Also, the need for cluster heads to be close to... 

The sand–bentonite mixture is used as the buffer layer in nuclear waste disposals. The buffer layer, as a non-permeable protective layer, is generally exposed to temperature gradients and the long-term subjection to temperature results in creep and more intact structure for the layer. In the present study, thermally induced structure and its effects on the isotropic compression behavior and volume change behavior of buffer layer are evaluated. Thermal consolidation tests were conducted using a modified triaxial cell capable of handling temperatures up to 90 °C. In order to investigate the effects of thermal gradients on the behavior of the mixture, saturated specimens were cured at constant... 

Advancements in nanotechnology have resulted in the introduction of several nonviral delivery vectors for the nontoxic, efficient delivery of encapsulated mRNA-based vaccines. Lipid- and polymer-based nanoparticles (NP) have proven to be the most potent delivery systems, providing increased delivery efficiency and protection of mRNA molecules from degradation. Here, the authors provide an overview of the recent studies carried out using lipid NPs and their functionalized forms, polymeric and lipid-polymer hybrid nanocarriers utilized mainly for the encapsulation of mRNAs for gene and immune therapeutic applications. A microfluidic system as a prevalent methodology for the preparation of NPs... 

The first diastereoselective synthesis of spirothiooxindoles is reported via the Michael reaction between thiooxindoles and dibenzalacetones. The reaction was conducted without any catalyst or additive under green conditions, i.e., ethanol as the solvent and at room temperature. In addition, the described robust method benefits from scalability, simple work-up, and column chromatography-free purification. This work demonstrates the art of governing regio- and stereoselectivity, which has been discussed in the light of Density Functional Theory calculations. Our method represents the first synthesis of spiro[cyclohexanone-thiooxindoles] with the relative configuration of the aryl moieties at... 

Background: Remote cardiac monitoring and screening have already become an integral telemedicine component. The wide usage of several different wireless electrocardiography (ECG) devices warrants a validation study on their accuracy and reliability. Methods: Totally, 300 inpatients with the Nabz Hooshmand-1 handheld ECG device and the GE MAC 1200 ECG system (as the reference) were studied to check the accuracy of the devices in 1 and 6-limb lead performance. Simultaneous 10-second resting ECGs were assessed for the most common ECG parameters in lead I. Afterward, 6-lead ECGs (limb leads), were performed immediately and studied for their morphologies. Results: Of the 300 patients, 297 had... 

Up to now, multifunctional varistor-capacitor materials were based on TiO2, even though these materials failed to have practical applications. For the first time, in this research, multifunctional varistor-capacitor properties are observed in the CuO-doped SnO2-CoO-Sb2O3 system. The XRD analysis showed that this system has a single phase microstructure. SEM images indicated that the CuO addition resulted in a better densification and larger grain size. The very low electric breakdown field of the CuO-doped SnO2-CoO-Sb2O3 system (12 V/mm, similar to TiO2), is a consequence of coarse-grained microstructure. This varistor had a suitable surge withstand capability as well. The colossal... 

Fabrication and characterization of different surface charged cellulose electrospun scaffolds including cellulose acetate (CA), cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and quaternary ammonium cationic cellulose (QACC) for biomedical applications have been reported in this research. Several instrumental techniques were employed to characterize the nanofibers. MTT assay and cell attachment studies were also carried out to determine the cytocompatibility, viability and proliferation of the scaffolds. Fabricated CA, cellulose, CMC and QACC nanofibers had 100–600 nm diameter, −9, −1.75, −12.8, + 22 mV surface potential, 2.5, 4.2, 7.2, 7 MPa tensile strength, 122, 320, 515, 482 MPa Young modules,... 

Manganese Peroxidase (MnP), is one of the most promising lignin depolymerization enzymes, which has been widely used for degradation purposes. Nevertheless, MnP tends to lose activity rapidly during its maintenance phase and degradation process, especially in the inevitable presence of hydrogen peroxide. This study aimed to improve MnP efficiency produced by Phanerochaete chrysosporium, via enhancing its sustainability. In this context, the effects of MnO2, Fe3O4, PEG, Veratryl Alcohol (VA), and DMSO as stabilizing agents on MnP activity were explored both in vivo and in vitro. During in vivo experiments, heterogeneous Fe3O4 was found to be the desirable choice to enhance MnP production,... 

In this research, for the first time, SnO2-based varistors were fabricated via spark plasma sintering technique (SPS) and the microstructure and electrical properties of these varistors were investigated. Furthermore, the effect of post-annealing temperature in oxygen atmosphere on electrical properties of the SPSed samples was studied. The SPS process was performed at the sintering temperatures of 600, 650, and 700 ᵒC for 15 min with a maximum pressure of 90 MPa under vacuum condition. The SPSed sample which was sintered at 650 ᵒC possessed maximum density of 98% and the ultra-fine-grained microstructure with the mean grain size of 380 nm. Surprisingly, all SPSed samples exhibited Ohmic... 

In this research, for the first time, the effect of air quenching on the microstructural and electrical properties of (In, Nb) co-doped TiO2 was investigated. The FE-SEM images showed that the air quenching has no effect on microstructure of co-doped TiO2. However, air quenching affected the electrical properties so that the dielectric constant in the frequency of 1 kHz at room temperature sharply enhanced from 21*103 to 26*104 and the dielectric loss surprisingly decreased from 0.6 to 0.1. This incredible improvement in the dielectric properties is attributed to the electron-pined defect dipoles which has been activated through air quenching. © 2020 Elsevier B.V  

This research aimed to prepare a recoverable sonophotocatalyst, in which microfibrillated carboxymethyl cellulose (MFC) acted as the Zn-Cu-Mg-mixed metal hydroxide/graphitic carbon nitride (MMH/g-C3N4) carrier. The characteristics of bare and composite sonophotocatalysts were analyzed by the XRD, FT-IR, BET, DRS, PL and FE-SEM equipped with the EDX mapping. The performance of prepared composites (MMH/g-C3N4@MFC) with various weight ratios of the MMH/g-C3N4 was studied for the sonophotocatalytic degradation of sulfadiazine (SDZ) as the model emerging contaminant. 93% of SDZ was degraded using the most effective catalyst (MMH/g-C3N4@MFC3) with 15% weight ratio of the MMH/g-C3N4 under the... 

In this work, a novel photoactive cellulose-based hydrogel was prepared by simultaneous AgCl formation and entrapment inside Al (III) and Fe (III) cross-linked carboxymethyl cellulose beads. Physio-chemical and optical properties of the synthesized composites were well characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis, elemental mapping, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, photoluminescence (PL), and diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS). The photocatalytic activity of hydrogels was evaluated by the degradation of rhodamine B (RhB), as a model environmental pollutant. A comparative study showed that... 

Fibrous biomaterials have received much attention in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine due to their morphology, resembling extracellular matrix. In comparison to synthetic fibers, cellulose based fibers have interesting properties for cellular applications such as biodegradability, biocompatibility, simple preparation and their potential for chemical modification. Among cellulose derivatives, carboxymethyl cellulose and quaternized cellulose are the most important and valuable cellulose ethers which have anionic and cationic surface charge. In this research, we report the fabrication of multifunctional cellulose microfibrous and nanofibrous scaffolds and the comparison of adhesion... 

This work describes a new mathematical model to predict the so-called aircraft handling qualities via proper positioning of aircraft mass in the early stages of the design process. The methodology aims to help make handling qualities and therefore pilot rating an integral part of the design process. The main idea is to And proper mass distributions for an aircraft in given flight conditions based on the well-known quantitative measures of flying qualities described in military standards. The proposed methodology allows aircraft designers to associate a density to different segments of an aircraft and have a prior insight about an optimum arrangement of internal parts such as fuel tanks,... 

Graphene oxide flakes are considered as potential inhibitors for different pathogenic bacteria. However, the efficacy of inhibition changes for different types and strains of bacteria. In this work, we examine Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, two common hospital-acquired infections, which react quite differently to graphene oxide flakes. The minimum inhibitory tests yield two distinct outcomes: stopped proliferation for S. aureus versus almost no effect for P. aeruginosa. Integrating our experimental evidence with molecular dynamics simulations, we elucidate the molecular machinery involved, explaining the behavior we see in scanning electron microscopy images. According to... 

A risk-based approach for short term security assessment with voltage stability constraint is presented in this paper. This approach includes voltage-stability considerations in reactive power adequacy assessment of a composite power system. The proposed method is based on probabilistic criteria because deterministic risk criteria do not define consistently the true risk in the system. For risk calculation, in this paper, load and parametric uncertainties and system contingencies are considered. Then the effects of uncertainties and contingencies on bus voltage violation are calculated. The required reactive power is determined based on the calculated voltage violation in order to maintain...