Sharif Digital Repository

A convenient and efficient procedure was developed for preparing α,α′-icyanostilbenes through the oxidative coupling reaction of benzyl cyanide derivatives using N-benzyl DABCO tribromide as the oxidative bromination reagent in the presence of K2CO3 as a base. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC  

The effect of Solid State Fermentation (SSF) on Chitosan production by A. niger was investigated. A. niger BBRC 20004 from Biochemical and Bioenvironmental Research Centre of Sharif University of Technology (Tehran, Iran), was grown on corn residue. Chitosan was extracted from the fungal mycelia using hot alkaline and acid treatment. A. niger was incubated for 12 days on corn residue with moisture content of 35 % and 1.12 % of nitrogen. The Chitosan was obtained and 10.9 g/kg of Urea dry residue was added in various amounts to the medium in order to evaluate the effect of the nitrogen concentration in the production of Chitosan. The highest amount of Chitosan obtained by 6.5 g of urea after... 

A novel combination of discontinuous molecular dynamics and the Langevin equation, together with an intermediate-resolution model of proteins, is used to carry out long (several microsecond) simulations in order to study transport of proteins in nanopores. We simulated single-domain proteins with the α-helical native structure. Both attractive and repulsive interaction potentials between the proteins and the pores' walls are considered. The diffusivity D of the proteins is computed not only under the bulk conditions but also as a function of their "length" (the number of the amino-acid groups), temperature T, pore size, and interaction potentials with the walls. Compared with the... 

The catalytic activity of highvalent iron-oxo active species of heme enzymes is known to be dependent on the nature of the axial ligand trans to the iron-oxo group. In a similar fashion, experimental studies on iron-oxo porphyrin biomimetic systems have shown a significant axial ligand effect on ethylbenzene hydroxylation, with an axial acetonitrile ligand leading to phenyl hydroxylation products and an axial chloride anion giving predominantly benzyl hydroxylation products. To elucidate the fundamental factors that distinguish this regioselectivity reversal in iron-oxo porphyrin catalysis, we have performed a series of density functional theory calculations on the hydroxylation of... 

Bacterial toxicity of graphene nanosheets in the form of graphene nanowalls deposited on stainless steel substrates was investigated for both Gram-positive and Gram-negative models of bacteria. The graphene oxide nanowalls were obtained by electrophoretic deposition of Mg2+-graphene oxide nanosheets synthesized by a chemical exfoliation method. On the basis of measuring the efflux of cytoplasmic materials of the bacteria, it was found that the cell membrane damage of the bacteria caused by direct contact of the bacteria with the extremely sharp edges of the nanowalls was the effective mechanism in the bacterial inactivation. In this regard, the Gram-negative Escherichia coli bacteria with an... 

Biological systems are highly nonlinear, and there is a significant amount of variability from one patient to another. A controller for drug infusion has to be able to achieve good performance for most of the potential patient population. These controllers are designed for the general population, as no knowledge is available before hand for each particular patient. This necessitates perforce an algorithm that will be able to compensate for the differences between individuals and external factors. Of the possibilities, fuzzy logic direct model reference adaptive control (DMRAC) is the choice for Insulin infusion control for diabetes type I as results presented herein. Safety and robustness... 

Doxorubicin (DOX), a common cancer chemotherapeutics, was conjugated to folate-modified thiolated-polyethylene glycol-functionalized gold nanoparticles. The in vitro, controlled release behavior of DOX-loaded gold nanoparticles was observed using porous dialysis membranes (cut-off = 2 kDa). DOX-loaded gold nanoparticles had higher cytotoxicity for folate-receptor-positive cells (KB cells) compared to folate-receptor-negative cells (A549 cells) which were 48 and 62% viable for 10 μM doxorubicin, respectively. This indicates the potential of these nano-carriers for targeted-delivery. In addition, healthy cell viability was 69% for 10 μM free doxorubicin whereas for the same content of drug in... 

A new dibenzothiophene (DBT) desulfurizing bacterium was isolated from oil-contaminated soils in Iran. HPLC analysis and PCR-based detection of the presence of the DBT desulfurization genes (dszA, dszB and dszC) indicate that this strain converts DBT to 2-hydroxybiphenyl (2-HBP) via the 4S pathway. The strain, identified as Rhodococcus erythropolis SHT87, can utilize DBT, dibenzothiophene sulfone, thiophene, 2-methylthiophene and dimethylsulfoxide as a sole sulfur source for growth at 30 °C. The maximum specific desulfurization activity of strain SHT87 resting cells in aqueous and biphasic organic-aqueous systems at 30 °C was determined to be 0.36 and 0.47 μmol 2-HBP min-1 (g dry cell)-1,... 

The significant role of protein nanoparticle interactions in nanomedicine and nanotoxicity is emerging recently through the identification of the nanoparticles (NP) protein (biomolecule) corona. The dynamic layer of proteins and/or other biomolecules adsorbed to the nanoparticle surface determines how a NP interacts with living systems and thereby modifies the cellular responses to the NP. Ehrenberg and co-workers used cultured endothelium cells as a model for vascular transport of polystyrene NP with various functional groups, which showed that the capacity of the various NP surfaces to adsorb proteins was indicative of their tendency to associate with cells. The quantification of the... 

Highly active unsupported MoO3 and Co -MoO3 catalysts were prepared by a simple solution reaction method in the presence of different organic additives. Catalysts were characterized by the XRD, BET surface area measurement, SEM and TEM techniques. Results suggested that utilizing different additives produced different morphologies OfMoO3 microstructures. Optimizing reaction conditions was found to produce more active molybdenum oxide nanoparticles when urea and PEG200 additives were utilized. XRD and TEM results indicated crystal growth restriction after cobalt incorporation. Catalytic activities of prepared materials were evaluated in the hydrodesulfurization reaction of Naphtha. Products... 

Vaccines require a period of at least three months for clinical trials, hence a method that can identify elicitation of immune response a few days after the first dose is a necessity. Evolutionary variable selections are modeling approaches for proper manipulation of available data which were used to set up an animal model for classification of time dependent 'HNMR metabolomic profiles and pattern recognition of fluctuations of metabolites in two groups of male rabbits. One group of rabbits was immunized with human red blood cells and the other used as control. Blood was obtained every 48 h from each rabbit for a period of six weeks and the serum monitored for antibodies and metabolites by... 

In this study the ability of Acidithiobacillus ferrooxi-dans, with regard to the biorecovery of heavy metals in shake flask has been investigated. Adaptation experiments with the single metal ions Ni, Co, V, Mo, W and a mixture of the first four metal ions in the medium was developed through serial sub-culturing. Adaptation showed that A. ferrooxidans could tolerate up to 2.3 g/l Ni, 1.4 g/l Co, 1.4 g/l V, 0.045 g/l Mo and 0.005 g/l W, singly. In the presence of multi-metals considering a mixture of Ni-Co-V-Mo, the bacteria was able to tolerate up to 1.5 g/l Ni, 0.8 g/l Co, 0.8 g/l V and 0.05 g/l Mo in steps of 50-100 mg/l for Ni, Co and V, while for Mo and W with increments in concentration... 

Fetal stem cells, which can be isolated from the organs of fetuses, differentiate along multiple lineages. Their advantages over their adult counterparts include better intrinsic homing and engraftment and lower immunogenicity, and they are less ethically contentious. It is noteworthy that Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) can be activated and mobilized at the site of damaged tissue. Since vascular delivery suffers from a pulmonary first pass effect, direct or systemic injection of MSCs into the damaged tissue is preferred, particularly in the case of versatile tissue ischemia. Ultrasound applies acoustic energy with a frequency above human hearing (20 kHz). Ultrasound imaging or sonography... 

Since amyloid beta fibrillation (AβF) plays an important role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases, we investigated the effect of graphene oxide (GO) and their protein-coated surfaces on the kinetics of Aβ fibrillation in the aqueous solution. We showed that GO and their protein-covered surfaces delay the AβF process via adsorption of amyloid monomers. Also, the large available surface of GO sheets can delay the AβF process by adsorption of amyloid monomers. The inhibitory effect of the GO sheet was increased when we increase the concentration from 10% (in vitro; stimulated media) to 100% (in vivo; stimulated media). Conclusion: our results revealed that GO and their surface... 

Open-pore titanium scaffolds were fabricated by sintering of compressed mixtures of TiH1.924 and urea. Spherical and irregular shaped space holders were used to investigate the effect of pore shape on cellular behavior. After removal of the space holder, the shape of the spacers was replicated to the pores. Average diameter of the pores was in the range of 300-600 lm. SEM images showed that titanium hydride resulted in higher surface roughness and larger micro porosities than pure titanium. In vitro evaluationswere carried out by using MTT assay, measuring alkaline phosphatase activity and alizarin red staining in flow perfusion bioreactor for cell culture. Observations revealed excellent... 

Engineered nanoparticles are increasingly being considered for use as biosensors, imaging agents and drug delivery vehicles. Their versatility in design and applications make them an attractive proposition for new biological and biomedical approaches. Despite the remarkable speed of development in nanoscience, relatively little is known about the interaction of nanoscale objects with living systems. In a biological fluid, proteins associate with nanoparticles, and the amount and the presentation of the proteins on their surface could lead to a different in vivo response than an uncoated particle. Here, in addition to protein adsorption, we are going to introduce concept of cell "vision",... 

The single stranded DNA can be adsorbed on the negatively charged surface of gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), but the rigid structure of double stranded DNA prevents it from adsorption. Signal of a tagged single stranded DNA will be quenched by the plasmon effect of the AuNP surface after its adsorption. This phenomenon has been used to study the DNA hybridization and interactions of two complementary 21mer oligonucleotides each tagged with a different fluorescent dye in the presence of 13 nm gold nanoparticles. The DNA strands used in this study belong to the genome of HIV. The obtained rank deficient three-way fluorescence data sets were resolved by both PARAFAC and restricted Tucker3 models.... 

A bacterial strain, FBHYA2, capable of degrading naphthalene, was isolated from the American Petroleum Institute (API) separator of the Tehran Oil Refinery Complex (TORC). Strain FBHYA2 was identified as Achromobacter sp. based on physiological and biochemical characteristics and also phylogenetic similarity of 16S rRNA gene sequence. The optimal growth conditions for strain FBHYA2 were pH 6.0, 30°C and 1.0% NaCl. Strain FBHYA2 can utilize naphthalene as the sole source of carbon and energy and was able to degrade naphthalene aerobically very fast, 48 h for 96% removal at 500 mg/L concentration. The physiological response of Achromobacter sp., FBHYA2 to several hydrophobic chemicals... 

In this report, the fabrication of vertically aligned carbon nanotube nanoelectrode array (VACNT-NEA) by photolithography method is presented. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy as well as cyclic voltammetry was performed to characterize the arrays with respect to different diffusion regimes. The fabricated array illustrated sigmoidal cyclic voltammogram with steady state current dominated by radial diffusion. The fabricated VACNT-NEA and high density VACNTs were employed as electrochemical glutamate biosensors. Glutamate dehydrogenase is covalently attached to the tip of CNTs. The voltammetric biosensor, based on high density VACNTs, exhibits a sensitivity of 0.976 mA mM-1 cm-2 in the... 

Urea and inorganic ions are present in some of the physiological systems, e.g. urine. Understanding the interactions in urea/salt/water is a preliminary step to shed light on more complicated behavior of multi-component physiological systems. State-of-the-art models as well as thermophysical properties can be applied to understand the interactions in these systems. In order to determine such interactions densities, mean ionic activity coefficients (MIACs), osmotic coefficients, and solubility were measured in aqueous solutions of urea and different salts. Densities were determined at temperatures 293.15, 303.15, and 313.15K for urea concentrations up to 3molal and up to 1molal for NaCl....