Sharif Digital Repository

Objective: Epileptic seizures are defined as manifest of excessive and hyper-synchronous activity of neurons in the cerebral cortex that cause frequent malfunction of the human central nervous system. Therefore, finding precursors and predictors of epileptic seizure is of utmost clinical relevance to reduce the epileptic seizure induced nervous system malfunction consequences. Researchers for this purpose may even guide us to a deep understanding of the seizure generating mechanisms. The goal of this paper is to predict epileptic seizures in epileptic rats. Methods: Seizures were induced in rats using pentylenetetrazole (PTZ) model. EEG signals in interictal, preictal, ictal and postictal... 

Phytochemical investigation of the aerial parts of Salvia eremophila led to the isolation of a lupane triterpenoid, 3β, 20-dihydroxylupane-28-oic acid (1), together with eight other compounds, comprising three diterpene, two triterpene, two flavonoids and a steroidal glucoside. Their structures were elucidated by interpretation of their one-dimensional and two-dimensional NMR spectra and completed by the analysis of the HRESIMS data. Compounds 1, 2-4 and 8 were evaluated for their cytotoxicities against five human tumour cell lines. Compounds 1 and 3 hold a good potential for use in future studies due to their anti-cancer properties  

Arms bearing ureido-pyrimidinone functional groups with self-association capability (through quadruple hydrogen bonds) were successfully grafted onto hydroxyapatite nanoparticles. The supramolecularly modified nanoparticles (nHApUPy) exhibited enhanced colloidal stability compared to the original hydroxyapatite nanoparticles and were uniformly dispersed in supramolecular polycaprolactone in PCL(UPy)2/HApUPy nanocomposites at different filler loadings. The combined atomic force microscopy, mechanical, and rheological analyses confirmed a high degree of compatibility of HApUPy nanoparticles with the polymer matrix. The temperature dependence of the supramolecular structure in PCL(UPy)2/HApUPy... 

Superparamganetic iron oxide-based contrast agents in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) have offered new possibility for early detection of lymph nodes and their metastases. According to important role of nanoparticle size in biodistribution, magnetite nanoparticles coated with different polyethylene glycol (PEG) concentrations up to 10/1 PEG/iron oxide weight ratio in an ex situ manner. To predict the PEG-coated nanoparticle behavior in biological media, such as blood stream or tissue, colloidal stability evaluation was performed to estimate the coating endurance in different conditions. Accordingly, optical absorbance measurements were conducted in solutions with different values of pH and... 

Multivariate curve resolution (MCR) and multivariate clustering methods along with other chemometric methods are proposed to improve the analysis of gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) fingerprints of secondary metabolites in citrus fruits peels. In this way, chromatographic problems such as baseline/background contribution, low S/N peaks, asymmetric peaks, retention time shifts, and co-elution (overlapped and embedded peaks) occurred during GC-MS analysis of chromatographic fingerprints are solved using the proposed strategy. In this study, first, informative GC-MS fingerprints of citrus secondary metabolites are generated and then, whole data sets are segmented to some... 

The kinetics of bioleaching of Mo, Ni, and Al from spent hydrocracking catalyst, using Aspergillus niger was studied. The four most effective bioleaching variables were selected in accordance with the Plackett-Burman design and were further optimized via central composite design (CCD). The optimal values of the variables for maximum multi-metal bioleaching were as follows: particle size 150-212. μm, sucrose 93.8. g/L, pulp density 3%. w/v, and pH 7. The maximum metal recoveries corresponding to these conditions were 99.5 ± 0.4% Mo, 45.8 ± 1.2% Ni, and 13.9 ± 0.1% Al. The relatively low Ni extraction was attributed to the precipitation of Ni in the presence of oxalic acid. Under the optimal... 

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... 

Background & objectives: Malaria is the most important mosquito-borne disease in Iran. It is endemic in south to southeastern part of the country. Knowledge about bio-ecology of vectors will support authorities for appropriate management of the disease. Bashagard district is one of the main endemic areas for malaria in south of Iran. This study was conducted to determine anopheline fauna, diversity and affinity in the area, characterization of larval habitats, and mapping their potential distribution across the district. Methods: The potential aquatic habitats for Anopheles larvae were extracted from Indian Remote Sensing Satellite (IRS) image and digital elevation model of the area using... 

Simulating signal transduction in cellular signaling networks provides predictions of network dynamics by quantifying the changes in concentration and activity-level of the individual proteins. Since numerical values of kinetic parameters might be difficult to obtain, it is imperative to develop non-parametric approaches that combine the connectivity of a network with the response of individual proteins to signals which travel through the network. The activity levels of signaling proteins computed through existing non-parametric modeling tools do not show significant correlations with the observed values in experimental results. In this work we developed a non-parametric computational... 

Context: Elevated expression of the folate receptor (FR) occurs in many human malignancies. Thus, folate targeting is widely utilized in drug delivery purposes specially using nano-radioactive agents. Aims: In this work, we report production and biological evaluation of gallium-67 labeled superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles, embedded by folic acid (67 Ga-SPION-folate) complex especially in tumor-bearing mice for tumor imaging studies. Settings and Design: The structure of SPION-folate was confirmed by X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and foureir transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) analyses. The radiolabeled SPION-folate formation was confirmed by... 

The ability of Paraconiothyrium variabile, a laccase producing ascomycete recently isolated from soil, was studied to eliminate chlorophenol derivatives in submerged culture medium. Among the tested compounds, ρ-chlorophenol (ρ-CP) and pentachlorophenol (PCP) were found to have minimum and maximum toxic effects, respectively, on the growth of the microorganism and at the same time high and low bioelimination percentages. The fungal strain was able to remove 86% of ρ-CP (with initial concentration of 40mgl -1) and 56% of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP; with same concentration as ρ-CP) after 9 days of incubation while no elimination was observed in the presence of 2,4,6-trichlorophenol... 

In this study, WO 3 nanocrystallites were first produced by laser ablation of W target in deionised water. To synthesize palladium, a PdCl 2 solution (0.2 g/L) was added to the liquid. Transmission electron microscope revealed successful synthesis of tungsten oxide nanocrystallites along with the production of Pd and core-shell Pd/WO3 nanoparticles. Gasochromic behavior was examined by hydrogen bubbling into Pd/WO 3 liquid in which a transition to blue absorbing state was observed. Optical absorption spectra of the colored liquid represented different sharp small polaron absorbing peaks below 3 eV and the peaks intensity was observed to be varied with Pd:WO 3 ratio. Time variations of... 

Introduction: Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common and drug resistant epilepsy in adults. Due to behavioral, morphologic and electrographic similarities, pilocarpine model of epilepsy best resembles TLE. This study was aimed at determination of the changes in electroencephalogram (EEG) sub-bands amplitude during focal seizures in the pilocarpine model of epilepsy. Analysis of these changes might help detection of a pre-seizure state before an oncoming seizure. Methods: Rats were treated by scopolamine (1mg/kg, s.c) to prevent cholinergic effects. After 30 min, pilocarpine (380 mg/kg, i.p) was administered to induce status epilepticus (SE) and 2 hours after SE, diazepam (20 mg/kg,... 

Adaptation of Penicillium simplicissimum with different heavy metals present in a spent hydrocracking catalyst, as well as one-step, two-step, and spent medium bioleaching of the spent catalyst by the adapted fungus, was examined in batch cultures. Adaptation experiments with the single metal ions Ni, Mo, Fe, and W showed that the fungus could tolerate up to 1500. mg/L Ni, 8000. mg/L Mo, 3000. mg/L Fe, and 8000. mg/L W. In the presence of multi-metals, the fungus was able to tolerate up to 300. mg/L Ni, 200. mg/L Mo, 150. mg/L Fe and 2500. mg/L W. A total of 3% (w/v) spent catalyst generally gave the maximum extraction yields in the two-step bioleaching process (100% of W, 100% of Fe, 92.7%... 

Introduction: It has shown that listening to Mozart music can potentiate spatial tasks in human; and reduce seizure attacks in epileptic patients. A few studies have reported the effects of prenatal plus postpartum exposure of mice to the Mozart music on brain-drived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in the hippocampus. Here we investigated the effect of postpartum exposure to The Mozart music on BDNF concentration in the hippocampus of rat. Methods: Thirty male one day old newborn Wistar rats divided randomly in two equal experimental and control groups. Experimental group exposed to slow rhythm Mozart music (Mozart Sonata for two pianos KV 448, 6 hour per day; sound pressure levels, between 80... 

Polyrotaxanes consisting of cyclodextrin rings, polyethylene glycol axes and quantum dot (QD) stoppers were synthesized and characterized. The molecular self-assembly of polyrotaxanes led to spindlelike nano-objects whose shape, size and position were dominated by QD stoppers. Due to their well-defined molecular self-assemblies, carbohydrate backbone, high functionality and several types of functional groups together with the high luminescence yield, synthesized hybrid nanostructures were recognized as promising candidates for biomedical applications. The potential applications of the molecular self-assemblies as drug-delivery systems was investigated by conjugation of doxorubicin (DOX) to... 

Most of 200 Activated Sludge Plant in Iran are overloaded and as a result, their efficiency is low. In this work, a pilot plant is manufactured and put into operation in one of the wastewater treatment plants in the west of Tehran. Instead of conventional activated sludge, a membrane bioreactor and an upflow anaerobic sludge blanket reactor used as a pretreatment unit in this pilot. For the sake of data accuracy and precision, an enriched municipal wastewater was opted as an influent to the pilot. Based on the attained result, the optimum retention time in this system was 4. h, and the overall COD removal efficiency was 98%. As a whole, the application of this retrofit would increase the... 

In the current study, a facile green synthesis of silver-gelatin core-shell nanostructures (spherical, spherical/cubic hybrid, and cubic, DLS diameter: 4.1-6.9 nm) is reported via the wet chemical synthesis procedure. Sunlight-UV as an available reducing agent cause mild reduction of silver ions into the silver nanoparticles (Ag-NPs). Gelatin protein, as an effective capping/shaping agent, was used in the reaction to self-assemble silver nanostructures. The formation of silver nanostructures and their self-assembly pattern was confirmed by SEM, AFM, and TEM techniques. Further investigations were carried out using zeta-potential, UV-Vis, FTIR, GPC, and TGA/DTG/DTA data. The prepared Ag-NPs... 

Calendula alata plants were tested for their potential to remove stable cesium and lead from solutions in a 15-day period. The plants were grown hydroponically and placed in solutions containing CsCl and Pb(C 2H 3O 2)2 at different concentrations (0.6, 2 and 5 mg l-1). When plants were incubated in CsCl solutions 46.84 ± 2.12%, 41.35 ± 1.59%, and 52.06 ± 1.02% cesium was found to be remediated after 15 days. Moreover, more than 99% lead was removed from the Pb(C 2H 3O 2)2solution in all three concentrations after 15 days during the same period. When both CsCl and Pb(C 2H 3O 2)2were supplemented together in the solution, 9.92 ± 1.22%, 45.56 ± 3.52%, and 46.16 ± 1.48% cesium and 95.30 ± 0.72%,... 

Uptake rate of 133Cs, at three different concentrations of CsCl, by Calendula alata, Amaranthus chlorostachys and Chenopodium album plants grown outdoors was studied. These plants grow abundantly in semi-arid regions and their varieties exist in many parts of the world. When exposed to lowest Cs concentration 68 percent Cs was remediated by Chenopodium album. 133Cs accumulation in shoots of Amaranthus chlorostachys reached its highest value of 2146.2mgkg -1 at a 133Cs supply level of 3.95mgl -1 of feed solution. The highest concentration ratio value was 4.89 for Amaranthus chlorostachys, whereas for the other tests it ranged from 0.74 to 3.33. Furthermore uptake of 133Cs by all three species...