Sharif Digital Repository

Niosomes, as a kind of drug delivery system, is widely used for the topical delivery of lipophilic drugs. Optimization of niosomes plays an essential role in enhancing their therapeutic efficiencies. This study aims to prepare an optimized niosomal formulation of simvastatin (nSIM), a lipophilic member of statins, through the experiment (Response Surface methodology). Optimized niosomes were characterized in size, polydispersity index (PDI), entrapment efficiency (EE), stability, releasing pattern, and antimicrobial activity. The different molar ratio of surfactant and cholesterol were applied to prepare various formulation of simvastatin loaded niosome. Mean particle size and size... 

Niosomes, as a kind of drug delivery system, is widely used for the topical delivery of lipophilic drugs. Optimization of niosomes plays an essential role in enhancing their therapeutic efficiencies. This study aims to prepare an optimized niosomal formulation of simvastatin (nSIM), a lipophilic member of statins, through the experiment (Response Surface methodology). Optimized niosomes were characterized in size, polydispersity index (PDI), entrapment efficiency (EE), stability, releasing pattern, and antimicrobial activity. The different molar ratio of surfactant and cholesterol were applied to prepare various formulation of simvastatin loaded niosome. Mean particle size and size... 

During the drug delivery process in chemotherapy, both of the cancer cells and normal healthy cells may be killed. In this paper, three mathematical cell-kill models including log-kill hypothesis, Norton-Simon hypothesis and Emax hypothesis are considered. Three control approaches including optimal linear regulation, nonlinear optimal control based on variation of extremals and H∞-robust control based on μ-synthesis are developed. An appropriate cost function is defined such that the amount of required drug is minimized while the tumor volume is reduced. For the first time, performance of the system is investigated and compared for three control strategies; applied on three nonlinear models... 

In this study, optical technology is considered as SA issues’ solution with the potential ability to increase the speed, overcome memory-limitation, reduce power consumption, and increase output accuracy. So we examine the effect of bio-data encoding and the creation of input images on the pattern-recognition error-rate at the output of optical Vander-lugt correlator. Moreover, we present a genetic algorithm-based coding approach, named as GAC, to minimize output noises of cross-correlating data. As a case study, we adopt the proposed coding approach within a correlation-based optical architecture for counting k-mers in a DNA string. As verified by the simulations on Salmonella whole-genome,... 

In this study, optical technology is considered as SA issues’ solution with the potential ability to increase the speed, overcome memory-limitation, reduce power consumption, and increase output accuracy. So we examine the effect of bio-data encoding and the creation of input images on the pattern-recognition error-rate at the output of optical Vander-lugt correlator. Moreover, we present a genetic algorithm-based coding approach, named as GAC, to minimize output noises of cross-correlating data. As a case study, we adopt the proposed coding approach within a correlation-based optical architecture for counting k-mers in a DNA string. As verified by the simulations on Salmonella whole-genome,... 

Objective(s): Seizure detection during online recording of electrophysiological parameters is very important in epileptic patients. In the present study, online analysis of field potential recordings was used for detecting spontaneous seizures in epileptic animals. Materials and Methods: Epilepsy was induced in rats by pilocarpine injection. During the chronic period of the pilocarpine model, local field potential (LFP) recording was run for at least 24 hr. At the same time, video monitoring of the animals was done to determine the real time of seizure occurrence. Both power and sample entropy of LFP were used for online analysis. Results: Obtained results showed that changes in LFP power... 

Oncolytic virotherapy has currently emerged as a promising approach upon which scientists have been able to induce tumor-specific cell death in a broad spectrum of malignancies. Paramyxoviruses represent intrinsic oncolytic capability, which makes them excellent candidates to be widely used in oncolytic virotherapy. The mechanisms through which these viruses destroy the cancerous cells involve triggering the autophagic machinery and apoptosis in target cells. Interestingly, oncolytic paramyxoviruses have been found to induce autophagy and lead to tumor cells death rather than their survival. Indeed, the induction of autophagy has been revealed to enhance the immunogenicity of tumor cells via... 

Background: Human papillomavirus (HPV)-associated malignancy remain a main cause of cancer in men and women. Cancer immunotherapy has represented great potential as a new promising cancer therapeutic approach. Here, we report Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) as a carrier for the delivery of oncolytic Newcastle disease virus (NDV) for the treatment of HPV-associated tumor. Methods: For this purpose, MSCs obtained from the bone marrow of C57BL mice, then cultured and characterized subsequently by the flow cytometry analysis for the presence of cell surface markers. In this study, we sought out to determine the impacts of MSCs loaded with oncolytic NDV on splenic T cell and cytokine immune... 

Passive finite element (FE) models of the spine are commonly used to simulate intact and various pre- and postoperative pathological conditions. Being devoid of muscles, these traditional models are driven by simplistic loading scenarios, e.g., a constant moment and compressive follower load (FL) that do not properly mimic the complex in vivo loading condition under muscle exertions. We aim to develop novel passive FE models that are driven by more realistic yet simple loading scenarios, i.e., in vivo vertebral rotations and pathological-condition dependent FLs (estimated based on detailed musculoskeletal finite element (MS-FE) models). In these novel force–displacement control FE models,... 

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... 

This paper presents a bi-directional closed-form analytical solution, in the framework of nonlinear soft composites mechanics, for top-down hyperelastic characterization of brain white matter tissue components, based on the directional homogenized responses of the tissue in the axial and transverse directions. The white matter is considered as a transversely isotropic neo-Hookean composite made of unidirectional distribution of axonal fibers within the extracellular matrix. First, two homogenization formulations are derived for the homogenized axial and transverse shear moduli of the tissue, based on definition of the strain energy density function. Next, the rule of mixtures and... 

In this paper, a nonlinear adaptive control method is presented for the treatment of the Hepatitis B Virus (HBV) infection. Nonlinear dynamics of the HBV, modeling uncertainties and three state variables (the numbers of uninfected and infected cells and free viruses) are taken into account. The proposed control law is designed for the antiviral drug input such that the number of free viruses and consequently the number of infected cells decrease to the desired values. An adaptation law is also presented to overcome modeling uncertainties by updating estimations of the system parameters during the treatment period. The stability of the process and convergence to desired state values are... 

Infection is a disease that is mainly caused by different Gram-negative and Gram-positive bacteria. Treatment of infections requires a considerable amount of antibiotics, which can cause serious damage to the patient's body. Delivering the antibiotic only to the site of infection can prevent these destructive effects, such as the destruction of the normal intestinal flora. The drug delivery system through carriers will take antibiotics into a part of the body involved in the disease. Niosome nanoparticles, which have been made from non-ionic surfactants, have been emerging as ideal drug/antibiotics delivery vehicles. Recently, niosome formulations have been targeted to reduce toxicity and... 

There is a substantial volume of mobile phone waste every year. Due to the disadvantages of traditional methods, it is necessary to look for biological processes that are more eco-friendly and economical to recover metals from e-waste. Fungi provide large amounts of organic acids and dissolve metals but using sucrose in the medium is not economical. In this paper, the main objective is to find a suitable alternative carbon substrate instead of sucrose for fungi bioleaching of Ni and Cu in printed circuit boards (PCBs) of mobile phones using Penicillium simplicissimum. Four kinds of carbon sources (including sucrose, cheese whey, sugar, and sugar cane molasses) were selected. Also, pH and... 

Therapeutic fragmented antibodies show a poor pharmacokinetic profile that leads to frequent high-dose administration. In the current study, for the first time, a novel proline, alanine, serine (PAS) repeat sequence called PAS#208 was designed to extend the plasma half-life of a nanosized anti-vascular endothelial growth factor-A single-domain antibody. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, circular dichroism, dynamic light scattering, and electrophoretic light scattering were used to assess the physicochemical properties of the newly designed PAS sequence. The effect of PAS#208 on the biologic activity of a single-domain antibody was studied using an in vitro proliferation assay. The... 

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... 

Natural compounds containing polysaccharide ingredients have been employed as candidates for treatment of skin tissue. Herein, for the first time, electrospinning setup was proposed to fabricate an efficient composite nanofibrous structure of Beta vulgaris (obtained from Beet [Chenopodiaceae or Amaranthaceae]) belonged to polysaccharides and an elastic polymer named nylon 66 for skin tissue engineering. Both prepared scaffolds including noncomposite and composite types were studied by Scanning electron microscope (SEM), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, mechanical assay, and contact angle. Scanning electron microscope examinations have approved the uniform and homogeneous... 

With significant advancements in research technologies, and an increasing global population, microfluidic and nanofluidic systems (such as point-of-care, lab-on-a-chip, organ-on-a-chip, etc) have started to revolutionize medicine. Devices that combine micron and nanotechnologies have increased sensitivity, precision and versatility for numerous medical applications. However, while there has been extensive research on microfluidic and nanofluidic systems, very few have experienced wide-spread commercialization which is puzzling and deserves our collective attention. For the above reasons, in this article, we review research advances that combine micro and nanotechnologies to create the next... 

The technological and clinical need for orthopedic replacement materials has led to significant advances in the field of nanomedicine, which embraces the breadth of nanotechnology from pharmacological agents and surface modification through to regulation and toxicology. A variety of nanostructures with unique chemical, physical, and biological properties have been engineered to improve the functionality and reliability of implantable medical devices. However, mimicking living bone tissue is still a challenge. The scope of this review is to highlight the most recent accomplishments and trends in designing nanomaterials and their applications in orthopedics with an outline on future directions... 

According to the latest report from the World Health Organization, an estimated 265,000 deaths still occur every year as a direct result of burn injuries. A widespread range of these deaths induced by burn wound happens in low- and middle-income countries, where survivors face a lifetime of morbidity. Most of the deaths occur due to infections when a high percentage of the external regions of the body area is affected. Microbial nutrient availability, skin barrier disruption, and vascular supply destruction in burn injuries as well as systemic immunosuppression are important parameters that cause burns to be susceptible to infections. Topical antimicrobials and dressings are generally...