Sharif Digital Repository

S. lanata has been traditionally used as a medicinal plant due to its various biological activities such as antioxidant activity. Therefore, identification and quality control studies of this plant are of great importance. To this end, gas chromatography (GC) combined with chemometrics was proposed for fingerprint analysis of S. lanata samples. This study sought to classify GC fingerprints of twenty-eight S. lanata samples from eight different regions of Iran and more importantly, to correlate fingerprints to the antioxidant activity to select S. lanata volatile antioxidant markers. S. lanata samples were classified into five and three classes using partial least squares-discriminant... 

Polystyrene is one of the best candidates as the extracting medium due to its high stability in different media and acceptable extraction capability. However, the hydrophobic nature and low wettability of polystyrene limits its application to non–polar analytes. To resolve this limitation, in this project, amine groups were chemically attached to the surface of magnetic polystyrene. The resulting hydrophilic magnetic particles were expected to be capable of extracting both polar and non–polar analytes. Non–steroidal anti–inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) were chosen for testing the applicability of modified magnetic polystyrene according to the importance of their analysis and also their wide... 

CuFeO2/CeO2 as a novel synergistic catalyst for EF removal of organic pollutants was synthesized. © 2019 Elsevier Ltd  

Nanostructured Ag@SiO2-Penicillin was synthesized from high-purity Ag0 NPs with a mean particle size of about 10 nm produced by electromagnetic levitation gas condensation (ELGC) method. The silver and penicillin contents of the synthesized nano-antibiotic were about 34 wt% and 2.5 wt% respectively, as determined by ICP-OES and TGA analyses. The antibacterial properties and synergistic effects of nanostructured Ag@SiO2 and Ag@SiO2–Penicillin on killing the Methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) and Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) bacteria were also examined. The nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Ag@SiO2-Penicillin... 

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) includes different neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by deficits in social communication, and restricted, repetitive patterns of behavior, interests or activities. Based on the importance of early diagnosis for effective therapeutic intervention, several strategies have been employed for detection of the disorder. The artificial neural network (ANN) as a type of machine learning method is a common strategy. In the current study, we extracted genomic data for 487 ASD patients and 455 healthy individuals. All individuals were genotyped in certain single-nucleotide polymorphisms within retinoic acid-related orphan receptor alpha (RORA), gamma-aminobutyric... 

Oil spills are serious environmental issues that potentially can cause adverse effects on marine ecosystems. In some marine areas, like the Baltic Sea, there is a large number of wrecks from the first half of the 20th century, and recent monitoring and field work have revealed release of oil from some of these wrecks. The risk posed by a wreck is governed by its condition, hazardous substances contained in the wreck and the state of the surrounding environment. Therefore, there is a need for a common standard method for estimating the risks associated with different wrecks. In this work a state-of-the-art model is presented for spatial and stochastic risk assessment of oil spills from... 

In this study, a method was described for the extraction of three antibiotic residues from cow milk samples using a graphene oxide–starch–based nanocomposite. The prepared nanocomposites were employed as an extractive phase for micro-solid phase extraction of antibiotics from cow milk samples. The extracted antibiotics, i.e. amoxicillin, ampicillin and cloxacillin, were subsequently analyzed by high-performance liquid chromatography–ultraviolet detection (HPLC–UV). Important variables associated with the extraction and desorption efficiency were optimized. High extraction efficiencies for the selected antibiotics were conveniently achieved using the starch–based nanocomposite as the... 

Scaffolds for tissue engineering of specific sites such as cardiac, nerve, and bone tissues need a comprehensive design of three dimensional materials that covers all aspects of chemical composition and physical structures, required for regeneration of desired cells. Hydrogels, possessing highly hydrated and interconnected structures, are promising materials for tissue engineering applications. Improvement of an injectable hydrogel from biocompatible polysaccharides and poly‑N‑isopropyl acryl amide enriched with Au nanoparticles are the main goal of this study. Two main enhancements in this study are included mixture design of the components and addition of Au nanoparticles to access a... 

Introduction: Some tinnitus subjects habituate to their tinnitus but some others do not and complain of its annoyance tremendously. Normal sensory memory and change detection processes are needed for detecting the tinnitus signal as a prediction error and habituation to tinnitus. The purpose of this study was to compare auditory mismatch negativity as the index of sensory memory and change detection among the studied groups to search for the factors involving in the perception of tinnitus and preventing habituation in decompensated tinnitus subjects. Methods: Electroencephalography was recorded from scalp electrodes in compensated tinnitus, decompensated tinnitus, and no tinnitus control... 

In this study, lyophilized advanced platelet rich fibrin (A-PRF) was used in combination with collagen-chitosan membrane for the first time to combine advantages of both collagen and A-PRF membranes. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to design the experimental condition and to correlate the effects of parameters, including chitosan/collagen (chit/col) weight ratio and A-PRF concentration on Young's modulus, mesenchymal stem cell (MSCs) viability and degradation rate of the membranes. Results showed that Young's modulus of the membranes was intensified by increasing chit/col weight ratio and decreasing A-PRF concentration from 3 to 8 MPa. Cell viability of MSCs was improved by both... 

Small diameter vascular grafts (<6 mm) are highly demanded for patients suffering from severe occluded arteries to be used as a bypass or substituted conduit. Fabricating a graft with appropriate structural, mechanical and cell growth properties which has simultaneously anti-thrombogenic trait is a challenge nowadays. Here, we proposed a bilayer heparinized vascular graft that can mimic the structural and mechanical characteristics close to those of the native coronary artery by combining electrospinning and freeze drying methods. In this study, the inner layer was made by co-electrospinning of synthetic polymer, poly-caprolactone (PCL) and the natural polymer, gelatin (Gel). Also, heparin... 

Small diameter vascular grafts (<6 mm) are highly demanded for patients suffering from severe occluded arteries to be used as a bypass or substituted conduit. Fabricating a graft with appropriate structural, mechanical and cell growth properties which has simultaneously anti-thrombogenic trait is a challenge nowadays. Here, we proposed a bilayer heparinized vascular graft that can mimic the structural and mechanical characteristics close to those of the native coronary artery by combining electrospinning and freeze drying methods. In this study, the inner layer was made by co-electrospinning of synthetic polymer, poly-caprolactone (PCL) and the natural polymer, gelatin (Gel). Also, heparin... 

The joint analysis of multiple data sets to extract their interdependency information has wide applications in biomedical and health informatics. In this paper, we propose an algorithm to extract joint and individual sources of multisubject data sets by using a deflation-based procedure, which is referred to as joint/individual thin independent component analysis (JI-ThICA). The proposed algorithm is based on two cost functions utilizing higher order cumulants to extract joint and individual sources. Joint sources are discriminated by fusing signals of all subjects, whereas individual sources are extracted separately for each subject. Furthermore, JI-ThICA algorithm estimates the number of... 

In this work, high-performance thin-layer chromatography (HPTLC) coupled with multivariate image analysis (MIA) is proposed as a fast and reliable tool for authentication and adulteration detection of Iranian saffron samples based on their HPTLC fingerprints. At first, the secondary metabolites of saffron were extracted using ultrasonic-assisted solvent extraction (UASE) which was optimized using central composite design (CCD). Next, the RGB coordinates of HPTLC images were used for estimation of saffron origin based on principal component analysis (PCA). The PCA scores plot showed that saffron samples were clustered into two clear-cut groups which was 92% matched with the geographical... 

The present work is comprised of two main parts. In part 1 the Co-Ni/γ-Al2O3 catalyst was prepared using a sol-gel procedure. Then the effect of calcination variables including the calcination temperature and time on the catalytic performance for production of light olefins was investigated and optimized. The obtained results have shown that the catalyst which was calcined at 550 °C for 6 h has revealed the better catalytic performance for production of light olefins. In part 2 the effect of process conditions including the reaction temperature, H2/CO feed ratio and total reaction pressure on the catalytic performance (CO conversion%, (C2-C4) selectivity% and C5+ selectivity%) was... 

Background: Stomach cancer is a major health problem in many countries. Understanding the current burden of stomach cancer and the differential trends across various locations is essential for formulating effective preventive strategies. We report on the incidence, mortality, and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to stomach cancer in 195 countries and territories from 21 regions between 1990 and 2017. Methods: Estimates from GBD 2017 were used to analyse the incidence, mortality, and DALYs due to stomach cancer at the global, regional, and national levels. The rates were standardised to the GBD world population and reported per 100 000 population as age-standardised incidence rates,... 

This study investigated the synthesis of Pd nanoparticles (NPs) using a high-gravity technique mediated by Salvia hispanica leaf extracts. Biological assays confirmed their antibacterial activity against gram positive (S. aureus) and gram negative (E. coli) bacteria with significant antioxidant activity in comparison with the standards as well as low cellular toxicity on PC12 and HEK293 cell lines. To the best of our knowledge, this study can be considered as the first investigation of Pd-NPs synthesized by Salvia hispanica leaf extracts assisted by a high-gravity technique. In addition, the mentioned green synthesis procedure led to the formation of nanoparticles with considerable... 

In this study, for the first time, we reported a fast and facile three-step in situ strategy for direct controllable growth of the Co3(BTC)2 MOFs thin films on the GCE, through the rapid conversion of the electrodeposited Co(OH)2 nano-flakes on rGO/GCE, to crystalline rectangular bar-shape structures of MOFs. X-ray diffraction spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and elemental mapping analysis used to the structural and morphological characterization of the well-synthesized MOFs. The as-prepared Co3(BTC)2 MOFs were used to construct a non-enzymatic sensing platform for determining the glucose... 

The optimal design of a casting feeding system is considered. The problem is formulated as the volume constrained topology optimization and is solved with the finite element analysis, explicit design sensitivity, and numerical optimization. In contrast to the traditional topology optimization where the objective function is defined on the design space, in the presented method, the design space is a subset of the complement of the objective function space. To accelerate optimization procedure, the nonlinear unsteady heat transfer equation is approximated with a Poisson-like equation. The feasibility of the presented method is supported with illustrative examples. © 2007 Springer-Verlag  

Most slab-on-girder steel bridges have been designed and constructed without seismic resistance consideration; as a result, their members, connections, and more commonly their substructure are not sized and detailed to provide the required ductile response needed during major earthquakes. A ductile seismic retrofit solution proposed in this investigation consist of converting of existing end diaphragms into ductile end diaphragms and replacing the end cross-frames and the lower lateral-braced panels adjacent to the supports by special ductile diaphragms. Consequently, this creates ductile fuses to protect the rest of the super- and substructure. This paper illustrates the typical seismic...