Sharif Digital Repository

An immersed solvent microextraction (SME) method was successfully developed for the trace enrichment of aryloxyphenoxypropionate herbicides from aquatic media. A microdrop of toluene was used as the extraction solvent. Some important extraction parameters such as type of solvent, solvent dropsize, stirring rate, ionic strength and extraction time were investigated and optimized. The microdrop volume of 1.5 μL, a sampling time of 25 min, and use of toluene were major parameters for achieving high enrichment factors. The linearity was studied by preconcentration of 4 mL of the water samples spiked with a standard solution of aryloxyphenoxypropionates at the concentration range of 0.15 to 30 ng... 

A novel high-throughput device based on 96-micro-solid phase extraction (96-μ-SPE) system was constructed for multiresidue determination of nine pesticides in aquatic samples. The extraction procedure was performed on a commercially available 96-well plate system. The extraction module consisted of 96 pieces of 1cm×3cm of cylindrically shaped stainless steel meshes. The prepared meshes were fixed in a home-made polytetrafluoroethylene-based constructed ninety-six holes block for possible simultaneous immersion of meshes into the center of individual wells. Dodecyl methacrylate and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate was copolymerized as a monolithic polymer and placed in the cylindrically shaped... 

An immersed single drop microextraction (SDME) method was successfully developed for the trace enrichment of formaldehyde from DTP and DT vaccines and diphtheria-tetanus antigen. The formaldehyde was derivatized by means of the Hantzsch reaction. The dehydropyridine derivative was extracted into a microdrop of chloroform that suspended in a 4 ml sample solution for a preset time. The microdrop was then retracted into the microsyringe and injected directly into a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) injection port. Effects of different parameters such as the type of solvent, extraction time, stirring rate, and temperature were studied and optimized. The limit of detection was 0.22... 

We model the dynamics of Magellanic Stream with the ram-pressure scenario in the logarithmic and power-law galactic halo models and construct numerically the past orbital history of Magellanic Clouds and Magellanic Stream. The parameters of models include the asymptotic rotation velocity of spiral arms, halo flattening, core radius and rising or falling parameter of rotation curve. We obtain the best-fit parameters of galactic models through the maximum likelihood analysis, comparing the high resolution radial velocity data of HI in Magellanic Stream with that of theoretical models. The initial condition of the Magellanic Clouds is taken from the six different values reported in the... 

Sol composition and ripening conditions are two important parameters in silica fiber production through the conventional sol-gel process. In the current study, silica nanofibers were successfully obtained via the electrospinning technique, and sol-gel formation occurred during this process. Based on previous reports, with the aim of increasing the selectivity, we used the molecular imprinted methodology to produce a selective medium via sol-gel electrospinning. In this process, sol-gel was formed during electrospinning and then, the backbone polymer was removed by heating. To obtain a thin layer of silica nanofibers, the influencing parameters such as backbone polymer types, imprinting time... 

A cryogel–based semi–interpenetrating polymer network (Cryo–SIPN) was prepared in which conductive polymers such as polyaniline (PANI) and polypyrrole (PPy) were formed within the super porous network of acrylic acid cryogel. For completion of cryo-polymerization, all the constituent solutions were severely mixed and placed into the plastic straws and kept at -20°C and then the synthesized cyrogels were cut into the 1-cm length and freeze dried after washing with water. The Cryo–SIPN polymeric composite was applied in micro solid phase extraction (µSPE) of some selected antibiotic residues from various samples. The µSPE method combined with a high performance liquid... 

Energy hub concept has been emerged as a suitable tool to analyze multi-carrier energy systems. Deregulation and increasing competition in the energy industry have provided a suitable platform for developing the multi-agent energy systems. Planning of energy hubs considering the competition between the hubs has not been sufficiently addressed, yet. A model has been proposed in this study for planning of a multi-hub energy system considering the competition between the hubs. The hubs are interconnected via an electric transmission system. A linear model has been developed to determine the optimal planning/operation strategy for energy hubs in a multi-period planning horizon to meet the heat... 

Low accuracy, requirement of expensive instruments, derivatization and multi-step sample preparation, inconsistencies during the fabrication process, time-consuming procedures and utilization of eco-unfriendly chemicals are some limitations of various developed methods for detection of 4-methylimidazol (4-MeI). Herein, a rapid and miniaturized fluorescent probe based on the ultrasound‒assisted formation of carbon dots (CDs) in a metallic deep eutectic solvent (MDES) was developed and conveniently implemented to detect 4-MeI in commercial dark soft drinks. In-situ synthesis of CDs-chelated metals in the presence of the target analyte facilitates a kinetically fluorescence emission with no... 

The dynamics of the Magellanic Stream (MS) as a series of clouds extending from the Magellanic Clouds (MCs) to the south Galactic pole is affected by the distribution and the amount of matter in the Milky Way. We calculate the gravitational effect of the Galactic disk on the MS in the framework of modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) and compare with observations of the Stream's radial velocity. We consider the tidal force of the Galaxy, which strips material from the MCs to form the MS, and, using a no-halo model of the Galaxy, we ignore the effect of the drag of the Galactic halo on the MS. We also compare the MONDian dynamics with that in logarithmic and power-law dark halo models and show... 

A high-throughput micro-solid-phase extraction device based on a 96-well plate was constructed and applied to the determination of pesticide residues in various apple samples. Butyl methacrylate and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate were copolymerized as a monolithic polymer and placed in the cylindrically shaped stainless-steel meshes of 96-micro-solid-phase extraction device and used as an extracting unit. Before the micro-solid-phase extraction, microwave-assisted extraction was employed to facilitate the transfer of the pesticide residues from the apple matrix to liquid media. Then, 1 mL of the aquatic samples was transferred into the 96-well plate and the 96-micro-solid-phase extraction... 

A novel technique based on image processing inspired by the simple assumption for the first time to assess the roughness of nanofibrous mats based on grayscale variations is proposed. The height of a nanofibrous mat in different regions of the surface is simulated by grayscale variations in the image while the relation between grayscale and height is obtained as a linear function. The roughness is obtained by measuring height variations in the surface profile. Statistical roughness parameters of nanofibrous mats are also obtained from direct measurement with roughness profilometry and atomic force microscopy (AFM) for comparison of the roughness of nanofibrous mats between direct measurement... 

A novel technique based on image processing inspired by the simple assumption for the first time to assess the roughness of nanofibrous mats based on grayscale variations is proposed. The height of a nanofibrous mat in different regions of the surface is simulated by grayscale variations in the image while the relation between grayscale and height is obtained as a linear function. The roughness is obtained by measuring height variations in the surface profile. Statistical roughness parameters of nanofibrous mats are also obtained from direct measurement with roughness profilometry and atomic force microscopy (AFM) for comparison of the roughness of nanofibrous mats between direct measurement... 

A novel technique based on image processing inspired by the simple assumption for the first time to assess the roughness of nanofibrous mats based on grayscale variations is proposed. The height of a nanofibrous mat in different regions of the surface is simulated by grayscale variations in the image while the relation between grayscale and height is obtained as a linear function. The roughness is obtained by measuring height variations in the surface profile. Statistical roughness parameters of nanofibrous mats are also obtained from direct measurement with roughness profilometry and atomic force microscopy (AFM) for comparison of the roughness of nanofibrous mats between direct measurement... 

An attempt was made to combine μ-solid phase extraction and headspace single drop microextraction techniques and use their advantages for trace determination of some volatile organic compounds in aqueous samples. After performing the two-step preconcentration approach, the desired analytes were determined by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. A resorcinol-formaldehyde-based xerogel was used as the extraction medium in the μ-solid phase extraction (μ-SPE) method. Then, the extracted BTEX was eluted with a rather large amount of methanol. To remove the laborious process including solvent evaporation and further reconstitution, which is usually accompanied by loss of analytes and accuracy,... 

Comparative studies between response surface methodology (RSM) and artificial neural network (ANN) methods to find the effects of electrospinning parameters on the porosity of nanofiber mats is described. The four important electrospinning parameters studied included solution concentration (wt.%), applied voltage (kV), spinning distance (cm) and volume flow rate (mL/h). It was found that the applied voltage and solution concentration are the two critical parameters affecting the porosity of the nanofiber mats. The two approaches were compared for their modeling and optimization capabilities with the modeling capability of RSM showing superiority over ANN, having comparatively lower values of... 

An imprinted interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) was synthesized and used as a medium for isolation of carbamazepine from urine samples. The polymer network consisted of a homogeneous polystyrene–sol gel hybrid constructed by in–situ radical polymerization method. In this process, within the sol–gel reaction duration, styrene monomer could penetrate into the reaction mixture and after the polymerization initiation, a monolithic IPN structure was prepared. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) image and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) are indications of the polystyrene dispersion at nano- to micro-meter level in the sol gel matrix. Eventually, the synthesized IPN was used as a... 

A head-space solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) method coupled to GC-MS was developed to extract fentanyl from human plasma. The protein binding was reduced by acidification and, eventually, the sample was deproteinized with trichloroacetic acid. The parameters influencing adsorption (extraction time, temperature, pH and salt addition) and desorption (desorption time and temperature) of the analyte on the fibre were investigated and validated for method development. The developed method proved to be rapid, simple, easy and inexpensive and offers high sensitivity and reproducibility. Linear range was obtained from 0.1 ng/ml to 2 μg/ml. The limit of detection was 0.03 ng/ml while an... 

Bubble splitting in 2D gas-solid freely bubbling fluidized beds is experimentally investigated using digital image analysis. The quantitative results can be applied for the development of a new breakage model for bubbly fluidized beds, especially discrete bubble models. The variation of splitting frequency with bubble diameter, new resulting bubble volumes, positions, and also the assumptions of mass and momentum conservation for bubbles after breakage are studied in detail. Small bubbles are found to be more stable than large ones and nearly all mother bubbles split into two almost equally sized daughter bubbles. The momentum of gas bubbles in the vertical direction remains approximately...