Sharif Digital Repository

Efficient synthesis of protected and unprotected chlorohydrins has been achieved by ring opening of epoxides with acetyl/benzoyl chloride and TMSCl using a catalytic amount of ZnO as a reusable catalyst. The applicability of ZnO is further extended by performing the cleavage of the natural product 5,6-epoxysitosterol with acetyl chloride. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc  

Dracocephalum kotschyi essential oils obtained by hydrodistillation (HD), microwave-assisted hydrodistillation (MAHD), and solvent-free microwave extraction (SFME) were investigated by GC-FID (Gas Chromatography-Flame Ionization Detector) and GC-MS (Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry). The percentage of oxygenated compounds was significantly increased from 62.52% in HD to 76.47% in MAHD, and 84.52% in SFME. Conversely, the monoterpene hydrocarbons were decreased from 30.84% in HD to 13.71% in MAHD, and 5.85% in SFME. The main compound in the essential oil obtained by HD is limonene, which accounted for more than 30% of the oil, while the percentage of this compound was reduced to 9.52% in... 

Erigeroside was extracted from Satureja khuzistanica Jamzad (Marzeh Khuzistani in Persian, family of lamiaceae), and 1H, 13C, 13C{1H}, 1H-1H COSY, HMQC and J-HMBC were obtained to identify this compound and determine a complete set of J-coupling constants (1JC-H, 2JC-H, 3JC-H and 3JH-H) values within the exocyclic hydroxymethyl group (CH2OH) and anomeric center. In parallel, density functional theory (DFT) using B3LYP functional and split-valance 6-311++G** basis set has been used to optimized the structures and conformers of erigeroside. In all calculations solvent effects were considered using a polarized continuum (overlapping spheres) model (PCM). The dependencies of 1J, 2J and 3J... 

An efficient 12-step route for the synthesis of the diterpenoid quinone (±)-danshexinkun A in 23% overall yield from the corresponding highly substituted stilbene using a photocyclization strategy is described  

Cast aluminium-silicon alloy, A356.0, is widely used in automotive and aerospace industries because of its outstanding mechanical, physical, and casting properties. Thermal barrier coatings can be applied to combustion chamber to reduce fuel consumption and pollutions and also improve fatigue life of components. The purpose of the present work is to simulate stress distribution of A356.0 under thermo-mechanical cyclic loadings, using a two-layer elastic-visco-plastic model of ABAQUS. The results of stress-strain hysteresis loop are validated by an out of phase thermo-mechanical fatigue test. Different thicknesses from 300 to 800. μm of top coat and also roughness of the interfaces are... 

In the present paper, numerical simulation of thermal barrier coating system under thermo-mechanical loadings is performed, using the finite element method in ABAQUS software. The base material is Aluminum-silicon alloy, A356.0 which is widely used in automotive components such as diesel engine cylinder heads. Thermal barrier coatings (TBCs) are applied to combustion chamber in order to reduce fuel consumption and pollutions and also improve fatigue life of components. The roughness effect of coating layers on stress distribution of test specimens is investigated. Semi-ellipsoid roughness of the interfaces between substrate/bond coat and bond coat/top coat are simulated to get the stress... 

Cast aluminium-silicon alloy, A356.0, is widely used in automotive components such as diesel engine cylinder heads and also in aerospace industries because of its outstanding mechanical, physical, and casting properties. Thermal barrier coatings are applied to combustion chamber in order to reduce fuel consumption and pollutions and also improve fatigue life of components. However, studies on behaviour of A356.0 with thermal barrier coating are still rare. The purpose of the present work is to simulate stress distribution of A356.0 under thermo-mechanical cyclic loadings, using a two-layer elastic-visco-plastic model of ABAQUS software. The results of stress-strain hysteresis loop are... 

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  

Vehicular edge computing is a progressing technology which provides processing resources to the internet of vehicles using the edge servers deployed at roadside units. Vehicles take advantage by offloading their computationintensive tasks to this infrastructure. However, concerning time-sensitive applications and the high mobility of vehicles, cost-efficient task offloading is still a challenge. This paper establishes a computation offloading strategy based on deep Q-learning algorithm for vehicular edge computing networks. To jointly minimize the system cost including offloading failure rate and the total energy consumption of the offloading process, the vehicle tasks offloading problem is... 

Background: De novo drug discovery is a time-consuming and expensive process. Nowadays, drug repositioning is utilized as a common strategy to discover a new drug indication for existing drugs. This strategy is mostly used in cases with a limited number of candidate pairs of drugs and diseases. In other words, they are not scalable to a large number of drugs and diseases. Most of the in-silico methods mainly focus on linear approaches while non-linear models are still scarce for new indication predictions. Therefore, applying non-linear computational approaches can offer an opportunity to predict possible drug repositioning candidates. Results: In this study, we present a non-linear method... 

A new semi-rigid beam-to-column, as well as bracing-to-frame, connection has been developed. In addition to its application in building structures, due to its special features and characteristics, it can best lend itself to offshore jackets, where fracture caused by fatigue has always been a major concern. The adverse effects of welding, material embrittlement, residual stresses, etc., pronounced by cyclic loading on such structures, can be overcome by using this new connection. Moreover, it can be easily used in the structure of various modules used in the topside of platforms and FPSOs. The particular feature of this connection is its geometry, which is so devised that it allows much... 

In the present paper, an optimization of thermal barrier coating parameters is performed for diesel engine applications. The substrate is A356.0-T7, a cast aluminum alloy which has a vast application in diesel engines, and the alloy is coated by plasma sprayed ZrO2-8 wt.% Y2O3. Parameters including the feed rate of coating powders, the nozzle distance to specimen surfaces, and the coating thickness are optimized by thermal shock fatigue tests and bending tests. Optimum values of the feed rate and the nozzle distance are 30 g/min and 80 mm, respectively, when the objective is considered as maximizing the bending strength. Thermal shock tests demonstrate that lower thickness of coating layers... 

In late 2018, Qatar -as a key player in the global gas market-announced that it has decided to quit the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and rather will be focussing on its gas industry. Such a decision, drew the attentions once again and after a decade to the issue of gas cartel formation. The basic question of this paper is under which conditions gas cartel formation is feasible in presence of an oil cartel. Using a game theory framework the paper models the interaction of countries that export both gas and oil and are member of OPEC with those that export only gas or oil. Results indicate that gas cartel formation is feasible but under very vulnerable conditions.... 

In late 2018, Qatar -as a key player in the global gas market-announced that it has decided to quit the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) and rather will be focussing on its gas industry. Such a decision, drew the attentions once again and after a decade to the issue of gas cartel formation. The basic question of this paper is under which conditions gas cartel formation is feasible in presence of an oil cartel. Using a game theory framework the paper models the interaction of countries that export both gas and oil and are member of OPEC with those that export only gas or oil. Results indicate that gas cartel formation is feasible but under very vulnerable conditions.... 

Background: Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is the most abundant chronic liver disorder, because racial and ethnic differences may influence prevalence and severity of NAFLD. Objectives: This metabolomic study was conducted to identify the metabolic biomarkers and determine the mechanism of progress of NAFLD in Iranian patients. Methods: Serum samples were collected from 75 participants (37 healthy controls and 38 patients with NAFLD) after an overnight fast. The metabolome of all samples were determined by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and were compared by multivariate statistical analysis. Results: Totally, 19 metabolomic biomarkers were identified by NMR. Compared to healthy... 

Following three generations of buyback contracts, the new model of Iranian petroleum contracts (IPC) was introduced by the Iranian cabinet to incentivize investments in the country. This paper analyzes the fiscal terms of the contract with technical information from one of the candidate fields for licensing. The financial simulation shows that, in general, the IPC resembles more a service contract than a production sharing contract as the contractor’s take is relatively low—below 5% across different scenarios of crude oil price. Second, the IPC is progressive in that as the overall profitability of the project improves the government takes an increasing share of the economic rent. The... 

An offshore structure is exposed to environmental loading and cyclic stress variations throughout its life. This would result in the possibility of fatigue cracking in its members. Cracks in these structures usually initiate around welded areas, then grow progressively from the heat-affected zone to base metal through the thickness of the tubular members. Therefore, fatigue life improvement of offshore structures is of great importance. In this paper, structural analysis of an offshore platform is carried out and the critical joint is specified. The welding process is simulated and the residual stresses due to the welding are determined. Experimental residual stress measurement is carried... 

Using multiple antennas at the transmit and receive sides of a passive radar brings both the benefits of MIMO radar and passive radar. However one of the obstacles arisen in such configuration is the receive antennas placement in proper positions so that the radar performance is improved. Here we just consider the case of positioning one receiver among multiple illuminators of opportunity. Indeed it is a start for the solution of optimizing the geometry of the multiple receivers in a passive radar