Sharif Digital Repository

Lipoproteins are biochemical compounds containing both proteins and lipids. These particles carry chemicals like cholesterol and triglycerides that are not soluble in aqueous solutions. This paper presents modeling of lipoprotein system using coarse grain molecular dynamics technique and stability analysis of this system in a water solution like blood. A high density lipoprotein (HDL) that consists of two annular monomers is modeled. Also there are lipid bilayers located in center of the rings, so the whole HDL and lipid bilayers are called lipoprotein system. First, all atom model is provided and then coarse-grain model is obtained using MARTINI technique. Modeling of the system in all atom... 

Functionally graded composite coatings constitute a class of materials which are mostly used for mechanical and tribological applications. Among these materials, nickel metal deposits with incorporation of SiC particles have excellent mechanical properties due to nickel metal and good tribological properties due to the SiC particles. In this work, nickel coatings containing different sizes of SiC particles, nanoparticles and microparticles (10 nm to 5 μm), were electrodeposited from an additive-free sulfate bath containing nickel ions and SiC particles. The material properties of the coatings were compared to nickel coatings containing microparticles (5 μm). The effect of current density,... 

The photocatalytic degradation of p-nitrophenol (PNP) using TiO2 particles immobilized on a fiberglass cloth was investigated in a novel design of a photo-impinging stream reactor. A spray painted method has been used for the coating process. The structural properties of the immobilized sample were examined using X-ray diffraction and a scanning electron microscope (SEM). The photocatalytic degradation results showed the good performance of the reactor. The flow regime within the reactor was characterized and modeled by applying a liquid residence time distribution. A compartment model consisting of four continuous stirred regions was assigned to describe the flow pattern in the reactor. A... 

Magnetite (Fe3O4) nanostructures with different morphologies including uniform nanoparticles, magnetic beads and nanorods were synthesized via a co-precipitation method. The synthesis process was performed at various temperatures in the presence of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) at different concentrations. It is shown that small amounts of PVA act as a template in hot water (70 °C), leading to the oriented growth of Fe3O4 nanorods, which was confirmed by selected area electron diffraction. Individually coated magnetite nanoparticles and magnetic beads were formed at a relatively lower temperature of 30 °C in the folded polymer molecules due to the thermo-physical properties of PVA. When a moderate... 

Crystallographic texture is one of the most sensitive parameters for controlling the microstructure of electrodeposited layers. In this work, we study the crystallographic texture of electrodeposited nickel-silicon carbide coatings. The nickel coatings containing SiC nanoparticles and microparticles were electrodeposited from an additive-free sulfate bath containing nickel ions and SiC particles. The effect of current density on the codeposited Ni/SiC was studied. The coatings were analyzed with scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Pole figure studies were done to characterize the evolved crystallographic texture. The X-ray scans followed by Rietveld analysis using the... 

The low erosion resistance of titanium and its alloys has prevented their widespread application as joint implants. In addition, one essential requirement for the implants to bond with the living bone is the formation of a bone-like apatite on their surfaces in the host body. To enhance the erosion resistance of the surface, a diffused layer of TiB2 was formed at 1000uC on the commercial pure titanium. Hydroxyapatite was then coated on the boronised titanium by means of dip coating in a sol-gel solution. In order to confirm the biocompatibility of the specimens, they were soaked in a simulated body fluid for several days. The surface morphology of the specimens after exposure was studied by... 

The urine formation and excretion system have long been of interest for mathematicians and physiologists to elucidate the obscurities within the process happens in renal tissue. In this study, a novel three-dimensional approach is utilized for modeling the urine concentrating mechanism in rat renal outer medulla which is essentially focused on demonstrating the significance of tubule's architecture revealed in anatomic studies and physiological literature. Since nephrons and vasculatures work interdependently through a highly structured arrangement in outer medulla which is dominated by vascular bundles, a detailed functional unit is proposed based on this specific configuration.... 

This work describes a very simple, novel and selective spectrophotmetric method for simultaneous determination of sulfamethoxazole and trimethoprim in pharmaceutical preparation and synthetics samples using direct orthogonal signal correction-partial least squares (DOSC-PLS). The all factors affecting on the sensitivity were optimized and the linear dynamic range for determining of these drugs was found. The PLS modeling was used for the multivariate calibration of the spectrophotometric data and DOSC was used for preprocessing of data matrices and the prediction results of model. The experimental calibration matrix was designed by measuring the absorbance over the range 200-400 nm for 32... 

We introduce a new third generation of solar cell structure which inserts different-sized quantum dots in the active region of a pin structure. Generating an intermediate band in the bandgap of the host material makes a good overlap with a part of solar spectrum. The effect of the recombination mechanisms on efficiency and currentvoltage characteristics of this intermediate band solar cell is calculated. We deduce that the increase in recombination lifetime of the excited carriers can improve the characteristics of this structure. This result can be a route which helps us to take the effect on solar cell characteristics into consideration  

The synthesis of pure α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles (30 nm) using a superabsorbent nanopolymer (SANP) by the thermal decomposition is reported. Synthesized α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), transmission electronic microscopy (TEM) and thermogravimetric analysis (TG) techniques. The applicability of this nanostructure material was assessed by its catalytic effect on the Friedel-Crafts acylation. ©2009 Sociedade Brasileira de Química  

A vast number of deaths in the world have been attributed to atherosclerosis. The prominent aim of this study is proposing an accurate and simple model to investigate the process of arterial wall thickening. In order to investigate LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein) accumulation in arterial wall, a four layer model for arterial wall consisting of endothelium, intima, IEL, and media is presented. All layers are treated as homogenous porous media. This model has been solved both numerically and analytically. Obtained accumulated LDL in the intima is used to calculate oxidized LDL flux. Also, the presented model and clinical data are used to prepare the growth model for arterial wall. Furthermore,... 

The Fontan surgery is performed on patients with a single ventricle heart defect to prevent the combination of highlyoxygenated and poorly-oxygenated blood. Blood flow in total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC) which culminates an ordinary Fontan operation is practically steady-state but this flow is not appropriate for respiratory systems. This article investigates an approach in Fontan surgery that has been recently proposed in order to make the pulmonary blood flow pulsating. Moreover, for investigating the compliance of vessels and its effects on blood flow in TCPC, we have used the FSI (Fluid Structure Interaction) method as well as rigid wall assumption for comparison purposes. Our TCPC... 

According to Arthur (2006, p. 200), “Through the use of literature, a language learning experience might become at the same time a source of immediate pleasure and satisfaction for the student. This possibility makes literature an appealing teaching device for ESL teachers”. However, numerous factors may contribute to the teachers’ lack of interest in using literary texts as a teaching tool. This study was an attempt to investigate Iranian EFL teachers’ attitude toward using literature in language classes and their perception toward the probable reasons of some teachers’ lack of interest in doing so. Altogether forty-four language teachers (19 females and 25 males, with a mean age of 26)... 

In this study, the inclusion of multi-walled carbon nanotubes as the second phase in the hydroxyapatite matrix, in order to improve the mechanical strength, has been performed via the sol-gel process. The stability of carbon nanotube sol with the changes of pH and dispersant values (sodium dodecyl sulfate) was evaluated by zeta potential analysis. The results indicated that synthesis of hydroxyapatite particles in the presence of the carbon nanotubes had the best result in homogenization of the carbon nanotube dispersion and faster crystallization of hydroxyapatite. The crystallization of hydroxyapatite phase was investigated with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and X-ray diffraction... 

The unwanted effects of diffraction and defocus aberration in three-dimensional integral imaging are taken into account by using the Fourier optics approach. The concepts of point spread function and optical transfer function widely in use for conventional two-dimensional imaging are generalized and applied to three-dimensional integral imaging systems. The effects of diffraction and defocus aberration are then studied and the performance of the conventional single lens imaging system is compared against that of the integral imaging