Rahmanian M., Yaghoobpoor S., Deravi N., Poudineh M., Mirmohammadali S.N., Kashanizadeh M.G., Poopak A., Faridzadeh A., Erabi G., Amouei E., Falahatian M., Khani A., Sadatmadani S.-F., Noroozi, M., Firouzabadi F.D.
Publication Date: 2024
Neurology Asia (18236138)(1)pp. 145-155
Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) refers to the uncontrolled accumulation of triglyceride (TG) in the liver when the person has no other liver disease etiologies. Among all causes of neuropathy, diabetic neuropathy is the most common one worldwide, and it causes notable morbidity and increases mortality. The prevalence of diabetic neuropathy and NAFLD has been demonstrated in few studies. This study aims to summarize existing data estimating peripheral diabetic neuropathy prevalence among sonographically detected NAFLD patients. We searched PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google scholar for articles in the English language up until October 2021 for the clinical trials of diabetic neuropathy in NAFLD patients and used the articles for a systematic review and meta-analysis. Seven studies (6,918 patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM)) were involved. The prevalence of diabetic neuropathy among T2DM patients with ultrasound (US) detected-NAFLD was 0.48 (95% CI= 0.31-0.65, I2= 99.01%), however it was not significantly different from patients without NAFLD (OR=1.02, 95% CI= 0.89-1.17. p=0.748, I2=81.6%). The prevalence of diabetic neuropathy among T2DM patients with NAFLD is not significantly different from patients without NAFLD. © 2024, ASEAN Neurological Association. All rights reserved.
Gashmard R., Hasanpour E., Daman S., Amini P.H., Sefidi M.J.G., Ladani F.K., Bagherieh M., Nabizadeh M.
Publication Date: 2024
Revista Latinoamericana de Hipertension (18564550)(8)pp. 342-348
Introduction: Heart disease can have debilitating physical and mental consequences that can affect the care behavior of the elderly. The aim of study was the effect of a support program based on the psychosocial needs of the family on the family care burden of ischemic heart patients. Methods: Science Direct, Pub Med, Google Scholar, SID, MagIran databases were reviewed and electronic data were used to identify the psychosocial needs of the family on the burden of family care of heart patients. In the initial search, 824 articles were obtained, of which 379 duplicate articles were removed. Considering the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the number of articles was reduced to 445 articles. Finally, 10 articles were included in study. Results: A total of 824 articles were screened, which led to the selection of 11 studies that met the inclusion criteria and were included in study. Some studies defined caregivers as family caregivers. Five studies focused on life partners and caregivers of patients. Some studies generally defined caregivers as someone identified by the patient as a caregiver. Conclusion: Providing a training program about the different dimensions of support that family caregivers need reduces the perceived stress of family caregivers of cardiac patients. © 2024, Venezuelan Society of Pharmacology and Clinical and Therapeutic Pharmacology. All rights reserved.
Nouri H., Nasri R., Abtahi S.-H.
Publication Date: 2023
International Journal of Retina and Vitreous (20569920)(1)
Background: Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) is an innovative technology providing visual and quantitative data on retinal microvasculature in a non-invasive manner. Main body: Due to variations in the technical specifications of different OCTA devices, there are significant inter-device differences in OCTA data, which can limit their comparability and generalizability. These variations can also result in a domain shift problem that may interfere with applicability of machine learning models on data obtained from different OCTA machines. One possible approach to address this issue may be unsupervised deep image-to-image translation leveraging systems such as Cycle-Consistent Generative Adversarial Networks (Cycle-GANs) and Denoising Diffusion Probabilistic Models (DDPMs). Through training on unpaired images from different device domains, Cycle-GANs and DDPMs may enable cross-domain translation of images. They have been successfully applied in various medical imaging tasks, including segmentation, denoising, and cross-modality image-to-image translation. In this commentary, we briefly describe how Cycle-GANs and DDPMs operate, and review the recent experiments with these models on medical and ocular imaging data. We then discuss the benefits of applying such techniques for inter-device translation of OCTA data and the potential challenges ahead. Conclusion: Retinal imaging technologies and deep learning-based domain adaptation techniques are rapidly evolving. We suggest exploring the potential of image-to-image translation methods in improving the comparability of OCTA data from different centers or devices. This may facilitate more efficient analysis of heterogeneous data and broader applicability of machine learning models trained on limited datasets in this field. © 2023, Brazilian Retina and Vitreous Society.
Shahin, K., Soleimani-delfan, A., He Z., Sansonetti P., Collard J.-M.
Publication Date: 2023
Gut Pathogens (17574749)(1)
The human gut bacteriome is believed to have pivotal influences on human health and disease while the particular roles associated with the gut phageome have not been fully characterized yet with few exceptions. It is argued that gut microbiota can have a potential role in autism spectrum disorders (ASD). The public microbiota database of ASD and typically developing (TD) Chinese individuals were analyzed for phage protein-coding units (pPCU) to find any link between the phageome and ASD. The gut phageome of ASD individuals showed a wider diversity and higher abundance compared to TD individuals. The ASD phageome was associated with a significant expansion of Caudoviricetes bacteriophages. Phages infecting Bacteroidaceae and prophages encoded within Faecalibacterium were more frequent in ASD than in TD individuals. The expansion and diversification of ASD phageome can influence the bacterial homeostasis by imposing pressure on the bacterial communities. In conclusion, the differences of phages community in in ASD and TD can be used as potential diagnosis biomarkers of ASD. Further investigations are needed to verify the role of gut phage communities in the pathogenesis of ASD. © 2023, BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.
Noruzi M., Zare, D., Khoshnevisan K., Davoodi D.
Publication Date: 2011
Spectrochimica Acta - Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy (13861425)(5)pp. 1461-1465
This study reports a green method for the synthesis of gold nanoparticles using the aqueous extract of rose petals. The effects of gold salt concentration, extract concentration and extract quantity were investigated on nanoparticles synthesis. Gold nanoparticles were characterized with different techniques such as UV-vis spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy. Transmission electron microscopy experiments showed that these nanoparticles are formed with various shapes. FT-IR spectroscopy revealed that gold nanoparticles were functionalized with biomolecules that have primary amine group (-NH 2), carbonyl group, -OH groups and other stabilizing functional groups. X-ray diffraction pattern showed high purity and face centered cubic structure of gold nanoparticles. Dynamic light scattering technique was used for particle size measurement, and it was found to be about 10 nm. The rate of the reaction was high and it was completed within 5 min. © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Ansari Y., Gerasim D., Mahdavinia M.
Publication Date: 2011
African Journal of Agricultural Research (1991637X)(15)pp. 3619-3622
Although agricultural credit is one of the important issues in agriculture, almost no organized study has been done on caring about the distribution and utilization to achieve the agricultural prosperity and economic growth. This analytic and descriptive study was conducted to explore, that factor affecting the efficiency of agricultural facilities from viewpoint of farmers and credit experts. To achieve the objectives of the study, the survey data were collected by an effective and reliable questionnaire designed to this study. Results indicated that the process of agricultural training, low age and higher education of farmer had a positive significance relationship with effectiveness of their earning facilities on the fields of profit, increasing productions employment, and satisfaction with farming. © 2011 Academic Journals.
Hosseini, S.R., Pouryayevali m.r.,
Publication Date: 2011
Nonlinear Analysis, Theory, Methods and Applications (0362546X)(12)pp. 3884-3895
In this paper, a notion of generalized gradient on Riemannian manifolds is considered and a subdifferential calculus related to this subdifferential is presented. A characterization of the tangent cone to a nonempty subset S of a Riemannian manifold M at a point x is obtained. Then, these results are applied to characterize epi-Lipschitz subsets of complete Riemannian manifolds. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Khoshnevisan K., Bordbar, A., Zare, D., Davoodi D., Noruzi M., Barkhi M., Tabatabaei, M.
Publication Date: 2011
Chemical Engineering Journal (1385-8947)(2)pp. 669-673
Cellulase on commercial superparamagnetic nanoparticles was characterized by DLS, and TEM methods in relation to their size and structure. The cellulase enzyme was bound via physical adsorption (ionic bound). FTIR spectroscopy confirmed the successful binding of cellulase (endoglucanase) onto the particle, and binding efficiency was determined at 95% using the Bradford method. The maximal enzyme activity was assessed using CMC as the substrate and was 0.1. unit (μmol/min. ml). The adsorption capacity of cellulase onto nanoparticles reached 31. mg/g. The stability of the immobilized enzyme increased in comparison with the free enzyme. Overall, this study showed that that the stability and activity of the cellulase were enhanced via physical adsorption to the magnetic nanoparticles. This suggested that immobilized enzyme on magnetic beads could be used in an interesting range of application allowing both using in broader temperature and pH ranges, facilitating long-term storage, while permitting magnetic recovery of the enzyme for reuse or purification of the product. © 2011 Elsevier B.V.
Pakravan, G., Foroughmand, A.M., Peymani, M., Ghaedi, K., Hashemi, M., Hajjari M., Nasr-esfahani, M.H.
Publication Date: 2018
Cell Death and Disease (20414889)(7)
Doxorubicin (Dox) is a widely used powerful chemotherapeutic component for cancer treatment. However, its clinical application has been hampered due to doxorubicin-induced cardiomyopathy upon the cessation of chemotherapy. Previous studies revealed that PPARγ plays a crucial protective role in cardiomyocytes. Modulation of miRNA expression is an applicable approach for prohibition of toxicity induction. Therefore, the aim of present study is uprising of PPARγ transcript levels via manipulation of miRNAs to limit Dox-induced cardiotoxicity in mESCs-derived cardiac cells, as in vitro model cell to provide a simple direct approach for further clinical therapies. Based on bioinformatics data mining, eventually miR-130a was selected to target PPARγ. This miRNA is highly expressed in heart. The expression of miR-130a increases sharply upon Dox treatment while specific antagomiR-130a reverses Dox-induced reduced expression of PPARγ, cellular apoptosis, and inflammation. Our data strongly suggest that antagomiR-130a limits Dox-induced cellular toxicity via PPARγ upregulation and may have clinical relevance to limit in vivo Dox toxicity. © 2018 The Author(s).
Borzooeian Z., Taslim M.E., Ghasemi O., Rezvani S., Borzooeian G., Nourbakhsh A.
Publication Date: 2018
PLoS ONE (19326203)(6)
Parametric separation of carbon nanotubes, especially based on their length is a challenge for a number of nano-tech researchers. We demonstrate a method to combine bio-conjugation, SDS-PAGE, and silver staining in order to separate carbon nanotubes on the basis of length. Egg-white lysozyme, conjugated covalently onto the single-walled carbon nanotubes surfaces using carbodiimide method. The proposed conjugation of a biomolecule onto the carbon nanotubes surfaces is a novel idea and a significant step forward for creating an indicator for length-based carbon nanotubes separation. The conjugation step was followed by SDS-PAGE and the nanotube fragments were precisely visualized using silver staining. This high precision, inexpensive, rapid and simple separation method obviates the need for centrifugation, additional chemical analyses, and expensive spectroscopic techniques such as Raman spectroscopy to visualize carbon nanotube bands. In this method, we measured the length of nanotubes using different image analysis techniques which is based on a simplified hydrodynamic model. The method has high precision and resolution and is effective in separating the nanotubes by length which would be a valuable quality control tool for the manufacture of carbon nanotubes of specific lengths in bulk quantities. To this end, we were also able to measure the carbon nanotubes of different length, produced from different sonication time intervals. © 2018 Borzooeian et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Publication Date: 2018
Journal of Applied Remote Sensing (19313195)12(3)
Hoz-e-Sultan playa is one of the lowest points in the center of Iran, and its size and shape rely on the amount of inlet and outlet discharged water in different seasons of the year. The temperature fluctuations are the significant variations in the surface of the playa that increases the maximum salinity and saline layer level. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the spatial-temporal changes and salinity rate obtained from 11 sedimentary cores in the study area by principal component analysis, Normalized Difference Salinity Index (NDSI), and Land Surface Temperature (LST) method. The results indicated that the level of playa decreased about 33.598 km2 during 26 years. The spatial changes occurred in the eastern margin in the south of playa. Finally, a significant relationship was observed between the SI and the real salinity, and the NDSI and LST also increase the salinity rate related to temperature decrease. © 2018 The Authors.
Hossein, H.H.S., Zarrabi, A., Zarepour, A.
Publication Date: 2017
Journal of Babol University of Medical Sciences (15614107)(6)pp. 64-70
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Considering the increasing number of patients with cancer and the relative ineffectiveness of existing treatments, finding a modern technique for cancer treatment has been one of the major topics of research in recent decades. The present study aims to load curcumin anticancer drug on targeted iron oxide nanoparticles. METHODS: In this laboratory research, iron oxide nanoparticles were synthesized using polyol method. Then, they were coated with polyglycerol as a polymeric coating through ring - opening polymerization method. Folic acid (with three weight ratios of 2, 25 and 50%) was used to target the system constructed for specific penetration into the cancer cells. The experiments of loading the drug were performed with three weight ratios of 0.5, 1 and 2 µg nanoparticles on coated and targeted nanoparticles. Then, drug release rate was measured under in vitro conditions. Finally, MTT Assay was used to analyze cell toxicity of the loaded drug. FINDINGS: Results indicated successful construction of 20 nm nanoparticles. The maximum rate of drug loading into the system was about 88 and 82% for non-targeted nanoparticles and targeted nanoparticles, respectively, while increased targeting had adverse effects on drug loading. Moreover, the loaded drug had a more successful therapeutic effect compared with the free drug. CONCLUSION: Results of the study demonstrated that the constructed nanoparticles have the necessary efficiency to act as a system for transferring anticancer drug. © 2017, Babol University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.
Sengupta B., Sahihi, M., Dehkhodaei, M., Kelly D., Arany I.
Publication Date: 2017
PLoS ONE (19326203)(6)
Plant flavonoids are well known as antioxidants against oxidative stress induced by exposure to external pollutants. Nicotine (NIC) is one of those agents which increases renal oxidative stress, an important factor in the pathogenesis of renal epithelial injury in smokers. Although several studies had been conducted on flavonoids and oxidative stress, the mechanism of the protective pathways are not fully understood. Here, we present studies on antioxidant properties of two mono-hydroxyflavone isomers, 3-hydroxyflanove (3HF)-and 7-hydroxyflavone (7HF), against nicotine-associated oxidative stress and injury in cultured renal proximal tubule cells and correlate their antioxidant properties with their chemical structure. Our data clearly demonstrates, for the first time, that while both 3HF and 7HF protect renal cells from NIC-associated cytotoxicity, the mechanism of their action is different: 3HF elicits protective activity via the PKA/CREB/MnSOD pathway while 7HF does so via the ERK/Nrf2/HO-1 pathway. Molecular docking and dynamics simulations with two major signaling pathway proteins showed significant differences in the binding energies of 3HF (-5.67 and -7.39 kcal.mol-1) compared to 7HF (-5.41 and -8.55 kcal.mol-1) in the matrices of CREB and Keap1-Nrf2 proteins respectively, which corroborate with the observed differences in their protective properties in the renal cells. The implications of this novel explorative study is likely to promote the understanding of the mechanisms of the antioxidative functions of different flavones. © 2017 Sengupta et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Zonoubi R., Eslami-rasekh, A., Tavakoli, M.
Publication Date: 2017
System (0346251X)pp. 1-12
Teachers' efficacy beliefs exert a significant influence on their practice and their students' learning. This study investigates the contribution of two six-month Professional Learning Community (PLC) interventions to 10 English as a Foreign Language (EFL) novice and experienced teachers' self-efficacy. The data were collected through pre and post-interviews with the participants, their reflective journals, and recordings of the PLC meetings. The findings suggest that the experienced teachers' self-efficacy improved in terms of employing innovative instructional strategies and language proficiency. An increase was also observed in the novice teachers’ self-efficacy for classroom management, their autonomy, and their perceived language proficiency. Finally, the participants in both groups developed a stronger sense of professional community membership as reflected in their focus on their collective efficacy toward the end of the PLCs. © 2017
Peimanifard Z., Rashid-nadimi, S.
Publication Date: 2017
Electrochemistry Communications (13882481)pp. 37-40
A concept for light-powered visual detection of glucose is developed. The detection mechanism is based on pairing a photo-active anode with an electrochromic counter electrode. The photoelectrochemical reaction changes the oxidation state of the analyte, leading to a change in the color of the electrochromic material, which makes visual detection possible. All of the electrical charge required to change the color of the electrochromic material is supplied by the photoelectrochemical reaction powered by visible light, so no conventional energy source is required. The proposed system consists of hematite modified with nickel hydroxide (Ni(OH)2) as the photoanode, and Prussian blue deposited on a fluorine-doped tin oxide electrode as the electrochromic cathode. Under illumination, photo-oxidation of glucose at the photoanode is followed by reduction of Prussian blue to Prussian white at the cathode. The presence of glucose can therefore be detected visually as decolorization of Prussian blue occurs. © 2017 Elsevier B.V.
Bidgoli H., Zamani, A., Jeihanipour, A., Taherzadeh, M.J.
Publication Date: 2014
Fibers and Polymers (12299197)(3)pp. 431-436
Production of superabsorbent polymers from cotton and viscose waste textiles was investigated. The cellulose wastes were carboxymethylated, crosslinked by divinylsulfone, and then converted to superabsorbent material using air-drying, freeze-drying, or air-drying after phase inversion. The separation of cellulose from synthetic polymers in the textile (polyester) was carried out by direct dissolution of cellulose in N-methylmorpholine-N-oxide (NMMO), or separation by dissolution in water after carboxymethylation of the textiles. The progress of the carboxymethylation reaction was evaluated by measurement of the degree of substitution (DS) of carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC). The DS values of 0.50-0.86 confirmed the prosperous substitution of hydrophilic carboxymethyl groups into the cellulosic chains. The water binding capacity and the swelling rate of the superabsorbents prepared under different conditions were measured. Under the best condition the superabsorbent obtained from waste textiles showed an ultimate water binding capacity of 541 g/g which was notably higher than that of the reference superabsorbent derived from cotton linter (470 g/g). The amount of absorbed water by this product exceeded that of the reference sample after 60 min immersion. © 2014 The Korean Fiber Society and Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht.
Latifi, M., Youhanaee, M., Mohammadi, E.
Publication Date: 2014
Porta Linguarum (16977467)(22)pp. 203-217
This research was conducted to investigate the effect of using movie scripts on improving listening comprehension. Forty five intermediate learners were selected based on an IELTS test to carry out the study, and then they were divided into 3 groups: a Home Scripts Group (HSG), a Class Scripts Group (CSG), and a Non Scripts Group (NSG). Each group was required to transcribe a section of a movie entitled The Truman Show. The HSG had the scripts before starting to transcribe the section, the CSG received the scripts in the class, and the NSG received usual training without the scripts. Performance on the posttest revealed a significant difference among the groups with the best achievement for the CSG. More specifically, these differences indicated (a) using scripts may enhance L2 listening comprehension and (b) the most appropriate time of handing scripts to students seems to be after completion of the transcription task.
Kazemi, A., Malayeri, M., Gharibi kharaji, A., Shariati A.
Publication Date: 2014
Journal of Natural Gas Science and Engineering (18755100)pp. 16-22
Considering the natural gas produced from one of Iranian gas fields, a suitable alkanolamine solution is selected for the sweetening of this gas. Based on the selected alkanolamine solution, the alkanolamine process is simulated with Aspen hysys simulator and economically evaluated with Aspen economic analyzer. Sulfinol-M process, LO-CAT process and shell process for natural gas sweetening are also simulated and economically evaluated with the use of Aspen process economic analyzer in order to remove H2S and CO2 from the natural gas produced in this field to meet the pipeline specifications. According to results, the LO-CAT and the mixed amine processes are the two processes which have better performance based on rich solution acid gas loading and thus, have lower costs related to corrosion in facilities. With regard to the two aspects the LO-CAT process is the best process when capital and operating costs along with acid gas loading are taken into account. © 2014 Elsevier B.V.
Matinhomaee H., Banaei, J., Azarbayjani M.A., Zolaktaf, V.
Publication Date: 2014
Journal of Exercise Science and Fitness (1728869X)(1)pp. 20-25
The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of 12 weeks of high-intensity interval training (HIIT) on visfatin and insulin resistance (IR) in overweight adult men during a weight-loss program. Eighteen overweight men (age=31.8±9.2 years; body mass index=28.6±1.4kg/m2) were randomly recruited into one of the two groups, namely, HIIT (3 days/week, 20minutes/day; 85-95% peak oxygen uptake) and diet-induced weight-loss combined (DHIIT; n=10) and diet-induced weight loss only (DIO; n=8). The DHIIT and DIO groups undertook a 12-week weight-loss intervention using a moderate isocaloric energy-deficit diet. Both DHIIT and DIO groups demonstrated a significant reduction in body weight (p<0.01). Total fat mass (p<0.05) and lean body mass (p<0.05) were decreased in the DIO group with no significant changes in abdominal fat mass, plasma insulin concentration, homeostasis model assessment-estimated IR (HOMA-IR), blood glucose level, and plasma visfatin. In the DHIIT group, total fat mass (p<0.01), abdominal fat mass (p<0.05), plasma insulin concentration (p<0.05), plasma visfatin (p<0.01), and HOMA-IR (p<0.05) were reduced and lean body mass remained unchanged. In conclusion, adding a low-volume 20-minute HIIT (three times/week) to an energy-deficit diet not only can improve the efficiency of weight-loss program in the reduction of body fat, plasma visfatin levels, and HOMA-IR, but also has a reservation effect on lean body mass. © 2014.
Abedi M., Ghalavand, Y.
Publication Date: 2021
Water Science and Technology: Water Supply (16069749)(7)pp. 3557-3569
One of the important approaches in thermal desalination processes is consumed energy reduction. To achieve this aim, three arrangements of humidification-compression (HC) processes are designed. Two single-stage processes and one double-stage HC process are designed and their performances are compared based on desalinated water production, gained output ratio (GOR) and power consumption. An attempt is made to reduce the power consumption and improve the system performance. All three processes are simulated to examine the effect of operation parameters on HC performance. To validate these simulations, the theoretical results are compared with an experimental rig with a humidifier column of 1.5 m height. The results indicate that the simulation values conform to the experimental data. The effect of minimum approach temperature (ATmin) on system performance is investigated for three processes subject to constant operating conditions (feed temperature, water mass flow, air mass flow, and pressure ratio). For this purpose, four values of ATmin are considered (7.5,10,12.5 and 15 °C) for heat exchanger operations. The results indicate that an increase in ATmin in all three cases increases desalinated water volume and GOR. Also, the double-stage HC system has higher water production rate (66.08 kg/h) and higher GOR (17.19) compared with its counterparts. © 2021 The Authors
Nabi-Afjadi M., Karami H., Goudarzi K., Alipourfard I., Bahreini E.
Publication Date: 2021
Clinical and Molecular Allergy (14767961)(1)
The concern of today's communities is to find a way to prevent or treat COVID-19 and reduce its symptoms in the patients. However, the genetic mutations and more resistant strains of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) emerge; the designed vaccines and adjuvant therapies would potentially control the symptoms and severity of COVID-19. The most important complication of this viral infection is acute respiratory distress syndrome, which occurs due to the infiltration of leukocytes into the alveoli and the raised cytokine storm. Interferons, as a cytokine family in the host, play an important role in the immune-related antiviral defense and have been considered in the treatment protocols of COVID-19. In addition, it has been indicated that some nutrients, including vitamin D, magnesium and zinc are essential in the modulation of the immune system and interferon (IFN) signaling pathway. Several recent studies have investigated the treatment effect of vitamin D on COVID-19 and reported the association between optimal levels of this vitamin and reduced disease risk. In the present study, the synergistic action of vitamin D, magnesium and zinc in IFN signaling is discussed as a treatment option for COVID-19 involvement. © 2021, The Author(s).
Dadkhah Tehrani R., Givi H., Crunteanu D.-E., Cican G.
Publication Date: 2021
Applied Sciences (Switzerland) (20763417)(21)
In this paper, Predictive Functional Control (PFC) is used for X-Y pedestal control for LEO satellite tracking. According to the nonlinear characteristics of the X-Y pedestal and pedestal model variation caused by its operating point change, the use of system identification algorithm, which is based on special types of orthonormal functions known as Laguerre functions, is presented. This algorithm is combined with PFC to obtain a novel adaptive control algorithm entitled Adaptive Predictive Functional Control (APFC). In this combination, Laguerre functions are utilized for system identification, while the PFC is the control law. An interesting feature of the proposed algorithm is its desirable performance against the interference effect of channel X and channel Y. The proposed APFC algorithm is compared with Proportional Integral Derivative (PID) controller using simulation results. The results confirm that the proposed controller improves the performance in terms of the pedestal model variations; that is, the controller is capable of adapting to the model changes desirably. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Rasaei N., Asbaghi, O., Samadi M., Setayesh L., Bagheri, R., Gholami F., Soveid N., Casazza K., Wong, A., Suzuki, K., Mirzaei K.
Publication Date: 2021
Antioxidants (20763921)(11)
It is well-established that green tea supplementation has antioxidant properties. However, whether green tea supplementation leads to oxidative stress reduction remains unclear, as clinical investigations on this subject have yielded inconsistent outcomes. Consequently, we aimed to determine the effects of green tea supplementation on oxidative stress in adults. A systematic search of English language publications up to 21 August 2021 was carried out in PubMed, Scopus, Embase, and ISI Web of Science, utilizing pertinent keywords. These searches included randomized controlled trials (RCTs) evaluating the relationship between green tea supplementation, malondialdehyde (MDA), and total antioxidant capacity (TAC) in adults. A random-effects model was used to estimate the weighted mean difference (WMD) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI). Meta-regression and non-linear dose-response analyses were performed to investigate the association between the dosage of green tea (mg/day) and the duration of the intervention (weeks) with pooled effect size. Sixteen RCTs with seventeen arms including 760 participants met the inclusion criteria. Our results indicated that green tea supplementation had significant effects on TAC (weighted mean difference [WMD]: 0.20 mmol/L; 95% CI: 0.09, 0.30, p < 0.001) and significant heterogeneity between studies (I2 = 98.6%, p < 0.001), which was largely related to gender and body mass index (BMI). Subgroup analysis in TAC identified a significant relationship except with low dose supplementation and obese individuals. No relationship between MDA and green tea supplementation was observed in any subgroups; however, meta-regression analysis revealed a linear inverse association between the dosage and significant change in MDA (r = −2117.18, p = 0.017). Our outcomes suggest that green tea supplementation improves TAC and affects MDA based on the dose of the intervention in adults. Future RCTs with longer durations are needed to expand our findings. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
Mirmiran M.
Publication Date: 2021
Palestine Journal of Mathematics (22195688)(1)pp. 332-339
A necessary and sufficient condition in terms of lower cut sets are given for the insertion of a contra-γ−continuous function between two comparable real-valued functions. © Palestine Polytechnic University-PPU 2021.
Nezami Z., Zamanifar, K., Djemame K., Pournaras E.
Publication Date: 2021
IEEE Access (21693536)pp. 64983-65000
The Internet of Things (IoT) requires a new processing paradigm that inherits the scalability of the cloud while minimizing network latency using resources closer to the network edge. On the one hand, building up such flexibility within the edge-to-cloud continuum consisting of a distributed networked ecosystem of heterogeneous computing resources is challenging. On the other hand, IoT traffic dynamics and the rising demand for low-latency services foster the need for minimizing the response time and a balanced service placement. Load-balancing for fog computing becomes a cornerstone for cost-effective system management and operations. This paper studies two optimization objectives and formulates a decentralized load-balancing problem for IoT service placement: (global) IoT workload balance and (local) quality of service (QoS), in terms of minimizing the cost of deadline violation, service deployment, and unhosted services. The proposed solution, EPOS Fog, introduces a decentralized multi-agent system for collective learning that utilizes edge-to-cloud nodes to jointly balance the input workload across the network and minimize the costs involved in service execution. The agents locally generate possible assignments of requests to resources and then cooperatively select an assignment such that their combination maximizes edge utilization while minimizes service execution cost. Extensive experimental evaluation with realistic Google cluster workloads on various networks demonstrates the superior performance of EPOS Fog in terms of workload balance and QoS, compared to approaches such as First Fit and exclusively Cloud-based. The results confirm that EPOS Fog reduces service execution delay up to 25% and the load-balance of network nodes up to 90%. The findings also demonstrate how distributed computational resources on the edge can be utilized more cost-effectively by harvesting collective intelligence. © 2013 IEEE.
Bayat, S.
Publication Date: 2021
Journal of International Women's Studies (15398706)(5)pp. 476-477
In many cultures, women who get a divorce because of their spouse’s romantic betrayal are not truly embraced by their families and society. They are not just faced with unending, often failing struggle to claim their legal rights. In addition, their marital failure, stamped on their face, denies them any better life post-divorce. Common views toward them often intone such women’s uncommitted wrongs and wreath about the husband’s betrayal which burrows into their soul. This condition often leaves these women with few choices: to leave and wade through the darkness of socio-cultural abuse or to stay and borne about their grief and love, stuck in their hearts like an arrow. I meant for “Barren” to punctuate a remembrance of the unheard voices of such women who are too prostrated to leave. © 2021. Journal of International Women’s Studies.
