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.
Mirabi E., Pishvaie M.R., Abbasian M.
Publication Date: 2013
Iranian Journal Of Chemistry And Chemical Engineering (10219986)(3)pp. 91-105
Fuel cells belong to an avant-garde technology family for a wide variety of applications including micro-power, transportation power, stationary power for buildings and other distributed generation applications. The first objective of this contribution is to find a suitable reduced model of a Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC). The derived reduced model is then used to design a state estimator. In the first step, the distributed model of the SOFC that is derived using the first principle balance equations is solved by the method of lines. Since this model is too complex and sluggish for real-time applications, a representation of this model with lower number of states and good accuracy is needed. Karhunen-Loève-Galerkin (KLG) procedure is used to develop such a reduced model.
Salamat Y., Moghadassi A., Illbeigi M., Eslamimanesh a., , Mohammadi A.H.
Publication Date: 2013
Journal of Energy Chemistry (2095-4956)(1)pp. 114-118
In this paper, the effect of adding different concentrations of kinetic inhibitors on the induction time of hydrogen sulfide hydrate formation in a reactor equipped with automatic adjustable temperature controller is studied. A novel method namely "sudden cooling" is used for performing the relevant measurements, in which the induction time of H2S hydrate in the presence/absence of PVP and L-tyrosine with different concentrations (100, 500, and 1000 ppm) is determined. As a result, PVP with the concentration of 1000 ppm in aqueous solution is detected as a more suitable material for increasing the induction time of H2S hydrate formation among the investigated kinetic hydrate inhibitors. © 2013, Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Seyfi S., Nikjoo A.H., Rezaei O., Siyamian A.
Publication Date: 2013
Tourismos (17908418)(2)pp. 289-299
The purpose of this paper is to explore the attitude and perception of local residents toward tourism impacts and development in Torqabeh, one of the most popular tourism resort located in northeast of Iran. Two hundred and fifty households were randomly chosen as a sample of study and data were collected and analyzed with quantitative methods. The results of analysis revealed that local residents generally expressed a positive attitude toward tourism development in Torqabeh. There was evidence that Tourism-related job, community involvement in making decisions about tourism development, community attachment and length of residence are significant determinants of perceived tourism impacts and development. Furthermore, the study reinforces the need for inclusion of local people during future preliminary process of tourism planning in area. © University of the Aegean.
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.
Heravi M.R.P., Loghmani-khouzani, H., Sadeghi, M.M.M., Zendehdel, M., Jackson, R.F.W., Adams, H.
Publication Date: 2009
X-ray Structure Analysis Online (18833578)(4)pp. 43-44
The title compound, 2-(4-methoxybenzylthio)-1-phenylethanone, was synthesized and structurally characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. The space group was Pna21 with the following unit-cell parameters: a = 7.5424(4)Å, b = 11.9347(6)Å, c = 15.2506(7)Å, V = 1372.80(12)Å3 and Z = 4. The final R value was R1 = 0.0274 for 1499 measured reflections. 2009 © The Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry.
Asgary S., Moshtaghian, J., Hosseini M., Siadat H.
Publication Date: 2008
Pakistan Journal Of Pharmaceutical Sciences (1011601X)(4)pp. 460-464
Alfalfa (Medicago sativa) is a leguminous plant with high contents of phytoestrogen and saponin which are both useful in preventing cardiovascular disorders. This study was designed to evaluate the preventive effect of dietary alfalfa on the development and the progression of atherosclerosis in hyperlipidemic rabbits. Twenty male rabbits were obtained and kept under standard conditions. After 2 weeks of accommodation to the new place, the animals were semi-randomly distributed into four groups of five each. Animals in Group 1 received basic diet and the ones in Group 2 received the same diet to which 1% cholesterol was added. Groups 3 and 4 received similar diets as Groups 1 and 2 respectively, but supplemented with alfalfa. Each of the four groups was fed with its respected diet for a period of 12 weeks. Fasting blood samples were collected from all animals at the beginning and at the end of the study and blood factors were measured. At the end of the study samples from the right and the left coronary arteries as well as the aorta were collected from all animals for pathological evaluations. Though dietary alfalfa decreased total cholesterol, LDL and triglyceride and this effect was not significant, but dietary alfalfa significantly increased HDL. The formation of fatty streaks in the aorta, the right and the left coronary arteries were significantly reduced under the influence of dietary alfalfa. The indication that dietary alfalfa may have preventive effects on the progression of fatty streak formation calls for more studies to clarify the mechanisms of the effect.
Faghihian h., H., Mohammadi M.H.
Publication Date: 2008
Iranian Journal Of Chemistry And Chemical Engineering (10219986)(4)pp. 115-118
Nitrate is an anion of major importance particularly in biological areas. Excessive amounts in water supplies indicate pollution from sewage or agricultural effluents. The effects of excessive quantities of nitrate in water are well known. In this research structural modification of natural clinoptilolite by isomorphic substitution was performed. Isomorphously substituted zeolite was prepared under melting conditions from natural clinoptilolite. It was characterized by XRD, XRF, DIG and SEM techniques. The characterization process revealed that product is different from AlPo. Ion exchange property of the modified product was studied for NO3, NO2, and F' ion. The uptake ofF' was higher than those of NO 3, and NO2,. Anion exchange isotherms were constructed for NO3, and discussed. The ion exchange chromatography and neutron activation technique were used to study the extent of the exchange.
Almodares A., Hadi m.r., , Ahmadpour H.
Publication Date: 2008
African Journal of Biotechnology (16845315)(22)pp. 4051-4055
The aim of this study was to select the most suitable cultivar for salty land in this geographical area. Two sweet sorghum cultivars (Keller and Sofra) and one grain sorghum cultivar (Kimia) were grown in greenhouse benches under four salinity levels of 2, 4, 8 and 12 dSm-1 to evaluate the effects of salinity on stem yield and soluble carbohydrate (sucrose, glucose and fructose). The results showed that in all cultivars as salinity increased, the amount of stem yield and soluble carbohydrate decreased. In all salt concentrations, Keller and Kimia had the highest and the lowest stem yield and sucrose, respectively. At the highest salt concentration (12 dSm-1), Keller had the lowest stem yield reduction (less than 1%) and the highest sucrose content while Kimia had the highest stem yield reduction (more than 18%) and the lowest sucrose content. Therefore, Keller and Kimia can be considered as salt tolerance and salt sensitive cultivars, respectively. As salinity increased, the amount of glucose and fructose in Keller decreased while they increased in Sofra. Increasing glucose and fructose in Sofra is not an indication of its salt tolerance. At the physiological maturity stage, the plant has the highest stem yield and sucrose content while it has the lowest glucose and fructose content than flowering stage. Base on the results, Keller is recommended to be planted under soil salinity conditions and harvested at physiological maturity stage. © 2008 Academic Journals.
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.
Eslami M., Shirali Hossein Zade R., Takalloo Z., Mahdevar G., Emamjomeh A., Sajedi R.H., Zahiri J.
Publication Date: 2018
Heliyon (24058440)(7)
Various cold-adapted organisms produce antifreeze proteins (AFPs), which prevent the freezing of cell fluids by inhibiting the growth of ice crystals. AFPs are currently being recognized in various organisms, living in extremely low temperatures. AFPs have several important applications in increasing freeze tolerance of plants, maintaining the tissue in frozen conditions and producing cold-hardy plants by applying transgenic technology. Substantial differences in the sequence and structure of the AFPs, pose a challenge for researchers to identify these proteins. In this paper, we proposed a novel method to identify AFPs, using supportive vector machine (SVM) by incorporating 4 types of features. Results of the two used benchmark datasets, revealed the strength of the proposed method in AFP prediction. According to the results of an independent test setup, our method outperformed the current state-of-the-art methods. In addition, the comparison results of the discrimination power of different feature types revealed that physicochemical descriptors are the most contributing features in AFP detection. This method has been implemented as a stand-alone tool, named afpCOOL, for various operating systems to predict AFPs with a user friendly graphical interface. © 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
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.
