Sharif Digital Repository

There are several critical measures in the project performance evaluation such as time, cost, and quality. In this paper, a new method for project performance evaluation is presented by combining the project Golden Triangle and the methods in decision science. At first, strategies and measures are introduced for the perspectives of the Balanced Scorecard (BSC) method according to their effect on time, cost, and quality. Next, the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) method is used to weigh the measures by the judgments of experts after integrating AHP and BSC. Then, the weights of the five project phases - from the initiation to the closure - are calculated by the Technique for Order of... 

A graph G is called an Mr(k)-graph if G has no k-list assignment to its vertices with exactly r vertex colorings. We characterize all A 3(2)-graphs. More precisely, it is shown that a connected graph G is an A3(2)-graph if and only if each block of G is a complete graph with at least three vertices  

Magnetite nanoparticles with a size distribution of 15-21 nm were synthesized and decorated onto surface of graphene oxide by ultrasound assisted precipitation. Size and size distribution of the obtained M-GO hybrid were appreciably finer than the hybrids prepared by stirring method. M-GO is a superparamagnetic material with saturation magnetization of 31 emu g-1. The Langevin equation was successfully applied for estimation of size of Fe3O4 nanoparticles in M-GO hybrid, with maximum error of 17.5%. The study put forward a formation mechanism for M-GO, based on instrumental analyses. Adsorption isotherms of Sr2+ and Co2+ ions, which were fitted by Langmuir monolayer... 

Implanted biomedical sensor networks provide a major application of sensor networks in the near future. Their high temperature due to wireless communication, might damage the surrounding tissues. This paper presents an efficient thermal-aware routing. Our proposed protocol states that when some nodes in the shortest path have a high temperature, ignores this path. The simulation results indicate the superiority of the proposed method compared to other thermal-aware routing protocols in terms of reducing temperature without a significant increase in packet delivery delay and power consumption of nodes. © 2009 IEEE  

In this work, the electrophoretic deposition method was utilized to immobilize TiO2 particles on stainless steel substrates. In addition, for the first time, statistics-based experimental design using response surface methodology was employed to investigate the effect of four key coating parameters (i.e. applied voltage, calcination temperature, photocatalyst weight percentage, and deposition time) on the photocatalytic degradation. Analysis of variance revealed that the proposed model was adequate. X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscope were used to evaluate the effects of the parameters on degradation efficiency. The optimum applied voltage, calcination temperature, catalyst... 

Let (Formula presented.) be a graph of order (Formula presented.) and size (Formula presented.). Suppose that (Formula presented.) is a function such that (Formula presented.). In this paper we provide a criterion for (Formula presented.)-choosability of (Formula presented.). Using this criterion, it is shown that the choice number of the complete (Formula presented.)-partite graph (Formula presented.) is (Formula presented.), which is a well-known result due to Erdös, Rubin and Taylor. Among other results we study the (Formula presented.)-choosability of the complete (Formula presented.)-partite graphs with part sizes at most (Formula presented.), when (Formula presented.), for every vertex... 

Asphaltene precipitation during natural depletion and miscible gas injection is a common problem in oilfields throughout the world. In this work, static precipitation tests are conducted to investigate effect of pressure, temperature and gas type and concentration on asphaltene instability. Three different oil samples are studied under reservoir conditions with/without nitrogen and methane injection. Besides applying common thermodynamic models, a new scaling equation is presented to predict asphaltene precipitation under HPHT gas injection. Published data from literature are also used in model development. The scaling approach is attractive because it is simple and complex asphaltene... 

A single step supercritical method was introduced for synthesis of “magnetite - reduced graphene oxide (M-rGO)” composite in supercritical methanol. Modified surface, smaller size, lesser cytotoxicity, and homogenous dispersion of Fe3O4 nanoparticles on the graphene surface were advantages of this new M-rGO composite in comparison to the materials synthesized by conventional wet chemical method (M-GO). Nanocomposites were injected in tissue equivalent phantoms of agarose gel in 10 mg/g dosage, and were irradiated by a 1600 mW laser beam at wavelength of 800–810 nm. The M-rGO and M-GO were found to be the most and the least efficient samples for increasing the temperature of the phantom. As... 

Background Although anxiety is a common non-motor outcome of Parkinson's disease (PD) affecting 40% of patients, little attention has been paid so far to its effects on balance impairment and postural control. Improvement of postural control through focusing on the environment (i.e. external focus) has been reported, but the role of anxiety, as a confounding variable, remains unclear. Objectives This study aimed to investigate the influence of anxiety and attentional focus instruction on the standing postural control of PD patients. Methods Thirty-four patients with PD (17 with high anxiety (HA-PD) and 17 with low anxiety (LA-PD)), as well as 17 gender- and age-matched healthy control... 

Background: The exact pathogenic mechanism causes hair miniaturization during androgenic alopecia (AGA) has not been delineated. Recent evidence has shown a role for non-coding regulatory RNAs, such as microRNAs (miRNAs), in skin and hair disease. There is no reported information about the role of miRNAs in hair epithelial cells of AGA. Objectives: To investigate the roles of miRNAs affecting AGA in normal and patient's epithelial hair cells. Methods: Normal follicular stem and progenitor cells, as well as follicular patient's stem cells, were sorted from hair follicles, and a miRNA q-PCR profiling to compare the expression of 748 miRNA (miRs) in sorted cells were performed. Further, we... 

Retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells are indispensable for eye organogenesis and vision. To realize the therapeutic potential of in vitro-generated RPE cells for cell-replacement therapy of RPE-related retinopathies, molecular mechanisms of RPE specification and maturation need to be investigated. So far, many attempts have been made to decipher the regulatory networks involved in the differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells into RPE cells. Here, we exploited a highly-efficient RPE differentiation protocol to determine global expression patterns of microRNAs (miRNAs) during human embryonic stem cell (hESC) differentiation into RPE using small RNA sequencing. Our results revealed a... 

Background: The exact pathogenic mechanism causes hair miniaturization during androgenic alopecia (AGA) has not been delineated. Recent evidence has shown a role for non-coding regulatory RNAs, such as microRNAs (miRNAs), in skin and hair disease. There is no reported information about the role of miRNAs in hair epithelial cells of AGA. Objectives: To investigate the roles of miRNAs affecting AGA in normal and patient's epithelial hair cells. Methods: Normal follicular stem and progenitor cells, as well as follicular patient's stem cells, were sorted from hair follicles, and a miRNA q-PCR profiling to compare the expression of 748 miRNA (miRs) in sorted cells were performed. Further, we... 

Naïve pluripotency can be established in human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) by manipulation of transcription factors, signaling pathways, or a combination thereof. However, differences exist in the molecular and functional properties of naïve hPSCs generated by different protocols, which include varying similarities with pre-implantation human embryos, differentiation potential, and maintenance of genomic integrity. We show here that short treatment with two chemical agonists (2a) of nuclear receptors, liver receptor homologue-1 (LRH-1) and retinoic acid receptor gamma (RAR-γ), along with 2i/LIF (2a2iL) induces naïve-like pluripotency in human cells during reprogramming of fibroblasts,...