Sharif Digital Repository

According to the world health organization, major depressive disorder (MDD) is considered as the fourth main cause of death and premature weakness in the whole world. Abnormality in the hormones and neurotransmitters level is the one of the main factors which may result in this disorder. In this article melatonin is chosen among these hormones, which is the most implicated to control sleep and depression. Because the measurement of melatonin is crucial important, the fuzzy logic approach as the mathematical method is utilized to making melatonin behavior model. In this paper, two effective factors on melatonin are modeled by fuzzy logic. This model is only a part of our project which is... 

Motivation: Single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) offers the opportunity to dissect heterogeneous cellular compositions and interrogate the cell-type-specific gene expression patterns across diverse conditions. However, batch effects such as laboratory conditions and individual-variability hinder their usage in cross-condition designs. Results: Here, we present a single-cell Generative Adversarial Network (scGAN) to simultaneously acquire patterns from raw data while minimizing the confounding effect driven by technical artifacts or other factors inherent to the data. Specifically, scGAN models the data likelihood of the raw scRNA-seq counts by projecting each cell onto a latent embedding.... 

Apathy is a stressor and debilitating common condition for both stroke survivors and their caregivers. However, its effects on the postural control of these patients have not yet been investigated. Improved postural stability through withdrawing attention from postural control by concurrent cognitive task (i.e. dual-task condition) has been reported previously, but the effect of apathy, as a confounding factor, remains unknown. This study aimed to examine the effects of apathy and dual-task condition on postural control of chronic stroke survivors from biomechanical and neurophysiological perspectives. Twenty non-apathetic stroke survivors, 20 apathetic stroke survivors, and 20 sex-, age-,... 

Treatment of cancer involves many invasive procedures that could be a source of distress in kids suffering from cancer. Distress itself can be an important obstacle in patients' acceptance of treatment and their adaptation to it, consequently reducing its efficiency. Distress symptoms, in a spectrum from mild to critical, are shown to be widespread in children struggling with cancer. In recent years to alleviate this psychological condition, researchers have proposed and examined several methods such as relaxation, hypnosis, desensitization, and distraction. This study presents a new approach to explore the impact of utilizing a humanoid robot as a therapy-assistant in dealing with patients'... 

Treating cancer encompasses many invasive procedures that can be a source of distress in oncology patients. Distress itself can be a major obstruction in the path of acceptance of treatment and the patient's adaptation to it, thereby reducing its efficiency. These distress symptoms have been found to be prevalent in children suffering from cancer, in a spectrum from mild to critical. In the past years in response to this psychological suffering, researchers have proposed and tested several methods such as relaxation, hypnosis, desensitization, and distraction. This paper propounds a new approach by exploring the effect of utilizing a humanoid robot as a therapy-assistive tool in dealing with... 

Abstract In this work, two [60] fullerene derivatives were employed as flow improvers for waxy crude oil to reduce problems caused by the crystallization of paraffin during the production and/or transportation of the crude oil. These amine-based derivatives of [60] fullerene have been applied as wax inhibitor for improvement of rheological performance as well as pour point depressant in a waxy crude oil. Moreover, the influence of these [60] fullerene derivatives on the viscosity and pour point was also investigated in an Iranian waxy crude oil sample. The [60] fullerene derivatives were simply prepared by stirring a solution of [60] fullerene and two lipophilic amines. The results similarly... 

This paper describes a systematic numerical investigation into the nonlinear elastic behavior of conical shells, with various types of initial imperfections, subject to a uniformly distributed axial compression. Three different patterns of imperfections, including first axisymmetric linear bifurcation mode, first non-axisymmetric linear bifurcation mode, and weld depression are studied using geometrically nonlinear finite element analysis. Effects of each imperfection shape and tapering angle on imperfection sensitivity curves are investigated and the lower bound curve is determined. Finally, an empirical lower bound relation is proposed for hand calculation in the buckling design of conical... 

This investigation aims at understanding the underlying fundamentals of the isothermal solidification phenomenon during the transient liquid phase (TLP) bonding process. The isothermal solidification is governed by solid-state diffusion of the melting point depressant (MPD) into the base material, which, in turn, is controlled by both kinetic and thermodynamic parameters; however, the latter factor is generally ignored. In this work, the competition between kinetics and thermodynamics of diffusion were considered in TLP bonding of a nickel alloy, Monel 400, using two distinct filler metals including pure copper (Cu) and Ni-Si-B filler metal. The joint generated by Ni-Si-B filler metal... 

Asthma is a chronic inflammatory disease associated with a high prevalence of psychiatric disorders. There are specific brain networks responsible for emotional processes, including two important networks associated with psychiatric problems: the default mode network (DMN), which is more active in the resting state, and the salience network (SN), which is structurally connected to DMN. Although previous studies suggested that neuro-phenotypes of asthma may be recognizable by the neural activity of brain circuits, an association between the brain's functional alterations and psychiatric impairments induced by asthma remains unknown. We aimed to assess DMN and SN activity and its association... 

Magnesium nanopowder (MgNP) of 17 nm average size was produced by planetary ball milling of Mg (φ=229 μm) with 10 wt% NaCl (φ=406 μm) for 50 h. NaCl was omissible by dissolution in saturated KOH. Partial oxidation of MgNP occurred, however, in presence of KOH. MgNP-NaCl mixture was, therefore, used for transmission electron microscopy (TEM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), x-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and Sieverts equilibrium investigation. DSC analysis of ammonium perchlorate showed one endothermic and three exothermic reactions. MgNP did not noticeably affect on the initial endothermic reaction. But it decreased transformation temperatures of the... 

Background: Air pollutants have not been associated with ambulatory electrocardiographic evidence of ST-segment depression ≥ 1 mm (probable cardiac ischemia). We previously found that markers of primary (combustion-related) organic aerosols and gases were positively associated with circulating biomarkers of inflammation and ambulatory blood pressure in the present cohort panel study of elderly subjects with coronary artery disease. Objectives: We specifically aimed to evaluate whether exposure markers of primary organic aerosols and ultrafine particles were more strongly associated with ST-segment depression of ≥ 1 mm than were secondary organic aerosols or PM 2.5 (particulate matter with... 

Aims Previous reports on the possible effects of Extremely Low Frequency Magnetic Fields (ELF MF) on mood have been paradoxical in different settings while no study has yet been conducted on animal behavior. In addition, it was shown that ELF MF exposure makes an increase in brain nitric oxide level. Therefore, in the current study, we aimed to assess the possible effect(s) of ELF MF exposure on mice Forced Swimming Test (FST) and evaluate the probable role of the increased level of nitric oxide in the observed behavior. Main methods Male adult mice NMRI were recruited to investigate the short term and long term ELF MF exposure (0.5 mT and 50 Hz, single 2 h and 2 weeks 2 h a day). Locomotor... 

This paper addresses the microstructure properties relationship of wide gap brazed Inconel 738LC. Amdry 718 and a Ni-Cr-Fe-Si-B alloy were used as high melting particles (HMPs) and low melting particles (LMPs), respectively. The effect of the amount of LMPs, 30, 40, and 50 pct, on the microstructure and the shear strength of the joint, was investigated. The microstructure in the brazing zone consists of Ni-based solid solution and eutectic-type microconstituents that is nickel-rich and chromium-rich borides. Nickel-rich borides only observed in the presence of the high amount of LMPs, because of the low Cr-B ratio in the filler alloy. At the brazing/base metal interface, high diffusion of... 

A signaling pathway is a sequence of proteins and passenger molecules that transmits information from the cell surface to target molecules. Understanding signal transduction process requires detailed description of the involved pathways. Several methods and tools resolved this problem by incorporating genomic and proteomic data. However, the difficulty of obtaining prior knowledge of complex signaling networks limited the applicability of these tools. In this study, based on the simulation of signal flow in signaling network, we introduce a method for determining dominant pathways and signal response to stimulations. The model uses topology-weighted transit compartment approach and comprises...