Sharif Digital Repository

Controlling topographic features at all length scales is of great importance for the interaction of cells with tissue regenerative materials. We utilized an indirect three-dimensional printing method to fabricate polymeric scaffolds with pre-defined and controlled external and internal architecture that had an interconnected structure with macro- (400-500 μm) and micro- (∼25 μm) porosity. Polycaprolactone (PCL) was used as model system to study the kinetics of tissue growth within porous scaffolds. The surface of the scaffolds was decorated with TiO2 and bioactive glass (BG) nanoparticles to the better match to nanoarchitecture of extracellular matrix (ECM). Micrometric BG particles were... 

Despite the economic and environmental advantages of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), the increased utilization of PHEVs brings up new concerns for power distribution system decision makers. Impacts of PHEVs on distribution networks, although have been proven to be noticeable, have not been thoroughly investigated for future years. In this paper, a comprehensive model is proposed to study the PHEV impacts on residential distribution systems. In so doing, PHEV fundamental characteristics, i.e., PHEV battery capacity, PHEV state of charge (SOC), and PHEV energy consumption in daily trips, are accurately modeled. As some of these effective characteristics depend on vehicle owner's... 

Multi-component photocatalysts based on apatite-coated Ag/AgBr/TiO(2) were prepared by the deposition method. The effects of various kinds of apatites, with hydroxyl and fluoro substituents, on photocatalytic activity were investigated. The antibacterial processes in the dark, and under visible light, on two types of bacteria indicate that the multi-composites can inhibit the growth of bacteria by two different mechanisms. TEM images and optical microscopic data demonstrate that by attaching the nanosize catalyst to the outer membrane of the cell, the bacteria could not derive nourishment from surrounding media, i.e. this component acts as bacteria-static. The mechanism for deactivation of... 

Microstructural characteristics and mechanical properties of a friction stir welded cast aluminum bronze (Cu-9Al-1Fe), produced by a sand casting method, have been investigated at tool rotation of 850-1500 rpm and traverse speed of 50-100 mm/min. Refinement of the primary coarse cast microstructure in the base metal was seen after friction stir welding. Microstructure of the stir zone was characterized in four distinct areas of non-isometric fine grains while a significant grain growth was noticed in some of the areas. Conditions of grain growth are defined with high heat input intensity and low heat transfer capability. The grain size was observed to decrease after FSW, resulting in a... 

For the first time, a new platform based on electrochemical growth of Au nanoparticles on aligned multi-walled carbon nanotubes (A-MWCNT) was developed for sensitive lable-free DNA detection of the TP53 gene mutation, one of the most popular genes in cancer research. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was used to monitor the sequence-specific DNA hybridization events related to TP53 gene. Compared to the bare Ta or MWCNT/Ta electrodes, the synergistic interactions of vertically aligned MWCNT array and gold nanoparticles at modified electrode could improve the density of the probe DNA attachment and resulting the sensitivity of the DNA sensor greatly. Using EIS, over the extended... 

Carbon dioxide sequestration by a pH-swing carbonation process was considered in this work. A multi-step aqueous process is described for the fractional precipitation of magnesium carbonate and other minerals in an aqueous system at room temperature and atmospheric pressure. With the aim to achieve higher purity and deliver more valuable mineral products, the process was split into four steps. The first step consists of Mg leaching from the magnesium silicate in a stirred vessel using 1 M HCl at 80 °C, followed by a three step precipitation in reactors in sequence to remove Fe(OH)3, then Fe(OH)2 and other divalent ions, and finally MgCO3 nucleation and growth. Hydrated magnesium carbonate... 

In this work, examinations on the microstructure and mechanical properties of plain carbon steel and AISI 430 ferritic stainless steel dissimilar welds are carried out. Welding is conducted in both autogenous and using ER309L austenitic filler rod conditions through gas tungsten arc welding process. The results indicate that fully-ferritic and duplex ferritic-martensitic microstructures are formed for autogenous and filler-added welds, respectively. Carbide precipitation and formation of martensite at ferrite grain boundaries (intergranular martensite) as well as grain growth occur in the heat affected zone (HAZ) of AISI 430 steel. It is found that weld heat input can strongly affect grain... 

The 1050 aluminum sheets are severely deformed by two passes of the constrained groove pressing (CGP) process to obtain the strain of 2.32. Friction stir processing (FSP) is then performed on these specimens at two conditions of with and without SiC nanoparticles. Microhardness measurements indicate that in the state of FSP without any particle, the microhardness of stir zone is decreased due to the recrystallization and grain growth occurrence because of high stored strain energy in the CGPed specimens. In order to enhance the mechanical properties of the stir zone, SiC nanoparticles are used during FSP. Also, the effect of FSP pass number on the distribution of nanoparticles is... 

Because of corrosion resistance and antibacterial effects, shape memory Ni-Ti-Ag alloy can be considered for different biomedical applications. Mechanical alloying is used to produce nanostructured Ni-Ti-Ag alloy from elemental powders. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) are used to characterize the product. Results show that after 1h milling, homogenous distribution of the elements occurs; while no intermetallic compounds is observed. After 3h milling, titanium dissolves in nickel to form amorphous and nanostructured solid phases. Peaks of B2 phase appear in the XRD pattern after the 3h milling of the powder mixture. Sintering of the 3h-milled... 

Body weight is influenced by both food intake and energy expenditure. Acylated ghrelin enhances appetite, and its circulating level is suppressed by Growth Hormone. Data on the acylated ghrelin responses to exercise of different intensities in obese individuals are currently not available. This study examined the effects of an intermittent exercise protocol on acylated ghrelin levels and hunger ratings in obese people. Nine inactive male ran on the treadmill at 0900 with progressive intensities of 50, 60, 70, and 80% of VO2max for 10, 10, 5, and 2 min respectively. Blood samples were collected before the exercise at 0845 (-15 min as the resting values), after each workload (10, 23, 31, and... 

Many potential therapies are currently being studied that may promote neural regeneration and guide regenerating axons to form correct connections following injury. It has been shown that adult neurons have some limited regenerative capabilities, and the lack of connection formation between neurons is not an intrinsic inability of these cells to form axons after being damaged, but rather the inhibitory microenvironment of the injured tissue prevents regeneration. In this study, the polarization and chemotaxis of neuronal stem cells (NSC) in response to quantified gradients of nerve growth factor (NGF) was examined. To accomplish this, a microfluidic device was designed and fabricated to... 

In the present work, an improved method is developed for preparing highly pure ultrathin barium titanate nanostructured films with desired structural and morphological characteristics. In contrast to other approaches, our method can be carried out at a relatively lower temperature to obtain barium titanate ultrathin films free from secondary phases, impurities, and cracks. To reach an in-depth understanding of scientific basis of the proposed process, and in order to disclose the mechanism of formation and growth of barium titanate ultrathin film, in-detail analysis is carried out using XRD, SEM, FE-SEM, and AFM techniques aided by theoretical calculations. The effects of calcining... 

Intracellular production of recombinant proteins in prokaryotes necessitates subsequent disruption of cells for protein recovery. Since the cell disruption and subsequent purification steps largely contribute to the total production cost, scalable tools for protein release into the extracellular space is of utmost importance. Although there are several ways for enhancing protein release, changing culture conditions is rather a simple and scalable approach compared to, for example, molecular cell design. This contribution aimed at quantitatively studying process technological means to boost protein release of a periplasmatic recombinant protein (alkaline phosphatase) from E. coli.... 

In this study, the polarization and navigation of neuronal cells was studied in response to quantified gradients of nerve growth factor (NGF). To accomplish this, a microfluidic device was designed and fabricated to generate stable concentration gradients of biomolecules in a cell culture chamber within a 3D microenvironment. Numerical simulation was implemented to optimize the device geometry for generating a uniform concentration gradient of NGF which was found to remain stable for multiple hours. Neural Stem/ Progenitor Cell (NSCs) migration and differentiation was studied within this microfluidic device in response to NGF concentration and within a 3D environment of collagen matrix.... 

The power law logistic model was utilized to investigate the growth of a hydrocarbon assimilating bacterium on a water-insoluble substrate. To achieve this end, population dynamics of Bacillus licheniformis MS3 in a medium containing n-decane as the sole carbon source was monitored for 30 h. Different initial biosurfactant concentrations and shaking rates were employed to examine the role of mass transfer in the cell growth and the consequent hydrocarbon biodegradation. The amount of n-decane degraded in the system was detected by gas chromatography at the end of the incubation period. The results revealed that when mass transfer limitations were lessened through addition of an initial... 

Gas tungsten arc welding of CK45 and AISI304 stainless steel was performed through preparation of different types of samples using ER308L and ERNi-1 wires. Welded samples were studied by different techniques including optical metallography, scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), X-ray diffraction, hardness measurements and impact test. It was observed that in the buttered specimen, the structure of the weld metal was completely austenitic while the microstructure of unbuttered sample was duplex ferritic-austenitic. M23C6-type carbides were observed within the weld metal of both as-weld specimen types. Effects of different post-weld heat... 

Fatigue life and crack growth retardation due to periodic tensile overloads, which are superposed on constant amplitude cycles, have been investigated in the present study. In the numerical analyses, the Walker equation with the generalized Willenborg model has been used. The analyses and experiments have been performed on C(T) specimens made of 7075 aluminium. The periodic overloads have been induced at two different periodicities and the effect of overload ratio and overload periodicity on the fatigue life has been studied. The results of the experiments and analyses reveal that the normalized fatigue life versus overload ratio curve has a maximum point, which indicates that there are... 

In this study the bioleaching of a low-grade uranium ore containing 480 ppm uranium has been reported. The studies involved extraction of uranium using Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans derived from the uranium mine samples. The maximum specific growth rate (μ max) and doubling time (t d) were obtained 0.08 h-1 and 8.66 h, respectively. Parameters such as Fe2+ concentration, particle size, temperature and pH were optimized. The effect of pulp density (PD) was also studied. Maximum uranium bio-dissolution of 100 ± 5 % was achieved under the conditions of pH 2.0, 5 % PD and 35 °C in 48 h with the particles of d 80 = 100 μm. The optimum concentration of supplementary Fe2+ was dependent to the PD.... 

A novel nanocomposite of ZnO-PbO with flower-like nanostructure was fabricated from zinc acetate and lead nitrate as principle raw materials via an in situ process. The novelty of this study consists in the use of a common approach for fabricating of ZnO and PbO nanoparticles simultaneously. From these experiments the conclusion might be drawn that Zn(NH4) 2 4+ ions and Pb(OH)2 act as precursors for the nucleation and growth of ZnO and PbO respectively under microwave irradiation. The precursors formation were carried at two stages: reaction between zinc ions and lead nitrate with ammonium ion and hydroxide sodium respectively. The average crystalline size of Zno and PbO has been analysed by... 

In this study, AA 1050 aluminum alloy and commercially pure copper in annealed and severely plastic deformed conditions were used. The technique used for imposing the severe strain to the sheets was constrained groove pressing (CGP) process. The annealed and severely plastic deformed sheets were subjected to friction stir welding (FSW) at different rotation and traverse speeds. Cu was placed in advancing side. Constant offset of approximately 1 mm was used toward Al side for all welds. A range of welding parameters which can lead to acceptable welds with appropriate mechanical properties was found. For the FSWed CGPed samples, it was observed that the welding heat input caused grain growth...