Sharif Digital Repository

Hydrostatic pressure is one of the most fundamental and common mechanical stimuli in the body, playing a critical role in the homeostasis of all organ systems. Kidney function is affected by high blood pressure, namely hypertension, by the increased pressure acting on the glomerular capillary walls. This general effect of hypertension is diagnosed as a chronic disease, but underlying mechanistic causes are still not well understood. This paper reports a portable and adaptive device for studying the effects of hydrostatic pressure on a monolayer of cells. The fabricated device fits within a conventional incubation system and microscope. The effects of various pressures and durations were... 

All-solution-processed multilayer ZnO/Ag NWs/ZnO/PVP/PVA composite is introduced as a transparent conductive film (TCF) for optoelectronic applications. Unlike conventional film formation methods that impose high investment expenses, scalable spray coating is applied over the layers using a hand-made spray apparatus. The resulting TCF exhibits high transmittance (T, 86% at 550 nm) and low sheet resistance (Rs, 6 Ω/sq), which is comparable to the sputtered counterparts. The bending test demonstrates the flexibility of the multilayer TCF with no noticeable increase in Rs, even after 1500 bending iterations. Moreover, chemical stability test (exposure to a corrosive agent) and adhesion... 

In this study, a novle robust antistatic waterborne polyurethane (WBPU)-ZrO2 nanoparticle (NP) coating is specially designed using sol-gel process. For this purpose the effective parameters on resin performance and surface resistivity of the synthesized coating investigated and optimized. The WBPU composite containing 6 wt% ZrO2 NPs, dissipates electrostaic charges with surface resistivity of 9.1 × 109 Ω sq−1 and also improves adhesion strength about 30 % compared with neat resin. Moreover, the homogenous distribution of modified ZrO2 NPs provides a surface roughness of 27.0 nm which can avoid the absorption of dust on the surface. Facile fabrication of robust WBPU–ZrO2 coating with... 

In this study, a numerical study on failure assessment and stress distribution on the adhesive region in a composite T-joint under bending load case is investigated using cohesive zone method (CZM). The Finite Element Model (FEM) has been verified with experimental results. To study the load transfer capability of the T-joint, five different adhesives are considered in the adhesive region and the effect of geometrical parameters such as stringer thickness, corner radius, and adherend thickness as well as micromechanical properties of reinforced fiber composite adherends are investigated. Effective properties of two composite adherends including Carbon-Epoxy (IM7/8552) and Glass-Epoxy... 

Cells docking inside microfluidic devices is effective in studying cell biology, cell-based biosensing, as well as drug screening. Furthermore, single cell and regularly cells docking inside the microstructure of microfluidic systems are advantageous in different analyses of single cells exposed to equal drug concentration and mechanical stimulus. In this study, we investigated bottom wall microgrooves with semicircular and rectangular geometries with different sizes which are suitable for single cell docking along the length of the microgroove in x-direction and numerous cells docking regularly in one line inside the microgroove in a 3D microchannel. We used computational fluid dynamics to... 

Cells docking inside microfluidic devices is effective in studying cell biology, cell-based biosensing, as well as drug screening. Furthermore, single cell and regularly cells docking inside the microstructure of microfluidic systems are advantageous in different analyses of single cells exposed to equal drug concentration and mechanical stimulus. In this study, we investigated bottom wall microgrooves with semicircular and rectangular geometries with different sizes which are suitable for single cell docking along the length of the microgroove in x-direction and numerous cells docking regularly in one line inside the microgroove in a 3D microchannel. We used computational fluid dynamics to... 

The wear properties of low modulus polymer-based friction materials were studied. The wear equation W = K Pa Vb tc was used to correlate the wear of polymer-based friction material sliding against cast iron with the wear coefficient (K), load (P), speed (V), and time (f). The parameters were determined experimentally by varying only one variable at a time and keeping the other two variables constant. The wear rate of selected polymer-based friction material was compared with cast iron friction material. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc  

Nature-inspired coating with polydopamine (PDA) is a promising way to improve the performance of graphene oxide (GO) based nanocomposites due to its high ability to enhance interactions in matrix-disperse systems. Here, we examined the capability of two types of PDA to develop the reinforced polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)/GO hydrogels. In the first mode, dopamine hydrochloride was polymerized as nanoparticles and then incorporated into PVA solution with GO nanoplatelets (P-NG hydrogel). In the second mode, polydopamine was polymerized in the presence of GO nanoparticles to obtain PDA surface-modified GO and then PVA nanocomposite hydrogel (P-CG sample). Rheological and tensile findings revealed... 

The main focus of this study is to address the possibility of using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, as a computational framework, coupled with experimental assays, to optimize composite structures of a particular electrospun scaffold. To this aim, first, MD simulations were performed to obtain an initial theoretical insight into the capability of heterogeneous surfaces for protein adsorption. The surfaces were composed of six different blends of PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) and PCL (polycaprolactone) with completely unlike hydrophobicity. Next, MTT assay was performed on the electrospun scaffolds made from the same percentages of polymers as in MD models to gain an understanding of the... 

Background: Nutrigenomic has revolutionized our understanding of nutrition. As plants make up a noticeable part of our diet, in the present study we chose microRNAs of edible plants and investigated if they can perfectly match human genes, indicating potential regulatory functionalities. Methods: miRNAs were obtained using the PNRD database. Edible plants were separated and microRNAs in common in at least four of them entered our analysis. Using vmatchPattern, these 64 miRNAs went through four steps of refinement to improve target prediction: Alignment with the whole genome (2581 results), filtered for those in gene regions (1371 results), filtered for exon regions (66 results) and finally... 

For the first time, the UIO-66, NH2-UIO, and NH2-UIO particles covalently functionalized by Glycidyl Methacrylate (GMA@NH2-UIO), were utilized as the novel functional anti-corrosive fillers. The functionality, high surface area, phase composition, excellent thermal properties as well as chemical stability of the Zr-MOFs were proved by FT-IR, BET, XRD, TGA, and water stability tests, respectively. The smart pH-sensitive controlled-release activity of the corrosion inhibitors (i.e., Zr ions and organic compounds) from the prepared Zr-MOFs was proved by the water stability test of the Zr-MOFs particles in the acidic (pH = 2), neutral (pH = 7.5), and alkaline (pH = 12) solutions containing 3.5... 

Separating produced water is a key part of production processing for most crude oils. It is required for quality reasons, and to avoid unnecessary transportation costs and prevent pipework corrosion rates caused by soluble salts present in the water. A complicating factor is that water is often present in crude oil in the form of emulsions. Experiments were performed to evaluate the performance of ultrasonic fields in demulsifying crude oil emulsions using novel pipe-form equipment. A horn-type piezoelectric ultrasonic transducer with a frequency of 20 kHz and power ranging from 80 W to 1000 W was used for experimental purposes. The influences of the intensity of ultrasonic fields,... 

Obstruction of left anterior descending artery (LAD) due to the thrombosis or atherosclerotic plaques is the leading cause of death worldwide. Targeted delivery of drugs through micro- and nanoparticles is a very promising approach for developing new strategies in clot-busting or treating restenosis. In this work, we modelled the blood flow characteristics in a patient-specific reconstructed LAD artery by the fluid–solid interaction method and based on physiological boundary conditions. Next, we provided a Lagrangian description of micro- and nanoparticles dynamics in the blood flow considering their Brownian motion and the particle–particle interactions. Our results state that the number of... 

Small diameter vascular grafts (<6 mm) are highly demanded for patients suffering from severe occluded arteries to be used as a bypass or substituted conduit. Fabricating a graft with appropriate structural, mechanical and cell growth properties which has simultaneously anti-thrombogenic trait is a challenge nowadays. Here, we proposed a bilayer heparinized vascular graft that can mimic the structural and mechanical characteristics close to those of the native coronary artery by combining electrospinning and freeze drying methods. In this study, the inner layer was made by co-electrospinning of synthetic polymer, poly-caprolactone (PCL) and the natural polymer, gelatin (Gel). Also, heparin... 

Small diameter vascular grafts (<6 mm) are highly demanded for patients suffering from severe occluded arteries to be used as a bypass or substituted conduit. Fabricating a graft with appropriate structural, mechanical and cell growth properties which has simultaneously anti-thrombogenic trait is a challenge nowadays. Here, we proposed a bilayer heparinized vascular graft that can mimic the structural and mechanical characteristics close to those of the native coronary artery by combining electrospinning and freeze drying methods. In this study, the inner layer was made by co-electrospinning of synthetic polymer, poly-caprolactone (PCL) and the natural polymer, gelatin (Gel). Also, heparin... 

Lamination has been shown to enhance damage tolerance of discontinuously reinforced aluminum (DRA) composites. Doing this technique, DRA layers could be laminated with ductile interlayers. In this research, two types of laminates consisting similar DRA layers and a ductile AA1050 interlayer were fabricated by means of hot roll-bonding. AA6061-5. vol% SiCp and AA6061-15. vol% SiCp composites were considered as exterior layers. Different rolling strains, was applied to control the interfacial strength which was examined by shear test. Toughness behavior of laminates was evaluated by three-point bending test in crack-divider orientation. Based on obtained results, the plastic deformation of... 

Mindlin's (1965) second strain gradient theory due to its competency in capturing the effects of edges, corners, and surfaces is of particular interest. Formulation in this framework, in addition to the usual Lamé constants, requires the knowledge of sixteen additional materials constants. To date, there are no successful experimental techniques for measuring these material parameters which reflect the discrete nature of matter. The present work gives an accurate remedy for the atomistic calculations of these parameters by utilizing the first principles density functional theory (DFT) for the calculations of the atomic force constants combined with an analytical formulation. It will be shown... 

UHMWPE composite materials are increasingly used in armors design due to their high strength-to-weight ratios and energy absorption capacities. In this study the effect of production parameters upon the terminal ballistic properties of UHMWPE composite were examined under different conditionings. The composite armor plate laminates were produced by hot pressing with three different pressing times from 10-30 minutes and the laminates conditioned at +115, +125, and +135°C. The molding temperature of SK66 fiber composite has the main direct effect on the ballistic absorption energy, so the relation of molding temperature with the adhesive bonding force between layers, the thickness of the... 

Molecular self-assembly of cadmium selenide quantum dots-end-capped polyrotaxane hybrid nanostructures (PRCdSe QDs) was led to a new type of core-shell hybrid nanomaterials consisting of cadmium selenide quantum dot (CdSe QDs) core and polyrotaxane shell (PR@QDs). Structure of PR@QDs was characterized using various techniques. It has been observed that the size of PR@QDs was between 20-25 nm in which diameter of core and thickness of shell were between 15-20 and 2-3 nm, respectively. Short-term in vitro cytotoxicity tests, using MTT (3-(4,5- dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay, were conducted on mouse tissue connective fibroblast adhesive cell line (L929) in order to...