Survivin, a Promising Gene for Targeted Cancer Treatment

Shamsabadi, Fatemeh T,Eidgahi, Mohammad Reza Akbari,Mehrbod, Parvaneh,Daneshvar, Nasibeh,Allaudin, Zeenathul Nazariah,Yamchi, Ahad,Shahbazi, Majid Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2016 Asian Pacific journal of cancer prevention Vol.17 No.8

Drawbacks of conventional cancer treatments, with lack of specificity and cytotoxicity using current approaches, underlies the necessity for development of a novel approach, gene-directed cancer therapy. This has provided novel technological opportunities in vitro and in vivo. This review focuses on a member of an apoptosis inhibitor family, survivin, as a valuable target. Not only the gene but also its promoter are applicable in this context. This article is based on a literature survey, with especial attention to RNA interference as well as tumor-specific promoter action. The search engine and databases utilized were Science direct, PubMed, MEDLINE and Google. In addition to cell-cycle modulation, apoptosis inhibition, interaction in cell-signaling pathways, cancer-selective expression, survivin also may be considered as specific target through its promoter as a novel treatment for cancer. Our purpose in writing this article was to create awareness in researchers, emphasizing relation of survivin gene expression to potential cancer treatment. The principal result and major conclusion of this manuscript are that survivin structure, biological functions and applications of RNA interference systems as well as tumor-specific promoter activity are of major interest for cancer gene therapy.

Two Dimessional Black Phosphorous as a promising Visible-to-Near-Infrared Light-Driven photocatalyst for CO₂ Conversion and H₂ Production

Tahereh MAHVELATI-SHAMSABADI,Byeong-Kyu LEE,Hossein FATTAHIMOGHADDAM 대한환경공학회 2019 대한환경공학회 학술발표논문집 Vol.2019 No.-

Role of critical concentration of PEI in NMP solutions on gas permeation characteristics of PEI gas separation membranes

Ahmad Arabi Shamsabadi,Masoud Bahrami Babaheidari,Ali Kargari,Saeed Laki,Hadi Ajami 한국공업화학회 2013 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.19 No.2

In preparation of polymeric gas separation membranes by phase inversion method, polymer concentration is one of the most important variables which can change membrane morphology and behavior. In this research, critical concentration of the polyetherimide (PEI) solutions in N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP) as a solvent was determined by viscometric method. The influence of temperature on critical concentration was studied. Three asymmetric PDMS/PEI membranes with different concentrations of PEI were prepared and characterized for H2/CH4 separation. The results showed that the membranes with higher concentrations than critical concentration were more suitable for gas separation. In addition, the viscosity data were fitted by appropriate equations and the densities were satisfactorily correlated by a simple first-order polynomial with respect to temperature and the PEI mass fraction. The prepared membrane showed the selectivity of 26 for H2/CH4 separation at 1 bar and 25 8C for pure gas and 24.8 for mixed gas. The influence of the pressure on the H2 and CH4 permeance and the selectivity for a mixed binary gas showed that the permeance of both gases declined by pressure enhancement and the selectivity increased.

Separation of hydrogen from methane by asymmetric PEI membranes

Ahmad Arabi Shamsabadi,Ali Kargari,Masoud Bahrami Babaheidari,Saeed Laki 한국공업화학회 2013 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.19 No.5

Hydrogen is anticipated to play an inevitable role as one of the promising sources of energy in the future. Recovery of hydrogen from flare gases is an economical and environmental policy of Marun Petrochemical Company. The asymmetric polyetherimide (PEI) membrane was synthesized and sorption and permeation of CH4 and H2 were studied. The influence of pressure and temperature as operating variables were investigated. Results showed that permeance was enhanced by temperature. The pressure increase caused a decline in H2 permeance, whereas CH4 permeance increased due to the Flory–Huggins sorption mechanism and ideal H2/CH4 selectivity reduction. The effect of different nonsolvents as coagulants of the phase inversion technique in membrane morphology and behavior were explained by precipitation time. Water as a non-solvent makes membrane structures denser than others,while isopropanol leads to a porous sponge-like morphology. Lower coagulation bath temperature makes the membrane denser. Finally, a selectivity of 27.8 was achieved for the separation of H2 from CH4.

Designing a Horizontal-Axis Wind Turbine for South Khorasan Province: A Case Study

Mehdi Jahangiri,Akbar Alidadi Shamsabadi 한국정밀공학회 2017 International Journal of Precision Engineering and Vol.18 No.10

Climate change, population and economic growth, increasing fossil fuel prices and environmental issues together emphasize the generation of electricity through wind. The potential of wind for generating clean energy is remarkable in many parts of Iran. In this study, a statistical analysis was performed on wind data of Fadashk Station located in South Khorasan province in north east of Iran. Accordingly, a horizontal-axis wind turbine (HAWT) was designed for this station. Wind speed was studied in deferent months of the year at 10 m, 30 m and 40 m heights. In the mentioned heights, this station had a mean speed of 5.27, 6.20, and 6.33 m/s, respectively. Direction of the prevailing wind is almost fixed throughout the year and blows from southeast. Power density was obtained by estimating the potential of wind energy using Weibull probability distribution function. Furthermore, the amount of energy that could be obtained annually from this site was calculated by selecting two wind turbines, Kuriant18 turbine made by Kuriant Company and Vestas55 made by Vestas Company, in the actual state. Also, annual mean wind power density in this station was estimated 285 W/m2.

Application of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument, Short Form (WHOQOL-BREF) to patients with cataract

Ali Gholami,Mahmood Tavakoli Araghi,Fatemeh Shamsabadi,Mahdiye Bayat,Fatemeh Dabirkhani,Farhad Moradpour,Kamyar Mansori,Yousef Moradi,Abdolhalim Rajabi 한국역학회 2016 Epidemiology and Health Vol.38 No.-

OBJECTIVES: Cataract is a prevalent disease in the elderly, and negatively influences patients’ quality of life. This study was conducted to study the application of the World Health Organization Quality of Life Instrument, Short Form (WHOQOL-BREF) to patients with cataract. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 300 patients with cataract were studied in Neyshabur, Iran from July to October 2014. The Iranian version of the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaire was used to measure their quality of life. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient, Pearson’s correlation coefficient, the paired t-test, the independent t-test, and a linear regression model were used to analyze the data in SPSS version 16.0 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA). RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 68.11±11.98 years, and most were female (53%). The overall observed Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for the WHOQOL-BREF was 0.889, ranging from 0.714 to 0.810 in its four domains. The total mean score of the respondents on the WHOQOL-BREF was 13.19. The highest and lowest mean scores were observed in the social relationship domain (14.11) and the physical health domain (12.29), respectively. A backward multiple linear regression model found that duration of disease and marital status were associated with total WHOQOL scores, while age, duration of disease, marital status, and income level were associated with domains one through four, respectively (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The reliability analysis conducted in this study indicated that the WHOQOL-BREF scale exhibited an acceptable degree of internal consistency in the measurement of the quality of life of patients with cataract. It was also found that the patients with cataract who were surveyed reported a relatively moderate quality of life.

Collapse Vulnerability and Fragility Analysis of Substandard RC Bridges Rehabilitated with Different Repair Jackets Under Post-mainshock Cascading Events

Mostafa Fakharifar,Genda Chen,Ahmad Dalvand,Anoosh Shamsabadi 한국콘크리트학회 2015 International Journal of Concrete Structures and M Vol.9 No.3

Past earthquakes have signaled the increased collapse vulnerability of mainshock damaged bridge piers and urgent need of repair interventions prior to subsequent cascading hazard events, such as aftershocks, triggered by the mainshock (MS). The overarching goal of this study is to quantify the collapse vulnerability of mainshock damaged substandard RC bridge piers rehabilitated with different repair jackets (FRP, conventional thick steel and hybrid jacket) under aftershock (AS) attacks of various intensities. The efficacy of repair jackets on post MS resilience of repaired bridges is quantified for a prototype two span single column bridge bent with lap splice deficiency at column footing interface. Extensive number of incremental dynamic time history analyses on numerical finite element bridge models with deteriorating properties under back to back MS AS sequences were utilized to evaluate the efficacy of different repair jackets on the post repair behavior of RC bridges subjected to AS attacks. Results indicate the dramatic impact of repair jacket application on post MS resilience of damaged bridge piers up to 45.5 % increase of structural collapse capacity subjected to aftershocks of multiple intensities. Besides, the efficacy of repair jackets is found to be proportionate to the intensity of AS attacks. Moreover, the steel jacket exhibited to be the most vulnerable repair intervention compared to CFRP, irrespective of the seismic sequence (severe MS severe or moderate AS) or earthquake type (near fault or far fault).

Facile fabrication of novel Ba-doped g-C₃N₄ photocatalyst with remarkably enhanced photocatalytic activity towards tetracycline elimination under visible-light irradiation

Bui, Thanh Son,Bansal, Palak,Lee, Byeong-Kyu,Mahvelati-Shamsabadi, Tahereh,Soltani, Tayyebeh Elsevier 2020 APPLIED SURFACE SCIENCE - Vol.506 No.-

<P><B>Abstract</B></P> <P>A novel photocatalyst, Ba-doped graphitic carbon nitride (g-C<SUB>3</SUB>N<SUB>4</SUB>), was synthesized via a facial thermal condensation method. Ba at a loading of 2% revealed the highest photocatalytic degradation efficiency of tetracycline (TC) (91.94%) after 120 min of visible light irradiation at an optimal pH of 10. An overall synergy of 69.26% was observed in the case of Ba (2%)-doped g-C<SUB>3</SUB>N<SUB>4</SUB> over pure g-C<SUB>3</SUB>N<SUB>4</SUB>. The remarkable improvement in the TC degradation performance is due to the narrower band-gap energy, the larger surface areas and the lower recombination rate of charge carriers detected through photoluminescence (PL) quenching, suggesting the multiple roles of the Ba doping. The synthesized novel photocatalyst displayed extremely high stability after 5 cycles as confirmed through various characterization techniques. The intermediates generated during the photocatalytic reaction were also detected through liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS) analysis and used to predict the degradation pathway of TC. Photoelectrochemical (PEC) measurements combined with photocatalytic performance obviously demonstrated that Ba doping effectively enhanced the separation of charge carriers and decreased the electron/hole recombination in the g-C<SUB>3</SUB>N<SUB>4</SUB> structure.</P> <P><B>Highlights</B></P> <P> <UL> <LI> Ba<B>-</B>doped g-C<SUB>3</SUB>N<SUB>4</SUB> was fabricated via a thermal condensation method. </LI> <LI> A lower recombination rate of photo-induced e<SUP>−</SUP> and h<SUP>+</SUP> pairs in Ba<B>-</B>doped g-C<SUB>3</SUB>N<SUB>4</SUB>. </LI> <LI> 91.94% of tetracycline (TC) was degraded within 120 min irradiation at an optimal pH of 10. </LI> <LI> Ba<B>-</B>doped g-C<SUB>3</SUB>N<SUB>4</SUB> retained high stability even after five cycles of use. </LI> <LI> h<SUP>+</SUP> is the predominant oxidative species for TC photodegradation. </LI> </UL> </P> <P><B>Graphical abstract</B></P> <P>[DISPLAY OMISSION]</P>

Gas Separation Polysulfone Membranes Modified by Cadmium-based Nanoparticles

Elmira Tavasoli,Morteza Sadeghi,Hossein Riazi,Ahmad Arabi Shamsabadi,Masoud Soroush 한국섬유공학회 2018 Fibers and polymers Vol.19 No.10

This paper presents new mixed-matrix membranes (MMMs) synthesized via incorporating hexamethylenetetramine dicyanamide cadmium nanoparticles, a metal organic framework (MOF), into the polysulfone (PSF) matrix. The MMMs are characterized using FTIR and SEM analyses, and their gas permeation properties are evaluated at different MOF loadings and various pressures. The results show that the nanoparticle is compatible with the polymer and distributes homogenously in the matrix. Compared to the pristine PSF membrane, the MMM with 2.5 wt. % of the MOF nanoparticles has lower CO2, CH4, N2 and O2 permeabilities but significantly higher CO2/CH4, CO2/N2 and O2/N2 gas pair selectivities (i.e., 41.66, 20.08 and 5.09, respectively, which are 42.6, 61.6 and 60.02 % higher). As the total pressure increases, the gas permeabilities of the pristine PSF membrane and the MMMs decrease, but their sieving abilities increase. These results suggest that gas selectivities of high free-volume polymers with poor sieving abilities can be improved by incorporating the MOF into the polymer.

The effect of polyurethane on the structure and performance of PES membrane for separation of carbon dioxide from methane

Shahab Saedi,Sayed S. Madaeni,Keyumars Hassanzadeh,Ahmad Arabi Shamsabadi,Saeed Laki 한국공업화학회 2014 Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Vol.20 No.4

In the present study, asymmetric gas separation membranes of polyethersulfone (PES) and polyethersulfone/polyurethane (PU) were prepared with different blend compositions. The prepared membranes were investigated for the separation of carbon dioxide from methane. The effect of PU on the microstructure and d-spacing of the membranes was studied by X-ray diffraction analysis and the miscibility of PES and PU was investigated using Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC). The thermal properties of PES and PES/PU were compared using Thermal Gravimetric Analysis (TGA). The effect of PES/PU blend composition on the morphology and porosity of the membrane was investigated by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and porosity experiments. Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations were used to investigate the relative affinity of CO2, CH4 and H2O for PES and PU. Moreover, the effect of PU on the casting solution viscosity, gas sorption and mechanical properties of the PES membrane was investigated. For comparing gas separation performance of PES and PES/PU membranes, pure and mixed gas experiments were carried out. The obtained results indicated that the presence of PU in the casting solution increases the d-spacing and fractional free volume, and decreases the membrane porosity; Tg and thermal resistance, membrane gas sorption as well as CO2 induced plasticization by decreasing Langmuir capacity, and also increases strength at yield and elongation at yield of PES membrane. The presence of PU decreases the CO2 permeance and enhances the CO2/CH4 selectivity and plasticization pressure of the PES membrane. Furthermore, the presence of the PU changes the membrane behavior against the feed pressure, feed temperature and feed composition in the mixed gas experiments.