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Research subject: In situ synthesis of nanoparticles due to greater impact on production mechanisms (such as reducing oil viscosity), uniform distribution of nanoparticles in reservoir fluids, no reduction in formation permeability due to no injection of nanofluids into the reservoir and also economic efficiency is more importance than other nanoparticle synthesis methods which are used in enhanced oil recovery (EOR) processes.
Research approach: In this study, the effect of in-situ synthesized of cerium oxide (CeO₂) nanoparticles at low temperature on the oil recovery factor was investigated. For this purpose, water was considered as the based fluid for dispersion of synthesized nanoparticles. Also, in order to study the effect of nanoparticles concentration in the base fluid on the final oil recovery factor, several nanofluids were prepared at different concentrations of 0.01, 0.1, 0.25 and 0.5 wt.%. Finally, the prepared nanofluids were injected at the injection rate of 0.07 ml/h up to 1 PV into the micromodel and the amount of produced oil and the movement of the injected fluid in the porous medium were analyzed.
Main results: The results showed that the synthesized CeO₂ nanoparticles in this study have appropriate performance to improve the oil recovery factor. The presence of small amounts of these nanoparticles (concentration of 0.01 wt. %), causes a significant increment in oil recovery factor (about 7%) compared to water injection alone. Also, the oil extraction coefficient increased by increasing the concentration of nanoparticles in the base fluid. So that for nanofluids with concentrations of 0.01, 0.1, 0.25 and 0.5 wt.%, the oil recovery factor were 25%, 38%, 43% and 45%, respectively. However, by increasing the concentration of nanoparticles in the base fluid, from an optimal amount onwards, the probability of particle deposition in the micromodel increased, the effect of nanoparticles on changing the hydrodynamic properties of the injected fluid and oil production mechanisms decreased.
 

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Backgrounds: Candida albicans (C. albicans) as a fungal pathogen is part of the normal flora of the human body, which could cause various infections in patients with defective immune systems. Nowadays, there is a need to design and synthesis new drug formulations to overcome drug resistance in this genus. Thymoquinone (TQ) is the main ingredient in Nigella sativa, which has considerable antifungal properties. The aim of this study was to investigate the inhibitory effects of thymoquinone-zein nanoparticles (TQ-ZNPs) on C. albicans.
Materials & Methods: In the current study, TQ was encapsulated in zein (as a biodegradable carrier) and polyethylene glycol (PEG). The antifungal activity of TQ-ZNPs against C. albicans (ATCC 10231; standard strain) and their inhibitory effects on biofilm formation were examined using standardized broth microdilution and MTT assays, respectively. The total oxidant status (TOS) of C. albicans was assessed using colorimetric method, and the toxic effect of nanoparticles on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) was evaluated by MTT assay.
Findings: The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of TQ-ZNPs was significantly reduced compared to that of free TQ. MIC values of TQ-ZNPs and free TQ were determined to be 7.4 and 50 µg/mL, respectively. Biofilm formation was inhibited, and oxidant production by fungal cells was increased. The findings of this study showed that TQ-ZNPs had no toxic effect on PBMCs.
Conclusion: This study results revealed that the synthesized nanoparticles had a good antifungal activity without any toxicity. The results demonstrated the superior efficiency of TQ-ZNPs over free TQ. Hence, this structure could be used to load hydrophobic drugs. However, more studies are needed to evaluate the beneficial properties of TQ-ZNPs.
 

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Malaria is a vector born disease caused by protozoan parasites of the genus Plasmodium that causes 300-500 million new infections and 1 million deaths annually.Before any anti-malarial campaign in Iran, about 60% of the population were living in malaria endemic areas and 4 to 5 million of them had malaria infection each year. By starting of the anti-malaria campaign, the number of infections decreased so that the number of malaria infected in Iran was 3000 people in 2009, 0/65 of them lived in Sistan & Baluchistan province. In the present study, for spatial modeling of the Annual Parasite Incidence (API) of malaria in Sistan & Baluchistan province, we applied a Geographical Weighted Regression (GWR) model to predict API by there independent climatic factors. The results indicated that the most important climatic factor for explaining API in Sistan & Baluchistan is annual rainfall as spatial factor, which is more important in the southern parts of the study area such as Chabahar and Nikshar. Temperature and relative humidity are of the second and third prioriies, respectively. The importance of these two climatic factors is higher in northern portion of the province. This model explained only 0.48 of API spatial variation (R²=0.48). Therefore, the non-climatic factors such as socioeconomic and lifestyle and the neighborhood position of this province with Afghanistan and Pakistan should also be considered in epidemiological survey of malaria in Sistan & Baluchistan province.     

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Magnetic levitation systems are widely used in various industries. These kind of systems are usually open-loop unstable and are described by highly nonlinear differential equations which present additional difficulties in controlling these systems in the presence of disturbance and sensor noise. We consider the stabilization and the tracking problems of a magnetic levitation system. In this paper an adaptive fractional order Backstepping sliding mode control schemes is proposed. Backstepping algorithm is based on the Lyapunov theory. The proposed controller in this paper is designed by a combination of a Backstepping algorithm, sliding mode control and fractional calculus to make more degree of freedom and robustness. The stability of the closed loop system is investigated by using the Lyapunov stability theorem and the new extension of Lyapunov stability theorem for fractional order systems. Simulations are performed to confirm the theoretical results of the proposed controller for the magnetic levitation system. The proposed controller is able to reject the sensor noise and disturbance with a chattering free control law. Finally the simulation results of the proposed controller are compared with the adaptive fast terminal sliding mode control.

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Energy saving, low robot mass to carried mass ratio, more ability to work in various environments, easier delivery of parts and lower production costs in flexible robots make these robots more attractive than rigid robots to many researchers and industries. But due to nonlinearities in flexible robot system and high vibration in operation points and also more sensitivity against external disturbances, control of these robots is more difficult and complex. In this paper a controller for a flexible link manipulator based on fractional calculus is practically implemented. At first the dynamic model of a single flexible-link robot is introduced. Then various controllers such as fuzzy control, PID control, and fractional order PID torque control are practically implemented on a single flexible-link robot made in laboratory, and then the performance of each controllers in decreasing of arm vibration in final desired point and tracking error reduction are investigated. Further, to compare the robustness of the designed controllers, a same constant disturbance is applied to all controllers and their performance are compared. Finally, the simulation results and experimental results show that the fractional order PID torque controller has the best results among the implemented controllers.

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Objective: Cutaneous leishmaniasis is an endemic disease in certain areas of Iran. The use of pentavalent antimony compounds as first line treatment has been reported, however they are associated with limitations and adverse events. Hence, an attempt to find a new, effective compound has been under consideration. This study examines the effect of Achillea biebersteinii afan as, a native plant in Iran, against Leishmania major promastigote and amastigote growth under in vitro conditions. Methods: This experimental study was performed at Tarbiat Modares University in 1392.We extracted the essential oil of the Achillea biebersteinii afan plant by steam distillation and analyzed it by gas chromatography mass spectrograph. Then, we evaluated the effect of different concentrations (10%, 15%, 25% and 50%) of the oil on the growth of the promastigotes stage of Leishmania and infected macrophages that contained amastigotes under in vitro conditions. Effectiveness of the oil on promastigotes and amastigotes was assessed by direct count and the MTT assay. In all tests, each of the wells that contained culture media and parasites without drug were considered the control group. Data analyses were conducted with ANOVA. Result: The MTT results indicated significant differences among the number of parasites in the control and case groups treated with 10%, 15%, 25%, and 50% of the oil within 24, 48 and 72 hours after culture. The concentration of 50% of the oil killed 66% of the macrophages that contained amastigotes after 72 hours. Conclusion: Achillea biebersteinii afan oil was effective in killing Leishmania major promastigotes and infected macrophages that contained amastigotes. We have proposed to study the extract in vivo for treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis lesions.  

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Objective : In the present study the effect of aqueous extract of Fumaria which is a native Iranian herb on the promastigote and amasstigot under In vitro and In vivo condition.
Materials and Methods: The aqueous extract of the plant was prepared, then it was evaluated the effect of different concentration of aqueous extract under In vitro condition on promastigotes, uninfected macrophages and macrophages infected with amastigotes by counting, MTT and Flow Cytometyry were evaluated. IC50 was calculated for promastigotes. Also, the effects of aqueous extracts of Fumaria ointment on lesions caused by Leishmani major in BALB / c mice were examined.
Results:   The calculated IC50 of Funaria extract on promastigotes after 72 h was 304.17 µg/ml. The effects of Fumaria extract showed effective limitation on lesion size. The survival rate for treated mice with Fumaria extract showed significant differences with control groups.
Conclusion: The results showed that aqueous extract of Fumaria has antileishmanial effects in vitro and invivo condition. Also aqueous extract of Fumaria showed low toxicity against macrophages than pentavalent antimonials.

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Dams are one of the best ways to store water in the long term. In general, it is important to increase the coefficient of water passage, more energy loss, and of course, to reduce scour downstream of dams and hydraulic structures and overflows. Weirs are part of hydraulic structures that allow more flow to pass over them during floods. Crump spillway also improves and protects the body of dams and spillway by passing excess flow during floods. Increasing the energy loss prevents the flow rate and scour or reduces the scour and prevents cracking and overturning of the crump weir. Many people have done valuable studies on the water transfer coefficient of crump weirs, but a review of previous research shows that few researchers have investigated the energy dissipation of crump weirs. Also, the energy dissipation in free flow and submerged states in Crump weirs has not been investigated. One of the conditions that can lead to an increase in energy loss is the presence of obstacles in the downstream slope of crump spillways. To better understand these cases, in this research, Crump spillways with different heights and slopes upstream and downstream were used. Also, the existence of the block (baffle) and the free and immersed states of the flow were investigated to estimate the energy losses. Experiments were carried out in a flume 10 meters long, 0.6 meters wide and 1.2 meters high. The flow is supplied by a pool tank and a pump. The flow is calmed down by flow relaxers and then reaches the overflow in 6 meters. To evaluate the effect of the slope and height of the spillway, three spillway models with a height of 0.15 meters and one spillway with a height of 0.2 meters and with different slopes upstream and downstream of the spillway were used. The flow rates used are 0.03, 0.035, 0.04, 0.045 and 0.05 cubic meters per second. By setting the appropriate engine speed for the pump, the flow rate entered the laboratory flume through the tank and the water depth was measured with the sensors installed on the top of the flume. The results showed that with the increase in the height of the overflows, the amount of energy loss decreases. The amount of energy loss in free flow mode with baffle is higher than the amount of energy loss in free flow mode without baffle. The amount of energy loss in submerged flow mode is lower than the amount of energy loss in free flow mode. As the downstream angle of the overflow decreases, the energy loss increases. By reducing the upstream angle of the overflow, energy loss is reduced. The amount of energy loss in free flow mode in type A, B, C and D spillways is 33.29, 33.83, 39.77 and 27.32% respectively. A general relationship was presented to calculate the amount of energy loss in crump weirs. In this relationship, there is a coefficient that is a function of free flow without baffle, submerged flow and free flow with baffle.

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Labyrinth weirs are of the non-linear weirs whose discharge coefficient is higher than similar linear weirs. These weirs have a simple structure. They are mainly made in rectangular, trapezoidal, triangular and semicircular shapes. Investigating the amount of energy loss in these high-efficiency weirs has become very important for engineers in recent years. The experiments were carried out in a flume with a length of 10 meters, a width of 0.6 meters and a height of 0.8 meters. The flow is fed by a pump with an error of 0.01% by three surface tanks and after passing through the flow relaxers into the flume. In this research, four sinusoidal labyrinth weirs were used to check the amount of energy loss. The first spillway has a crown length of 1.3 meters, the second spillway has a crown length of 1.5 meters, the third spillway has a crown length of 1.55 meters, and the fourth spillway has a crown length of 1.6 meters. Also, the first and second weirs have a height of 0.15 meters and the width ratio of the inlet to the outlet is 6.86, and the third and fourth weirs have a height of 0.18 meters and the width ratio of the inlet to the outlet is 7.67. The flow depth in the upstream and downstream of the weir was taken by a point gauge with an error of 1 mm. Weirs are installed at a distance of 5.5 meters from the beginning of the channel. The downstream depth of the spillway was not artificially adjusted by the end valve of the laboratory flume. The weirs are made of wood and wood glue was used for their impermeability. The flow is transferred downstream over the sinusoidal edges of the weir like a curved slide or similar to peak weirs. Also, due to the sinusoidal nature of the weirs, the flow will be transferred downstream faster next to the walls. At the edge of the keys, a local vacuum is created. As the flow rate increases, the available air volume increases. At the downstream of the inlet and outlet keys, a vortex and rotation of the flow is formed, which increases in strength as the flow speed increases. The reason for the formation of vortices is the interference of the falling flow from each sinus. Due to the sinusoidal nature of the flow and the indentations and protrusions in the weir, the flow enters the downstream with a curve and the outflow from each sinus is mixed with the outflow from the other sinus. Also, at the beginning of the outlet keys, a small submerged area is formed, which increases in length and moves downstream as the flow rate increases. In front of the inlet keys, two relatively strong hydraulic jumps are formed, and after that the flow is transferred downstream more calmly. The results were that by increasing the flow rate or increasing the depth of the flow upstream of the weir, the energy loss decreased. Also, the amount of energy loss increases with the effective length of weirs. By increasing the ratio of the width of the input keys to the width of the weir output keys, the amount of energy loss increases. Also, by increasing the ratio of flow depth plus height, such as kinetic energy upstream of the weir to the height of the weir, the amount of energy loss decreases. The amount of energy loss is the highest in the fourth weir and the third weir, respectively. On average, with a 20% increase in the height of the weir, the amount of energy loss increases by 23.2%. Also, the average energy loss in type A, B, C, and D weirs is 42.3, 47.2, 57.9, and 58.6, respectively.