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Objective: Despite many advances in cancer treatment and control, significant deficiencies remain and the rate of cancer growth is increasing. Due to the side effects of using chemicals and radiation, the use of herbs can have fewer side effects for the patient. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential anticancer effects of alcoholic extract of Lavender on inhibition and growth of HepG2 cell lines.
Materials and Methods: In this study, the effect of alcoholic extract of lavender (10,100,1000 and 1 μg / ml) on HepG2 liver cancer cell line was studied. MTT assay was used to evaluate the toxicity of lavender extract and cell viability. Cell cycle changes were assessed using a flow cytometer.
Oxygen-free species production and membrane lipid peroxidation were also measured.

Results: Results showed that alcoholic extract of Lavender has anti-cancer effect on HepG2 cell line. After confirming the effect of lavender extract on cell cycle, the results obtained from the evaluation of membrane lipid peroxidation and production of free reactive species were also significant.

Conclusion: According to the results of this study, the alcoholic extract of Lavender was reported as a potential anticancer agent and is one of the therapeutic strategies in liver cancer.

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Aims: Anti-Retroviral Therapy (ART) should considerably ameliorate the recovery of the immune system in HIV infected patients. In some patients a failure to satisfactorily increase CD4 counts on ART despite successful virological control did occur, named discordant immune response (DIR).  The aim of this study is the evaluation of CD28, CXCL12, FOS genes in patients with DIR.
 
Materials & Methods: In current study, after PBMC isolation, RNA was extracted for two groups; Control group (immunologic responders) and case group (non immunologic responders). Real-time relative quantitative PCR was performed in duplicate using One Step PrimeScript™ RT-PCR Kit and data analyzed by using GraphPad prism software version 8.0.2.
 
 
Findings: The expression levels in the case group compared to the control group were measured for CD28, CXCL12, FOS. The Fold change ratio for CD28 and CXCL12 were (0.46), (0.19) respectively and in both of them, a significant decrease was observed. The Fold change ratio for FOS was (0.70) and no statistically significant was observed.
Conclusion: we showed significantly decrease in the expression of CD28 and CXCL12 genes in the case group compared to control group, but we couldn’t say, this low expression of these genes are the reason of the low count of CD4 T cells. The more investigation is necessary for it, if the suppression of these genes can impact on proliferation of CD4 T cells, in-vitro.

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Nowadays, advances in numerical methods have led to model real-life physical problems effectively. One of the difficulties in modelling the real-life physical problems is the geometric creation, because the mesh definition for a complex geometry is hard. In order to overcome this issue, one can use the spectral cell method due to employing a Cartesian mesh even for a complex geometry, such that constant Jacobian is considered for cells in the mesh. Spectral cell method is a combination of the spectral element method and the fictious domain concept, which uses an adaptive integration employing the quadtree or octree partitioning for the cells intersecting arbitrary boundaries as well as the cells including nonuniform material distribution. The interpolation functions of Lobatto family of spectral elements are utilized in spectral cell method. The spectral cell method is an efficient numerical method to solve the governing equations of continuum structures with complicated geometries. On the other hand, uncertainty naturally exists in the parameters of an engineering system (e.g., elastic modulus) and the input of that system (e.g., loading). Thus, the effects of those uncertainties are important in the response calculation of the engineering system. There are two types of uncertainty: aleatoric and epistemic. Aleatoric uncertainty is defined as an intrinsic variability of certain quantities, while epistemic uncertainty is defined as a lack of knowledge about certain quantities. An alternative to a deterministic modelling is a stochastic modelling, but analysing such a stochastic model is harder than a deterministic model having deterministic material properties and configuration. This is because the behaviour of the stochastic model is inevitably stochastic. Traditionally, Monte-Carlo simulation analyses a stochastic model by generating numerous realizations of the stochastic problem, and then solves each one like a deterministic problem. Nevertheless, Monte-Carlo simulation needs very high computational cost, particularly for large-scale problems. A systematic technique for uncertainty quantification is the stochastic finite element method providing a variety of statistical information. However, the method is computationally expensive with respect to the finite element method, and thus there are many developments for stochastic methods. Consequently, this paper presents stochastic form of spectral cell method to solve elastostatic problems considering material uncertainties. Therefore, uncertainty quantification of an elastostatic problem with geometrically complex domain can be modelled more efficiently than the traditional stochastic finite element method. In the proposed method, Fredholm integral equation is discretised using spectral cell method to solve Karhunen-Loève expansion used for the random field decomposition. Also, this method uses fewer cells than the stochastic finite cell method, and does not require formation of the eigenfunctions. In addition, Karhunen-Loève and polynomial chaos expansions are used to decompose the random field and to consider the response variability, respectively. Simple mesh generation, desirable accuracy and computational cost are the main features of the present method. In this study, two benchmark numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the efficiency and capabilities of the proposed method in the solution of elastostatic problems. The results are compared to those of stochastic finite element method and stochastic spectral element method.
 

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In addition to the need for lightweight properties, the metallic bipolar plates in the PEM fuel cells should work in a humid and acidic environment. Due to its low density and excellent corrosion resistance, titanium is a proper candidate for manufacturing bipolar plates. In this paper, the manufacturing of bipolar plates made of commercially pure titanium with an initial thickness of 0.1 mm was investigated using the stamping process. A four-channel die with a parallel flow field was used in the experiments. To estimate the formability of microchannels of the bipolar plates, the response surface method, genetic algorithm, and adaptive neural fuzzy inference system were employed. Die clearance, stamping speed, and friction coefficient between the sheet and die were considered input variables, whereas the die filling rate was as output. The designed experiments using the response surface method were used to train the meta-heuristic techniques. The results showed that the regression model obtained from the response surface method predicts the die filling rate with acceptable accuracy. Furthermore, the coefficients of the equation obtained from the regression have been improved using the genetic algorithm and the error rate has been reduced by about 53%. Finally, an adaptive neural fuzzy inference system was used to predict the die filling. The results showed that the proposed system is very feasible and approximates the maximum filling rate with high accuracy.

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Objective: Improving glycemic profile in diabetics is rooted in several metabolic, hormonal and genetic factors. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of aerobic training on blood glucose levels in diabetic rats with emphasis on insulin resistance and beta cell function.
Methods: For this purpose, 14 male Wistar rats were divided into aerobic training (10 weeks, 5 session/weekly in the form of running on a treadmill, n = 7) and control (n = 7) groups after induction of type 2 diabetes by intraperitoneal injection of nicotinamide and Streptozotocin (STZ). Fasting glucose, serum insulin, insulin resistance and beta cell function of both groups were measured after lasted exercise session and compared between 2 groups by independent T test at a significant alpha level of less than 5%.
Results: Despite no change in insulin resistance (P = 0.458), aerobic training resulted in significant decrease in fasting glucose (P <0.001) with increased serum insulin (P <0.001) and beta cell function (0.011) compared with control subjects.
Conclusion: Despite no change in insulin function in the target tissue, the improvement in glycemic profile of type 2 diabetic rats in response to aerobic training may be attributed to increased synthesis or secretion of insulin, or in other words, increased beta cell function. Understanding the mechanisms responsible for altering insulin function at cellular levels in response to exercise requires further studies in this area.

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In this article, the determination of the mechanical properties of a micro-cellular auxetic structure is investigated. This lattice structure consists of hexagonal cells, whose cell-wall dimensions are on a micro-scale. First, using modified strain gradient theory (MSGT) and energy method, the mechanical properties of the micro-cellular auxetic structure are analytically obtained. Then for validation, Young's modulus of a micro-cellular auxetic structure is derived by tensile test and compared with theoretical results. The comparison of analytical and experimental results shows good agreement. A nanosecond laser cutting machine is used to fabricate the microcellular auxetic structure, and the ISO 6892-1 standard is used to perform tensile tests. The results show that the modified strain gradient theory plays an important role in determining the mechanical properties of micro-cellular auxetic structures. In some cases, the results of this theory are more than 100% different from the classical theory. In addition, it can be seen that by changing the dimensional parameters of the micro-cells, the mechanical properties of the auxetic structure can be tunable. For example, by reducing the magnitude of the angle of the cell wall, Young's modulus in the X 1  direction increases, and Young's modulus in the X 2  direction and the shear modulus of the structure decrease

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Hydrogen is considered as a new source of energy. One of the most used methods of hydrogen gas production is water electrolysis. Electrolysis of water by an electrolyzer and by passing an electric current through water molecules, using an intercellular membrane causes the breakdown of water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen. If the intercellular membrane is removed, hydrogen gas and oxygen are mixed and hydroxy gas is produced. This gas, which includes hydrogen and oxygen molecules, has been considered as an auxiliary fuel. For this purpose, in this research, the design and construction of a multi-cell electrolyzer producing hydroxy gas without a membrane using 316 steel sheet has been discussed. To increase the conductivity of water, potassium hydroxide electrolyte was used, and solar panels with different powers were used to supply the required energy consumption of the electrolyzer. Then, by conducting various experiments, the application of this technology using solar energy has been investigated. The results of the tests show that each electrolyzer plate has a voltage of 2 to 3 volts and there must be a proper proportion between the number of electrolyzer plates and the voltage of the panels. The production per solar panel surface for the three studied conditions was obtained as 1919, 4542.5 and 6919 liters per square meter, respectively, which indicates that there are optimal values corresponding to the panel surface and the area of the electrolyzer plates, which leads to an optimal current passing. It becomes more appropriate from the device and its performance.

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Introduction:
Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) because of its ability to be reprogrammed into embryonic-like stem cells (ELSCs) can be a new source of pluripotent stem cells which can play a promising role in regenerative medicine. In this study, SSCs were transdifferentiated into neuron-like cells (NLCs) using two-step differentiation protocol. pluripotency and germ cells markers were analyzed in SSCs and ELSCs. Also neural markers were analyzed in ELSCs and NLCs.
Methods:
Neonatal rat testes were mechanically dissected and digested then was cultured in DMEM supplemented with 15% FBS. The medium was replaced with DMEM containing LIF, mercaptoethanol, EGF, bFGF, and GDNF. After 5 weeks, ELSCs colonies appeared. SSCs and ELSCs were evaluated by Stra8, plzf (germ cells markers) Oct4, and sox2 (pluripotency markers) using qRT-PCR. The ELSCs colonies were isolated and cultured in DMEM containing 0.5 mM lithium chloride. In day 5, ELSCs transdifferentiated to NLC. They were evaluated using neural marker including Neurofilament 200 (NF-200), choline acetyltransferase (CAT), synaptophysin (Syp), Nestin (Nes), Neurogenin1 (NG1), Neurod1 (Nd1), and Neurofilament 68 (NF-68)gene expression.
Results:
Result showed increasing expression of Oct4 and sox2 genes and low level of Stra8 and plzf expression in ELSCs than SSCs. After neural transdifferentiation by lithium chloride induction, neural markers were examined by RT-PCR in ELSCs and NLCs. The result showed expression of NF-200, CAT, Syp, Nes, NG1, Nd1 and NF-68 in NLCs opposed to ELSCs.
Conclusion:
This study indicates lithium chloride can promote ELSCs to transdifferentiate into NLCs.

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This study introduces a novel lattice structure, whose unit cell design draws inspiration from the fusion of honeycomb patterns and the DNA found at the core of cells, constructed from PLA material. This structure underwent tensile testing along the X and Y axes. Additionally, the paper presents a new analytical-numerical approach that combines Timoshenko beam theory, mechanics of materials principles, and finite element analysis to determine the mechanical properties and forecast failure in cellular structures. This method was corroborated using the ABAQUS commercial software. Research indicated that a closer ratio of thickness to unit cell length, specifically 1/10, leads to more precise predictions for the mechanical behavior of the cellular structure under tension along the X axis. The findings showed that, in comparison to the Y axis, the X direction exhibited a 7% increase in load-bearing capacity and an 8% increase in maximum yield stress, yet the equivalent stiffness was 75% lower

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Broccoli (Brassica oleracea L. var. italica) as an important vegetable has a high postharvest respiration rate, so, it loses its quality rapidly. The use of edible films and coatings as protective layers to create a covering on the surface of fruits and vegetables plays a key role in maintaining the quality of this product. The present research investigated the qualitative and biochemical traits of broccoli coated with tragacanth gum (0, 0.1, 0.2, and 0.4%) and cellophane and uncoated ones (as control) weekly during three-weeks cold storage. Based on the results, coating influenced all measured traits (except flavonoid content, vitamin C and antioxidant activity) and storage time influenced all recorded traits significantly (P< 0.01). The results revealed that over the storage period, the physicochemical and biochemical parameters and visual quality of the broccoli decreased. Tragacanth gum 0.2% led to less weight loss, however, appropriate soluble solids content, and higher titratable acidity and organoleptic properties were recorded for 0.4% coated florets. Cellophane was effective in retaining some physicochemical characteristics, weight, and marketability, but it reduced phenolics. Tragacanth gum coating can be used as a biomaterial, as a substitute for synthetic cellophane film to preserve broccoli.

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Fruit cracking is a predominant physiological disorder of lemon that limits its productivity. The present study aimed to compare the physiological and biochemical traits of cracked and normal fruits of lemon, to understand the cause of fruit cracking and find a viable solution for this disorder. This study was conducted on five-year-old uniform healthy trees grown at fruit research farm, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana, during 2017-2018. Fruits of lemon cracked in different patterns and the cracking peaked due to sudden rainfall and high humidity after a dry spell during the two consecutive years of study. The peel thickness, peel percent and chlorophyll content of the cracked peel was significantly low as compared to the normal ones. Activity of peroxidase and two cell wall degrading enzymes, namely, cellulase and polygalacturonase were higher in cracked peels. Juice content and ascorbic content were low in cracked fruit juice as compared to normal ones. Meanwhile, calcium, potassium and boron content were higher in the normal peel and lower in the cracked peel. A significant positive correlation of fruit cracking incidence with proline, peroxidase, cellulase and polygalacturonase was established, whereas a negative significant correlation was established between fruit cracking percent and peel thickness, calcium, potassium, boron, juice percent and ascorbic acid content. Nutrient deficiency and higher activities of cellulase and polygalacturonase in peel of cracked fruits emerged as the cause of fruit cracking incidence in lemon. Hence, foliar application of calcium, potassium, and boron are recommendable as a remedial measure for prevention of fruit cracking in lemon.

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Recently, in many fuel cell applications, foam is being used as a flow distributor to increase efficiency and achieve a more uniform distribution of reactants on the active surface. However, despite the improvement in the efficiency and performance of the fuel cell, this method does not fully achieve the desired uniformity in reactant distribution. Therefore, in this study, non-uniform porosity metal foam has been utilized to improve the homogeneous flow distribution on the cathode side of the PEM fuel cell. At first, the foam is assumed to be uniform with the same porosity. After the numerical solution of the flow in homogeneous foam (first type), Two types of foam with variable porosity coefficient have been designed. These foams are divided into checkerboard shape, where the porosity coefficients in the concave corners (dead areas) with low molar fraction of oxygen are higher. This facilitates easier movement of the flow towards these corners, resulting in a more uniform flow distribution. the simulation results indicate that, for a constant current density, the distribution of the mole fraction of oxygen in both types of foam with a variable porosity coefficient has become more uniform. Additionally, the average molar fraction of oxygen has increased by 9.45% in the second type of foam and by 32.02% in the third type of foam compared to the uniform foam, which indicates an increase in generated power. Also, compared to the uniform foam, the pressure gradient in the foam with variable porosity of the second type increased by 75.80%, while it remained relatively unchanged for the third type foam.

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Since dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) have good efficiency in the visible region, they offer a promising way to generate sustainable energy, especially in indoor environments and building applications. Investigating the effect of dye specifications and photoanode thickness changes on cell performance is very important for improving DSSCs. This research focuses on the sensitivity analysis of the impact of important parameters to increase DSSC efficiency using a new numerical model considering factors such as radiation intensity and spectral composition, from conventional indoor light sources such as LED and fluorescent lights. These parameters include dye types, trapping parameters, diffusion coefficients, and photoanode thickness. This model examines steady and transient currents under internal radiation conditions, incorporates time/space-dependent relationships to increase accuracy, and examines electron, iodide, and triiodide interactions under different environmental conditions. The results showed that N749 and 20µm thickness of photoanode have the best effect on cell performance. This study presents a sensitivity analysis to find optimal parameters to improve DSSC performance in real indoor conditions opening avenues for further research in optimizing DSSC technology for indoor energy harvesting applications, thereby advancing the field of renewable energy and sustainable technology integration.

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Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cells (PEMFCs) are recognized as one of the promising technologies for clean energy production due to their high efficiency, low operating temperature, and environmental compatibility. In these cells, the Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA), as the core component, plays a crucial role in the system's performance. One of the main challenges in designing and operating this assembly is preventing the leakage of fuel and oxidant gases, which directly impacts the fuel cell's overall efficiency. This paper reviews various sealing methods for the MEA, categorizing them into four main types: direct membrane sealing (PEM), membrane sealing with a plastic frame, MEA sealing with a frame, and rigid protective frame sealing. Each method has its unique features and can effectively improve performance and extend the operational lifespan of fuel cells, depending on the design and operational requirements. The results indicate that integrated sealing structures produced through injection molding processes are suitable for mass production due to their cost-effectiveness and ease of assembly. Additionally, rigid protective frame structures, owing to their high resistance to pressure and ability to prevent membrane damage, are better suited for applications requiring higher stability. Finally, the paper provides recommendations to enhance sealing methods and improve the efficiency of membrane fuel cells

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The present study was conducted to design a model of lean human resource excellence with a mixed approach and using the qualitative method of data theory and the quantitative method of Shannon entropy. The statistical population of the qualitative part of the study was all senior and middle managers of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare, 19of whom were purposefully selected for interviews and interviews were conducted until the theoretical saturation of the data. To analyze the qualitative data, open, axial and selective coding was used, as a result of which 402 basic concepts in the form of 92 sub-categories and 17main categories and six dimensions of causal conditions (environmental and organizational), contextual conditions ( Organization strategy, culture, management insight, job content documentation, management stability and human resource system dynamics), interventionist conditions (personal characteristics of managers, quality of organizational inputs, efficiency of government management system), strategies (lean leadership, strengthening culture Lean and lean human resource management) and results (micro level, intermediate level and macro level) were included. Then, in order to turn the model designed into a basis for self-assessment of the lean degree of human resources, using the Shannon entrobial method, the weight and score of each dimension were identified, resulting in its application in the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor and Social Welfare. Ascore of 376 out of 1000 was assigned to the organization under study, which due to its position in the second level of excellence, ie an organization with public awareness oflean human resources

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Gluten is a structural protein for bakery products and its lack causes undesirable changes in the texture, color, and porosity of these products. Therefore, the use of gluten alternatives such as hydrocolloids, enzymes, and proteins, are essential in providing these products. The aim of this research was to evaluate the properties of gluten-free bread (physicochemical properties such as specific volume and porosity, stiffness, extensibility, and color parameter, as well as sensory properties) in the presence of 0, 0.5, 1, and 1.5% concentrations of gums including Cress seed gum (C) and Basil gum (B) compared to Hydroxypropyl Methylcellulose (HPMC) (H). The results indicated that adding gums to bread decreased stiffness and color parameters and increased specific volume, extensibility, and sensory properties. Based on the comparison between C, B and HPMC, basil gum could improve volume, porosity, and sensory score more than C and H. Also, the HPMC was more effective on the color parameter of gluten-free bread. Based on the results, addition of basil gum to the gluten-free bread recipe could improve the crumb texture, specific volume, sensory properties, as well as overall quality of the product. Basil gum as a novel gum increased water absorption, texture, and the best results were obtained in 1% basil gum. The results of bread quality parameters indicated C₀B₁H₀ had high specific volume and porosity. Therefore, basil seed gum can be a novel and useful gluten substitute for gluten-free bread baking purposes.

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Yield monitoring is one of the parts of the precision agriculture that is best documented in practice and allows varying inputs according to the expected field outputs depending on spatially variable yield goals. The present study introduced a batch type Weighing System (WS) for the garlic bulbs yield monitoring. This WS includes a four-sector cylindrical container, rotary blades, a digital transmitter and array of two load cells for mass measurements. Electronic boards were used to control the WS and transfer the mass and georeferenced data. A LabVIEW interface was also developed to do the real-time signal processing. This WS was tested under laboratory and field conditions. Three factors including blades Rotation Speed (RS), Stop Time (ST) of blades, and Fraction of Stop Time (FST) were defined to find optimum load cell output. The lab tests were done to find the optimum value for these factors and the optimized WS was tested in the field condition. On the basis of WS outputs and actual weight of bulbs, the relative mean standard errors were determined as 1.94% in the lab and 4.26%, in the field. To demonstrate the spatial variability of crop-yield in the field, a yield map was plotted in ArcGIS using the data that were acquired by the WS and a GPS. The data recorded by the use of garlic yield monitoring system can be used in experimental studies to provide the basis for developing efficient nutrient management protocols and improve the management of garlic fields.

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Introduction: Decellularizing testis tissue and recellularizing with spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) seems to be a promising approach to restore fertility in prepubertal boys who undergoes cytotoxic therapies.
Method: Testis tissue decellularization was performed by adding 1% SDS and confirmed by histological analysis and DNA quantification. The MTT assay was performed for biocompatibility analyses. SSCs were derived from male mice and cultured in αMEM medium for two weeks. Expanded SSCs were seeded onto the DTM scaffold. The recellularized DTM scaffold disc was cultured in a static cultivation system for one week, then transferred in a dynamic mini-perfusion bioreactor for two weeks. The expression of Id4, Plzf, Gfrα, Prm, Sycp3, ABP, Ki67, Bax, and Bcl2 genes were assessed in SSCs and recellularized DTM after static and dynamic cultivations.
Result: DNA qualification indicated that approximately 99% of the DNA components were removed from DTMs. Hematoxylin-eosin, Masson's trichrome, and DAPI staining confirmed the effective recellularization. Dynamic cultivation of recellularized DTMs at the flow rate of 10 ml/h provided optimum conditions. The expression of SSCs-specific genes of Id4, Plzf, and Gfrα-1 and post-meiosis genes of Scp3, prm1, and ABP was insignificantly higher in the DTMs group than in the control group. Ki67 expression was shown no difference between groups. An insignificant lower expression of the Bax and higher expression of Bcl2 genes was detected in the DTMs group compared to the control.
Conclusion: Our results indicated that SSCs could successfully be attached to the DTMs and effectively proliferate in the mini-perfusion bioreactor.