Sharif Digital Repository

Bioactive films based on sodium carboxymethyl tragacanth gum (CMT) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) enriched with clove extract (CE) for potential wound healing applications were fabricated by the solution casting method. The fabricated films were characterized by FTIR, XRD, EDX, SEM, and TGA analyses. The XRD pattern of CMT/PVA/CE5 % showed an amorphous structure with broad peaks, suggesting that the presence of CE led to a reduction in crystallinity and an increase in amorphousness in the polymer film. The fabricated films showed a high water absorption capacity and swelled up to 80 % over 24 h for the CMT/PVA/CE5 % formulation crosslinked with 15 % citric acid. Excellent biodegradability with... 

Efficient strategies to promote microvascularization in vascular tissue engineering, a central priority in regenerative medicine, are still scarce; nano- and micro-sized aggregates and spheres or beads harboring primitive microvascular beds are promising methods in vascular tissue engineering. Capillaries are the smallest type and in numerous blood vessels, which are distributed densely in cardiovascular system. To mimic this microvascular network, specific cell components and proangiogenic factors are required. Herein, advanced biofabrication methods in microvascular engineering, including extrusion-based and droplet-based bioprinting, Kenzan, and biogripper approaches, are deliberated with... 

Natural and biodegradable polymers are of particular interest as green sources with low-cost and environmentally friendly features, and have been widely used for polymer composite development. The term “Green Composites” refers to polymer/filler systems in which polymer, filler, or sometimes both components are green in view of sources from which they are yielded or their biodegradability. Natural fibers obtained from plants, animals, and/or geological processes are a big class of green sources widely applied in green composite development. There has also been continued research on recycling of green composite as well as developing hybrid systems for advanced applications. In view of their... 

Natural and biodegradable polymers are of particular interest as green sources with low-cost and environmentally friendly features, and have been widely used for polymer composite development. The term “Green Composites” refers to polymer/filler systems in which polymer, filler, or sometimes both components are green in view of sources from which they are yielded or their biodegradability. Natural fibers obtained from plants, animals, and/or geological processes are a big class of green sources widely applied in green composite development. There has also been continued research on recycling of green composite as well as developing hybrid systems for advanced applications. In view of their... 

The lead is a heavy metal with hazardous impacts on environment and human life. Lead-free perovskite solar cells have attracted much attention in recent years, due to eco-friendly characteristics. Meanwhile, Pb-containing cells showed the highest efficiencies among the various types of cells. Hence, designing novel Pb-free solar cells with comparable or better performance than the Pb-containing ones is highly required. In this work, a lead-free methyl-ammonium-germanium-iodide (MAGeI3)-based perovskite solar cell with ITO/TiO2/MAGeI3/Spiro-OMeTAD/Ag multilayer nanostructure has been proposed and its main characteristics including open-circuit voltage (VOC) and power conversion efficiency (η)... 

Environmental pollution, particularly water pollution caused by organic substances like synthetic dyes, is a pressing global concern. This study focuses on enhancing the adsorption capacity of layered double hydroxides (LDHs) to remove methylene blue (MB) dye from water. The synthesized materials are characterized using techniques like FT-IR, XRD, SEM, TEM, TGA, EDS, BET, BJH, AFM, and UV–Vis DRS. Adsorption experiments show that Zn–Al LDH@ext exhibits a significant adsorption capacity for MB dye compared to pristine LDH. In addition, Zn–Al LDH@ext shows a significant increase in stability, which is attributed to the presence of phenolic compounds in the extract and the interactions between... 

In this work, for the first time, different forms of nanocomposites based on rGO and MWCNT were prepared in conjoining with the bioactive glass (BioGlass). In the carbonic layers, a highly toxic nanoparticle, CoNi2S4, was intercalated, and the role of this nanoparticle in the alkaline phosphatase activity, relative cell viability on different cell lines, and also the effect on the cell walls and cell morphologies were investigated. From another perspective, the ability of the chemotherapy drug loading to the prepared nanocomposites was investigated, and the use of leaf extracts was thought of as a green method to lower the cytotoxicity and regulate the genotoxicity of the generated... 

A novel form of nanocomposite based on bioactive glass (BG) and CuAl LDH has been devised and manufactured for the first time in this paper. The produced nanocomposites, BG@CuAl LDH and BG@CuAl LDH@RO, were employed to examine the ability of the alkaline phosphatase activity to regulate the expression of COL 1, OCN and RUNX2 (ALP) gene expressions. The role of leaf extracts (Rosmarinus officinalis [RO]) on enhanced osteogenic gene expression has been investigated. Also, the relative cell viability has been analyzed by MTT assay on the hBMSCs, HEK-293 and PC12 cell lines after 24 and 48 hours of treatment. The results showed significantly increased gene expressions in different... 

Silk fibroin (SF) has been broadly applied in wound dressing fabrication because of its proper features for wound healing. In this work, we developed a carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC)/gelatin blend film with different concentrations of glycerol, and modified the optimized film with an SF layer through electrospinning process. Tensile strength and cell viability evaluation of blend films demonstrated that the glycerol content of 3% could be suitable as the substrate layer for the two-layer wound dressing. The morphology of the blend film and electrospun nanofibers was obtained from scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). It concluded that... 

Historical bridges comprise part of any society’s history, culture, and identity and reveal the manufacturing technology of hydraulic structures at their time. Nevertheless, these structures deteriorate because of their materials, the passage of time, and natural factors. Because of drought in the past two decades, historic bridges in Isfahan have faced consecutive wet-dry cycles, resulting in further defects in bridges. Moreover, stone materials in the bases and brick materials in the bodies of bridges have made detecting defects more complex, requiring experts for each material. Additionally, insufficient attention to these defects or human errors in their proper detection can affect their... 

Advancements in nanotechnology have resulted in the introduction of several nonviral delivery vectors for the nontoxic, efficient delivery of encapsulated mRNA-based vaccines. Lipid- and polymer-based nanoparticles (NP) have proven to be the most potent delivery systems, providing increased delivery efficiency and protection of mRNA molecules from degradation. Here, the authors provide an overview of the recent studies carried out using lipid NPs and their functionalized forms, polymeric and lipid-polymer hybrid nanocarriers utilized mainly for the encapsulation of mRNAs for gene and immune therapeutic applications. A microfluidic system as a prevalent methodology for the preparation of NPs... 

Advancements in material science and engineering, especially in the field of porous nanomaterials lead to new types of therapeutics and technologies. Among different types of porous nanomaterials, metal–organic frameworks (MOFs) have been considered the most promising inorganic nanomaterials due to their significant stability and ease of functionalization. To date, very limited research has been done on developing nanocomposites based on MOFs and MXenes. The current experiment has been performed to design a novel UiO-66 MOF and MXene nanocomposite, modified with Rosmarinus officinalis (RO) leaf extracts for co-delivery of doxorubicin (DOX)/clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic... 

Humanity's challenges are becoming increasingly difficult, and as these challenges become more advanced, the need for effective and intelligent action becomes more apparent. Meanwhile, the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, which has plagued the world, could be considered as an opportunity to take a step toward the need for atomic engineering, compared to molecular engineering, as well as to accelerate this type of research. This approach, which can be expressed in terms of picotechnology, makes it possible to identify living cell types or in general, chemical and biological surfaces using their atomic arrays, and applied for early diagnosis even treatment of the disease. © 2020... 

Two non-ionic and hydrophilic surfactant additives, Tetronic-1107 and Triton X-100, were added to poly(vinyl chloride)/NMP polymeric solution to prepare ultrafiltration membranes via immersion precipitation. Surfactants at three different weight percentages up to 6 wt% were added, and the fabricated membranes were characterized and their performance for water treatment in the presence of bovine serum albumin (BSA) as a foulant was assessed. The scanning electron microscopy images indicated remarkable changes in morphology due to higher thermodynamic instability after surfactant addition. The membranes are more porous with more macro-voids in the sub-layer. Plus, the membranes become more... 

With the passage of time and more advanced societies, there is a greater emergence and incidence of disease and necessity for improved treatments. In this respect, nowadays, aptamers, with their better efficiency at diagnosing and treating diseases than antibodies, are at the center of attention. Here, in this review, we first investigate aptamer function in various fields (such as the detection and remedy of pathogens, modification of nanoparticles, antibiotic delivery and gene delivery). Then, we present aptamer-conjugated nanocomplexes as the main and efficient factor in gene delivery. Finally, we focus on the targeted co-delivery of genes and drugs by nanocomplexes, as a new exciting... 

Micro/nanomotors tremendously progressed as a serious candidate in medical and environmental applications. They convert chemical energy to move, and they could act and perform differently to do missions that are favorable for diverse applications. The development of new materials is a key point for the design of micro/nanomotors, and graphene stands out as one of the most promising candidates for this purpose. Graphene has made a huge impact on diverse fields due to its unique properties, such as high mobility, effective fluorescence quenching capability, large surface area, great coupling with advanced materials, high electrical conductivity, and excellent mechanical strength. This review... 

This review covers the development of bioresorbable polymeric composites for applications in tissue engineering. Various commercially available bioresobable polymers are described, with emphasis on recent bioresorbable composites based on natural and synthetic polymers. Bioresorbable polymers contain hydrolyzable bonds, which are subjected to chemical degradation via either reactive hydrolysis or enzyme-catalyzed active hydrolysis. For synthetic polymers, chemical hydrolysis is the most important mode of degradation. The degradation rate can be controlled by varying the molecular weight and crystallinity. Examples of bioresorbable polymers are: polyurethane, poly(D,L)lactide,... 

This review covers the development of bioresorbable polymeric composites for applications in tissue engineering. Various commercially available bioresobable polymers are described, with emphasis on recent bioresorbable composites based on natural and synthetic polymers. Bioresorbable polymers contain hydrolyzable bonds, which are subjected to chemical degradation via either reactive hydrolysis or enzyme-catalyzed active hydrolysis. For synthetic polymers, chemical hydrolysis is the most important mode of degradation. The degradation rate can be controlled by varying the molecular weight and crystallinity. Examples of bioresorbable polymers are: polyurethane, poly(D,L)lactide,... 

Substantial terms have been recognized on the associated risk elements, comorbidities as well as, putative pathophysiological processes of Alzheimer disease and related dementias (ADRDs) as well as, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), a few from greatest important disease from the moments. Very much is considered regarding the biology and chemistry of each predicament, nevertheless T2DM and ADRDs are an actually similar pattern developing from the similar origins of maturing or synergistic conditions connected by aggressive patho-corporeal terms and continues to be ambiguous. In this depth-critique article, we aimed to investigate all possibilities and represented a novel and applicable... 

Substantial terms have been recognized on the associated risk elements, comorbidities as well as, putative pathophysiological processes of Alzheimer disease and related dementias (ADRDs) as well as, type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM), a few from greatest important disease from the moments. Very much is considered regarding the biology and chemistry of each predicament, nevertheless T2DM and ADRDs are an actually similar pattern developing from the similar origins of maturing or synergistic conditions connected by aggressive patho-corporeal terms and continues to be ambiguous. In this depth-critique article, we aimed to investigate all possibilities and represented a novel and applicable...