10 research outputs found
Fully-Implantable Self-Contained Dual-Channel Electrical Recording and Directivity-Enhanced Optical Stimulation System on a Chip
This thesis presents an integrated system-on-a-chip (SoC), designed, fabricated, and characterized for conducting simultaneous dual-channel optogenetic stimulation and electrophysiological recording. An inductive coil as well as power management circuits are also integrated on the chip, enabling wireless power reception, hence, allowing full implantation.
The optical stimulation channels host a novel LED driver circuit that can generate currents up to 10mA with a minimum required headroom voltage reported in the literature, resulting in a superior power efficiency compared to the state of the art. The output current in each channel can be programmed to have an arbitrary waveform with digitally-controlled magnitude and timing. The final design is fabricated as a 34 mm2 microchip using a CMOS 130nm technology and characterized both in terms of electrical and optical performance.
A pair of custom-designed inkjet-printed micro-lenses are also fabricated and placed on top of the LEDs. The lenses are optimized to enhance the light directivity of optical stimulation, resulting in significant improvements in terms of spatial resolution, power consumption (30.5x reduction), and safety aspects (temperature increase of <0.1c) of the device
Increasing Photostability of Inverted Nonfullerene Organic Solar Cells by using Fullerene Derivative Additives
Organic solar cells (OSCs) recently achieved efficiencies of over 18% and are well on their way to practical applications, but still considerable stability issues need to be overcome. One major problem emerges from the electron transport material zinc oxide (ZnO), which is mainly used in the inverted device architecture and decomposes many high-performance nonfullerene acceptors due to its photocatalytic activity. In this work, we add three different fullerene derivatives—PC71BM, ICMA, and BisPCBM—to an inverted binary PBDB-TF:IT-4F system in order to suppress the photocatalytic degradation of IT-4F on ZnO via the radical scavenging abilities of the fullerenes. We demonstrate that the addition of 5% fullerene not only increases the performance of the binary PBDB-TF:IT-4F system but also significantly improves the device lifetime under UV illumination in an inert atmosphere. While the binary devices lose 20% of their initial efficiency after only 3 h, this time is increased fivefold for the most promising ternary devices with ICMA. We attribute this improvement to a reduced photocatalytic decomposition of IT-4F in the ternary system, which results in a decreased recombination. We propose that the added fullerenes protect the IT-4F by acting as a sacrificial reagent, thereby suppressing the trap state formation. Furthermore, we show that the protective effect of the most promising fullerene ICMA is transferable to two other binary systems PBDB-TF:BTP-4F and PTB7-Th:IT-4F. Importantly, this effect can also increase the air stability of PBDB-TF:IT-4F. This work demonstrates that the addition of fullerene derivatives is a transferable and straightforward strategy to improve the stability of OSCs
Fully-Implantable Self-Contained Dual-Channel Electrical Recording and Directivity-Enhanced Optical Stimulation System on a Chip
This thesis presents an integrated system-on-a-chip (SoC), designed, fabricated, and characterized for conducting simultaneous dual-channel optogenetic stimulation and electrophysiological recording. An inductive coil as well as power management circuits are also integrated on the chip, enabling wireless power reception, hence, allowing full implantation.
The optical stimulation channels host a novel LED driver circuit that can generate currents up to 10mA with a minimum required headroom voltage reported in the literature, resulting in a superior power efficiency compared to the state of the art. The output current in each channel can be programmed to have an arbitrary waveform with digitally-controlled magnitude and timing. The final design is fabricated as a 34 mm2 microchip using a CMOS 130nm technology and characterized both in terms of electrical and optical performance.
A pair of custom-designed inkjet-printed micro-lenses are also fabricated and placed on top of the LEDs. The lenses are optimized to enhance the light directivity of optical stimulation, resulting in significant improvements in terms of spatial resolution, power consumption (30.5x reduction), and safety aspects (temperature increase of <0.1c) of the device
Analysis of Women\'s Empathetic Agreement-Making Skill by their Husbands: a Sample of Grounded Theory
Background and Aim: Today, maintaining a family not only requires knowledge but also requires its own skills. One of the skills can be empathetic agreement that it can be reached by men. The goal of present study was to analysis of empathetic agreement-making skills among married women by their husbands. Methods: This study was conducted using the social structuralism perspective method developed by Charms (2014). The study population included all married men who had succeeded in having happy and stable families and the sample consisted of 10 of these men who were purposefully selected from a homogeneous type based on entry and exit criteria. The research tool was a semi-structured interview. The duration of each interview was between 60 and 120 minutes. The data collected by Charms (2014) method were analyzed in three stages of initial coding, axial coding and final classification. Findings: The findings revealed three dimensions to the grounded theory: (1) what empathetic agreement- making is, (2) why empathetic agreement-making, and (3) how empathetic agreement-making. Conclusion: This grounded theory can be effective in facilitating family education for the success of men in married life, studies related to empathetic agreement-making and facilitating empathetic agreement-making in the field of family counseling and treatment, and divorce prevention
The Impact of Fasting on Metabolic and Anthropometric Parameters in Type II Diabetic Patients: A Prospective Observational Study
Introduction: Fasting has certain effects on metabolic and
anthropometric parameters in diabetic patients. It is therefore,
necessary for patients to receive proper instructions about their
physical activities, eating habits, blood glucose monitoring and
medications.
Aim: To investigate the effects of fasting on metabolic and
anthropometric indices in type II diabetic patients.
Materials and Methods: This prospective observational study
was performed during Ramadan 2018. The study population
consisted of 40 type II diabetic patients (33 females and 7 males)
who wished to fast. They started to follow given instructions on
their physical activity, eating habits, blood glucose monitoring,
and medications before Ramadan. Anthropometric variables
were measured pre and post-Ramadan. Fasting Blood/Plasma
Glucose (FBG/FPG), Glucose 2 Hour Postprandial (2h PPG),
glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c), and the lipids profile were
assessed before and after Ramadan. FPG and 2h PPG were
also evaluated on the fifteenth day of Ramadan. Data were
presented as mean±SD. Paired t-test was employed and a
p-value of <0.05 was considered statistically significant.
Results: After completion of the study, anthropometric variables
of patients, including weight (74.9±12.7 vs. 73.0±13.1 kg,
p<0.001), BMI (29.9±5.2 vs. 29.0±5.1 kg/m2
, p=0.042), waist
circumference (106.2±11.8 vs. 105.3±11.6 cm, p<0.001),
conicity index (9.94±0.96 vs 9.80±0.99, p=0.085), systolic blood
pressure (118.5±10.6 vs. 113.8±9.4 mmHg, p=0.018), Diastolic
blood pressure (72.0±7.9 vs. 68.3±7.0 mmHg, p=0.02) and
FPG (125.1±27.4 vs. 105.2±21.4 mg/dL, p<0.001) decreased
significantly. However, serum triglyceride increased significantly
(127.5±45.5 vs. 166.5±53.5 mg/dL, p<0.001) after fasting
compared to pre-Ramadan measurements. Changes in other
variables were not statistically significant.
Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that fasting
had beneficial effect on fasting blood glucose level and
anthropometric parameters in type II diabetic patients
Additional file 1 of Status of Iranian schools’ psycho-social environment: cultural adaptation and validation of the Persian version of the W.H.O profile to create Child-Friendly Schools
Additional file 1. W.H.O Psycho-Social Environment (PSE) Profile
Supplemental material - Telemedicine technologies and applications in the era of COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review
Supplemental material for Telemedicine technologies and applications in the era of COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review by Esmaeil Mehraeen, Seyed Ahmad Seyed Alinaghi, Mohammad Heydari, Amirali Karimi, Abdollah Mahdavi, Mehrnaz Mashoufi, Arezoo Sarmad, Peyman Mirghaderi, Ahmadreza Shamsabadi, Kowsar Qaderi, Pegah Mirzapour, Amirata Fakhfouri, Hadiseh Azadi Cheshmekabodi, Kimia Azad, Seyed Ali Bagheri Zargande, Shahram Oliaei, Parisa Yousefi Konjdar, Farzin Vahedi, Tayebeh Noori in Health Informatics Journal</p
Supplemental material - Telemedicine technologies and applications in the era of COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review
Supplemental material for Telemedicine technologies and applications in the era of COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review by Esmaeil Mehraeen, Seyed Ahmad Seyed Alinaghi, Mohammad Heydari, Amirali Karimi, Abdollah Mahdavi, Mehrnaz Mashoufi, Arezoo Sarmad, Peyman Mirghaderi, Ahmadreza Shamsabadi, Kowsar Qaderi, Pegah Mirzapour, Amirata Fakhfouri, Hadiseh Azadi Cheshmekabodi, Kimia Azad, Seyed Ali Bagheri Zargande, Shahram Oliaei, Parisa Yousefi Konjdar, Farzin Vahedi, Tayebeh Noori in Health Informatics Journal</p
The Iranian blood pressure measurement campaign, 2019: study protocol and preliminary results
Purpose Hypertension is one of the most important risk factors for premature mortality and morbidity in Iran. The objective of the Iranian blood pressure (BP) measurement campaign was to identify individuals with raised blood pressure and providing appropriate care and increase the awareness among the public and policymakers of the importance of tackling hypertension. Methods The campaign was conducted in two phases. The first (communication) phase started on May 17th (International Hypertension Day). The second phase started on June 8th, 2019, and lasted up to July 7th during which, blood pressures were measured. The target population was Iranians aged >= 30 years. Participants voluntarily referred to health houses in rural and health posts and comprehensive health centers in urban areas in the setting of the Primary Health Care network. Additionally, over 13,700 temporary stations were set up in highly visited places in urban areas. Volunteer healthcare staff interviewed the participants, measured their BP, and provided them with lifestyle advice and knowledge of the risks and consequences of high blood pressure. They referred participants to physicians in case their BP was high. Participants immediately received a text message containing the relevant advice based on their measured BP and their past history. Results Blood pressure was measured for a total of 26,678,394 participants in the campaign. A total of 13,722,148 participants (51.4%) were female. The mean age was 46 +/- 14.1 years. Among total participants, 15,012,693 adults (56.3%) with no past history of hypertension had normal BP, 7,959,288 participants had BP in the prehypertension range (29.8%), and finally, 3,706,413 participants (13.9%) had either past medical history of hypertension, used medications, or had high BP measured in the campaign. Conclusion The campaign was feasible with the objective to increase the awareness among the public and policymakers of the importance of tackling hypertension in Iran