Intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) is one of the most successful techniques of Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) and is mostly in use for the treatment of infertility with male factors. In this method, before injecting sperm into the intracytoplasmic of the oocyte, cumulus cells around the oocyte must be stripped to facilitate the injection process. To achieve this, both enzymatic and mechanical methods are used in embryological laboratories for denudation, which has major deficiencies, including the possibility of damaging the oocyte prior to the injection process. In this research, a microfluidic-based device is introduced for the separation of cumulus cells around the oocyte with minimum manual operations. The results prove high efficiency, and non-destructive denudation of the oocyte with the reduced amount of culture medium leads to the low-cost preparation process of oocytes. The process can also be integrated with ICSI chips under development and will be reported shortly.

One of the issues of reliable performance in the power grid is the existence of electromechanical oscillations between interconnected generators. The number of generators participating in each electromechanical oscillation mode and the frequency oscillation depends on the structure and function of the power grid. In this paper, to improve the transient nature of the network and damping electromechanical fluctuations, a decentralized robust adaptive control method based on dynamic programming has been used to Design a stabilizing power system and a complementary static var compensator (SVC) controller. By applying a single line to ground fault in the network, the robustness of the Designed control systems is demonstrated. Also, the simulation results of the method used in this paper are compared with controllers whose parameters are adjusted using the PSO algorithm. The simulation results show the superiority of the decentralized robust adaptive control method based on dynamic programming for the stabilizing Design of the power system and the complementary SVC controller. The performance of the control method is tested using the IEEE 16-machine, 68-bus, 5-area is verified with time domain simulation.

Non-cooperative intelligent control agents (ICAs) with dedicated cost functions, can lead the system to poor performance and in some cases, closed-loop instability. A robust solution to this challenge is to place the ICAs at the feedback Nash equilibrium point (FNEP) of the differential game between them. This paper introduces the Designation of a robust decentralized infinite horizon LQR control system based on the FNEP for a linear time-invariant system. For this purpose, two control strategies are defined. The first one is a centralized infinite horizon LQR (CIHLQR) problem (i.e. a supervisory problem), and the second one is a decentralized control problem (i.e. an infinite horizon linear-quadratic differential game). Then, while examining the optimal solution of each of the above strategies on the performance of the other, the necessary and sufficient conditions for the equivalence of the two problems are presented. In the absence of the conditions, by using the least-squares error criterion, an approximated CIHLQR controller is presented. It is shown that the theorems could be extended from a two-agent control system to a multi-agent system. Finally, the results are evaluated using the simulation results of a Two-Area non-reheat power system.

Background: Transnational networks such as Communities of Practice (CoPs) are flourishing, yet their role in diffusing health systems reforms has been seldom investigated. Over the past decade, Performance-Based financing (PBF) has rapidly spread in Africa. This study explores how, through the PBF Community of Practice’ s attributes, structure, and strategies, PBF diffusion was fostered in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Methods: Informed by the diffusion entrepreneurs’ (DEs) framework dimensions, we used a mixed methods convergent Design to investigate how the attributes, structure, and strategies of this community fostered the diffusion of PBF. The quantitative strand of work included firstly a semantic discourse analysis of textual data extracted from CoP’ s online discussion forum (n = 1346 posts). Secondly, the relational data extracted from these 1346 forum posts was examined using social network analysis (SNA). We confronted these quantitative results with a thematic analysis of qualitative interviews (n = 40) and data extracted from the CoP’ s key documentation (n = 17). Results: CoP members’ attributes included: representation systems anchored in clinical and economic sciences, strong expectations that the CoP would boost professional visibility and career, and significant health systems knowledge and social resources. The CoP’ s core group, dominated by high-income country (HIC) members, critically matched PBF principles to major health systems issues in Africa. The broad consensus in online PBF thematic discussions created a strong sense of community, a breeding ground for emulation among CoP members. The CoP also sought to produce and promote experiential knowledge exchanges about PBF amongst African practitioners. Findings from network analyses showed that the promoted Africa-driven community was led by HIC members, although their prominence tended to decrease with time. Conclusion: This empirical research highlighted some of the constituting features, structure, and strategies of policy networks in influencing health policy diffusion. Despite good intentions to disrupt the established governance landscape, influential actors coming from HICs continued to drive the framing, and shaped health systems policy experimentation, emulation, and learning in African countries. Beyond mere knowledge exchange platforms, CoP can act as meaningful transnational policy networks pursuing the diffusion of health systems reforms, such as PBF.

It is more important to improve and complete the wastewater process in order to reuse and return it to the production line. In this study, the hydrogen peroxide/ozone process (Peroxone) was investigated as a supplementary step in paper mill wastewater treatment to reduce the amount of chemical oxygen demand and remove E. coli. In this regard, using the Box-Behnken Design method based on the response surface method to optimize and investigate the effect of three variables governing the ozonation process, including the amount of hydrogen peroxide consumed (ml), the amount of ozone input (mg/min) and ozonation time (min) were used. The results showed that the amount of ozone and hydrogen peroxide had the greatest effect for reducing COD (up to about 75%). Also, all three variables have played a significant role in increasing the efficiency of the Peroxone process and even completely eliminating E. coli. In determining the optimal conditions, the amount of ozone (146 mg/min), the amount of hydrogen peroxide (2ml) and the duration of ozonation (23 min), the lowest amount of residual COD (73 mg/L) and the highest efficiency (75% removal of E. coli) are predicted. The results showed that due to the interaction of ozone and hydrogen peroxide, the peroxone process performance was less efficient than the ozonation process alone.

Heart disease-cardiovascular, cancer and obesity are the main causes of death and there are direct relationship between the consumption of high-fat foods and the incidence of these diseases. Therefore the demand for low-fat food products and probiotics has been dramatically increased. In this study, the effect of different levels of three hydrocolloids (inulin, chitosan and xanthan) at three levels (1, 2 and 3%) on survival of Lactobacillus acidophilus, physicochemical and sensory properties of yogurt during 15 days of storage was explored using a combined Design. Increased levels of inulin and chitosan positively affected La-5 count, apparent viscosity, acidity and sensory scores during storage. Using graphical method of optimizing (overlaid contour plots), optimum ratios were: inulin 93.4%, xanthan 0.6% and chitosan 6%.