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In this research, we examine the academic performance of students and identify patterns influencing their success or decline using graph signal processing tools. The study focuses on undergraduate students from the Department of Electrical Engineering at Sharif University of Technology during 2011-2021. The research data includes students’ grades in various courses, their specializations (majors), and the timing of course enrollment. Importantly, all data was utilized, and no sampling was applied. Each student is represented as a node in a graph, and the nodes are connected through weighted edges based on the similarity of academic performance. Using the graph connections, we evaluate how well the grades of specific courses align with the overall performance of the students. The results indicate a lack of alignment between the grades of certain courses and the overall performance of the students, which may be attributed to varying grading policies and teaching styles. This feedback can help improve grading practices. Additionally, the analysis shows that students’ major choices align with their abilities in only 44% of cases. Another analysis observed that during the COVID-19 pandemic, 5% of students experienced a significant increase in their grades, possibly indicating systematic cheating in online exams.

Liver transplantation is the gold standard approach for decompensated liver cirrhosis. In recent years, stem cell therapy has raised hopes that adjusting some clinical and laboratory parameters could lead to successful treatments for this disease. Cirrhotic patients may have multiple systemic abnormalities in peripheral blood and irregular cell populations in bone marrow (BM). Correcting these abnormalities before BM aspiration may improve the effectiveness of cell-based therapy of liver cirrhosis. In this controlled clinical trial study, 20 patients with decompensated liver cirrhosis were enrolled. Patients were randomly assigned to control and experimental groups. Blood samples were obtained to measure vitamin B12, folate, serum iron, total iron bonding capacity (TIBC) and ferritin before any intervention. Furthermore, the iron storage and fibrosis level in BM biopsies, as well as the percentage of different cell populations, were evaluated. Prior to cell isolation for transplantation, we performed palliative supplement therapy followed by a correction of nutritional deficiencies. Mononuclear cells (MNCs) were then isolated from BM aspirates and transfused through peripheral vein in patients in the experimental group. The model of end-stage liver disease (MELD) score, The international normalized ratio (INR), serum albumin and bilirubin levels were assessed at 0 (baseline), 3 and 6 months after cell transplantation. The MELD score (P=0.0001), INR (P=0.012), bilirubin (P<0.0001) and total albumin (P<0.0001) levels improved significantly in the experimental group after cell transplantation compared to the baseline and control groups. Moreover, the increase in serum albumin levels of patients in the experimental group was statistically significant 6 months after transplantation. We have successfully improved the conditions of preparing -BM-derived stem cells for transplantation. Although these cells are relatively safe and have been shown to improve some clinical signs and symptoms temporarily, there need to be more basic studies regarding the preparation steps for effective clinical use (Registration number: IRCT2014091919217N1).