Sharif Digital Repository

Maximum independent set problem is an NP-Hard one with the aim of finding the set of independent vertices with maximum possible cardinality in a graph. In this paper, we investigate a learning automaton based algorithm that finds a maximum independent set in the graph. Initially, a learning automaton is assigned to each vertex of graph. In order to find candidate independent set, a set of distributed learning automata collaborate with each other. The proposed algorithm based on learning automata is guided iteratively to the maximum independent set by updating the action probability vector. In order to study the performance of the proposed algorithm, we conducted some experiments. The... 

Due to great communication among users in social networks, a lot of attention is paid to the spreading of information. This issue is of a huge consideration in modern viral marketing either. So far, different models have been proposed in many of which active and inactive users are cooperating in the simple form. Since the influence of individuals in spreading of information happens differently in the real world, in this article we propose a multi-state model for information spread based on cellular automata. We used different states for the proposed model as well as various levels of influence from the beginning up to the end. As an evaluation, proposed model not only has been examined with... 

In recent years, with the rapid development of online social networks, an enormous amount of information has been generated and diffused by human interactions through online social networks. The availability of information diffused by users of online social networks has facilitated the investigation of information diffusion and influence maximization. In this paper, we focus on the influence maximization problem in social networks, which refers to the identification of a small subset of target nodes for maximizing the spread of influence under a given diffusion model. We first propose a learning automaton-based algorithm for solving the minimum positive influence dominating set (MPIDS)... 

In recent years, with the rapid development of online social networks, an enormous amount of information has been generated and diffused by human interactions through online social networks. The availability of information diffused by users of online social networks has facilitated the investigation of information diffusion and influence maximization. In this paper, we focus on the influence maximization problem in social networks, which refers to the identification of a small subset of target nodes for maximizing the spread of influence under a given diffusion model. We first propose a learning automaton-based algorithm for solving the minimum positive influence dominating set (MPIDS)... 

Due to unstoppable growth of social networks and the large number of users, the detection of communities have become one of the most popular and successful domain of research areas. Detecting communities is a significant aspect in analyzing networks because of its various applications such as sampling, link prediction and communications among members of social networks. There have been proposed many different algorithms for solving community detection problem containing optimization methods. In this paper we propose a novel algorithm based on extended distributed learning automata for solving this problem. Our proposed algorithm benefits from cooperation between learning automata to detect... 

Measuring the coupling of single neuron's spiking activities to the local field potentials (LFPs) is a method to investigate neuronal synchronization. The most important synchronization measures are phase locking value (PLV), spike field coherence (SFC), pairwise phase consistency (PPC), and spike-triggered correlation matrix synchronization (SCMS). Synchronization is generally quantified using the PLV and SFC. PLV and SFC methods are either biased on the spike rates or the number of trials. To resolve these problems the PPC measure has been introduced. However, there are some shortcomings associated with the PPC measure which is unbiased only for very high spike rates. However evaluating... 

This paper presents the most frequently used maintenance concerns and challenges in distribution utilities of Iran. A questionnaire is devised and distributed among the maintenance experts in more than 30 distribution utilities all over Iran and their responses have been taken under consideration in this paper. The aim is to get the most out of the successful maintenance experiences within the utilities, to find the solutions on the current common challenges on the distribution system maintenance policies, and eventually to enlighten the way on the transition to the more efficient maintenance approaches such as reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) in distribution systems  

This paper presents the most frequently used maintenance concerns and challenges in distribution utilities of Iran. A questionnaire is devised and distributed among the maintenance experts in more than 30 distribution utilities all over Iran and their responses have been taken under consideration in this paper. The aim is to get the most out of the successful maintenance experiences within the utilities, to find the solutions on the current common challenges on the distribution system maintenance policies, and eventually to enlighten the way on the transition to the more efficient maintenance approaches such as reliability-centered maintenance (RCM) in distribution systems  

The boundary-layer control authority of a DBD plasma actuator using surface mounted hot-film sensors is evaluated. Wind tunnel experiments on a wind-turbine blade section were established at a Reynolds number of 0.27 x 106. Aerodynamic performance of the wind-turbine blade section for both plasma-ON and plasma-OFF modes are evaluated using measurements made by both surface pressure and wake survey behind the model. Two distinct boundary-layer states are recognized. A state which occurs at the onset and in proximity of the deep stall, which is affected by the low-frequency instabilities of the separated flow. In this case, the steady actuation of plasma imparts local momentum on the nearby... 

Stimulus repetition suppresses the neural activity in different sensory areas of the brain. This mechanism of so-called stimulus-specific adaptation (SSA) has been observed in both spiking activity and local field potential (LFP) responses. However, much remains to be known about the effect of SSA on the spike–LFP relation. In this study, we approached this issue by investigating the spike-phase coupling (SPC) in control and adapting paradigms. For the control paradigm, pure tones were presented in a random unbiased sequence. In the adapting paradigm, the same stimuli were presented in a random pattern but it was biased to an adapter stimulus. In fact, the adapter occupied 80% of the... 

Neural synchronization has been engaged in several brain mechanisms. Previous studies have shown that the interaction between the time of spiking activity and phase of local field potentials (LFPs) plays a key role in many cognitive functions. However, the potential role of this spike–LFP phase coupling (SPC) in neural coding is not fully understood. Here, we sought to investigate the role of this SPC for encoding the sensory properties of visual stimuli. To this end, we measured SPC strength in the preferred and anti-preferred motion directions of stimulus presented inside the receptive field of middle temporal (MT) neurons. We found a selective response in terms of SPC strength for... 

The present study analyzed the dose-dependent cyto- and genotoxicity of graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide on spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) for the first time. The results showed that graphene oxide significantly increased oxidative stress at concentrations of 100 and 400 μg/ml, while low concentrations did not have a significant effect. In addition, according to the MTT assay, the cell number decreased in high-concentration (100 and 400 μg/ml) graphene oxide-treated samples compared to untreated cells. However, a reduced graphene-treated sample demonstrated a significant increase in cell number. Moreover, microscopic analysis found high concentrations of graphene nanosheets in... 

Storing information from incoming stimuli in working memory (WM) is essential for decision-making. The prefrontal cortex (PFC) plays a key role to support this process. Previous studies have characterized different neuronal populations in the PFC for working memory judgements based on whether an originally presented stimulus matches a subsequently presented one (matching-rule decision-making). However, much remains to be understood about this mechanism at the population level of PFC neurons. Here, we hypothesized differences in processing of feature vs. spatial WM within the PFC during a matching-rule decision-making task. To test this hypothesis, the modulation of neural activity within the... 

The aim of this study was to investigate the thermal behavior of Mg-doped calcium phosphate compounds. Nanocrystalline HA and β-TCP mixtures containing different magnesium contents were synthesized via an alkoxide sol gel method. The ratio of (Ca+Mg)P was kept constant at 1.67, and the Mg content ranged between 0 and 3 mol%. The influence of magnesium on the phase composition, chemical structure, thermal behavior and morphological characteristics of nanopowders was analyzed using X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FT-IR), Simultaneous Thermogravimetry and Differential Thermal Analysis (STA/DTA), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and Transmission Electron... 

The performance of a supersonic mixed compression air intake has been investigated experimentally. The intake is of axisymmetric one and has been designed for a free stream Mach number of 2.0. The present work has two main goals, first to investigate the performance of the intake without boundary layer bleed at design and at off-design conditions and second to study the effects of a bleed slot on the intake performance. The intake has been tested at free stream Mach numbers of 1.8, 2.0, and 2.2 and at zero degrees angle of attack. Total pressure recovery, mass flow ratio, and flow distortion have been selected to assess the intake performance. The bleed slot is located upstream of the intake... 

The performance of an axisymmetric supersonic mixed-compression air intake has been investigated experimentally. The intake has been designed for free stream Mach number of 2.0. This study has two main goals, firstly to investigate the performance of the intake without boundary-layer bleed in design and off-design conditions and secondly to study the effects of a slot bleed on the intake performance. The intake has been tested at free stream Mach numbers of 1.8, 2.0, and 2.2 and zero degree angle of attack. Total pressure recovery (TPR), mass flow ratio (MFR) and flow distortion (FD) have been selected parameters to assess the intake performance. The bleed slot is located upstream of the... 

Recent studies showed that a large amount of graphene oxide accumulated in kidney and liver when it injected intravenously. Evaluation of lethal and apoptosis gene expression in these tissues, which are under stress is very important. In this paper the in vivo dose-dependent effects of graphene oxide and reduced graphene oxide nanoplatelets on kidney and liver of mice were studied. Balb/C mice were treated by 20 mg/kg body weight of nanoplatelets. Molecular biology analysis showed that graphene nanoplatelets injected intravenously lead to overexpression of BAX gene in both kidney and liver tissues (P ≥ 0.01). In addition these nanoparticles significantly increase BCL2 gene expression in both... 

The authors would like to declare that this investigation was supported by Shahid Beheshti University G.C., research grant. NO. 600/51. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused. DOI of original article: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apsusc.2018.03.249 © 2018  

Here in, reduced graphene oxide/g-C3N4/Ag2O nano structure (RGO/CAO) was decorated through a facile and simple chemical method. After that RGO/CAO nano structure combined with poly aniline electrochemically to form a composite electrode. Several physicochemical techniques were applied to characterize the composite electrode such as X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infra-Red spectroscopy (FTIR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Furthermore, several electrochemical techniques were used to study the performance of composite electrode as an electrochemical capacitor. Results show that RGO/CAO nano...