Sharif Digital Repository

This paper presents an improved firefly algorithm (FA) for fast optimization of truss structures with discrete variables. The enhanced accelerated firefly algorithm (AFA) is a simple, but very effective modification of FA. In order to investigate the performance and robustness of the proposed algorithm, some benchmark (structural optimization) problems are solved and the results are compared with FA and other algorithms. The results show that in some test cases, AFA not only finds lighter structures compared to other algorithms, but also converges faster. In the rest test cases, the optimal solutions are found with very less computational effort. The study also shows that the proposed AFA... 

In this paper, exergy analysis of a steam power plant located in southern Iran named Zarand power plant has been studied. In order to optimize the performance of the Rankine cycle and achieve higher exergy efficiency, several parameters have been considered as decision variables. Knowing that there is the ability to change some of the parameters in the specific range in the process of electricity production in power plant, temperature and output pressure of the boiler and output pressure of four steps of extraction turbine have been selected as six decision variables. Also, exergy efficiency has been considered as the objective function. For this purpose, the exergy efficiency of the system... 

Extraction of fetal electrocardiogram (FECG) from the abdominal region of the mother’s skin is challenge task due to the high overlapping of maternal and fetal signals in this area. To overcome the problem, this paper proposes the utilization of extreme learning model (ELM) as the prediction algorithm to train on the FECG signal extracted by least mean square approach from the input abdominal and thoracic signals. The trained ELM model is used to model the FECG signal for the testing samples. Also, this paper investigates the firefly algorithm (FA) to tune the parameters of ELM and improve its performance. Due to the high complexity and too many parameters of FA, this paper embeds the... 

A new heuristic filter, called firefly filter, is proposed for state estimation of nonlinear stochastic systems. The new filter formulates the state estimation problem as a stochastic dynamic optimization and utilizes the firefly optimization algorithm to find and track the best estimation. The fireflies search the state space dynamically and are attracted to one other based on the perceived brightness. The performance of the proposed filter is evaluated for a set of benchmarks and the results are compared with the well-known filters like extended Kalman filter and particle filter, showing improvements in terms of estimation accuracy. © 2016 IEEE  

Field analysis of ring resonator modulators based on p-i-n diodes has been dissected in this paper. This analysis is performed in time and frequency domains. The conformal transformation method has been used for solving 3-D wave equation. Coupling coefficient between the ring and straight waveguides are obtained by developing the coupled-mode assumption. In the resonant wavelength of 1573.91 nm, a drop of more than 15 dB in frequency spectrum of the device has been observed. Time domain simulation shows that this modulator could support up to 0.4 Gb/s and up to 1.5 Gb/s for NRZ and RZ signals, respectively. Obtained simulation results in both domains have been properly complied with... 

Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the neurotoxic effects of Fe3O4 magnetic- CurNPs on isolated schizophrenia mitochondria of rats as an in vivo model. Methods: We designed CMN loaded superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) (Fe3O4 magnetic- CurNPs) to achieve an enhanced therapeutic effect. The physicochemical properties of Fe3O4 magnetic- CurNPs were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), and dynamic laser light scattering (DLS) and zeta potential. Further, to prove Fe3O4 magnetic- CurNPs results in superior therapeutic effects, and also, the mitochondrial membrane potential collapse, mitochondrial complex II activity, reactive oxygen species generation,... 

In the open-pit mines and civil projects, drilling and blasting is the most common method for rock fragmentation aims. This article proposes a new hybrid forecasting model based on firefly algorithm, as an algorithm optimizer, combined with the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system for estimating the fragmentation. In this regard, 72 datasets were collected from Shur river dam region, and the required parameters were measured. Using the different input parameters, six hybrid models were constructed. In these models, 58 and 14 data were used for training and testing, respectively. The proposed hybrid models were then evaluated in accordance with statistical criteria such as coefficient of... 

In the open-pit mines and civil projects, drilling and blasting is the most common method for rock fragmentation aims. This article proposes a new hybrid forecasting model based on firefly algorithm, as an algorithm optimizer, combined with the adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system for estimating the fragmentation. In this regard, 72 datasets were collected from Shur river dam region, and the required parameters were measured. Using the different input parameters, six hybrid models were constructed. In these models, 58 and 14 data were used for training and testing, respectively. The proposed hybrid models were then evaluated in accordance with statistical criteria such as coefficient of...