Sharif Digital Repository

During voluntary flexion/extension of the head-neck system, the cervical spine undergoes a stepwise motion from upper to lower regions with a specific pattern. The motion of each vertebra is composed of a translation and rotation with respect to lower vertebrae, which may be considered as an absolute rotation about an axis called instantaneous axis of rotation (IAR). The location of this axis is different between normal and degenerated spines. A biomechanical computer model of the head and cervical vertebrae, including eight separate rigid links and nine spinal muscles as actuating elements was developed to evaluate and compare inter-segmental force-moments and muscle forces in normal,... 

This article reviews the oil-soluble polymeric drag-reducing agents (DRAs) with an outlook to their large-scale application in petroleum industry. A general discussion on mechanism of the DR phenomenon and mechanical degradation of the drag reducers in turbulent flow is offered with an emphasis on the molecular parameters. Furthermore, low charge density associating polymers, as a new class of oil-soluble flow improvers, are described  

The purpose of this paper is to provide a full analysis of the null controllability problem for the one dimensional degenerate/singular parabolic equation ut - (a(x)ux)x - λ/x βu = 0, (t,x) ∈ (0, T) × (0,1), where the diffusion coefficient a(·) is degenerate at x = 0. Also the boundary conditions are considered to be Dirichlet or Neumann type related to the degeneracy rate of a(·). Under some conditions on the function a(·) and parameters β, λ, we prove global Carleman estimates. The proof is based on an improved Hardy-type inequality  

We study the null controllability properties of some degenerate/singular parabolic equations in a bounded interval of ℝ. For this reason we derive a new Carleman estimate whose proof is based on Hardy inequalities  

Adjacent segment disorders are prevalent in patients following a spinal fusion surgery. Postoperative alterations in the adjacent segment biomechanics play a role in the etiology of these conditions. While experimental approaches fail to directly quantify spinal loads, previous modeling studies have numerous shortcomings when simulating the complex structures of the spine and the pre/postoperative mechanobiology of the patient. The biomechanical effects of the L4–L5 fusion surgery on muscle forces and adjacent segment kinetics (compression, shear, and moment) were investigated using a validated musculoskeletal model. The model was driven by in vivo kinematics for both preoperative (intact or... 

It is widely accepted that the presence of a lossy network, such as a SAW filter or balun, at the input of LNA increases NF of the overall circuit by an amount equal to the insertion loss of the lossy network. In this work it is shown that this idea is not exactly true and it considerably underestimates the overall NF. To verify this claim, Z-model of the lossy network is added before the LNA and the overall noise figure is recalculated for some commonly used LNA topologies. It is shown that in common gate LNA and common source LNA with resistive feedback the accepted equation underestimates the overall NF by 1.3 dB for an insertion loss of 2 dB. In common source with resistive matching and... 

Degenerative disc disease, associated with discrete structural changes in the peripheral annulus and vertebral endplate, is one of the most common pathological triggers of acute and chronic low back pain, significantly depreciating an individual's quality of life and instigating huge socioeconomic costs. Novel emerging therapeutic techniques are hence of great interest to both research and clinical communities alike. Exogenous crosslinking, such as Genipin, and platelet-rich plasma therapies have been recently demonstrated encouraging results for the repair and regeneration of degenerated discs, but there remains a knowledge gap regarding the quantitative degree of effectiveness and... 

An explicit hybrid stabilization method is utilized together with a reduced order integration scheme to stabilize spurious zero energy modes from the sub-integrated degenerated shell element. This stabilization is achieved after employing appropriate contravariant higher order stress modes. The relevant finite element formulation of the piezolaminated nine-nodded shell element is then derived to analyze smart structures behaviors. To show the capabilities of the presented formulation, it has been implemented in a finite element code. The developed code is used to analyze some typical problems. The results are compared with those obtained from other schemes in the literature and experiments  

A highly linear X-band low-noise amplifier (LNA) is proposed and implemented in a standard 0.18-μm CMOS technology. The LNA features both high and low-gain operation modes. In its normal high-gain mode, the LNA shows a small-signal gain of 13.6 dB with an IIP3 of +9.5 dBm and a noise figure of 4.7 dB. The two-stage amplifier draws 90 mA from the 3.3V power supply to achieve +14.8 dBm output P1dB (+2.2 dBm input P1dB). In the low-gain mode, the gain is reduced by about 10 dB to further enhance the linearity and to accommodate very large blockers. Accordingly, the input P1dB is enhanced to +13.7 dBm while the noise figure is increased by 8.1 dB. A technique is also introduced to maintain the... 

In this paper, a new method to achieve very small current reference levels on integrated circuits with immunity to temperature variations using peaking current source with MOSFETs operating in subthreshold region is proposed. By adding a source degeneration resistor to the conventional peaking current source architecture, a zero temperature coefficient current can be generated. The proposed low-power circuit operating in the weak inversion region is designed, simulated, and fabricated in a 0.18-μm standard CMOS process. Measurement results verify the circuit operation with about 5% variation over the span of -40° C to +100° C (industrial temperature grade). The supplied current is designed... 

Finite element analysis is an effective tool to evaluate the material properties of living tissue. For an interactive optimization procedure, the finite element analysis usually needs many simulations to reach a reasonable solution. The metamodel analysis of finite element simulation can be used to reduce the computation of a structure with complex geometry or a material with composite constitutive equations. The intervertebral disc is a complex, heterogeneous, and hydrated porous structure. A poroelastic finite element model can be used to observe the fluid transferring, pressure deviation, and other properties within the disc. Defining reasonable poroelastic material properties of the... 

Oxidative stress has been implicated in the progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Treatment with antioxidants seems to delay progression of AMD. In this study, we suggested an antioxidant delivery system based on redox-sensitive liposome composed of phospholipids and a diselenide centered alkyl chain. Dynamic light scattering assessment indicated that the liposomes had an average size of 140 nm with a polydispersity index below 0.2. The percentage of encapsulation efficiency of the liposomes was calculated by high-performance liquid chromatography. The carriers were loaded with N-acetyl cysteine as a model antioxidant drug. We demonstrated responsiveness of the nanocarrier... 

Understanding the effect of impact loading on the mechanical response of the intervertebral disc (IVD) is valuable for investigating injury mechanisms and devising effective therapeutic modalities. This study used 24 porcine thoracic motion segments to characterize the mechanical response of intact (N = 8), degenerated (Trypsin-denatured, N = 8), and repaired (Genepin-treated, N = 8) IVDs subject to impact loading. A meta-model analysis of poroelastic finite element simulations was used in combination with ex-vivo creep and impact tests to extract the material properties. Forward analyses using updated specimen-specific FE models were performed to evaluate the effect of impact duration. The...