Sharif Digital Repository

The vanillin assay is a spectrophotometric method for anthocyanin determination that is simple, quick and inexpensive. The method is preferred because of its high sensitivity, specificity and simplicity; however, the results of this test are influenced by several factors. Hence, a D-optimal experimental design approach was investigated to simultaneously, without loss of information, optimize five factors that influence the vanillin assay: acid normality, vanillin concentration, temperature, time and acid type. Further optimization with a D-optimal design and response surface analysis (RSM) showed that a second-order polynomial model fit the experimental data appropriately. The optimum... 

The statistics of isoheight lines in the (2+1) -dimensional Kardar-Parisi-Zhang (KPZ) model is shown to be conformally invariant and equivalent to those of self-avoiding random walks. This leads to a rich variety of exact analytical results for the KPZ dynamics. We present direct evidence that the isoheight lines can be described by the family of conformally invariant curves called Schramm-Loewner evolution (or SLEI) with diffusivity Î=8/3. It is shown that the absence of the nonlinear term in the KPZ equation will change the diffusivity I from 8/3 to 4, indicating that the isoheight lines of the Edwards-Wilkinson surface are also conformally invariant and belong to the universality class of... 

We have studied the isoheight lines on the WO3 surface as a physical candidate for conformally invariant curves. We have shown that these lines are conformally invariant with the same statistics of domain walls in the critical Ising model. They belong to the family of conformal invariant curves called Schramm-Loewner evolution (or SLEκ), with diffusivity of κ∼3. This can be regarded as the first experimental observation of SLE curves. We have also argued that Ballistic Deposition (BD) can serve as a growth model giving rise to contours with similar statistics at large scales. © 2008 The American Physical Society  

To improve the strength and toughness of AISI 4340 steel, different microstructures, containing full bainite, bainite-ferrite, martensite-ferrite and full martensite were produced by different heat treatment cycles. Tensile, impact and hardness tests were carried out at room temperature. The ductile-brittle transition temperature was determined from impact data at different temperatures. The results showed that steel with bainite - 0.34 ferrite microstructure has the highest elongation and charpy impact energy, while its tensile strength and yield stress decreased in comparison to other microstructures. This increment was noticeable when bainite - 0.34 ferrite steel was tempered. The... 

In this study, electrolytic plasma processing (EPP) was employed for surface nitrocarburizing of AISI 1020 steel in a urea electrolyte, where the substrate samples were connected cathodically to a high-voltage DC current power supply. The structural, mechanical, wear and corrosion properties of the samples treated for 3-5 min were investigated. The results show that the surface layers formed on the samples by this treatment at 220 V have a ferritic nitrocarburizing characteristic which consists of a compound layer and diffusion zone. The surface layers of the treated samples at 240 V consisted of a compound layer, martensitic layer and diffusion zone, respectively, which is a marker of... 

To improve both strength and toughness of AISI 4340 steel three microstructures, full bainite, bainite-ferrite and tempered bainite-ferrite, were produced by heat treatment of this steel. Tensile, impact and hardness properties of these microstructures were compared. The results showed that with tempering of bainite-34% ferrite dual phase steel, elongation and charpy impact energy increased significantly in comparison to bainite and bainite-ferrite microstructures. Also ductile-brittle transition temperatures of bainite-ferrite and tempered bainite-ferrite steels were measured and confirmed superior toughness properties of this microstructure. Fracture surface analysis of charpy specimens... 

In this study, the corrosion behaviour of Ni-Co alloys with low Co content, electroplated on steel substrate in sulphate bath, was investigated. The morphology of coatings was studied by optical and SEM microscopy. The corrosion products were analyzed using EDX. The results showed that Ni-1%Co coatings had a better corrosion resistance 0.30, 0.92 and 3.75 mpy for atmospheric, salt spray and polarization tests, respectively. These are 0.41, 1.20 and 5.40 mpy for pure nickel coatings that indicate the least corrosion resistance. Surface analysis revealed the presence of oxides, sulphides and chlorides in corrosion products  

This paper discusses the mission requirements and design constraints for an Unmanned Martian research aircraft based on a tailor-made classical airplane design methodology. First, the exploration mission is described using the information from previous real-world experiences and the desired payload is proposed accordingly. The environmental conditions that dictate severe constraints to the design space are characterized afterwards. The conventional airplane design cycle is modified to address the lack of statistical data and to define a proper design recycling criteria. Eventually, the outcome is presented in the form of a novel configuration that is well suited to carry out the specified... 

To increase crew efficiency during a long duration space mission, we have developed a Sequence Dependent Structured Matrix (SDSM) which enables designers to quickly derive the shortest paths astronauts (mission specialists) need to perform their daily tasks. This research aims to develop a new efficient tool by combining two or more DSM interpretations which help increase the ability of proper decision makings for complex situations as space travel. The results of this work have been used for arranging crew quarters in the spacecraft suited for Mars mission. In the same approach, we have been able to generalize the concept and construct different specific types of DSM; such as, Astronauts'... 

In this paper, we consider abnormality detection via diffusive molecular communications (MCs) for a network consisting of several sensors and a fusion center (FC). If a sensor detects an abnormality, it injects a number of molecules into the medium which is proportional to its sensing output. Two transmission schemes for releasing molecules into the medium are considered. In the first scheme, each sensor releases a different type of molecule (DTM), whereas in the second scheme, all sensors release the same type of molecule (STM). The molecules released by the sensors propagate through the MC channel and some may reach the FC where the final decision regarding whether or not an abnormality... 

Enzymatic decolorization of the monoazo dye, acid orange 7 (AO7) by the fungal peroxidase from Coprinus cinereus NBRC 30628 is a complex system, which is greatly affected by temperature, pH, enzyme activity and the concentrations of H2O2 and dye concentration. The study of these factors and investigating the combined interactions between them by applying one-factor-at-a-time (OFAT) method and two other statistical methods including 2-factorial method and response surface methodology (RSM) were aimed in this work. Through OFAT analysis the optimized conditions were a temperature of 25 °C, pH 9.0 with H2O2 concentration of about 3.9 mM and AO7 concentration of 40 mg/l. A complete... 

Paraplegic users of mechanical walking orthoses, e.g. advanced reciprocating gait orthosis (ARGO), often face high energy expenditure and extreme upper body loading during locomotion. We studied the effect of kinematical pattern on the mechanical performance of paraplegic locomotion, in search for an improved gait pattern that leads to lower muscular efforts. A three-dimensional, four segment, six-degrees-of-freedom skeletal model of the advanced reciprocating gait orthosis-assisted paraplegic locomotion was developed based on the data acquired from an experimental study on a single subject. The effect of muscles was represented by ideal joint torque generators. A response surface analysis... 

Nanofiber membranes were fabricated by electrospinning poly(vinylidene fluoride). The electrospun nanofiber membranes were further modified by grafting of acrylic acid (AA) and methacrylic acid (MAA) over the surfaces of the membranes. Plasma AA graft was attempted only, and the results indicated the partial membrane pore filling with grafted AA. For MAA grafting, chemically induced polymerization using benzoyl peroxide and hydrogen peroxide was attempted. The combination of plasma and chemically induced MAA graft polymerization was also attempted. The membranes were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and static contact angle (SCA)... 

Design and operation of an opto-mechanical system for surface profiling are reported in this study. The reported system consists of a double-fiber optical design and an electro-mechanical scanning system. In this arrangement one fiber transmits the source light to the object surface and the second one transmits the light reflected off the surface to a photodetector. By scanning the double-fiber assembly in one-direction, reflection properties of different curved surfaces are investigated. Reflection signals for the cylindrical surfaces made with different curvatures and materials are reported. In order to see the effect of the surface material, for a fixed radius cylinder, the surface is... 

To overcome recent energy and environment challenges, developing efficient and low cost photocatalysts are unavoidable. In this context, design of semiconductor nanostructures modified with earth abundant co-catalysts for water splitting reactions requires well engineered and controlled process to optimize surface interface and maximize nanocomposite system efficiency. Here, TiO2 nanotube were synthesized electrochemically and decorated with cobalt based nanostructure co-catalyst for water oxidation reaction using low cost and scalable electro-deposition approach. By changing deposition parameters and complete studying on samples surface morphology and related statistical analysis data,... 

To obtain metallic nanofingers applicable in surface acoustic wave (SAW) sensors, a mechano-chemical atomic force microscope (AFM) nanolithography on a metallic thin film (50 nm in thickness)/piezoelectric substrate covered by a spin-coated polymeric mask layer (50-60 nm in thickness) was implemented. The effective shape of cross-section of the before and after etching grooves have been determined by using the AFM tip deconvolution surface analysis, structure factor, and power spectral density analyses. The wet-etching process improved the shape and aspect ratio (height/width) of the grooves and also smoothed the surface within them. We have shown that the relaxed surface tension of the... 

Low power operation and high speed have always been desirable in applications such as data processing and telecommunications. While achieving these two goals simultaneously, however, one encounters the well-known powerbandwidth trade-off. This is here discussed in a typical bistable switch based on a two-dimensional photonic crystal with Kerr type nonlinearity. The discussion is supported by the nonlinear finite difference time domain (FDTD) simulation of a direct coupled structure with a home-developed code. Two cases of working near resonant and off- resonant are simulated to compare the power and the speed of the device in the two cases. It is shown that working nearresonance reduces the... 

A mechano-chemical atomic force microscope (AFM) nanolithography on a metallic thin film (50 nm in thickness) covered by a spin-coated soft polymeric mask layer (50-60 nm in thickness) has been introduced. The surface stochastic properties of initial grooves mechanically patterned on the mask layer (grooves before chemical wet-etching) and the lithographed patterns on the metallic thin film (the grooves after chemical wet-etching) have been investigated and compared by using the structure factor, power spectral density, and AFM tip deconvolution analyses. The effective shape of cross section of the before and after etching grooves have been determined by using the tip deconvolution surface... 

We have studied the stochastic parameters of surface iron oxide nanograin chains, 97 nm in diameter and 2.4 νm in length, prepared at different annealing temperatures, using atomic force microscopy (AFM) spectral analysis. In this regard, the roughness of the thin films including self-assembled twisted nanograin chains has been analysed and characterized using the height-height correlation function, the roughness exponent as well as the power spectrum density of the AFM profiles and their gradient, for the different annealing temperatures. The tip convolution effect on the stochastic parameters under study has also been investigated. The kinetics of the formation of nanograins on the film... 

Co-Ce doped Ni nanocrystalline ferrites having composition Ni0.8Ce0.2CoxFe2-xO4 with x = 0.00, 0.25, 0.50, 0.75, 1.00 were fabricated by sol gel auto combustion method. Synthesized samples were investigated by thermal gravimetric and differential thermal analysis (TGA-DTA), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), x-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive analysis (EDX) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM) to study the phase, vibrational modes, structure, surface analysis and magnetic properties respectively. Structural parameters (lattice parameters, cell volume, crystallite size and micro strains) were also calculated from XRD recorded data....