Sharif Digital Repository

Discrete ordinates method relies on approximating the integral term of the transport equation with the aid of quadrature summation rules. These quadratures are usually based on certain assumptions which assure specific symmetry rules and transport/diffusion limits. Generally, these assumptions are not problem-dependent which results in inaccuracies in some instances. Here, various methods have been developed for more accurate estimation of the independent angle in S2 approximation, as it is tightly related to valid estimation of the diffusion coefficient/length. We proposed and examined a method to reduce a complicated problem that usually is consisting many energy groups and discrete... 

In this paper, we investigate the problem of the empirical coordination in a triangular multiterminal network. A triangular multiterminal network consists of three terminals where two terminals observe two external i.i.d correlated sequences. The third terminal wishes to generate a sequence with desired empirical joint distribution. For this problem, we derive inner and outer bounds on the empirical coordination capacity region. It is shown that the capacity region of the degraded source network and the inner and outer bounds on the capacity region of the cascade multiterminal network can be directly obtained from our inner and outer bounds. For a cipher system, we establish key distribution... 

In this paper, based on Kirchhoff plate theory (CLPT), vibration analysis of an arbitrary nonlinear variable thickness annular isotropic plate which is covered with piezoelectric layers on the top and bottom surfaces in a short circuit state is performed using a semi-analytic method, named modified wave method (MWM). The plate is partitioned into several continuous segments with constant thicknesses, for which there exists exact analytical solutions. Considering wave method, the solution of each segment is assumed to be the combination of waves moving forward and backward, and at each step, waves in positive and negative directions are obtained in terms of waves at the inner edge of the... 

Nowadays, knowledge is the key to success in all software engineering processes. This valuable knowledge, obtained through analysis, design, development, and maintenance processes of the system, should be saved and reused in designing and developing current and similar systems. Using pre-existing knowledge is a practical approach which reduces design complexity, improves software architecture design and manages software quality. In this paper, we describe an approach to create architecture design knowledge using a hierarchical structure of architectural styles based on quality attributes. Knowledge is most importance asset of our approach that reuses similar domains, correlates architectures... 

Discrete ordinates method relies on approximating the integral term of the transport equation with the aid of quadrature summation rules. These quadratures are usually based on certain assumptions which assure specific symmetry rules and transport/diffusion limits. Generally, these assumptions are not problem-dependent which results in inaccuracies in some instances. Here, various methods have been developed for more accurate estimation of the independent angle in S2 approximation, as it is tightly related to valid estimation of the diffusion coefficient/length. We proposed and examined a method to reduce a complicated problem that usually is consisting many energy groups and discrete... 

In the present work, spark plasma sintering (SPS) process was employed to prepare a nanostructured yttria-stabilized zirconia (8YSZ) coating on a nickel-based superalloy (INCONEL 738) with functionally graded structure. A stack layer of INCONEL 738/NiCrAlY powder/Al foil/NiCrAlY+YSZ powder/YSZ powder was SPSed in a graphite die at an applied pressure of 40 MPa under an vacuum atmosphere (8 Pa). The sintering temperature was ∼1040 °C. For comparison purpose, the air plasma spray (APS) technique was employed to prepare the thermal barrier coating (TBC). Microstructural studies by scanning electron microscopy showed that the SPSed coating was sound and free of interfacial cracks and large... 

In this research, the airflow pattern and particle dispersion in a contaminated full-scale cleanroom are investigated numerically using both Eulerian and Lagrangian approaches. Three different supply diffuser configurations namely (1) central, (2) horizontal and (3) vertical and three different exhaust grille configurations namely (4) vertical symmetric, (5) asymmetric and (6) horizontal symmetric are selected for the analysis. The presented results reveal that the supply/exhaust openings arrangement has a significant influence on the particulate contaminant dispersion in the cleanrooms. The comparison of the above different supply diffuser configurations shows that the vertical and... 

Smart drug delivery systems (DDSs) have attracted the attention of many scientists, as carriers that can be stimulated by changes in environmental parameters such as temperature, pH, light, electromagnetic fields, mechanical forces, etc. These smart nanocarriers can release their cargo on demand when their target is reached and the stimulus is applied. Using the techniques of nanotechnology, these nanocarriers can be tailored to be target-specific, and exhibit delayed or controlled release of drugs. Temperature-responsive nanocarriers are one of most important groups of smart nanoparticles (NPs) that have been investigated during the past decades. Temperature can either act as an external... 

Energy storage is one of the most important components of renewable energy systems. Among different methods, thermal energy storage (TES) in forms of sensible or latent has been the subject of many studies in the past decades. The main difficulty in optimal design of storage tanks is associated with low thermal conductivity of the storing (solid or phase change) material. In fact, the distribution of thermal energy from a source to the body of storing material poses a volume to point problem which is the subject of constructal theory. Therefore, the objective of the present paper is to investigate the transient behavior of a rectangular thermal energy storage tank equipped with fin... 

In this paper, the stability of whirling composite cylindrical shells partially filled with two liquid phases is studied. Using the first-order shear shell theory, the structural dynamics of the shell is modeled and based on the Navier-Stokes equations for ideal liquid, a 2D model is developed for liquid motion at each section of the cylinder. In steady state condition, liquids are supposed to locate according to mass density. In this study, the thick shells are investigated. Using boundary conditions between liquids, the model of coupled fluid-structure system is obtained. This coupled fluid-structure model is employed to determine the critical speed of the system. The effects of the main... 

The effect of a multiphase fluid, including an arbitrary number of liquid phases, and a functionally graded density fluid on the stability of rotating partially-filled cylindrical shells is investigated. The first-order shear shell theory is used for modeling the structural dynamics of the shell and a 2D model is introduced based on the Navier–Stokes equations, for fluid motion. The multiphase and the functionally graded density fluids are arranged according to the mass density in a steady state condition due to centrifugal forces. Using the boundary conditions between liquid phases and the boundary conditions of the fluid on the cylinder wall, the coupled fluid-structure system model is... 

The energy efficiency of emerging nonvolatile processors equipped with FRAM-SRAM memory makes them a promising solution for energy harvesting systems. To enable correct functionality and forward progress with an unreliable power supply, the system must accumulate sufficient energy in the capacitor to execute tasks atomically, even in the worst case scenario. Due to the large gap between the average and worst case energy consumption of tasks, state of the art approaches like eM-map require a large capacitor to execute tasks on the SRAM. However, the size, cost, and charging time of the capacitor are major concerns in the energy harvesting systems. In this paper, we proposed CHANCE, a... 

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper. © 2020, The Author(s)  

A double burden of malnutrition occurs when individuals, household members or communities experience both undernutrition and overweight. Here, we show geospatial estimates of overweight and wasting prevalence among children under 5 years of age in 105 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) from 2000 to 2017 and aggregate these to policy-relevant administrative units. Wasting decreased overall across LMICs between 2000 and 2017, from 8.4% (62.3 (55.1–70.8) million) to 6.4% (58.3 (47.6–70.7) million), but is predicted to remain above the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target of <5% in over half of LMICs by 2025. Prevalence of overweight increased from 5.2% (30 (22.8–38.5)... 

The safe, highly effective measles vaccine has been recommended globally since 1974, yet in 2017 there were more than 17 million cases of measles and 83,400 deaths in children under 5 years old, and more than 99% of both occurred in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)1–4. Globally comparable, annual, local estimates of routine first-dose measles-containing vaccine (MCV1) coverage are critical for understanding geographically precise immunity patterns, progress towards the targets of the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP), and high-risk areas amid disruptions to vaccination programmes caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)5–8. Here we generated annual estimates of routine childhood... 

The increased amount of multi-modal medical data has opened the opportunities to simultaneously process various modalities such as imaging and non-imaging data to gain a comprehensive insight into the disease prediction domain. Recent studies using Graph Convolutional Networks (GCNs) provide novel semi-supervised approaches for integrating heterogeneous modalities while investigating the patients’ associations for disease prediction. However, when the meta-data used for graph construction is not available at inference time (e.g., coming from a distinct population), the conventional methods exhibit poor performance. To address this issue, we propose a novel semi-supervised approach named GKD... 

Anemia is a globally widespread condition in women and is associated with reduced economic productivity and increased mortality worldwide. Here we map annual 2000–2018 geospatial estimates of anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age (15–49 years) across 82 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), stratify anemia by severity and aggregate results to policy-relevant administrative and national levels. Additionally, we provide subnational disparity analyses to provide a comprehensive overview of anemia prevalence inequalities within these countries and predict progress toward the World Health Organization’s Global Nutrition Target (WHO GNT) to reduce anemia by half by 2030. Our results... 

The safe, highly effective measles vaccine has been recommended globally since 1974, yet in 2017 there were more than 17 million cases of measles and 83,400 deaths in children under 5 years old, and more than 99% of both occurred in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs)1–4. Globally comparable, annual, local estimates of routine first-dose measles-containing vaccine (MCV1) coverage are critical for understanding geographically precise immunity patterns, progress towards the targets of the Global Vaccine Action Plan (GVAP), and high-risk areas amid disruptions to vaccination programmes caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)5–8. Here we generated annual estimates of routine childhood... 

The energy efficiency of emerging nonvolatile processors equipped with FRAM-SRAM memory makes them a promising solution for energy harvesting systems. To enable correct functionality and forward progress with an unreliable power supply, the system must accumulate sufficient energy in the capacitor to execute tasks atomically, even in the worst case scenario. Due to the large gap between the average and worst case energy consumption of tasks, state-of-the-art approaches like eM-map require a large capacitor to execute tasks on the SRAM. However, the size, cost, and charging time of the capacitor are major concerns in the energy harvesting systems. In this article, we proposed CHANCE, a... 

Satellite-based navigation has rapidly evolved into an efficient tool extensively used in a wide variety of civilian applications covering numerous modes of transportation, communication, administration, geodesy, agriculture, etc. The current systems globally available are the US Global Positioning System (GPS) and the conceptually very similar Russian Global Navigation Satellite System (GLONASS). The European Union (EU) has also decided to press ahead with plans to develop Galileo system, a European version of the Global Positioning System (GPS) after the system definition during 1999/2000. The development phase of Galileo is expected to run from 2002 to 2005 with a deployment phase,...