Sharif Digital Repository

One of the most critical issues in manufacturing systems is the operator management. In this paper, the operator assignment problem is studied within a cellular manufacturing system. The most important novelty of this research is the consideration of operator learning and forgetting effects simultaneously. The skill level of an operator can be increased/decreased based on the time spent on a machine. Moreover, the issues related to operators like hiring, firing, and salaries are considered in the proposed model. The parameters are considered to be uncertain in this model, and a robust optimization approach is developed to handle it. Using this approach, the model solution remains feasible... 

In this paper, several new control strategies for employing the battery energy storage systems (BESSs) and demand response (DR) in the load frequency control (LFC) task are proposed. In this way, first, the unit commitment problem considering the BESSs’ constraints in presence of wind farms and responsive loads is solved and the best location and the optimal size of the BESSs as well as the regulation power of the responsive loads are obtained. A rule-based plan is then suggested to improve the frequency regulation considering participation of wind farms. This plan is takes into account different states associated with power system frequency response as well as BESSs’ state of charge (SOC).... 

In United States (U.S.), government-funded organizations, such as NLDAC, reimburse travel and subsistence expenses incurred during living-organ donation process. However, in Iran, there is a non-governmental organization called Iranian Kidney Foundation (IKF) that funds the direct and indirect costs of donors through charitable donations and contributions from participants in the exchange program. In this article, for countries outside the U.S. that currently use an equality approach, we propose a potential new compensation-apportionment approach (equitable approach) for kidney-exchange chains and compare it with the currently available system (equality approach) in terms of the... 

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the biomechanical impact of laminectomy on cervical intersegmental motion and load sharing using a parametric patient-specific finite element (FE) model towards providing clinicians with a viable quantitative tool for informed decision-making and improved surgical planning. Methods: Ten subject-specific nonlinear osteo-ligamentous cervical spine (C3–C7) FE models were developed using X-ray image-based algorithms. The models were used to evaluate the effect of laminectomy on lower cervical spine biomechanics for two-level (C3–C4) and three-level (C3–C5) laminectomy procedures. Results: The average cervical spine ranges of motion (ROM) for the pre-op... 

Background: Autonomous grasping of soft tissues can facilitate the robotic surgery procedures. The previous attempts for implementing auto-grasping have been based on a simplistic representation of the actual surgery maneuvers. Method: A generalized three-zone grasp model was introduced to consider the effect of the pull force angulation on the grasp mode, that is, damage, slip, or safe grasp. Also, an extended auto-grasping algorithm was proposed in which the trigger force is automatically controlled against the pull force magnitude and direction, to achieve a safe and secure grasp. Results: The autonomous grasping experiments against a varying pull force in a phantom study indicated a good... 

In this paper, a modified frequency control model is proposed, where the demand response (DR) control loop is added to the traditional load frequency control (LFC) model to improve the frequency regulation of the power system. One of the main obstacles for using DR in the frequency regulation is communication delay which exists in transferring data from control center to appliances. To overcome this issue, an adaptive delay compensator (ADC) is used in order to compensate the communication delay in the control loop. In this regard, a weighted combination of several vertex compensators, whose weights are updated according to the measured delay, is employed. Generating the phase lead is the... 

Purpose: This study aimed to investigate the biomechanical impact of laminectomy on cervical intersegmental motion and load sharing using a parametric patient-specific finite element (FE) model towards providing clinicians with a viable quantitative tool for informed decision-making and improved surgical planning. Methods: Ten subject-specific nonlinear osteo-ligamentous cervical spine (C3–C7) FE models were developed using X-ray image-based algorithms. The models were used to evaluate the effect of laminectomy on lower cervical spine biomechanics for two-level (C3–C4) and three-level (C3–C5) laminectomy procedures. Results: The average cervical spine ranges of motion (ROM) for the pre-op... 

In this paper, we combine Hidden Markov Models HMMs with i-vector extractors to address the problem of text-dependent speaker recognition with random digit strings. We employ digit-specific HMMs to segment the utterances into digits, to perform frame alignment to HMM states and to extract Baum-Welch statistics. By making use of the natural partition of input features into digits, we train digit-specific i-vector extractors on top of each HMM and we extract well-localized i-vectors, each modelling merely the phonetic content corresponding to a single digit. We then examine ways to perform channel and uncertainty compensation, and we propose a novel method for using the uncertainty in the... 

Inertial navigation is a method for determining position and orientation of a vehicle, which operates according to Newton's laws of motion. Due to continual increase of output error because of measurement noise, bias, misalignment and so on, one may need one or more additional navigation systems to improve accuracy in long-Term navigation. In this paper, the error compensation based on GPS/INS data fusion algorithm is studied. Then, by designing a DSP processor-based hardware, GPS and INS data are recorded and GPS/INS data fusion algorithm is implemented. Results indicate that the accuracy of the positioning is improved and position, velocity, and orientation errors are confined to a limited... 

In high-speed analog-To-digital converters (ADCs), two main factors contribute to high power consumption. The first is the super linear relationship with the sampling rate; i.e., by doubling the sampling rate, the power consumption more than doubles. The second factor arises from the consumption of analog circuitry responsible to mitigate the jitter noise. By employing a multichannel sampling system, one can achieve high sampling rates by incorporating multiple low sampling-rate channels, which results in a linear scaling of power consumption with the number of channels. The main drawback of this system is the timing mismatch between the sampling channels. In this paper, we intend to jointly... 

This paper proposes an analytical model based on winding function method for analysis of linear sinusoidal area resolver. The accuracy of the proposed model is verified using 3-D time variant finite element analysis and then an optimization based on genetic algorithm is employed for performance improvement of the sensor. Afterwards, the influence of longitudinal end effect on the position error of the studied sensor is investigated and a proper compensating method is presented. Finally, the optimal, compensated sensor is built for experimental measurements. Close agreement between the simulation and the measured position verified the design, analysis, and optimization process. © 2001-2012... 

Numerous operational issues including voltage deviation and instability arise in distribution networks with insufficient reactive support. Static issues have been widely studied for years, and some dynamic ones are recently gaining attention due to the proliferation of distributed generation (DG). In this paper, a two-step reactive compensation planning procedure is proposed to address these challenges. In the first step, passive compensators are optimally sited and sized using a metaheuristic algorithm in order to improve steady-state indices including power efficiency, voltage profile, and static voltage stability. In the second step, a static synchronous compensator (Statcom) is located... 

The geometry of the sensed and thus optically relevant area in the image plane of line scan cameras suggests that improvement of the overall system is possible, by joint design of optics and electronics. By a technique named Linear Fovea (LF) proposed in this paper, the optical contrast along the Line-of-Interest (LOI) in the image plane i.e. the location of the opto-electronic sensor, is optimized at the expense of contrast elsewhere. In the LF method, employing a single doubly symmetric surface, the resolved field of view (RFOV) as the merit function, is maximized, by finding appropriate Zernike coefficients describing that surface. The technique is applied on a proof-of-concept single... 

Introduction: Some tinnitus subjects habituate to their tinnitus but some others do not and complain of its annoyance tremendously. Normal sensory memory and change detection processes are needed for detecting the tinnitus signal as a prediction error and habituation to tinnitus. The purpose of this study was to compare auditory mismatch negativity as the index of sensory memory and change detection among the studied groups to search for the factors involving in the perception of tinnitus and preventing habituation in decompensated tinnitus subjects. Methods: Electroencephalography was recorded from scalp electrodes in compensated tinnitus, decompensated tinnitus, and no tinnitus control... 

This paper introduces a new supergraph, called the k-Semi-Yao graph (k-SYG), of the k-nearest neighbor graph (k-NNG) of a set P of points in Rd. We provide a kinetic data structure (KDS) to maintain the k-SYG on moving points, where the trajectory of each point is a polynomial function whose degree is bounded by some constant. Our technique gives the first KDS for the theta graph (i.e., 1-SYG) in Rd. It generalizes and improves on previous work on maintaining the theta graph in R2. As an application, we use the kinetic k-SYG to provide the first KDS for maintenance of all the k-nearest neighbors in Rd, for any k≥1. Previous works considered the k=1 case only. Our KDS for all the 1-nearest... 

Depending on the reference frame, a proportional integral (PI) or proportional resonant (PR) controller is often utilized for current control in the three-phase PWM rectifiers. Due to the fact that the controller bandwidth is either smaller than the frequency of a specific order harmonic or the controller gain at that frequency is too low the harmonics cannot be effectively eliminated. Among all approaches introduced for harmonic elimination, selective harmonic compensation is believed to have a better performance. Selective harmonic compensation can successfully compensate for harmonics. It, however, forces a considerable computation burden on DSP. This paper proposes a new compensation... 

In this brief, modifications to the peaking current reference with MOS transistors operating in the subthreshold and the strong inversion region has been proposed by means of which very small currents with immunity to temperature variations on a chip can be obtained. Temperature compensation can be done by adding a source degeneration resistor to the conventional peaking current source structure. Design examples are provided for both weak and strong inversion operations with output currents of 1.5 μA and 40 μ A with less than 4% and 10% variation over the span of-40 °C to +100 °C, respectively. A prototype of the circuit operating in the weak and strong inversion region is designed,... 

Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive imaging modality that provides cross-sectional images from microstructures of tissues. This optical imaging system works based on Michelson interferometry principle and has intermediate resolution and penetration depth which makes it appropriate for imaging thin tissues such as skin and eye. OCT images suffer from three main artifacts that make images difficult to be analyzed. The first one is small grainy structures called speckle which degrade image quality and decreases axial and lateral resolution. The second one is light intensity attenuation which is a function of depth. It happens because of absorbing and scattering nature of tissue... 

This paper deals with robust frequency compensation in control of fractional-order plants with an uncertain fractional pole/zero (or specially in control of integer-order plants with an uncertain pole/zero). The specifications yielding a robust compensation are introduced, and fractional-order compensators are proposed for satisfying these specifications in the set-point tracking control of the above-mentioned plants. Also, the infinite ranges for the uncertain parameter of the plant, in which satisfying robust compensation specifications is possible by the obtained compensators, are exactly specified. Furthermore, the stability of the obtained control system is analytically analyzed.... 

Introduction: Cardiac contraction significantly degrades quality and quantitative accuracy of gated myocardial perfusion SPECT (MPS) images. In this study, we aimed to explore different techniques in motion-compensated temporal processing of MPS images and their impact on image quality and quantitative accuracy. Material and method: 50 patients without known heart condition underwent gated MPS. 3D motion compensation methods using Motion Freezing by Cedars Sinai (MF), Log-domain Diffeomorphic Demons (LDD) and Free-Form Deformation (FFD) were applied to warp all image phases to fit the end-diastolic (ED) phase. Afterwards, myocardial wall thickness, myocardial to blood pool contrast, and...