Sharif Digital Repository

Blood transfusion services are vital components of healthcare systems all over the world. In this paper, a generalized network optimization model is developed for a complex blood supply chain in accordance with Iranian blood transfusion organization (IBTO) structure. This structure consist of four types facilities. Blood collection centers, blood collection and processing centers, mobile teams and blood transfusion center have various duties in IBTO structure. The major contribution is to develop a novel hybrid approach based on stochastic programming, ε-constraint and robust optimization (HSERO) to simultaneously model two types of uncertainties by including stochastic scenarios for total... 

In this research "MnO2/MWCNT" nanocomposite was prepared firstly and then it was used as an adsorbent for Cr+3 ions removal from aqueous solutions. Our results showed that the prepared nanocomposite from modified multi-wall carbon nanotube and MnO2 has a good capacity for Cr+3 removal from aqueous solution. Morphology and Crystallinity of the modified MWCNT before and after deposition on MnO2 were examined by SEM and XRD. In turn, the experimental results were examined according to the Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin Isotherms and Freundlich isotherm represented our experimental results  

In this research "MnO2/MWCNT" nanocomposite was prepared firstly and then it was used as an adsorbent for Cr+3 ions removal from aqueous solutions. Our results showed that the prepared nanocomposite from modified multi-wall carbon nanotube and MnO2 has a good capacity for Cr+3 removal from aqueous solution. Morphology and Crystallinity of the modified MWCNT before and after deposition on MnO2 were examined by SEM and XRD. In turn, the experimental results were examined according to the Langmuir, Freundlich and Temkin Isotherms and Freundlich isotherm represented our experimental results  

Background and aims: Among different types of occupational accidents in the construction industry, falls and falling objects accidents (group I) account for 44% of construction accidents. Hit by vehicle, electric shock, collapse in the excavation and fire or explosion accidents (group II), while are only 7% frequent, make up about 26% of all fatalities and total disabling accidents. The aim of this study is to investigate these two groups of accidents and to discuss the obtained results in order to identify the potential hazards of construction industry. Methods: Data mining methods are employed to analyze data in this research. Hence, 21864 data records which were provided by Social... 

In this work, slag based aluminosilicate geopolymer was reinforced with polymeric fibers including, polyester (PES) (waste tire cap plies), polymeric particles including polyethylene terephthalate (PET) (waste water bottle), styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) (waste tire), and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) (waste water hose). The tensile and compressive strength of the material was evaluated. Taguchi method was employed to assess the influence of the effective parameters on the mechanical characteristics of the geopolymer composite. QUALITEK-4 software was used to create the L32 orthogonal array with 192 (96+96) geopolymer specimens and 32+32 experiments. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was utilized to... 

In order to extend our previous theoretical calculations that dealt with the thermochemistry of doping the single walled boron nitride nanotubes, BNNTs, and carbon nanotubes, CNTs, with alminium atoms [1], we have used the AM1, PM3, and PM6 semiempirical methods to investigate the interaction of the tacrine molecule (a drug for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease) with the side-walls of aluminum doped boron nitride and carbon nanotubes in thermodynamic views. At first, the frequency calculations were carried out to confirm the stability of the involved structures. In addition, the theoretical thermodynamic study of tacrine adsorption onto the considered nanotubes was performed and the... 

The electron transport characteristics of a 1,10-dimethylene-1,10-dicarba-closo-decaborane (10-vertex carborane) single molecular conductor is investigated via the density functional-based non-equilibrium Green's function (DFT-NEGF) method. We consider three configurations for the molecular wire sandwiched between two Au(1 0 0) electrodes: the hollow site, top site and bridge site positions. Our results show that the energetically favorable hollow site configuration has a higher current intensity than the other configurations. The projection of the density of states (PDOS) and the transmission coefficients T(E) of the two-probe system at zero bias are analyzed, and it suggests that the... 

This research focuses on a sensitivity analysis of accumulators configuration in a Large Break Loss of Coolant Accident (LB-LOCA) in Bushehr Nuclear Power Plant (BNPP). In this way, primary and secondary side components are modeled using RELAP5/MOD3.3 code. Having modeled the BNPP in a steady state hot full power operation, the thermal hydraulic consequences of a LB-LOCA in the reactor inlet is considered and sensitivity analysis for four major different configurations of accumulators are studied in detail. It is shown that any arrangement of accumulators in the Reactor Pressure Chamber (RPC) or Reactor Collection Chambers (RCC) leads to variation of fuel and clad temperatures during the... 

We report a density functional non-equilibrium Green's function study of electrical transport in a single molecular conductor consisting of an ethane-dithiolate (C2H4S2) molecular wire with two sulfur end groups bonded to the Au(1 1 1) electrodes. We show that the current was increased by increasing the external voltage biases. The projected density of states (PDOS) and transmission coefficients T(E) under various external voltage biases are analyzed, and it suggests that the variation of the coupling between the molecule and the electrodes with external bias leads to the increase of the current. Furthermore, the investigation of the transport properties of the pentane-dithiolate (C5H10S2)... 

This article has been retracted at the request of the Editorial Board of Current Applied Physics. Please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (http://www.elsevier.com/locate/withdrawalpolicy). Reason: The authors have plagiarized part of a paper that had already appeared in J. Phys. Chem. B, 109 (2005) 3334–3339: “Changes of Coupling between the Electrodes and the Molecule under External Bias Bring Negative Differential Resistance, by Xingqiang Shi, Xiaohong Zheng, Zhenxiang Dai, Yang Wang, and Zhi Zeng”. One of the conditions of submission of a paper for publication is that authors declare explicitly that their work is original and has not appeared in a publication elsewhere. Re-use... 

The electron transport characteristics of a 1,10-dimethylene-1,10-dicarba-closo-decaborane (10-vertex carborane) single molecular conductor is investigated via the density functional-based non-equilibrium Green's function (DFT-NEGF) method. We consider three configurations for the molecular wire sandwiched between two Au(1 0 0) electrodes: the hollow site, top site and bridge site positions. Our results show that the energetically favorable hollow site configuration has a higher current intensity than the other configurations. The projection of the density of states (PDOS) and the transmission coefficients T(E) of the two-probe system at zero bias are analyzed, and it suggests that the... 

It is well understood that patients with different diseases may have a variety of specific proteins (e.g., type, amount, and configuration) in their plasmas. When nanoparticles (NPs) are exposed to these plasmas, the resulting coronas may incorporate some of the disease-specific proteins. Using gold (Au) NPs with different surface properties and corona composition, we have developed a technology for the discrimination and detection of two neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer's disease (AD) and multiple sclerosis (MS). Applying a variety of techniques, including UV-visible spectra, colorimetric response analyses and liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry, we found the corona-NP... 

Four 5-, 10-, 20- and 30-story moment frames, representing low-, mid-, and two high-rise structures, were subjected to a great number of idealized directivity pulses. The amplitudes and periods of pulses vary from 0.02 g to 1.0 g and 0.5 to 12 sec, respectively. Over 1400 nonlinear dynamic analyses of low- to high-rise moment frames were performed which were feasible through using modified fish-bone model. The distribution of interstory drift along the height was studied and two applied contours were proposed: (i) the maximum interstory drift contour, and (ii) the critical story contour. These contours were demonstrated versus the ratio of natural period of the structure to the pulse period... 

In this article singular points of a parallel manipulator are obtained based on a novel geometrical method. Here we introduce the constrained plain method (CPM) and some of its application in parallel mechanism. Given the definition of constraint plane (CP) and infinite constraint plane (ICP) the dependency conditions of constraints is achieved with the use of a new theorem based on the Ceva geometrical theorem. The direction of angular velocity of a body is achieved by having three ICPs with the use of another theorem. Finally, with the use of the above two novel theorems singularities of the 3UPF_PU mechanism are obtained. It should be emphasized that this method is completely geometrical,... 

An analytical model is proposed to study the effect of particle size on melting enthalpy and entropy of metallic nanoparticles (NPs). The Mott's and Regel's equations for melting entropy in the combination of core average coordination number (CAC) and surface average coordination number (SAC) of freestanding NPs are considered. Clusters of icosahedral (IC), body centered cubic (BCC), and body centered tetragonal (BCT) structure without any vacancies and defects are modeled. Using the variable coordination number made this model to be in good agreement with experimental and molecular dynamic (MD) results of different crystal structures. The model predicts melting entropy and enthalpy of... 

Grinding is widely used for manufacturing of components that require fine surface finish and good dimensional accuracy. In this study a thermo-mechanical finite element analysis is conducted to find out how grinding parameters can affect temperature and residual stress distribution in the workpiece. Results of parametric study presented in this work indicate, by carefully selecting the grinding parameters, minimum thermal and mechanical damage can be achieved. Higher workpiece velocities produce higher surface residual stress. By increasing depths of cut, depth of tensile residual stresses increases. Convection heat coefficient does not have any considerable effect on surface residual stress... 

Adaptive Noise Cancellation (ANC) is a well-known technique for background noise reduction in automobile and vehicular environments. The noise fields in automobile and other vehicle interior obey the diffuse noise field model closely. On the other hand, the ANC does not provide sufficient noise reduction in the diffuse noise fields. In this paper, a new multistage post-filter is designed for ANC as a solution to diffuse noise conditions. The designed post-filter is a single channel Linear Prediction (LP) based speech enhancement system. The LP is performed by an adaptive lattice filter and attempts to extract speech components by using intermediate ANC signals. The post-filter has no... 

Shot peening is widely used to improve the fretting fatigue strength of critical surfaces. Fretting fatigue occurs in contacting parts that are subjected to fluctuating loads and sliding movements at the same time. This paper presents a sequential finite element simulation to investigate the shot peening effects on normal stress, shear stress, bulk stress and slip amplitude, which are considered to be the controlling parameters of fretting damage. The results demonstrated that among the modifications related to shot peening, compressive residual stress has a dominant effect on the fretting parameters