Sharif Digital Repository

The seismic risk framework of building structures has been presented to reduce earthquake-induced adverse consequences. In this context, probabilistic analysis of engineering demand parameters (EDPs) is always associated with many uncertainties and high computational demand for use in practical applications. This study has been presented to efficiently estimate the distribution of EDPs in probabilistic seismic risk assessment of irregular steel moment-resisting frames (SMRFs). For this purpose, the incorporation of the consistent fish-bone (CFB) model and the endurance time (ET) analysis method has been used. The proposed method (i.e., CFB-ET) has a substantial impact on reducing the... 

In this paper, a new constructive auto-associative neural network performing nonlinear principal component analysis is presented. The developed constructive neural network maps the data nonlinearly into its principal components and preserves the order of principal components at the same time. The weights of the neural network are trained by a combination of Back Propagation (BP) and Genetic Algorithm (GA) which accelerates the training process by preventing local minima. The performance of the proposed method was evaluated by means of two different experiments that illustrated its efficiency. ©2007 IEEE  

The specific adsorption of citrate from perchloric acid electrolytes, has been investigated using in-situ FTIR spectroscopy at Au(1 1 1) electrodes. For comparison IR spectra for formate adsorption are also presented. Clear voltammetric peaks have been observed positive of the pzc and these are shown by FTIR spectroscopy to be associated with the adsorption of citrate. Models for the surface co-ordination of the citrate anion are discussed. © 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved  

In this paper, an efficient dynamic simulation algorithm is developed for an Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) with a N degrees of freedom manipulator. In addition to the effects of mobile base, the various hydrodynamic forces exerted on these systems in an underwater environment are also incorporated into the simulation. The effects modeled in this work are added mass, viscous drag, fluid acceleration, and buoyancy forces. Also the dynamics of thrusters are developed, and an appropriate mapping matrix dependent on the position and orientation of the thrusters on the vehicle, is used to calculate resultant forces and moments of the thrusters on the center of gravity of the vehicle. It should... 

The inhibition effects of 3.5 bis (2-pyridil) 4-amino 1,2,4 triazole (NBTA) and 1-10 phenantrolin (PHEN), on corrosion of mild steel in acid solutions, (sulphuric acid and hydrochloric acid) were studied. The Tafel polarisation and ac impedance techniques were employed. Results obtained reveal that both compounds are relatively good inhibitors. The inhibition efficiencies of NBTA are higher in hydrochloric acid than in sulphuric acid. This has been attributed to the synergistic effect of chloride ions present in hydrochloric acid. The mechanism of inhibition of PHEN is believed to be owing to the formation of insoluble chelates between the organic molecules and atom/ion on the metal surface.... 

Establishing high-quality communication in construction projects is essential to securing successful collaboration and maintaining understanding among project stakeholders. Indeed, poor communication results in low productivity, poor efficiency, and substandard deliverables. While high-quality communication is recognized as contingent on the interpersonal skills of workers, the impacts of communication quality on job performance remain unknown. This study addresses this deficiency by developing a method to evaluate construction workers' communication quality. A literature review is undertaken to capture salient interpersonal skills. Leadership style, listening, team building, and clarifying... 

Breast cancer incidence has increased in recent decades. In the present study, an optimum formulation of chitosan (CS)-adorned niosome-based nanocarriers for co-delivery of doxorubicin (DOX) and vincristine (VIN) was developed for the treatment of breast cancer to reduce drug doses and overcome multidrug resistance. The three-level Box-Behnken method was utilized to optimize the particles in terms of size, polydispersity index (PDI), entrapment efficacy (EE (%)), and percent of drug release (%). The release rate of two drugs from CS-adorned nanoparticles (DOX+VIN/Nio/CS) in acidic and physiological pH is less than uncoated niosome (DOX+VIN/Nio). In addition, acidic pH increases the release... 

Background: Combating viral hepatitis is part of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and WHO has put forth hepatitis B elimination targets in its Global Health Sector Strategy on Viral Hepatitis (WHO-GHSS) and Interim Guidance for Country Validation of Viral Hepatitis Elimination (WHO Interim Guidance). We estimated the global, regional, and national prevalence of hepatitis B virus (HBV), as well as mortality and disability-adjusted life-years (DALYs) due to HBV, as part of the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study (GBD) 2019. This included estimates for 194 WHO member states, for which we compared our estimates to WHO elimination targets. Methods: The primary... 

In most image retrieval systems, images include various high-level semantics, called tags or annotations. Virtually all the state-of-the-art image annotation methods that handle imbalanced labeling are search-based techniques which are time-consuming. In this paper, a novel coupled dictionary learning approach is proposed to learn a limited number of visual prototypes and their corresponding semantics simultaneously. This approach leads to a real-time image annotation procedure. Another contribution of this paper is that utilizes a marginalized loss function instead of the squared loss function that is inappropriate for image annotation with imbalanced labels. We have employed a marginalized... 

Silk fibroin (SF) as a natural biopolymer holds great potential in biomedical research because of its biocompatibility, easy processability and high strength properties. However, slow gelation time has narrowed its applications, specifically in cell-laden microparticle production due to insufficient crosslinkable moieties. This study aimed to develop cell-laden silk fibroin-phenol (SF-Ph) microparticle through co-flow microfluidic system using SF conjugated Ph moieties whereas covalent crosslinking is mediated with horseradish peroxidase (HRP) in the presence of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). For this, the SF-Ph was synthesized through carbodiimide condensation crosslinking reaction. Aqueous... 

IMPORTANCE The Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2019 (GBD 2019) provided systematic estimates of incidence, morbidity, and mortality to inform local and international efforts toward reducing cancer burden. OBJECTIVE To estimate cancer burden and trends globally for 204 countries and territories and by Sociodemographic Index (SDI) quintiles from 2010 to 2019. EVIDENCE REVIEW The GBD 2019 estimation methods were used to describe cancer incidence, mortality, years lived with disability, years of life lost, and disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) in 2019 and over the past decade. Estimates are also provided by quintiles of the SDI, a composite measure of educational... 

The seismic risk framework of building structures has been presented to reduce earthquake-induced adverse consequences. In this context, probabilistic analysis of engineering demand parameters (EDPs) is always associated with many uncertainties and high computational demand for use in practical applications. This study has been presented to efficiently estimate the distribution of EDPs in probabilistic seismic risk assessment of irregular steel moment-resisting frames (SMRFs). For this purpose, the incorporation of the consistent fish-bone (CFB) model and the endurance time (ET) analysis method has been used. The proposed method (i.e., CFB-ET) has a substantial impact on reducing the... 

Targeted drug delivery systems using nanocarriers offer a versatile platform for breast cancer treatment; however, a robust, CD44-targeted niosomal formulation has not been developed and deeply studied (both in vitro and in vivo) yet. Here, an optimized system of epirubicin (Epi)-loaded niosomal nanoparticles (Nio) coated with hyaluronic acid (HA) has been engineered for targeting breast cancer cells. The nanoformulation was first optimized (based on size, polydispersity index, and entrapment efficiency); then, we characterized the morphology, stability, and release behavior of the nanoparticles. Epirubicin release from the HA-coated system (Epi-Nio-HA) showed a 21% (acidic buffer) and 20%... 

Although medical advancements have successfully helped a lot of couples with their infertility by assisted reproductive technologies (ART), sperm selection, a crucial stage in ART, has remained challenging. Therefore, we aimed to investigate novel sperm separation methods, specifically microfluidic systems, as they do sperm selection based on sperm and/or the female reproductive tract (FRT) features without inflicting any damage to the selected sperm during the process. In this review, after an exhaustive studying of FRT features, which can implement by microfluidics devices, the focus was centered on sperm selection and investigation devices. During this study, we tried not to only point to...