Sharif Digital Repository

This paper introduces the connection-graph-stability method and uses it to establish a new lower bound on the algebraic connectivity of graphs (the second smallest eigenvalue of the Laplacian matrix of the graph) that is sharper than the previously published bounds. The connection-graph-stability score for each edge is defined as the sum of the lengths of the shortest paths making use of that edge. We prove that the algebraic connectivity of the graph is bounded below by the size of the graph divided by the maximum connection-graph-stability score assigned to the edges  

Localization is a crucial problem in wireless sensor networks and most of the localization algorithms given in the literature are non-adaptive and designed for fixed sensor networks. In this paper, we propose a learning based localization algorithm for mobile wireless sensor networks. By this technique, mobility in the network will be discovered by two crucial methods in the beacons: position and distance checks methods. These two methods help to have accurate localization and constrain communication just when it is necessary. The proposed method localizes the nodes based on connectivity information (hop count), which doesn't need extra hardware and is cost efficient. The experimental... 

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a chronic inflammatory disease frequently associated with a deficit in learning and memory. Working memory is an important system for decision making and guidance, which depends on interactions between the ventral hippocampus (vHipp) and the prelimbic prefrontal cortex (plPFC). It is still unclear whether AR influences the activity and coupling of these brain areas, which consequently may impair working memory. The current study aimed to examine alterations of the vHipp-plPFC circuit in a rat model of AR. Our results show decreased working memory performance in AR animals, accompanied by a reduction of theta and gamma oscillations in plPFC. Also, AR reduces... 

Key predistribution in sensor networks refers to the problem of distributing secret keys among sensor nodes prior to deployment. Recently, many key predistribution schemes have been proposed for wireless sensor networks. To further improve these techniques, researchers have also proposed to use sensors' expected location information to help predistribution of keying materials. In this paper we propose a lightweight and scalable key establishment scheme for GPS-enabled wireless sensor networks. This scheme has little communication overhead and memory usage. Since communications and computations of key establishment schemes are done only once and when the network is begin initiated, actually... 

In this paper, a reliable low power single phase grid-connected inverter for photovoltaic modules is proposed. The inverter has improved lifetime since large electrolytic capacitor is replaced with small film capacitor due to circuit topology, power processing and proper control scheme. Thus the main limiting component in single phase grid connected inverters is obviated. The proposed inverter consists of two power processing stages. First a dual active bridge (DAB) converter boosts the voltage of PV panel to approximately 440 V and eliminates impact of high dc bus voltage ripples. A proper feed forward control is proposed to regulate the dc bus voltage with high ripple. Simulation results... 

High reliability and low power consumption are among the major requirements in design of wireless sensor networks (WSNs). In this paper, a multi-objective problem is formulated as a Joint Power consumption and data Reliability (JPR) optimization problem. For this purpose, a connected dominating set (CDS)-based topology control approach is proposed. Our objective is to self-organize the network with minimum interference and power consumption. We consider the power changes into a topology with minimum CDS infrastructure subject to connectivity constraints. Since this problem is NP-hard, it cannot be dealt with using polynomial-time exact algorithms. Therefore, we first present a genetic... 

Sensor networks are increasingly employed in many applications ranging from environmental to military cases. The network topology used in many sensor network applications has a kind of geographical structure. A graph weighting method for reducing consensus time in random geographical networks is proposed in this paper. We consider a method based on the mutually coupled oscillators for providing general consensus in the network. In this way, one can relate the consensus time to the properties of the Laplacian matrix of the connection graph, i.e. to the second smallest eigenvalue (algebraic connectivity). Our weighting algorithm is based on the node and edge between centrality measures. The... 

Hierarchical reinforcement learning facilitates learning in large and complex domains by exploiting subtasks and creating hierarchical structures using these subtasks. Subtasks are usually defined through finding subgoals of the problem. Providing mechanisms for autonomous subgoal discovery and skill acquisition is a challenging issue in reinforcement learning. Among the proposed algorithms, a few of them are successful both in performance and also efficiency in terms of the running time of the algorithm. In this paper, we study four methods for subgoal discovery which are based on graph partitioning. The idea behind the methods proposed in this paper is that if we partition the transition... 

We present a nonlinear geometric approach to fault detection and isolation (FDI) in a grid-connected inverter system. Open-switch faults in inverter power transistors together with faults in grid voltages and source current sensors are detected and isolated in the presence of disturbance. The detection process is based on dynamic model of an inverter, including a dc-bus capacitor and an output RL filter. The proposed FDI system does not rely on balanced or zero-sum conditions in the grid point and is functional under nonsinusoidal voltages and currents. IEEE  

We present a nonlinear geometric approach to fault detection and isolation (FDI) in a grid-connected inverter system. Open-switch faults in inverter power transistors together with faults in grid voltages and source current sensors are detected and isolated in the presence of disturbance. The detection process is based on dynamic model of an inverter, including a dc-bus capacitor and an output $RL$ filter. The proposed FDI system does not rely on balanced or zero-sum conditions in the grid point and is functional under nonsinusoidal voltages and currents. © 1993-2012 IEEE  

DC microgrids (DC-MGs) are becoming popular as an effective means to integrate various renewable energy resources. Conventionally, the droop control is adopted as a decentralized control strategy for proper power sharing without using any communication link. However, the conventional droop control often deteriorates due to the effects of unequal line resistances. In this paper, a control strategy is proposed for a DC-MG to achieve perfect power sharing considering the effects of line resistances. The DC-MG under study consists of a photovoltaic system, two energy storage systems, a grid-connected converter system, and dc loads. The control strategy of the converters is addressed under... 

Kinematic mismatch between exoskeletons and human body results in excess internal forces/torques and hence discomfort as well as increase the power consumption. The connection stiffness has been shown to have potentials for minimizing the kinematic mismatch effects. However, realization of a desired stiffness in the connection element seems difficult if not impractical. In this work, adding controlled backlash to the exoskeleton-body connection is investigated as a possible solution for the kinematic mismatch challenge. A stiffness model which includes backlash parameters was formulated and identified experimentally using three male subjects on a typical lower extremity exoskeleton. A... 

This paper proposes a hierarchical active power management strategy for a medium voltage (MV) islanded microgrid including a multihybrid power conversion system (MHPCS). To guarantee excellent power management, a modular power conversion system is realized by parallel connection of small MHPCS units. The hybrid system includes fuel cells (FC) as main and supercapacitors (SC) as complementary power sources. The SC energy storage compensates the slow transient response of the FC stack and supports the FC to meet the grid power demand. The proposed control strategy of the MHPCS comprises three control loops; dc-link voltage controller, power management controller, and load current sharing... 

In the (k, λ)-subgraph problem, we are given an undirected graph G = (V,E) with edge costs and two positive integers k and λ, and the goal is to find a minimum cost simple λ-edge-connected subgraph of G with at least k nodes. This generalizes several classical problems, such as the minimum cost k-spanning tree problem, or k-MST (which is a (k, 1)-subgraph), and the minimum cost λ-edge-connected spanning subgraph (which is a (|V(G)|, λ)-subgraph). The only previously known results on this problem [L. C. Lau, J. S. Naor, M. R. Salavatipour, and M. Singh, SIAM J. Comput., 39 (2009), pp. 1062-1087], [C. Chekuri and N. Korula, in Proceedings of the IARCS Annual Conference on Foundations of... 

In this paper we propose a new fault location algorithm for power transmission lines based on one terminal voltage and current data. A distributed time domain model of the line is used as a basis for algorithm development. The suggested technique only takes advantage of post-fault voltage and current samples taken at one end of the line and does not require filtering of DC offset and high-frequency components of the recorded signals, which are present during transient conditions. Another advantage of the proposed method is the application of a very narrow window of data i. e. less than 1/4 of a cycle. The paper also proposes two different algorithms for lossless and lossy line models.... 

In some websites, it is necessary to distinguish between human users and computer programs which is known as CAPTCHA (Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Human Apart). CAPTCHA methods are mainly based on the weaknesses of OCR systems while using them are undesirable to human users and cannot be used in some devices such as devices without keyboard. Nintendo DS is a popular handheld game console which was released in 2004. Nowadays, facilities such as the Internet connection are added in new game consoles and they are not merely used for playing games. Nintendo DS is also capable of connecting to the Internet by using the Nintendo DS Browser. But Nintendo DS Browser... 

This study considers blood flow in total cavopulmonary connection (TCPC) morphology created in Fontan surgical procedure in patients with a single ventricle heart disease. Ordinary process of TCPC operation reduces pulmonary blood flow pulsatility since the right ventricle being bypassed. This reduction may limit the long term outcome of Fontan circulation. There is an idea of increasing pulmonary flow pulsations by keeping Main Pulmonary Artery (MPA) partially open while it was closed in ordinary TCPC operation. The purpose of the present study is to verify the effects of Antegrade Flow (AF) coming through stenosed MPA on pulmonary flow pulsations. The 3D geometry is reconstructed from CT... 

Many Random Key Distribution (RKD) schemes have been proposed in the literature to enable security applications in Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). A main security aspect of RKD schemes is their resistance against node capture attacks, since compromising the sensors and capturing their keys is a common risk in such networks. We propose a new method, based on a 2-Dimensional Hash Chain (2DHC), that can be applied on any RKD scheme to improve their resilience. Our method maintains the flexibility and low cost features of RKD schemes and it doesn't require any special-purpose hardware or extra memory to store keys in the sensors. We demonstrate that our approach significantly increases the...