Sharif Digital Repository

A Takagi-Sugeno adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (TSFIS) model is developed and applied to a dataset of wellhead flow-test data for the Resalat oil field located offshore southern Iran, the objective is to assist in the prediction and control of multi-phase flow rates of oil and gas through the wellhead chokes. For this purpose, 182 test data points (Appendix 1) related to the Resalat field are evaluated. In order to predict production flow rate (QL) expressed as stock-tank barrels per day (STB/D), this dataset includes four selected input variables: upstream pressure (Pwh); wellhead choke sizes (D64); gas to liquid ratio (GLR); and, base solids and water including some water-soluble... 

In this paper, we present a machine learning model to estimate the blood pressure (BP) of a person using only his photoplethysmogram (PPG) signal. We propose algorithms to better detect some critical points of the PPG signal, such as systolic and diastolic peaks, dicrotic notch and inflection point. These algorithms are applicable to different PPG signal morphologies and improve the precision of feature extraction. We show that the logarithm of dicrotic notch reflection index, the ratio of low-to high-frequency components of heart rate (HR) variability signal, and the product of HR multiplied by the modified Normalized Pulse Volume (mNPV) are the key features in accurately estimating the BP... 

Lake Urmia (LU) is the second largest hypersaline lake in the world. Lake Urmia's water level has dropped drastically from 1277.85 m to 1270.08 m a.s.l (equal to 7.77 m) during the last 20 years, equivalent to a loss of 70% of the lake area. The likelihood of lake-groundwater connection on the basin-scale is uncertain and understudied because of lack of basic data and precise information required for physically-based modeling. In this study, cross-correlation analysis is applied on a various time-frames of water level of the lake and groundwater levels (2001–2018) recorded in 797 observation wells across 17 adjacent aquifers. This provides insightful information on the lake-groundwater... 

Polarity coincidence correlator (PCC), when used to estimate the covariance matrix on an element-by-element basis, may not yield a positive semi-definite (PSD) estimate. Devlin et al. (Devlin, 1975) claimed that element-wise PCC is not guaranteed to be PSD in dimensions p > 3 for real signals. However, no justification or proof was available on this issue. In this letter, it is proved that for real signals with p ≤ 3 and for complex signals with p ≤ 2, a PSD estimate is guaranteed. Counterexamples are presented for higher dimensions which yield invalid covariance estimates. © 2007 IEEE  

The process kinetics of a lab-scale upflow aerobic immobilized biomass (UAIB) reactor using simulated sugar-manufacturing wastewater as feed was investigated. The experimental unit consisted of a 22 l reactor filled with high porosity pumice stone. The UAIB reactor was tested under different organic loads and different hydraulic retention times (HRT) and the substrate loading removal rate was compared with prediction of Stover-Kincannon model, second-order model and the first order substrate removal model. After obtaining steady-state conditions, organic loading rate was increased from 750 to 4500 g COD/m3 day to resemble wastewater from sugar production lines, and hydraulic retention time... 

A quantitative structure-retention relationships model has been developed to study the retention behavior of 87 aliphatic and aromatic compounds in Reversed-Phase Liquid Chromatography (RPLC) on five bonded-phase columns differing in silanol group acidity. Six numerical descriptors of Molecular Mass (M), partial charge of the most negative atom (NPCH), partial charge of the most positive hydrogen (PCHH), van der Waals volume (VOLUME), Dipole Moment (DIMO), and Highest Occupied Molecular Orbital (HOMO) have been calculated for each compound. A separate Multiple Linear Regression (MLR) model has been developed using the six descriptors for each column. Partial Least Square (PLS) combined with... 

The aim of this study was to estimate the test-retest reliability of some commonly used center of pressure measures in postural control investigations of sport injuries under the diverse stressful postural conditions. Twelve patients with anterior cruciate ligament injury were evaluated on two separate sessions. The center of pressure was recorded from force platform and the following measures were calculated (1) standard deviation of amplitude (2) mean velocity (3) standard deviation of velocity (4) phase plane parameters and (5) area (95% confidence ellipse). Relative and absolute reliability was assessed using intra-class correlation coefficient and coefficient of variation, respectively.... 

STUDY DESIGN. Cultural translation and psychometric testing. OBJECTIVE. To translate and validate the Iranian versions of the Neck Disability Index (NDI-IR) and the Neck Pain and Disability Scale (NPDS-IR). SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA. The widely used the NDI and the NPDS scales have not been translated and validated for Persian-speaking patients with neck pain. This was to provide a validated instrument to measure functional status in patients with neck pain in Iran. METHODS. The translation and cultural adaptation of the original questionnaires were carried out in accordance with the published guidelines. One hundred and eighty-five patients with neck pain were participated in the study.... 

Rate constants, kA. for the aromatic nucleophilic substitution reaction of 2-chloro-3,5-dinitropyridine with aniline were determined in different compositions of 1-(1-butyl)-3-methylimidazolium terafluoroborate ([bmim]BF4) mixed with water, methanol, and ethanol at 25°C. The obtained rate constants of the reaction in pure solvents are in the following order: water > methanol > ethanol > [bmim]BF4. In these solutions, rate constants of the reaction decrease with the mole fraction of the ionic liquid. Single-parameter correlations of log kA versus normalized polarity parameter (ETN), hydrogen bond acceptor basicity (β), hydrogen bond donor acidity (α), and dipolarity/polarizability (π*) do not... 

An artificial neural network model was developed for modeling of the effects of mechanical alloying parameters including milling time, milling speed and ball to powder weight ratio on the characteristics of Al-8 vol%SiC nanocomposite powders. The crystallite size and lattice strain of the aluminum matrix were considered for modeling. This nanostructured nanocomposite powder was synthesized by utilizing planetary high energy ball mill and the required data for training were collected from the experimental results. The characteristics of the particles were determined by X-ray diffraction, scanning and transmission electron microscopy. Two types of neural network architecture, i.e. multi-layer... 

STUDY DESIGN. Cross-cultural translation and psychometric testing were performed. OBJECTIVES. To cross-culturally translate the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI), Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RDQ), and Quebec Back Pain Disability Scale (QDS) into Persian, and then investigate the psychometric properties of the Persian versions produced. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA. To the authors' knowledge, there is no validated instrument to measure functional status in Persian-speaking patients with low back pain (LBP) in Iran. To our knowledge, the widely used back-specific measures, the ODI, RDQ, and QDS, have not been translated and validated for Persian-speaking patients with LBP. METHODS. The... 

Abstract: In this paper, a secure and efficient Blind Source Separation (BSS) based cryptosystem is presented. The use of BSS in audio and image cryptography in wireless networks has attracted more attention. A BSS based cryptosystem consists of three main parts: secret data, secret keys, and mixing matrix. In this paper, we propose a new design to create a proper mixing matrix in BSS based cryptosystem. We offer a mathematical criterion to select mixing matrix elements before encryption. The proposed criterion gives a simple way to attach the secret sources to keys, which makes source separation very hard for the adversary. Versus, we show that using the random mixing matrix can lead to... 

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is an imaging tool that is used to analyze the brain’s functions. Brain functional connectivity analysis based on fMRI signals often calculated correlations among time series in different areas of the brain. For FC analysis most prior research works generate the brain graphs based on linear correlations, however, the nonlinear behavior of the brain can lower the accuracy of such graphs. Usually, the Pearson correlation coefficient is used which has limitations in revealing nonlinear relationships. One of the proper methods for nonlinear analysis is the Kernel trick. This method maps the data into a high dimensional space and calculates the linear... 

Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is an imaging tool that is used to analyze the brain’s functions. Brain functional connectivity analysis based on fMRI signals often calculated correlations among time series in different areas of the brain. For FC analysis most prior research works generate the brain graphs based on linear correlations, however, the nonlinear behavior of the brain can lower the accuracy of such graphs. Usually, the Pearson correlation coefficient is used which has limitations in revealing nonlinear relationships. One of the proper methods for nonlinear analysis is the Kernel trick. This method maps the data into a high dimensional space and calculates the linear... 

An immersed solvent microextraction (SME) method was successfully developed for the trace enrichment of s-triazine herbicides from aquatic media. A microdrop of butyl acetate was applied as the extraction solvent. After extraction, the microdrop was introduced directly into a gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) injection port. Some important extraction parameters such as type of solvent, extraction time, stirring rate, and temperature were investigated and optimized. The highest possible microdrop volume of 3 μl, a sampling temperature of 60°C, and use of butyl acetate are major parameters to obtain high enrichment factors. The enrichment factor and linearity was studied by... 

Abstract. The linear sequential circuit approximation method for combiners with memory is used to find mutually correlated linear transforms of the input and output sequences in the well-known summation generator with any number of inputs. It is shown that the determined correlation coefficient is large enough for applying a fast correlation attack to the output sequence to reconstruct the initial states of the input linear feedback shift registers. The proposed attack is based on iterative probabilistic decoding and appropriately generated low-weight parity-checks. The required output sequence length and the computational complexity are both derived. Successful experimental results for the... 

Partial discharge (PD) activity can be destructive to the transformer insulation, and ultimately may result in total breakdown of the insulation. Partial discharge sources identification in a power transformer enables the operator to evaluate the transformer insulation condition during its lifetime. In order to identify the PD source; in the case of presence of multiple sources; the first step is to capture the PD signals and to extract their specific features. In this contribution, the frequency domain analysis, the time domain analysis and the wavelet transform are employed for feature extraction purpose. In practice, there might be plenty of features, and in each scenario, only some of... 

In this study, new method for NAA purposes at 30 kW Isfahan MNSR is suggested. An algorithm based on ANN is proposed to quantitatively predict the unknown elements with no need standard sample. A three-layer feed-forward ANN with back-propagation algorithm has been used to determine concentration of selenium and fluorine in Multiple Sclerosis patients and healthy people blood samples. Predicted concentration of elements show good agreement between new method and experiment results. The correlation coefficient between the experimentally determined and predicted values are 0.99104 and 0.99364, respectively. This method is a rapid and precise approach for elemental analysis. © 2022, Akadémiai...