Sharif Digital Repository

Electrical impedance tomography (EIT) is a simple, economic and healthy technique to capture images from the internal area of the body. Although EIT is cheaper and smaller than other imaging systems and requires no ionizing radiation, the resolution associated with this technique is intrinsically limited and the image reconstruction algorithms proposed up to now are not efficient enough. In addition to low resolution EIT is an ill-posed inverse problem. Block method in EIT is based on electrical properties of materials and used to enhance image resolution and also to improve the reconstruction algorithm. Recently an inverse solution for EIT based on block method has been developed, however,... 

Electrical impedance tomography is a simple and economic medical imaging technology which permits regional assessment of the electrical properties of organs within the body based on measurements made from electrodes on the surface of the body. Block method is a new solution for electrical impedance tomography used to enhance image resolution and to improve reconstruction algorithm. Image reconstruction by block method is an ill-posed and nonlinear problem also has memory and time consuming process which can be improved by using modified equations. Improving forward solution for block electrical impedance tomography method can make linear equations for image reconstruction algorithm  

The curve of exhaled inert gas concentration against exhaled volume is called gas washout curve. The slope at the end part of gas washout curve (Sn) is a measure of structural abnormalities. Sn depends on the spatial concentration distribution and dynamic of gas washout, which depends on several mechanisms including asymmetry of airways, nonhomogeneous ventilation, sequential emptying, and gas exchange with blood. Due to a large number of airways in human lungs, using simplified models is inevitable. On the other hand, these simplified models cannot capture some of the mentioned mechanisms and subsequently were not able to predict experimental trend of change in Sn with breath number in... 

The curve of exhaled inert gas concentration against exhaled volume is called gas washout curve. The slope at the end part of gas washout curve (Sn) is a measure of structural abnormalities. Sn depends on the spatial concentration distribution and dynamic of gas washout, which depends on several mechanisms including asymmetry of airways, nonhomogeneous ventilation, sequential emptying, and gas exchange with blood. Due to a large number of airways in human lungs, using simplified models is inevitable. On the other hand, these simplified models cannot capture some of the mentioned mechanisms and subsequently were not able to predict experimental trend of change in Sn with breath number in... 

Cell formation and cellular layout design are the two main steps in designing a cellular manufacturing system (CMS). In this paper, we will present an integrated methodology based on a new concept of similarity coefficients and the use of simulated annealing (SA) as an optimization tool. In comparison with the previous works, the proposed methodology takes into account relevant production data, such as alternative process routings and the production volumes of parts. The SA-based optimization tool is parallel in nature and, hence, can reduce the computation time significantly, so it is capable of handling large-scale problems. Finally, the SA-based procedure is compared with a genetic... 

The usual key assumptions in designing quality control charts are the normality and independency of serial samples. While the normality assumption holds in most cases, in many continuous-flow processes such as the chemical processes, serial samples have some degrees of autocorrelation associated with them. Ignoring the autocorrelation structure in constructing control charts, results in decreasing the in-control run length, and so increasing the false alarms. Moreover, when the object is to detect small shifts in the mean vector of a process, the performance of Cumulative Sum (CUSUM) control charts is dramatically better than Schewhart control charts. One of the methods, which have been... 

The Block method approach to solve EIT problem leads to an exact solution if the measurements are done without error. Non-iterative method is a feasible approach on solving 3D EIT forward problem. However, the effect of the measurement error has not been considered in this method yet. In this article, the 3D model of EIT with block method has been considered. The required equations to solve the forward problem are then generated. To solve the forward problem, non-iterative method has been employed. Effect of the measurement error on forward problem for a 3D model of EIT are generated. It has been shown that for a sample 3D model, measurement error can propagate exponentially. ©2007 IEEE  

The uncertainty and the complexity associated with the domino effect is a barrier to assessing the frequency of such accidents analytically. The use of simulation techniques, such as Monte Carlo, to examine the domino effect instead of analytical techniques has shown great promise. In this paper, a new method to assess the frequency of domino accidents is proposed-FREEDOM II-which is an improvement on the recent algorithm proposed by the authors (FREEDOM). The modifications on FREEDOM were carried out to overcome a limitation of the method and to extend its capabilities. A key shortcoming of the earlier method was its inability to handle multiple failure scenarios. This shortcoming has been... 

In this paper, the flexible flow shop sequence-dependent group scheduling problem (FFSDGS) with minimisation of makespan as the criterion (FF m|fmls, S plk|C max) is investigated. For the first time a mathematical model for the proposed research problem is developed. Since the problem is shown to be NP-hard, six metaheuristic algorithms based on tabu search (TS) are developed to efficiently solve the problem. The proposed metaheuristics are different to the only available metaheuristic algorithm in the literature based on TS. By applying randomised complete block design and using available test problems in the literature, the best of the proposed TS algorithms in this research is identified.... 

A new approach is introduced to estimate the formal information of neurons. Formal Information, mainly discusses about the aspects of the response that is related to the stimulus. Estimation is based on introducing a mathematical nonlinear model with Hammerstein-Wiener system estimator. This method of system identification consists of three blocks to completely describe the nonlinearity of input and output and linear behaviour of the model. The introduced model is trained by 166 spikes of neurons and other 166 spikes are used to test and validate the model. The simulation results show the R-Value of 92.6 % between estimated and reference information rate. This shows improvement of 1.41 % in... 

The present study provides an inverse solution and analysis on a new approach for Electrical Impedance Tomography (EIT) process as block method in EIT. In this method, it is assumed that all of the panicles of each block have the same electrical properties (electrical conductivities). This technique is used to enhance image resolution and also to improve reconstruction algorithm. Although this method has been developed for 3D objects, in this study it is assumed that the subject has a (two-dimensional) rectangular shape and is made of fixed size blocks. By considering the previous conditions and computing relationship among currents, voltages and electrical impedances of blocks, the required... 

There is a great deal of interest in the manufacturing industry for quantitative measures of process performance with multiple quality characteristics. Unfortunately, multivariate process capability indices that are currently employed, except for a handful of cases, depend intrinsically on the underlying data being normally distributed. In this paper, we propose a general multivariate capability index based on the Mahanalobis distance, which is very easy to use. We also approximate the distribution of these distances by the Burr XII distribution and then estimate its parameters using a simulated annealing search algorithm. Finally, we give an example, based on real manufacturing process... 

Multi-agent robotic platforms are increasingly used for various commercial applications. In this paper, a cross altitude visual analytic framework for a group of robots, singularly referred to as MOdular RApidly Deployable Decision Support Agent (MORAD DSA), used for decision support and various services in the smart city environment is presented. The robotic subsystem consists of two agents operating in different altitudes. These agents give the decision support system the ability to have encompassing view of the operating environment. The visual analytic system which is the focus of this paper uses a deep convolutional neural network to learn the complex patterns required by the urban... 

Visual interpretation of complex visual patterns in non-urban environments is necessary for many applications in smart rural community management, smart farming and smart jungles. In this paper, the Glimpse-Gaze framework for deep learning based visual interpretation of complex rural and jungle environment scenes is proposed. The proposed framework is used for decision support and navigation by a multi-agent robotic system singularly referred to as MOdular RApidly Deployable Decision Support Agent (MORAD DSA). A set of deep con-volutional neural networks are trained for fast and accurate interpretation of jungle scenes. Transfer learning and auxiliary pretraining on salient regions of the... 

A high-quality butt joint of aluminum to copper (Al/Cu) can rarely be achieved by conventional fusion and solid-state welding processes. In this research, the appropriateness of friction stir welding (FSW) for making high-quality Al/Cu welds was studied. A sound Al/Cu butt joint was achieved with relatively high strength in uni-axial tensile tests. Mechanical properties and microstructure of the sound friction stir welds were examined. The ultimate tensile strength of the joints reached about 75 percent of the aluminum base metal, with the fracture occurring at aluminum side. The metallurgical study of the welds before and after their failure in tensile tests showed that the heat affected... 

In this article, ferrohydrodynamic forced-convection heat transfer from a heated sphere embedded in a ferrofluid in the presence of the uniform external magnetic field has been studied numerically for the first time over a wide range of Reynolds number value, nanoparticle diameter, particle volume fraction, and magnetic field intensity. Despite the uniform external magnetic field applied, the internal magnetic field near the sphere could be nonuniform due to the considerable difference between the relative magnetic permeability of the sphere and the surrounding medium. Kelvin body force arises from this nonuniformity and induces vortexes near the sphere. These vortexes disturb the boundary... 

The effectiveness of the application of CFD to vapour cloud explosion (VCE) modelling depends on the accuracy with which geometrical details of the obstacles likely to be encountered by the vapour cloud are represented and the correctness with which turbulence is predicted. This is because the severity of a VCE strongly depends on the types of obstacles encountered by the cloud undergoing combustion; the turbulence generated by the obstacles influences flame speed and feeds the process of explosion through enhanced mixing of fuel and oxidant. In this paper a CFD-based method is proposed on the basis of the author's finding that among the various models available for assessing turbulence, the... 

Graphene oxide membranes were prepared by vacuum and pressurized ultrafiltration methods on the 12% modified Polyacrylonitrile (12mPAN) substrate to specify challenges, salient features, future directions, and potential of GO membrane for separation fields using characterization techniques and gas separation test (studied gases are CO2, He and N2), which is an efficient tool for better understanding of GO membrane behavior. GO membrane structure was examined over a wide range of parameters, such as pore size range of substrate and its surface properties, pH of GO dispersion, GO content, synthesis pressure, operating pressure and temperature. The results show that the GO content does not hold... 

The solubility of Pd(NO3)2 in water is moderate whereas it is completely soluble in diluted HNO3 solution. Pd/MIL-101(Cr) and Pd/MIL-101-NH2(Cr) were synthesized by aqueous solution of Pd(NO3)2 and Pd(NO3)2 solution in dilute HNO3 and used for CO oxidation reaction. The catalysts synthesized with Pd(NO3)2 solution in dilute HNO3 showed lower activity. The aqueous solution of Pd(NO3)2 was used for synthesis of mono-metal Ni, Pd and bimetallic PdNi nanoparticles with various molar ratios supported on MOF. Pd70Ni30/MIL-101(Cr) catalyst showed higher activity than monometallic counterparts and Pd + Ni physical mixture due to the strong synergistic effect of PdNi nanoparticles, high distribution... 

The solubility of Pd(NO3)2 in water is moderate whereas it is completely soluble in diluted HNO3 solution. Pd/MIL-101(Cr) and Pd/MIL-101-NH2(Cr) were synthesized by aqueous solution of Pd(NO3)2 and Pd(NO3)2 solution in dilute HNO3 and used for CO oxidation reaction. The catalysts synthesized with Pd(NO3)2 solution in dilute HNO3 showed lower activity. The aqueous solution of Pd(NO3)2 was used for synthesis of mono-metal Ni, Pd and bimetallic PdNi nanoparticles with various molar ratios supported on MOF. Pd70Ni30/MIL-101(Cr) catalyst showed higher activity than monometallic counterparts and Pd + Ni physical mixture due to the strong synergistic effect of PdNi nanoparticles, high distribution...