Sharif Digital Repository

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of two compatibilizers, namely maleated polypropylene (PP-g-MA) and maleic anhydride grafted poly (ethylene-co-octene) (EOC-g-MA), on the morphology and thus properties of ternary nanocomposites of polypropylene (PP)/ethylene-octene copolymer (EOC)/clay nanocomposite. In this regard the nanocomposites and their neat polymer blend counterparts were processed twice using a twin screw extruder. X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, Energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and scanning electron microscopy were utilized to characterize nanostructure and microstructure besides mechanical and rheological behaviors of the... 

A nanocomposite consisting of polythiophene–silver was prepared and implemented as a desired sorbent for headspace needle trap extraction. Colloidal silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) with narrow size distribution and high stability were synthesized in water–in–oil microemulsion. This simple procedure was adapted to prepare highly monodispersed Ag NPs, starting from an initial synthesis in sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl) sulfosuccinate (AOT) reverse micelles. Polythiophene (PT) was synthesized by chemical oxidative polymerization in the presence of anhydrous ferric chloride while its polymeric structure was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR). Eventually, the prepared PT was... 

We investigate the possibility of exoplanet detection orbiting source stars in microlensing events through WFIRST observations. We perform a Monte Carlo simulation on the detection rate of exoplanets via microlensing, assuming that each source star has at least one exoplanet. The exoplanet can reflect part of the light from the parent star or emit internal thermal radiation. In this new detection channel, we use microlensing as an amplifier to magnify the reflection light from the planet. In the literature, this mode of detecting exoplanets has been investigated much less than the usual mode in which the exoplanets are considered as one companion in binary-lens events. Assuming 72 d of... 

We show that a metal-organic framework (MOF) sustained by a nanosized Ag12 cuboctahedral node can be applied to selectively extract traces of lead(II) ion from environmental water samples. The MOF was characterized by thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis, scanning electron microscopy, FTIR, and X-ray diffraction. The effects of pH value, flow rates, of type, concentration and volume of the eluent, of break-through volume and potentially interfering ions on the separation and determination of lead were evaluated. Following desorption with EDTA, Pb(II) was quantified by FAAS. The use of the MOF results in excellent analytical figures of merit including an analytical range from 2... 

A rapid, convenient and reliable method for microextraction in packed syringe (MEPS) of the loop diuretic furosemide (FUR) in urine along with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) was developed. A nanocomposite based on silver nanoparticles/polyaniline (Ag-NPs/PANI) was synthesized and used as the MEPS packing material. This nanocomposite was prepared conveniently using interfacial polymerization without the need for any templates or functional dopants. The feasibility of the synthesized nanocomposites was examined by isolation of FUR from diluted urine samples. After extraction, the analyte was desorbed by 200 μL of methanol. It was then dried and the residue was dissolved in 30 μL... 

A nanocomposite of silica-polydiphenylamine doped with silver nanoparticles (Ag-SiO2-PDPA) was successfully synthesized by the sol-gel process. For its preparation, PDPA was mixed with butanethiol capped Ag nanoparticles (NPs) and added to the silica sol solution. The Ag NPs were stabilized as a result of their adsorption on the SiO2 spheres. The surface characteristic of nanocomposite was investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In this work the Ag-SiO2-PDPA nanocomposite was employed as an efficient sorbent for micro-solid-phase extraction (μ-SPE) of some selected pesticides. An amount of 15 mg of the prepared sorbent was used to extract and... 

Zamin, which is a high level artificial life environment have been successfully used as a test bed for a number of cognitive and AI studies. Here we have tried to test the evolution of a pleasure computing mechanism in Zamin's artificial creatures and have extended their mental capabilities to cover uncertainty in action selection mechanism. The results show some improvements in both genetic evolution process and learning capabilities. More specifically, we have evolved an internal pleasure system in Zamin creatures for the first time, quite unsupervised. In addition creatures could learn much more efficient behavioral patterns than what they could before  

Market prediction has been an important machine learning research topic in recent decades. A neglected issue in prediction is having a model that can simultaneously pay attention to the interaction of global markets along historical data of the target markets being predicted. As a solution, we present a hybrid supervised semi-supervised model called HyS3 for direction of movement prediction. The graph-based semi-supervised part of HyS3 models the markets global interactions through a network designed with a novel continuous Kruskal-based graph construction algorithm called ConKruG. The supervised part of the model injects results extracted from each market's historical data to the network... 

An architectural modification method was utilized to improve fracture toughness of discontinuously reinforced aluminum (DRA) composites. Al-DRA composites having a structure similar to that of reinforced concrete were fabricated. The number of reinforcing DRA rods within Al matrix and volume fraction of SiC particles in DRA were altered to evaluate their effect on fracture behavior of these materials. It was found that architectural modification does not have any destructive influence on elastic modulus and yield strength of the composite. Moreover, the success of this method on toughness improvement strongly depends on the occurrence of debonding between Al and DRA regions upon loading  

In the present study, CS-CA nanoparticle was prepared for forming a new amide linkage, by grafting the amino groups of CS in the presence of carboxylic groups of CA that acts as cross-linking agent. The as-prepared CS-CA nanoparticle samples were characterized by use of dynamic light scattering (DLS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Fourier-transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) techniques, which showed that the cross-linking agent preserved during the chemical modifications. The adsorption capacity of the CS-CA nanoparticles for the removal of Cr (VI) in aqueous solution was studied. The adsorption equilibrium data... 

Structure identification is one of the most significant steps in Fuzzy modeling of a complex system. Efficient structure identification requires good approximation of the effective input data. Misclassification of effective input data can highly degrade the efficiency of the inference of the fuzzy model. In this paper we present a modification to Sugeno-Yasukawa modeler to improve structure identification by increasing the accuracy of effective input data detection. There exist some intermediate models in the Sugeno-Yasukawa modeling process which a combination of them will result in the final fuzzy model of the system. In the original modeling process parameter identification is only done... 

A rigorous approach is proposed to improve the resolution of integral imaging (InI) by finding the appropriate form of irregularity in the arrangement of the InI lenslets. The improvement of the resolution is achieved through redistribution of the sampling points in a uniform manner. The optimization process for finding the optimum pattern of the lens-array irregularity is carried out by minimizing a cost function, whose mathematical closed-form expression is provided. The minimization of the proposed cost function ensures the uniform distribution of sampling points and thus improves the resolution within the desired depth of field (DOF) and field of view (FOV). A set of standard resolution... 

The trade-off between the aliasing in integral imaging (II) and the level of interference among adjacent elemental images is mathematically studied in this paper. It is then shown that the multiple-access techniques successfully used in communication systems, e.g. frequency-division multiple access (FDMA), canbeinvoked to ease the trade-off. Implementation of spatial FDMA technique in three-dimensional II is discussed together with its nonidealities and limitations. Elemental images of three toy cars and their corresponding three-dimensional image are finally provided to demonstrate the superiority of the here-proposed spatial FDMA technique  

Let T be a partial Latin square and L a Latin square such that T ⊆ L.Then T is called a Latin trade, if there exists a partial Latin square T * such that T* ∩ T = ∅ and (LT) ∪ T* is a Latin square.We call T* a disjoint mate of T and the pair (T,T*) is called a Latin itrade.A Latin bitrade where empty rows and columns are ignored, is called a Κ-homogeneous Latin bitrade, if in each row and each column it contains exactly κ elements, and each element appears exactly k times.The number of filled cells in a Latin trade is referred to as its volume.Following the earlier work on κ-homogeneous Latin bitrades by Cavenagh, Donovan, and Drápal (2003 and 2004) Bean, Bidkhori, Khosravi, and... 

The seemingly inherent deficiencies of integral imaging systems-in particular, the depth of field limitation-are, in this Letter, partly resolved by using an irregular lens array, where each lens is either rotated or displaced from its original position in the conventional flat lens array. It is shown that having an array of lenses in the integral imaging system has some sort of redundancy that could be exploited to improve the quality of the image formation. The needed rotation or displacement of constituent lenses in the array is found by using a meticulous optimization algorithm, which tries to evenly distribute the optical rays emanating from each of the lenses to form the final image  

A magnetic nanocomposite consisting of nanoparticles–polybutylene terephthalate (MNPs–PBT) was electrospun and used as an extracting medium for an on-line μ-solid phase extraction (μ–SPE)–high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) set–up with an ultraviolet (UV) detection system. Due to the magnetic property of the prepared nanofibers, the whole extraction procedure was implemented under an external magnetic field to enhance the extraction efficiencies. The developed method along with the synthesized nanocomposite were found to be appropriate for the determination of trace levels of selected drugs including furosemide, naproxen, diclofenac and clobetasol propionate in the urine sample.... 

Deployment inertial effects of a spacecraft appendage on its flexible dynamics are investigated. The Euler-Bernoulli beam theory and the actual deployment profile, in which appendage axial motion accelerates from static state and then decelerates to end at zero velocity and acceleration, are employed. The study is concentrated on the arm dynamic stiffness introduced by inertial effects of the arm deployment, and the resultant effects on the arm flexible motions. Lagrange's equations and some appropriate shape functions in the series approximation method are employed to study the arm lateral elastic displacements. Finally a system of ordinary differential equations with time varying... 

The dynamics of the flexible robot arm subjected to tip mass during an actual deployment is studied. The Euler-Bernoulli beam theory and the real deployment are considered in the simulation. A new real axial velocity profile is developed. This new suggested profile simulates the actual deployment such that the arm movement starts from immovability and after attaining the final required length comes back again to the static state. Using Lagrange's equation, the equations of motion of the system are derived to study the system dynamics in this suggested deployment profile. A series approximation is used to represent the lateral elastic displacements. Using variables separation and also some... 

In the present work, a new micro-solid phase extraction (μ-SPE) sorbent as an extracting medium based on core-shell nanofibers was synthesized by electrospinning. The core-shell nanofibers of polyvinylpyrrolidone-Polybutylene terephthalate/polypyrrole (PVP-PBT/PPy) were electrospun and subsequently, modified hollow nanofibers were prepared by removing the central PVP moiety. Moreover, conventional PBT/PPy was also prepared for the comparison purposes. The homogeneity and the porous surface structure of the core-shell nanofibers were confirmed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The applicability of the fabricated nanofibers-coating was examined by immersed μ-SPE of some selected triazine... 

Rubber particle cavitation has been the focus of many investigations because it dramatically affects the mechanical properties of polymeric blends. In this work, the effect of rubber particle cavitation on the mechanical behavior of high-impact polystyrene was studied. The extent of cavitation in rubber particles was varied via different thermal contraction/expansion cycles in the range of -100 to 23°C. Tensile, creep, and Charpy impact tests were conducted to evaluate the effects of the degree of cavitation on the general mechanical properties. The notch-tip damage zone and deformation micromechanisms were also investigated by a transmitted optical microscopy technique to reveal the effects...