Sharif Digital Repository

This paper presents a novel and fast method to distinguish regular and irregular regions in satellite and aerial images. This can be employed in further processing such as detecting man-made or artificial structures, disaster response, road sign detection and etc. In order to achieve this goal, we offer a suitable definition of regular shapes. Using this definition, we propose an appropriate technique to evaluate regularity .In our approach, discrete Fourier transform plays the main role for searching the regularity. We suggest a criterion; called RCNR, which indicates to some extent that the shape is regular. The computed RCNR value should be compared with a pre-assigned threshold value for... 

Copper sulfide deposited ZnO nanorods (ZnO NRs/CuS) have been applied as a new counter electrode material with high electrocatalytic activity towards polysulfide electrolyte, which results in the formation of a highly efficient counter electrode for QDSSCs. It was observed from the current density-voltage (J-V) characteristics that the short-circuit current density (Jsc), power conversion efficiency (PCE), and fill factor (FF) were enhanced from 7.63 mA cm-2 to 14.48 mA cm-2, 1.59% to 4.18%, and 0.29 to 0.38, respectively, when a bare CuS counter electrode was changed to a ZnO NRs/CuS counter electrode. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), Tafel polarization and cyclic voltammetry... 

In this paper, employing a thermomechanical small strain constitutive model for shape memory polymers (SMP), a beam element made of SMPs is presented based on the kinematic assumptions of Timoshenko beam theory. Considering the low stiffness of SMPs, the necessity for developing a Timoshenko beam element becomes more prominent. This is due to the fact that relatively thicker beams are required in the design procedure of smart structures. Furthermore, in the design and optimization process of these structures which involves a large number of simulations, we cannot rely only on the time consuming 3D finite element analyses. In order to properly validate the developed formulations, the numeric... 

A new modification of constrained groove pressing (CGP) process named as constrained groove pressing-cross route (CGP-CR) was suggested for severe plastic deformation (SPD) of sheet form metals with great potential for fabricating high strength nanostructured sheets. This process is based on the conventional CGP process including some modifications. One pass of this process includes eight stages (four corrugation and four flattening) and involves 90° cross-rotation between each two stages. As a result of each CGP-CR pass, a strain magnitude of ∼2.32 is imparted to the sample. To simulate the process, finite element modeling (FEM) was carried out using three-dimensional finite element... 

A modified method of severe plastic defomation (SPD) entitled constrained groove pressing-cross route (CGP-CR) was introduced for imposing a high magnitude of equivalent strain of about 2.32 per pass on the sheet form samples. The major benefit of this improved route compared to previous common route was the more homogeneity of strain in the rolling (RD) and transverse (TD) directions of sheets. In this study, low carbon steel samples were used for examination of evolutions in microstructure and mechanical properties during SPD via CGP-CR process. Mechanical properties improvement were measured by tensile and macro hardness tests. The results indicate that CGP-CR process can effectively... 

In direct torque control, the selection of an applied voltage vector is based on the measured parameters at the beginning of the sampling period. The delay between the measurement and the application of the voltage vector is the origin of an extra torque ripple. In this paper, a new predictive controller is proposed for compensating this delay and reducing the torque ripple. The stator current is measured twice in each sampling period and its expected value at the end of the period is predicted according to a linear extrapolation algorithm. Therefore, none of the machine parameters are used in the prediction, and consequently, the algorithm is quite robust against machine parameter... 

The efficiency of induction motors decreases at light loads. Efficiency optimizer control systems adjust the motor flux value to achieve the best efficiency in a wide range of load variations. Reduced flux operation has some other benefits such as power factor improvement and torque ripple reduction. The latter is an important issue in a direct torque controlled induction motor drive. In this paper, the effect of flux reference value on the torque ripple of a direct torque controlled induction motor is analyzed. The effect of flux value on torque ripple in a wide range of speed variations is investigated. Simulation and the experimental results presented justify the validity of the... 

An essential input to the musculoskeletal (MS) trunk models that estimate muscle and spine forces is kinematics of the thorax, pelvis, and lumbar vertebrae. While thorax and pelvis kinematics are usually measured via skin motion capture devices (with inherent errors on the proper identification of the underlying bony landmarks and the relative skin-sensor-bone movements), those of the intervening lumbar vertebrae are commonly approximated at fixed proportions based on the thorax-pelvis kinematics. This study proposes an image-based kinematics measurement approach to drive subject-specific (musculature, geometry, mass, and center of masses) MS models. Kinematics of the thorax, pelvis, and... 

Recent advances in medical imaging techniques have allowed pure displacement-control trunk models to estimate spinal loads with no need to calculate muscle forces. Sensitivity of these models to the errors in post-imaging evaluation of displacements (reported to be ∼0.4–0.9° and 0.2–0.3 mm in vertebral displacements) has not yet been investigated. A Monte Carlo analysis was therefore used to assess the sensitivity of results in both musculoskeletal (MS) and passive finite element (FE) spine models to errors in measured displacements. Six static activities in upright standing, flexed, and extended postures were initially simulated using a force-control hybrid MS-FE model. Computed vertebral... 

As a primary load-resisting component, annulus fibrosus (AF) maintains structural integrity of the entire intervertebral disc. Experiments have demonstrated that permanent deformation and damage take place in the tissue under mechanical loads. Development of an accurate model to capture the complex behaviour of AF tissue is hence crucial in disc model studies. We, therefore, aimed to develop a non-homogenous model to capture elastic, inelastic and failure responses of the AF tissue and the entire disc model under axial load. Our model estimations satisfactorily agreed with results of existing uniaxial (along fiber, circumferential and axial directions) and biaxial tissue-level tests. The... 

The main source of energy consumption in the current MAC protocols for wireless sensor networks is idle listening. To mitigate this problem, duty cycling is used. However, it increases data delivery latency. In this paper, we propose an Interference-aware duty-cycle MAC (IMAC) protocol for wireless sensor networks that uses cross-layer information to reserve multiple paths for each source and send data packets along them efficiently. IMAC also handles the existing interference between these paths such that data packets can be delivered in the minimum required number of cycles. Simulation results in ns-2 show that the proposed algorithm has an average reduction of 49% in data delivery latency... 

In this paper, the elastic solution to the problem of an isotropic bi-material full-space reinforced by a perfectly bonded thin film across the media interface and subjected to arbitrary asymmetric interfacial loading is addressed. To not include any simplifications, the thin film is first considered as a layer having a finite thickness, and with the aid of Fourier expansion of Muki's potential functions in Hankel transformed space, the formulation of the problem is obtained for a tri-material full-space. Then, knowing that the flexural stiffness of the thin film is negligible, its thickness and shear modulus are assumed to tend to zero and infinity, respectively, such that its in-plane... 

With the aid of a method of displacement potentials, an efficient and accurate analytical derivation of the three-dimensional dynamic Green's functions for a transversely isotropic multilayered half-space is presented. Constituted by proper algebraic factorizations, a set of generalized transmission-reflection matrices and internal source fields that are free of any numerically unstable exponential terms are proposed for effective computations of the potential solution. Three-dimensional point-load Green's functions for stresses and displacements are given, for the first time, in the complex-plane line-integral representations. The present formulations and solutions are analytically in exact... 

With the aid of a complete representation using two displacement potentials, an efficient and accurate analytical derivation of the fundamental Green's functions for a transversely isotropic elastic half-space subjected to an arbitrary, time-harmonic, finite, buried source is presented. The formulation includes a complete set of transformed stress-potential and displacement-potential relations that can be useful in a variety of elastodynamic as well as elastostatic problems. The present solutions are analytically in exact agreement with the existing solutions for a half-space with isotropic material properties. For the numerical evaluation of the inversion integrals, a quadrature scheme... 

Generation of reactive oxygen species, delayed blood clotting, prolonged inflammation, bacterial infection, and slow cell proliferation are the main challenges of effective wound repair. Herein, a multifunctional extracellular matrix-mimicking hydrogel is fabricated through abundant hydrogen bonding among the functional groups of gelatin and tannic acid (TA) as a green chemistry approach. The hydrogel shows adjustable physicochemical properties by altering the concentration of TA and it represents high safety features both in vitro and in vivo on fibroblasts, red blood cells, and mice organs. In addition to the merit of facile encapsulation of cell proliferation-inducing hydrophilic drugs,... 

Generation of reactive oxygen species, delayed blood clotting, prolonged inflammation, bacterial infection, and slow cell proliferation are the main challenges of effective wound repair. Herein, a multifunctional extracellular matrix-mimicking hydrogel is fabricated through abundant hydrogen bonding among the functional groups of gelatin and tannic acid (TA) as a green chemistry approach. The hydrogel shows adjustable physicochemical properties by altering the concentration of TA and it represents high safety features both in vitro and in vivo on fibroblasts, red blood cells, and mice organs. In addition to the merit of facile encapsulation of cell proliferation-inducing hydrophilic drugs,... 

The increasing importance of nanotechnology in the field of biomedical applications has encouraged the development of new nanomaterials endowed with multiple functions. Novel nanoscale drug delivery systems with diagnostic, imaging and therapeutic properties hold many promises for the treatment of different types of diseases, including cancer, infection and neurodegenerative syndromes. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are both low-dimensional sp2 carbon nanomaterials exhibiting many unique physical and chemical properties that are interesting in a wide range of areas including nanomedicine. Since 2004, CNTs have been extensively explored as drug delivery carriers for the intracellular transport of...