Sharif Digital Repository

In this manuscript, an advanced damage-plasticity model is utilized to simulate response of concrete structures under high-velocity impact. Due to presence of large deformations, it is necessary to incorporate the damage-plasticity model into the finite deformation framework. In high-velocity impact, severe numerical problems could be encountered while updating stress values due to the sudden increase in their levels, especially for the complicated material model used in this study. To overcome these obstacles, an enhancement is made in the nonlinear system of equations of stress- updating procedure. In addition, an adaptive multi-step numerical algorithm is introduced which improves the... 

Stimuli responsive hydrogels (SRHs) are attractive bioscaffolds for tissue engineering. The structural similarity of SRHs to the extracellular matrix (ECM) of many tissues offers great advantages for a minimally invasive tissue repair. Among various potential applications of SRHs, cartilage regeneration has attracted significant attention. The repair of cartilage damage is challenging in orthopedics owing to its low repair capacity. Recent advances include development of injectable hydrogels to minimize invasive surgery with nanostructured features and rapid stimuli-responsive characteristics. Nanostructured SRHs with more structural similarity to natural ECM up-regulate cell-material... 

To enhance physicomechanical properties and bioactivity of fibrous membranes for wound dressing and tissue engineering applications, novel composite scaffolds consisting of fibrous mats and thermosensitive hydrogel particles were prepared by concurrent electrospinning and electrospraying technique. The composite scaffolds were composed of keratin/bacterial cellulose fibers (150 ± 43 nm) which are hybridized with hydrogel particles (500 nm to 2 μm) based on nonionic triblock copolymers conjugated with Tragacanth gum (TG). FTIR and H-NMR studies indicated ester reactions between carboxylated copolymers and TG through carbodiimide crosslinker chemistry. The hydrogel particles were uniformly... 

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is an extracellular natural polymer produced by many microorganisms and its properties could be tailored via specific fabrication methods and culture conditions. There is a growing interest in BC derived materials due to the main features of BC such as porous fibrous structure, high crystallinity, impressive physico-mechanical properties, and high water content. However, pristine BC lacks some features, limiting its practical use in varied applications. Thus, fabrication of BC composites has been attempted to overcome these constraints. This review article overviews most recent advance in the development of BC composites and their potential in biomedicine including... 

Stimuli responsive polymer hydrogels have sparked a considerable interest for biomedical applications. In this work, we present a novel injectable thermal responsive hydrogel based on mineral nanoclay (LAPONITE®), wool-derived fibrous protein (keratin), triblock copolymer (Pluronic), and chitosan biopolymer with potential applications for articular cartilage tissue engineering. Genipin was utilized as a natural crosslinker. The formation of polymer conjugates between the components is confirmed by FTIR and 1H NMR spectroscopy. The nanocomposite hydrogel contains interconnected pores within the hydrogel network and the size of the pores is found to reduce at higher crosslinking density and on... 

Nanofibrous structures mimicking the native extracellular matrix have attracted considerable attention for biomedical applications. The present study aims to design and produce drug-eluting core-shell fibrous scaffolds for wound healing and skin tissue engineering. Aloe vera extracts were encapsulated inside polymer fibers containing chitosan, polycaprolactone, and keratin using the co-axial electrospinning technique. Electron microscopic studies show that continuous and uniform fibers with an average diameter of 209 ± 47 nm were successfully fabricated. The fibers have a core-shell structure with a shell thickness of about 90 nm, as confirmed by transmission electron microscopy. By... 

Secure routing is a major key to service maintenance in ad hoc networks. Ad hoc nature exposes the network to several types of node misbehavior or attacks. As a result of the resource limitations in such networks nodes may have a tendency to behave selfishly. Selfish behavior can have drastic impacts on network performance. We have proposed a Misbehavior-Tolerant Multipath Routing protocol (MTMR) which detects and punishes all types of misbehavior such as selfish behavior, wormhole, sinkhole and grey-hole attacks. The protocol utilizes a proactive approach to enforce cooperation. In addition, it uses a novel data redirection method to mitigate the impact of node misbehavior on network... 

This book focuses on a central question in the field of complex systems: Given a fluctuating (in time or space), uni- or multi-variant sequentially measured set of experimental data (even noisy data), how should one analyse non-parametrically the data, assess underlying trends, uncover characteristics of the fluctuations (including diffusion and jump contributions), and construct a stochastic evolution equation?
Here, the term "non-parametrically" exemplifies that all the functions and parameters of the constructed stochastic evolution equation can be determined directly from the measured data.
The book provides an overview of methods that have been developed for the analysis of... 

Consider the parameter Λ(G) = |E(G)| - |V(G)|(k - 1) + (k2) for a k-chromatic graph G, on the set of vertices V(G) and with the set of edges E(G). It is known that Λ(G)≥0 for any k-chromatic uniquely vertex-colourable graph G (k-UCG), and, S.J. Xu has conjectured that for any k-UCG, G, Λ(G) = 0 implies that cl(G) = k; in which cl(G) is the clique number of G. In this paper, first, we introduce the concept of the core of a k-UCG as an induced subgraph without any colour-class of size one, and without any vertex of degree k - 1. Considering (k, n)-cores as k-UCGs on n vertices, we show that edge-minimal (k, 2k)-cores do not exist when k ≥ 3, which shows that for any edge-minimal k-UCG on 2k...