Sharif Digital Repository

Fast-swelling highly porous superabsorbent hydrogels were synthesized through a rapid radical polymerization under normal atmospheric conditions. To synthesize a biopolymer-based superabsorbent hydrogel, 2-hydroxyethyl acrylate (HEA) and sodium acrylate (AANa) were grafted on the starch backbone in an aqueous solution. The graft copolymerization reaction was carried out in the presence of ammonium persulfate (APS) as an initiator and N, N′-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as a cross-linker in a homogeneous medium. The chemical structure of the hydrogels was confirmed by FT-IR spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). The morphology of the samples was examined by scanning electron... 

A novel approach was developed to prepare a highly porous hydrogel with superior salt- and pH-resisting properties. According to this method, synthetic comonomers, i.e. acrylic acid (AA) and 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS), were polymerized and crosslinked in the presence of hydrolyzed collagen as a natural backbone. The characterizations of hydrogels were investigated by swelling experiment, Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, acid-base titration and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). Morphology of the samples was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Experimental results indicate that the hydrogel has an absorbency of 360 and 73-82 g/g for distilled... 

A novel full-polysaccharide hydrogel was prepared by crosslinking of chitosan with periodate-oxidized sucrose. A tetraaldehyde molecule is synthesized via periodate oxidation of sucrose and then applied as a crosslinking agent to form a new hydrogel network. A mechanism for the superabsorbent hydrogel formation via reductive N-alkylation was also suggested. The structure of the hydrogel was confirmed by FTIR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). It is shown that crosslinking of chitosan can improve its thermal stability. The effects of crosslinker concentration, pH, and inorganic salt on the swelling behavior of the hydrogel were studied. The... 

Temperature-sensitive hydrogels based on N-t-butylacrylamide (TBA), acrylamide (AAm), and sodium alginate were prepared by free radical polymerization method. Methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) and amonium persulfate (APS) were applied as water soluble crosslinker and initiator, respectively. The chemical structure of the hydrogels was confirmed by FT-IR spectroscopy and thermogravimetric analysis (TCA) methods. Morphology of the samples was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). By changing the initial TBA/AAm mole ratios, hydrogels with different swelling properties were obtained. The rate parameters were found to be 2.0, 2.4, and 3.5 min for the superabsorbents with AAm/TBA weight... 

A series of superabsorbent composites were synthesized through graft copolymerization of acrylic acid (AA) onto carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) in the presence of celite powder using N,N'-methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as a cross-linking agent and ammonium persulphate (APS) as an initiator. The chemical structure and thermal properties of the composite hydrogels were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy and TGA methods, respectively. Morphology of the samples was examined by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). In free-state, the swelling conditions and hence the related data are not real, because in all their applications the swelling particles of superabsorbent must absorb aqueous solutions while... 

Sleep study is very important in the health since sleep disorders affect the productivity of individuals. One of the important topics in sleep research is the classification of sleep stages using the electroencephalogram (EEG) signal. Electrical activities of brain are measured by EEG signal in the laboratory. In real-world environments, EEG signal is also used in portable monitoring devices to analyze sleep. In this study, we propose an efficient method for classification of sleep stages. EEG signals are examined by a new model from autoregressive (AR) family, namely logistic smooth transition autoregressive (LSTAR) to study sleep process. In contrast to the AR model, LSTAR is a non-linear... 

Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common brain disorder among children. It presents various symptoms, hence, utilizing the information obtained from functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) time-series data can be useful. Finding functional connections in typically developed control (TDC) and ADHD patients can be helpful in classification. The aim of this paper is to present a multifold method for the study of fMRI data to diagnose ADHD patients. In the proposed method, first, by applying the Stockwell transform (ST), we obtain detailed information about the time-series of the region of interests (ROIs) in the time and frequency domains. ST provides information about... 

A novel superabsorbent composite based on kappa-Carrageenan (κC) was prepared by graft copolymerization of acrylamide (AAm) onto κC in the presence of bentonite powder using methylenebisacrylamide (MBA) as a crosslinking agent, ammonium persulfate (APS) as an initiator, and sodium carbonate as a pore-forming agent. The swelling behavior in distilled water and in solutions with different pH values was investigated. The results indicated that with increasing carrageenan/bentonite weight ratio, the swelling capacity is increased but the gel content is decreased. The swelling rate of the hydrogels was improved by introducing sodium carbonate as pore-forming agent. The prepared superadsorbent... 

The increasing rate of transient faults necessitates the use of on-chip fault-tolerant techniques in embedded microprocessors. Performance overhead is a challenging problem in on-chip fault-tolerant techniques used in the random logic of the embedded microprocessors. This paper presents a signature-based error detection and roll-back recovery technique for the control logic with much lower performance overhead as compared to many previous techniques. The low performance overhead is achieved by eliminating the fault masking overhead cycles in the previous techniques. The performance overhead is analytically studied, and the analytical results recommend at which fault rate the use of the... 

The influence of Zr 2 on the crystallization behavior, microstructure, and machinability of SiO 2-Al 2O 3-MgO-K 2O-B 2O 3-F glasses was investigated. The crystallization of the glass-ceramic was markedly affected by addition of ZrO 2. These glasses crystallize more rapidly. The number of mica crystals increases, whereas the size of the mica crystals decreases drastically. Machining of these glass-ceramics was found to be good, as confirmed by a drilling test using conventional steel tools. Such mechanical properties are attributable to the microstructure of these glass-ceramics. Very fine crystals are homogeneously distributed in glass matrix  

Formation of machinable glass-ceramic in the system MgO-SiO 2-Al2O3-K2O-B2O 3-F with and without addition of MgF2 has been investigated. Crystallization of glass sample was done by controlled thermal heat treatment at nucleation and crystallization temperatures. The results showed that MgF2 in high concentration had a synergistic effect and enhanced the formation of interlockedmica crystals. Non-isothermal DTA experiments showed that the crystallization activation energies of base glasses were changed in the range of 235-405 kJ/mol, while the crystallization activation energies of samples with addition of MgF2 were changed in the range of 548-752 kJ/mol  

Physical properties of low cement castable containing 22 wt.% Al 2O3-rich MgO-Al2O3 spinel and 1.7 wt.% CaO with addition of polyacrylates, castament FS20, TPP and citric acid were investigated. Results showed castables including castament FS20 have higher flow values and better final properties comparing with castables including Darvan 7S and TPP. Also in this study we investigated the effect of addition of microsilica up to 4 wt.% on the properties of alumina-spinel castables. Microsilica is the finest particles in the system and due to suitable distribution of microsilica among other particle the open porosity reduced and mechanical strength increased. Slag penetrations resistance... 

Different concentrations of CaF2 were incorporated in mica glass-ceramics to evaluate their effects on the crystallization and microstructure. The kinetics of phase transformations, and the microstructures of the final crystalline phase were found to be dependent on the concentration of nucleation agents. The results showed that CaF2 in high concentration had a synergistic effect and enhanced the formation of interlocked mica crystals. Non-isothermal DTA experiments showed that the crystallization activation energies of base glasses were changed in the range of 235-405 kJ/mol, while the crystallization activation energies of samples with addition of CaF2 were changed in the range of 419-747... 

Resistance spot welding of dissimilar materials especially in different thickness is generally more challenging than that of similar materials due to differences in the physical, chemical and mechanical properties of the base metals. And also when the part is under static and dynamic forces the health of spot-welds is crucial. Hence, the influence of welding parameters such as current, time, applied force and hold time on the shear-tensile load has been investigated in this study. Moreover, in this research the case study is one of the most important body parts of the vehicle which is front wheel house, and effect of above-mentioned parameter on the strength of spot-welds has been... 

Formation of transparent glass-ceramic in the system MgO-SiO 2-Al 2O 3-K 2O-B 2O 3-F with and without addition of LiF and NaF has been investigated. Crystallization of glass-sample was conducted by controlled thermal heat-treatment, at determined nucleation and crystallization temperatures. In this regard, the effects of addition of LiF and NaF were investigated on the crystallization behavior and transparency of the samples. Low transmission (less than 80% at 600. nm) was observed in the basic composition (K).The addition of NaF and LiF caused more intense phase separation in the system. The results indicated that the glass-ceramic can remain transparent if fine grains with nano size are... 

A holding or a multi-business corporate seeks to coordinate its supply for minimum overall costs. A Corporate Supply Optimizer (CSO), as a central entity taking advantage, of the notion of flow networks, gathers necessary operational information from members of the corporate supply chain. The CSO then guides supply chain members on ordering decisions for a minimum overall cost for the entire supply chain. Its computational engine models the entire supply chain with multiple members in four stages to satisfy customer demand. The CSO seeks a solution with minimum total costs, unlike noncooperative supply chains where individual members compete, to optimize, their local costs. The existing... 

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are now widely accepted by developing countries as a critical tool in their efforts, so policy makers should develop ICT policies or e-policies in order to monitor and evaluate political, socio-economic and cultural impacts of ICT and also measure progress in the use of ICTs to achieve the development strategies and policies. The paper focuses on the ICT's impacts as an important part in developing e-policies, including a comprehensive model based on system approach, appropriate frameworks for determining affecting and affected elements of ICT and a conceptual framework for analyzing and prioritizing different dimensions of the society. The...