Sharif Digital Repository

In this paper we address the problem of learning low-dimensional subspaces using a given set of training data. To this aim, we propose an algorithm that performs by sequentially fitting a number of low-dimensional subspaces to the training data. Once we found a subset of the training data that is sufficiently near a fitted subspace, we omit these signals from the set of training signals and repeat the same procedure for the remaining signals until all training signals are assigned to a subspace. We then propose a robust version of the algorithm to address the situation in which the training signals are contaminated by additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN). Experimental results on both... 

A new approach to Image Quality Assessment (IQA) is presented. The idea is based on the fact that two images are similar if their structural relationship within their blocks is preserved. To this end, a transition matrix is defined which exploits structural transitions between corresponding blocks of two images. The matrix contains valuable information about differences of two images, which should be transformed to a quality index. Eigen-value analysis over the transition matrix leads to a new distance measure called Eigen-gap. According to simulation results, the Eigen-gap is not only highly correlated to subjective scores but also, its performance is as good as the SSIM, a trustworthy... 

This study investigates the use of structural similarity index (SSIM) on the minimised side effect to image watermarking. For the fast implementation and more compatibility with the standard discrete cosine transform (DCT)-based codecs, watermark insertion is carried out on the DCT coefficients and hence an SSIM model for DCT-based watermarking is developed. For faster implementation, the SSIM index is maximised over independent 4 × 4 non-overlapped blocks, but the disparity between the adjacent blocks reduces the overall image quality. This problem is resolved through optimisation of overlapped blocks, but, the higher image quality is achieved at a cost of high computational complexity. To... 

High water consumption and water scarcity make industrial wastewater reuse necessary, especially in those industries characterized by polluted effluents such as welding electrode manufacturing industries. The present paper investigates the coupling of coagulation-flocculation with nanofiltration (NF) to recycle water and reuse it in the process. First, the effect of different concentrations of a mixture of alum (Al2(SO4) 3.18H2O) and ferric chloride (FeCl3) on the pretreatment process was closely studied. Then the NF process was applied for complementary treatment. The NF results show that, by increasing both flow rate and transmembrane pressure (TMP), permeate flux is increased. The NF... 

Conventional buffet onset methods for a 2D supercritical airfoil, SC0410, in transonic regime for various Mach number and various angles of attack have been surveyed. The existing methods give good results for high subsonic and transonic regimes, but demand a computational procedure to detect the buffet onset. One of these methods, trailing edge pressure divergence, that have been recognized inappropriate in other studies for supercritical airfoils, shows acceptable result at least for the present supercritical airfoil. A new method has been proposed by the authors for transonic regime that is based on the physical definition of the buffet onset from the surface pressure distribution... 

We study a dynamic mechanism design problem for a network of interdependent strategic agents with coupled dynamics. In contrast to the existing results for static settings, we present a dynamic mechanism that is incentive compatible, individually rational, budget balanced, and social welfare maximizing. We utilize the correlation among agents’ states over time, and determine a set of inference signals for all agents that enable us to design a set of incentive payments that internalize the effect of each agent on the overall network dynamic status, and thus, align each agent’s objective with the social objective. © 2017, ICST Institute for Computer Sciences, Social Informatics and... 

This paper introduces a novel methodology for design and assessment of offshore structures exposed to irregular sea waves. For this, Constrained NewWave (CNW) is integrated with the Endurance Time Analysis (ETA) methodology, which is basically developed for the performance based analysis of onshore structures to earthquake loads. In this approach, the offshore structure is simulated in time-domain under a set of calibrated intensifying wave functions. They are devised to represent a gradually increasing roughness of the sea state by time. A performance index such as base shear, drift or stress in a critical structural members are monitored until they reach to a predefined maximum value. A... 

Motivated by security issues in networks, we study the problem of incentive mechanism design for dynamic resource allocation in a multi-agent networked system. Each strategic agent has a private security state which can be safe or unsafe and is only known to him. At every time, each agent faces security threats from outside as well as from his unsafe neighbors. Therefore, the agents’ states are correlated and have interdependent stochastic dynamics. Agents have interdependent valuations, as each agent’s instantaneous utility depends on his own security state as well as his neighbors’ security states. There is a network manager that can allocate a security resource to one agent at each time... 

Ta0.8Hf0.2C ceramic has the highest melting point among the known materials (4000°C). Spark plasma sintering is a new route for consolidation of materials, specially ultra high temperature ceramics (UHTCs), which are difficult to be sintered at temperatures lower than 2000°C.The purpose of this study is to consolidate Ta0.8Hf0.2C by spark plasma sintering at low temperature using MoSi2 and TaSi2 as sintering aid. In this regard, effect of different amounts of sintering aids and carbides ratio on densification behavior and mechanical properties of Ta1-xHfxC were investigated.Fully consolidation of Ta0.8Hf0.2C was achieved in presence of 12vol.% sintering aid after sintering at 1650°C for 5min... 

Zirconia/Hydroxyapatite composites containing 20-50 wt.% 8YSZ were prepared on Ti/TiO2 substrates by electrophoretic deposition (EPD)/micro-arc oxidation (MAO) process. Titania, as an inner layer, was grown on the Ti plates using MAO treatment in order to form a strong join between substrate and HAp. These composites were produced by EPD in ethanol containing ZrO2/HAp particles at 50, 100 and 150 V in 1 min. Asprepared samples were sintered at 900, 1100 and 1300 °C. HAp, β-TCP, CaZrO3 phases were identified using X-ray diffractometry analysis (XRD). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) utilized to study the surface morphology indicated a crack free microstructure at 1300 °C  

TiO2 layers were grown via pulse type microarc oxidation process under different applied voltages, frequencies, and duty cycles. Surface chemical composition and phase structure of the synthesized layers were studied utilizing X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Furthermore, scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) were employed to investigate surface morphology and topography of the layers. It was revealed that the layers had a porous structure with both anatase and rutile phases. The anatase relative content in the layers increased with the applied frequency; meanwhile, it decreased with duty cycle at low applied voltages, but... 

Diabetes, as a widespread chronic disease, is caused by the increase of blood glucose concentration (BGC) due to pancreatic insulin production failure and/or insulin resistance in the body. The artificial pancreas (AP) known as a closed-loop insulin delivery control system consists of a glucose sensor for BGC measurement, a control algorithm for calculation of exogenous insulin delivery rate (IDR), and an insulin infusion pump. The AP provides a closed-loop glucose-insulin regulatory system for type-1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients in order to effectively reduce the high BGC level. In this paper, we aim to design a controller in order to regulate the BGC of T1DM patients at its basal... 

This paper deals with an event-triggered protocol design for achieving global exponential consensus of Lipschitz nonlinear multi-agent systems (MASs) with unknown time-varying input delay and state quantization constraints. For such MASs, an event-triggered delay independent truncated predictor feedback (ET-DITPF) protocol is designed using the information of the upper bound of time-varying input delay (and not its exact value). A sufficient condition on the upper bound value of time-varying input delay is established under which the global consensus of the MASs in the presence of the state quantization constraints is achieved. Also, the avoidance of Zeno behavior is proved by finding a... 

Diabetes, as a widespread chronic disease, is caused by the increase of blood glucose concentration (BGC) due to pancreatic insulin production failure and/or insulin resistance in the body. The artificial pancreas (AP) known as a closed-loop insulin delivery control system consists of a glucose sensor for BGC measurement, a control algorithm for calculation of exogenous insulin delivery rate (IDR), and an insulin infusion pump. The AP provides a closed-loop glucose-insulin regulatory system for type-1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) patients in order to effectively reduce the high BGC level. In this paper, we aim to design a controller in order to regulate the BGC of T1DM patients at its basal... 

This article addresses the event-triggered control design for stabilization of Lipschitz nonlinear systems with time-varying input delay and state quantization constraints. The stabilization is done by an event-triggered delay-independent truncated predictor feedback controller using the information of the upper bound of time-varying input delay (and not its exact value). A sufficient condition on the value of this upper bound in order to guarantee the stability of the closed-loop system under the state quantization constraints is derived. Also, the avoidance of Zeno behavior is proved by finding a lower bound for each two successive events. Various numerical examples illustrate the... 

Benefiting from the input-to-state stability (ISS) version of the Razumikhin stability theorem, this paper deals with the stabilization of continuous linear input-delay systems with state quantization and without any knowledge about the delay. An event-triggered delay independent truncated predictor feedback (ET-DITPF) controller with a switched feedback control law is proposed to guarantee the globally uniformly asymptotic stability (GUAS)/globally uniformly exponential stability (GUES) of the closed-loop system. As a prominent feature, this controller uses no information about the time delay (neither its value nor its upper bound). In the proposed event-triggered framework, a lower bound...