Sharif Digital Repository

A new wearable assistive device (WAD) was developed to decrease required force on the lumbar spine in static holding tasks. In order to obtain moments on lumbar spine in two conditions, with and without WAD, a biomechanical static model was used for estimation of external moments on lumbar spine. The results of biomechanical models indicated that there was a reduction in the lumbar moment ranging from 20% to 43% using WAD depending on the load and flexion angle. A total of 15 male healthy subjects were tested to experimentally verify the predicted reduction of external moments on the spine by wearing WAD. Normalized electromyography (EMG) of the right and left lumbar and thoracic erector... 

In the present study, oblique low-velocity impact (OLVI) on GLARE fiber-metal laminates (FMLs) has been modeled using finite element analysis (FEA) for the first time. Two types of boundary conditions (BCs) can be considered for impactor in the low-velocity impact: constrained (if the impact angle between the impactor and target remains constant during and after the contact) and free (if rotation of the impactor and change in angle with respect to the target is likely) BCs. The more details of these BCs are described in the paper. The OLVI is numerically modeled for four different impact angles. Effect of BC types and impact angle on energy absorption, as well as maximum contact force, is... 

In the present study, oblique low-velocity impact (OLVI) on GLARE fiber-metal laminates (FMLs) has been modeled using finite element analysis (FEA) for the first time. Two types of boundary conditions (BCs) can be considered for impactor in the low-velocity impact: constrained (if the impact angle between the impactor and target remains constant during and after the contact) and free (if rotation of the impactor and change in angle with respect to the target is likely) BCs. The more details of these BCs are described in the paper. The OLVI is numerically modeled for four different impact angles. Effect of BC types and impact angle on energy absorption, as well as maximum contact force, is... 

The main problem with oral drug delivery using gelatin is rapid dissolution in aqueous mediums, which results in high-speed drug release. In the present study to overcome the challenge, we used glutaraldehyde to cross-link gelatin in order to control the burst release of drug. A drug delivery system based on gelatin nanoparticles (GNPs) for carrying Gliclazide was prepared by a two-step dissolution method. FTIR spectrum showed the presence of an aldimine functional group in GNPs, which confirms that gelatin structure is cross-linked by glutaraldehyde. XRD pattern showed that the crystallinity and crystal size of GNPs were 8% and 73 nm, respectively. SEM images showed the cross-linked... 

In the present study, first, Fe3O4nanoparticles were functionalized using glutaric acid and then composited with CQDs. Doxorubicin (DOX) drug was loaded to evaluate the performance of the nanocomposite for targeted drug delivery applications. The XRD pattern confirmed the presence of characteristic peaks of CQDs and Fe3O4. In the FTIR spectrum, the presence of carboxyl functional groups on Fe3O4/CQDs was observed; DOX (positive charge) is loaded onto Fe3O4/CQDs (negative charge) by electrostatic absorption. FESEM and AFM images showed that the particle sizes of Fe3O4and CQDs were 23-75 and 1-3 nm, respectively. The hysteresis curves showed superparamagnetic properties for Fe3O4and Fe3O4/CQDs... 

In this study, we present results of a mathematical model in which the governing equations of electroforming process were solved using a robust finite element solver (COMSOL Multiphysics). The effects of different parameters including applied current density, solution electrical conductivity, electrode spacing, and anode height on the copper electroforming process have been investigated. An electroforming experiment using copper electroforming cell was conducted to verify the developed model. The obtained results show that by increasing the applied current density, the electroforming process takes place faster, thereby resulting in a higher thickness of the electroformed layer. In addition,... 

Ultrasound hyperthermia is used to treat tumors in human tissue by heat. It is characterized by the application of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), high local temperatures and short treating time of a few seconds. HIFU is a non-invasive treatment modality for a variety of cancers, including breast, prostate, kidney, liver, bone, uterus, and pancreatic cancers. Computer models have been used to determine tissue temperatures during ultrasound hyperthermia. In this work, we consider a liver tissue with a tumor at its center. We calculated temperature distribution in the presence a large blood vessel. We studied the effect of varying the exposure time (heating duration) and the diameter... 

N-annulated perylene based materials show outstanding and tunable optical and physical properties, making them suitable to be charge transport materials for optoelectronic applications. However, this type of materials has so far not been well studied in solar cells. Here, we develop a new hole transport material (HTM), namely S5, based on perylene building block terms, for organic-inorganic hybrid perovskite solar cells (PSCs). We have systematically studied the influences of the film thickness of S5 on their photovoltaic performance, and a low concentration of S5 with a thinner HTM film is favorable for obtaining higher solar cell efficiency. S5 shows excellent energy alignment with... 

We propose and analyze a circularly polarized slot antenna built on a ferrite substrate which is saturated normal to its plane and metalized on both sides. The antenna is built by etching a circular slot in the top metal layer. The antenna operates in the frequency range where the effective permeability of ferrite is negative. An accurate analytical model is derived for the antenna by solving the integral equation for the electric field on the circular slot. The results obtained are in good agreement with numerical simulations. Using the analytical results, a practical antenna is designed that uses a microstrip feed line. For an antenna with inner and outer radii of 4.9 and 5.9 mm, the... 

The objective of this article is to study gas temperature estimation in a partially filled rotating cylinder. From the measured temperatures on the shell, an inverse analysis is presented for estimating the gas temperature in an arbitrary cross-section of the aforementioned system. A finite-volume method is employed to solve the direct problem. By minimizing the objective function, a hybrid effective algorithm, which contains a local optimization algorithm, is adopted to estimate the unknown parameter. The measured data are simulated by adding random errors to the exact solution. The effects of measurement errors on the accuracy of the inverse analysis are investigated. Two optimization... 

A fuzzy controller has been suggested for attitude control of magnetic actuated satellites in order to calculate the desired mechanical torque based on the attitude error including error in the angles and their rates. The problem of selecting proper magnetic dipole based on the known desired mechanical torque has been investigated, two different methods for the purpose has been suggested and the performance of the attained fuzzy magnetic attitude controllers has been shown under two different simulated conditions. © 2009 IEEE  

Cells can sense and respond to changes in the topographical, chemical, and mechanical information in their environment. Engineered substrates are increasingly being developed that exploit these physical attributes to direct cell responses (most notably mesenchymal stem cells) and therefore control cell behavior toward desired applications. However, there are very few methods available for robust and accurate modeling that can predict cell behavior prior to experimental evaluations, and this typically means that many cell test iterations are needed to identify best material features. Here, we developed a unifying computational framework to create a multicomponent cell model, called the... 

In this paper, a continuous model for flexural vibration of beams with a vertical edge crack including the effects of shear deformation and rotary inertia is presented. The crack is assumed to be an open-edge crack perpendicular to the neutral plane. A quasi-linear displacement filed is suggested for the beam, and the strain and stress fields are calculated. The governing equation of motion for the beam has been obtained using Hamilton principle. The equation of motion is solved with a modified weighted residual method, and the natural frequencies and mode shapes are obtained. The results are compared to the results of similar model with Euler–Bernoulli assumptions and finite element model... 

In this study, biodegradation of corn starch/glycerol/Na-MMT nanocomposites by soil burial tests were carried out for up to 6 months. Films were prepared by casting method according to central composite design and response surface methodology was applied for analysis of the results. The effects of formulation on the water solubility, contact angle and tensile strength of starch films were investigated. Increasing in Na-MMT content decreased biodegradability; while presence of glycerol, increased it. The effect of nanoparticles content might have been attributed to interactions between starch and Na-MMT that further prevented enzymatic attack on the biopolymer. In addition, the films with... 

In this research, response surface methodology (RSM) was applied to study the effects of Na-Montmorillonite (Na-MMT) and glycerol on some functional properties of corn starch films. Films were prepared by casting method according to central composite design (CCD). Originally image processing technique was used in order to estimate transparency of the films. It was found that Na-MMT absorbed UV light from 216 to 266. nm. No antimicrobial activities were observed against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. Contact angle analysis revealed hydrophilicity of starch films decreased utilizing nanoparticles and increased with plasticizer content. Increase in glycerol content decreased... 

This paper presents an algorithm for synchronizing two different chaotic systems by using a combination of Unscented Kalman-Bucy Filter (UKBF) and sliding mode controller. It is assumed that the drive chaotic system is perturbed by white noise and shows stochastic chaotic behavior. In addition the output of the system does not contain the whole state variables of the system, and it is also affected by some independent white noise. By combining the UKBF and the sliding mode control, a synchronizing control law is proposed. Simulation results show the ability of the proposed method in synchronizing chaotic systems in presence of noise  

In this paper, a continuous model for vibration analysis of a beam with an open edge crack including the effects of shear deformation and rotary inertia is presented. A displacement field is suggested for the beam and the strain, and stress fields are calculated. The governing equation of motion for the beam has been obtained using Hamilton's principle. The equation of motion is solved with a modified Galerkin method and the natural frequencies and mode shapes are obtained. A good agreement has been observed between the results of this research and the results of previous work done in this fiels. The results are also compared to results of a similar model with Euler-Bernoulli assumptions to... 

A new nonlinear optimization method for parameter estimation in Michaelis-Menten equation has been developed. This method is based on a special mathematical form of the Michaelis-Menten equation to finding the best fit of the linear plot of R versus S/(S + Km) where R, S, and Km are the reaction rate, concentration of substrate, and the Michaelis-Menten constant, respectively. By setting the intercept of this line to zero, the proper Km will be obtained and the slope would give the saturation rate, Vmax. As a result, a nonlinear, two-parameter optimization is simplified into finding the roots of a nonlinear equation. Generated data sets were used... 

(Liquid + liquid) equilibrium (LLE) data for the ternary systems (heptane + toluene + 1-ethyl-3-methylpyridinium ethylsulfate) and (heptane + benzene + 1-ethyl-3-methylpyridinium ethylsulfate) were measured at T = 298.15 K and atmospheric pressure. The selectivity and aromatic distribution coefficients, calculated from the equilibrium data, were used to determine if this ionic liquid can be used as a potential extracting solvent for the separation of aromatic compounds from heptane. The consistency of tie-line data was ascertained by applying the Othmer-Tobias and Hand equations  

We propose two nonlinear regression methods, namely, Adversarial Orthogonal Regression (AdOR) for additive noise models and Adversarial Orthogonal Structural Equation Model (AdOSE) for the general case of structural equation models. Both methods try to make the residual of regression independent from regressors, while putting no assumption on noise distribution. In both methods, two adversarial networks are trained simultaneously where a regression network outputs predictions and a loss network that estimates mutual information (in AdOR) and KL-divergence (in AdOSE). These methods can be formulated as a minimax two-player game; at equilibrium, AdOR finds a deterministic map between inputs...