Sharif Digital Repository

Power amplifiers require linearization in order to reduce adjacent inter-modulation distortion without losing efficiency. Digital predistortion is a cost effective method to achieve this goal and it needs an accurate model of the amplifier. Most of the amplifier models are based on memoryless modeling. This kind of modeling is simple but it's not accurate enough if linearization is important; and also for wide band modulations like QAM, we should consider the memory effects of power amplifiers. © 2009 IEEE  

In the case that phased array systems are not capable of attenuating interferences, Radio Frequency (RF) front-ends and Analog Digital Converters (ADCs) with a large dynamic range are required to avoid saturation of the receiver. This leads to a higher power consumption. In this paper, employing N-path circuits in Mixer-First receivers, a novel method is introduced in which spatial and frequency blockers are eliminated right before entering the system on the antennas input. In fact using this technique, adjustable spatial notch filter and band-pass frequency filter are implemented to suppress spatial and frequency interferences. The proposed method enhances the robustness and effectiveness... 

A large-signal linearization method for operational transconductance amplifiers (OTA) using a combination of cross-coupled quadratic cell and a novel non-linear current injection technique is presented in this paper. Post-layout simulations show that for 180 nm CMOS process with a 1.8 V power supply, total harmonic distortion (THD) at 1.5 V peak-to-peak and 5 kHz input is less than −46 dB. Also, the dynamic range (DR) at given THD is 68 dB with power consumption of 0.64 mW. To verify the performance, the proposed OTA is used to design a new configurable filter in high-frequency range using N-path filter methodology. Universal Butterworth Gm-C active filters are embedded in the proposed... 

A set S of vertices of a graph G = (V, E) is a dominating set if every vertex of V(G) S is adjacent to some vertex in S. The domination number γ(G) is the minimum cardinality of a dominating set of G. The domination subdivision number sdγ(G) is the minimum number of edges that must be subdivided (each edge in G can be subdivided at most once) in order to increase the domination number. Velammal in his Ph.D. thesis [Manonmaniam Sundaranar University, Tirunelveli, 1997] showed that for any tree T of order at least 3, 1 ≤ sdγ(T) ≤ 3. Furthermore, Aram, Favaron and Sheikholeslami, recently, in their paper entitled "Trees with domination subdivision number three," gave two characterizations of... 

A set S of vertices of a graph G = (V, E) without isolated vertex is a total dominating set if every vertex of V(G) is adjacent to some vertex in S. The total domination number γt(G) is the minimum cardinality of a total dominating set of G. The total domination subdivision number sd γt (G) is the minimum number of edges that must be subdivided (each edge in G can be subdivided at most once) in order to increase the total domination number. In this paper we first prove that sdγt(G) < n -δ + 2 for every simple connected graph G of order n ≥ 3. We also classify all simple connected graphs G with sdγt (G) = n -δ+ 2,n-δ + 1, and n-δ  

A novel N-path filter using a complex impedance is designed to replace the frontend SAW filters in receivers with on-chip bandpass filters. It is demonstrated that the center frequency of the filter can be tuned solely by changing the value of some capacitances without the need to change the clock frequency. In addition, thanks to the use of smaller capacitors, the silicon area is reduced compared to similar designs. The high-Q bandpass filter is realized utilizing two gyrators and an arrangement of four baseband capacitors with NMOS switches, driven by 4-phase 25% duty cycle clock signals. This paper also analyzes the performance of the proposed filter against imperfections such as thermal... 

An adaptive tracker to address the problem of tracking objects which undergo abrupt and significant motion changes is introduced. Abrupt motion of objects is an issue which makes tracking a challenging task. To address this problem, a new adaptive motion model is proposed. The model is integrated into the sequential importance resampling particle filter (SIR PF), which is the most popular probabilistic tracking framework. In this model, in each time step, if necessary, the particles' configurations are updated by using feedback information from the observation likelihood. In order to overcome the local-trap problem, local search algorithm with best improvement strategy is used to update... 

The closed neighborhood N G[e] of an edge e in a graph G is the set consisting of e and of all edges having a common end-vertex with e. Let f be a function on E(G), the edge set of G, into the set {-1, 1}. If σ xεN[e] f(x) ≥ 1 for each e ε E(G), Then f is called a signed edge dominating function of G. The minimum of the values of σ xεE(G) f(x), taken over every signed edge dominating function f of G, is called the signed edge domination number of G and is denoted by γ′ s(G). It has been conjectured that γ′ s(G) ≥ n - 1 for every simple graph G of order n. In this paper we prove that this conjecture is true for Eulerian simple graphs, simple graphs with all vertices of odd degree and regular... 

Aims. EROS (Expérience de Recherche d'Objets Sombres) has searched for microlensing toward four directions in the Galactic plane away from the Galactic center. The interpretation of the catalog optical depth is complicated by the spread of the source distance distribution. We compare the EROS microlensing observations with Galactic models (including the Besançon model), tuned to fit the EROS source catalogs, and take into account all observational data such as the microlensing optical depth, the Einstein crossing durations, and the color and magnitude distributions of the catalogued stars. Methods. We simulated EROS-like source catalogs using the HIgh-Precision PARallax COllecting Satellite... 

Neurological diseases have different etiological causes. Contemporary, developing an ef-fective treatment for these diseases is an ongoing challenge. Cell therapy is recognized as one of the promising solutions for the treatment of these diseases. Amongst various types of stem cells, bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (BM-MSC) are known to be the most widely used stem cells. These cells are endowed with appealing properties such as the ability to differentiate into other cell types, including the muscle, liver, glial, and nerve cells. In this review study, we have systematically evaluated the ability of a variety of chemical compounds used in the last ten years to differentiate... 

Faujasite (X, Y) zeolites are considered the main and important catalysts in hydrorefining processes. In order to obtain zeolites with higher acidity and volume of mesopores, post-synthesis modification, dealumination by different pickling techniques (using ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid [EDTA] chelating agent), and thermal treatment (calcination) were employed. The dealumination process led to the removal of the aluminum atoms from the zeolite structure and a rise in acidity while maintaining the zeolite crystalline lattice. X-ray diffraction (XRD), atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR), field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM),... 

In order to make a Na–Y zeolite with Si/Al ratio of 2.27 more acidic with a higher volume of mesopores, a combination of different and consecutive methods including; chemical (i.e.; utilizing different compounds, such as NH4F and EDTA) and thermal/hydrothermal (i.e.; implementing calcination/steaming) methods, were employed for modification and dealumination. The combination of acidic-hydrothermal dealumination method led to a further structural collapse compared to that of the acidic calcination. In comparison with the other dealumination methods, the fluorination strategy (i.e.; utilizing NH4F) resulted in a zeolite with higher crystallinity, acidity, and specific surface area. The... 

Nanodiamond (ND)is an allotrope of carbon nanomaterials which exhibits many outstanding physical, mechanical, thermal, optical and biocompatibility characteristics. Meanwhile, ND particles possess unique spherical shape containing diamond-like structure at the core with graphitic carbon outer shell which intuitively contains many oxygen-containing functional groups at the outer surface. Such superior properties and unique structural morphology of NDs are essentially attractive to develop polymer composites with multifunctional properties. However, despite a long history from the discovery of NDs, which is dated back to the1960s, this nanoparticle has been less explored in the field of... 

This work describes the preparation of magnetic and pH-sensitive beads based on κ-carrageenan and sodium alginate for use as drug-targeting carriers. Physical cross-linking using K+/Ca2+ ions was applied to obtain ionic cross-linked magnetic hydrogel beads. The produced magnetite beads were thoroughly characterized by TEM, SEM/EDS, XRD, FTIR, and VSM techniques. While the water absorbency (WA) of magnetic beads was enhanced by increasing the weight ratio of κ-carrageenan, introducing magnetic nanoparticles caused a decrease in WA capacity from 15.4 to 6.3 g/g. Investigation on the swelling of the hydrogel beads in NaCl, KCl, and CaCl2 solutions revealed the disintegration of beads depending... 

Microlensing events provide a unique capacity to study the stellar remnant population of the Galaxy. Optical microlensing suffers from a near-complete degeneracy between mass, velocity, and distance. However, a subpopulation of lensed stars, Mira variable stars, are also radio-bright, exhibiting strong SiO masers. These are sufficiently bright and compact to permit direct imaging using existing very long baseline interferometers such as the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA). We show that these events are relatively common, occurring at a rate of ≈2 yr-1 of which 0.1 yr-1 are associated with Galactic black holes. Features in the associated images, e.g., the Einstein ring, are sufficiently well... 

In this paper, an adaptive design methodology for synthesizing a harmonic free N-path filter with reduced frequency folding is presented. System level analysis of proposed architecture shows that by adding a few extra paths with proper weights to a conventional N-path filter, several characteristics such as harmonic rejection, power reduction, foldback elimination and spectrum shaping can be achieved. The designed filter is reconfigurable to be a band-pass filter (BPF) or a band-reject filter (notch), based on the requirements. By using the nth harmonic of Local Oscillator (LO) signal, instead of the fundamental harmonic, the required input clock frequency in N-phase clock generator is... 

In this work the titanium dioxide powder was prepared by the optimized and simple Sol-Gel method and then characterized. The gelling pH was set to values of 3 (TiO2-A), 7 (TiO2-N) and 9 (TiO2-B) to observe the effect on the properties of the material. In these three cases nanoparticulated materials were obtained with particle sizes between 10nm and 20nm. The larger surface areas were obtained at pH 3, which is several times larger than the others. Furthermore, with the gelling condition pH 3, it was possible to synthesize pure anatase phase titania. Some preliminary results on the test of the photocatalytic activity of the synthesized materials in the reduction of nitric oxide are presented.... 

The prepared colloidal silica via ion exchange was modified by adding Mg+2 ions in the surface growth process of colloidal silica. The particle size of the modified colloidal silica was decreased by increasing the seed concentration, whereas that of colloidal silica was slightly increased as the seeds concentration exceed 15 wt%. But the trend of changes in surface area was completely reversed. Magnesium ions on surface of the modified colloidal silica were identified by the measurement of energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry (EDS). After modifying with Mg+2 ions, the iso-electric point (IEP) of colloidal silica in pH ∼ 2 without modification, disappears over the whole pH range. © 2008... 

Thymol is one of the most widely used chemicals in the cosmetic and health industries and a known antioxidant. There are different methods for the preparation of thymol. One of the efficient methods for the synthesis of thymol is the alkylation of m-cresol using isopropanol as the alkylating agent and ZSM-5 acid catalysts. Different parameters such as SiO2/Al2O3 ratio, temperature and Weight Hourly Space Velocity (WHSV) can affect the conversion and selectivity of m-cresol alkylation. The application of tools to predict the effect of each of the effective factors and, thus, the proposition of a strong model of reaction conditions will lead to maximum conversion and selectivity. A... 

The need for antennas with improved characteristics for communication and radar applications has resulted in an ever-increasing demand for research in the field of high impedance surfaces, which can work as an artificial magnetic conductor. One method in fabrication of these surfaces is formation of a metamaterial by patterning a metallic surface in the shape of space filling curves (e.g. Hilbert or Peanu Curves). In this paper, we present a novel semi-analytical solution to the problem of plasmonic propagation on these surfaces. The method is based on a previously presented Green's function formalism, which has been reported in an earlier paper of ours. We have modified and improved the...