Sharif Digital Repository

Enforcing dynamic and confidential access control policies is a challenging issue of data outsourcing to external servers due to the lack of trust towards the servers. In this paper, we propose a scalable yet flexible access control enforcement mechanism when the underlying relational data, on which access policies are defined, has been shared through a secret sharing scheme. For sharing values of an attribute in a relation, the attribute is assigned a secret distribution key and its values are split and distributed among data servers according to a Shamir based secret sharing scheme. Given access control policies over attributes of the relation schema, access to distribution keys, used... 

Enforcing dynamic and confidential access control policies is a challenging issue of data outsourcing to external servers due to the lack of trust towards the servers. In this paper, we propose a scalable yet flexible access control enforcement mechanism when the underlying relational data, on which access policies are defined, has been shared through a secret sharing scheme. For sharing values of an attribute in a relation, the attribute is assigned a secret distribution key and its values are split and distributed among data servers according to a Shamir based secret sharing scheme. Given access control policies over attributes of the relation schema, access to distribution keys, used... 

The development of asymmetric supercapacitors requires the design of electrode construction and the utilization of new electroactive materials. In this regard, an effective strategy is the loading of active materials on an integrated 3D porous graphene-based substrate such as graphene foam (GF). Herein, we successfully designed and fabricated a novel ternary binder-free nanocomposite consisting of polypyrrole, Fe-Co sulfide, and reduced graphene oxide on a nickel foam electrode (PPy/FeCoS-rGO/NF) via a facile, cost-effective, and powerful electrodeposition method for application in high-performance asymmetric supercapacitors. The monolithic 3D porous graphene foam (GF) obtained by the facile... 

This article presents an overview of the mechanical design and fabrication of a Rescue Robot (CEDRA) for operation in unstructured environments. In order to obtain an appropriate mechanism for climbing the stairs, a novel method has been developed. In this kinematics-based approach we don't need to perform any dynamic analysis which is highly complicated and time consuming for most rovers. According to the essential characteristics needed for rovers, two objective functions were defined. We have shown that the new mechanism performs better on rough terrains than the previous well-known mechanism widely used in the Mars rovers. Moreover the design parameters are optimized by means of Genetic... 

This article presents an overview of the mechanical design features, fabrication and control of a Rescue Robot (CEDRA) for operation in unstructured environments. As a preliminary step, the essential characteristics of a robot in damaged and unstable situations have been established. According to these features and kinematical equations of the robot, design parameters are optimized by means of Genetic Algorithm. Optimum parameters are then utilized in construction. Upon fabrication, this unit has been tested in clean laboratory environment, as well as, ill-conditioned arenas similar to earthquake zones. The obtained results have been satisfactory in all aspects, and improvements are... 

This paper presents a decentralized adaptive control design for a class of large-scale nonlinear systems with unknown subsystems. When the subsystems are modeled by affine equations, a direct adaptive controller is devised based on the Lyapunov theory, so that the stability of the closed-loop system is guaranteed by introducing a suitably driven adaptive rule. A neuro-based structure is proposed when the subsystems are nonaffine, and the stability analysis is also performed based on the Lyapunov theory. Moreover, the unknown interactions among the subsystems are considered as having a nonlinear function against the simple form considered for the affine case. The proposed controllers are... 

Distributed generation (DG) units are often interfaced to the main grid using power electronic converters including voltage-source converters (VSCs). A VSC offers dc/ac power conversion, high controllability, and fast dynamic response. Because of nonlinearities, uncertainties, and system parameters’ changes involved in the nature of a grid-connected renewable DG system, conventional linear control methods cannot completely and efficiently address all control objectives. In this paper, a nonlinear adaptive control scheme based on adaptive backstepping strategy is presented to control the operation of a grid-connected renewable DG unit. As compared to the popular vector control technique, the... 

Distributed generation (DG) units are often interfaced to the main grid using power electronic converters including voltage-source converters (VSCs). A VSC offers dc/ac power conversion, high controllability, and fast dynamic response. Because of nonlinearities, uncertainties, and system parameters’ changes involved in the nature of a grid-connected renewable DG system, conventional linear control methods cannot completely and efficiently address all control objectives. In this paper, a nonlinear adaptive control scheme based on adaptive backstepping strategy is presented to control the operation of a grid-connected renewable DG unit. As compared to the popular vector control technique, the... 

The ideas of creatio ex nihilo of the universe and creatio continua of new matter out of nothing entered the arena of natural science with the advent of the Big Bang and the steady-state theories in the mid-twentieth century. Adolf Grünbaum has tried to interpret the steady-state theory in such a way, to show that the continuous formation of new matter out of nothing in this theory can be explained purely physically. In this paper, however, it will be shown that Grünbaum's interpretation encounters at least three problems: not distinguishing between material and efficient causes, inconsistency, and misconceiving the law of density conservation  

This paper presents a single-phase phase-locked loop (PLL) system which is primarily free from the double-frequency ripples from which the conventional PLL system suffers. The proposed PLL is then extended to reject the harmonic components from the input signal and to estimate the phase-angle and frequency of the distorted input signal with no error. Three units of the proposed PLL can be used in three-phase power systems, such as FACTS and HVDC converters, to estimate the phase-angles of the individual phases with no double-frequency ripples and without sensitivity to the presence of harmonics and inter-harmonics. This makes the proposed PLL unique and desirable for applications which... 

A novel three-phase magnitude-phase-locked-loop system (3MPLL) for use in the general area of three-phase (power, energy and power electronic) systems is introduced. The proposed 3MPLL suppresses the noise and distortion from the input signal, mitigates the unbalance, and synthesizes the instantaneous positive-sequence component of the input signal; thus it operates as a nonlinear adaptive notch (or band-pass) filter. The 3MPLL also adaptively tracks and estimates the magnitude, phase angle, and frequency of the input signal; thus, its operation as a nonlinear state estimator. Characteristics of the 3MPLL including its mathematical equations as well as steady-state and dynamic responses are...