Sharif Digital Repository

This letter addresses the problem of joint localization and clock synchronization in distributed multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar systems. While the well-known two-stage weighted least squares (WLS) method provides an acceptable estimate of target position when a rough approximation of antennas clock parameters, the drifts and offsets, is available, its performance can degrade quickly if the level of uncertainty in these values increases. The proposed method offers a solution for synchronizing the clocks while simultaneously improving the target position estimate. The uncertainty in positions of antennas is also taken into account. The presented method is shown to be approximately... 

This letter deals with the problem of moving target localization in distributed multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radar systems using time delay (TD) and Doppler shift (DS) measurements. The proposed solution to this problem consists of two stages. In the first stage, an initial estimation of target location is obtained by solving the formulated maximum likelihood (ML) problem based on the TD measurements. In the second stage, by recognizing the obtained position estimate in the previous stage as a priori data and exploiting the DS measurements, another ML problem is formulated, which is efficiently solved via a tractable numerical method to produce a simultaneous estimation of target... 

In this article, an algebraic solution for localizing a moving target using a nonstationary multistatic radar system is proposed. By utilizing the quadruple hybrid measurement set, which consists of time delay, Doppler shift, angle of arrival, and angle rate measurements, the proposed method can estimate the target position and velocity vectors via a simple one-stage weighted least squares estimator without the need for introduction of the nuisance parameters, which enables us to locate the target with the minimum number of antennas. The proposed estimator takes the uncertainty concerned with the position and velocity of the antennas in its design. The proposed estimator is shown to be... 

In this letter, an efficient method for solving the multi-target localization problem in distributed MIMO radars is proposed. The proposed method attempts to simultaneously carry out the localization and data association tasks by formulating a mixed-integer optimization problem, which is approximated as a convex problem that can be efficiently solved with a polynomial complexity. Numerical simulations substantiate the efficacy of the proposed method. © 1997-2012 IEEE  

This paper incorporates a discrete wavelet transform and a radial basis function neural network to implement a vibration-based crack-like damage identification approach to the simulated welds of chassis cross members. After finite element method modelling of a vehicle, eight acceleration sensors are placed on the chassis, and their responses are measured to the upward displacement on the excitation of two tyres while the other two tyres are fixed. Then, a discrete wavelet transform with a Daubechies 3 mother wavelet is applied to the responses of the sensors. All detail coefficients and approximation coefficients of the nine levels of the discrete wavelet transform are introduced into the... 

Oil trapping behavior during the pre-flush stage is critically important to evaluate the effectiveness of matrix acidizing for the oil well stimulation. In this study, the visco-capillary behavior of the two-phase flow in the pore-scale is analyzed to investigate the influence of wetting properties for a natural rock sample. A two-dimensional model, based on Cahn-Hilliard phase-field and Navier-Stokes equations, was established and solved using the finite element method. A stability phase diagram for log capillary number (Ca)-log viscosity ratio (M) was constructed and then compared with the reported experimental works. The maximum and minimum ranges of capillary number and viscosity ratio... 

For a set of colored points, a region is called color-spanning if it contains at least one point of each color. In this paper, we first consider the problem of maintaining the smallest color-spanning interval for a set of n points with k colors on the real line, such that the insertion and deletion of an arbitrary point takes O(log2 n) the worst-case time. Then, we exploit the data structure to show that there is O(n log2 n) time algorithm to compute the smallest color-spanning square for a set of n points with k colors in the plane. This is a new way to improve O(nk log n) time algorithm presented by Abellanas et al. [1] when k = !(log n). We also consider the problem of computing the... 

Multiple Description Coding (MDC) is a technique for video transmission over error prone networks where the descriptions are routed over multiple paths. Intra coding like MDC provides error resiliency but coding in this mode must be decided with care since it degrades the compression ratio. In this paper, we present our investigation results for a new intra coding approach in MDC. We have found that, in MDC streams, the best policy is to encode selective frames as I-frame instead of coding some macroblocks of frames in intra mode. In order to find the most suitable I-frame positions within a given video stream, we developed a cost function based on which intra/inter frame type is decided.... 

A novel colorimetric nanosensor is reported for the selective and sensitive determination of cysteine using magnetic-sulfur, nitrogen graphene quantum dots (Fe3O4/S, N-GQDs), and gold nanoparticles (Au NPs). Thus, S, N-GQDs was firstly immobilized on Fe3O4 nanoparticles through its magnetization in the presence of Fe3+ in the alkali solution. The prepared Fe3O4/S, N-GQDs were dispersed in cysteine solution resulting in its quick adsorption on the surface of the Fe3O4/S, N-GQDs through hydrogen bonding interaction. Then, Au NPs solution was added to this mixture that after a short time, the color of Au NPs changed from red to blue, the intensity of surface plasmon resonance peak of Au NPs at... 

A novel colorimetric nanosensor is reported for the selective and sensitive determination of cysteine using magnetic-sulfur, nitrogen graphene quantum dots (Fe3O4/S, N-GQDs), and gold nanoparticles (Au NPs). Thus, S, N-GQDs was firstly immobilized on Fe3O4 nanoparticles through its magnetization in the presence of Fe3+ in the alkali solution. The prepared Fe3O4/S, N-GQDs were dispersed in cysteine solution resulting in its quick adsorption on the surface of the Fe3O4/S, N-GQDs through hydrogen bonding interaction. Then, Au NPs solution was added to this mixture that after a short time, the color of Au NPs changed from red to blue, the intensity of surface plasmon resonance peak of Au NPs at... 

Objective: Spine kinematics, kinetics, and trunk muscle activities were evaluated during different stages of a fatigue-induced symmetric lifting task over time. Background: Due to neuromuscular adaptations, postural behaviors of workers during lifting tasks are affected by fatigue. Comprehensive aspects of these adaptations remain to be investigated. Method: Eighteen volunteers repeatedly lifted a box until perceived exhaustion. Body center of mass (CoM), trunk and box kinematics, and feet center of pressure (CoP) were estimated by a motion capture system and force-plate. Electromyographic (EMG) signals of trunk/abdominal muscles were assessed using linear and nonlinear approaches. The L5-S1... 

Objective: Spine kinematics, kinetics, and trunk muscle activities were evaluated during different stages of a fatigue-induced symmetric lifting task over time. Background: Due to neuromuscular adaptations, postural behaviors of workers during lifting tasks are affected by fatigue. Comprehensive aspects of these adaptations remain to be investigated. Method: Eighteen volunteers repeatedly lifted a box until perceived exhaustion. Body center of mass (CoM), trunk and box kinematics, and feet center of pressure (CoP) were estimated by a motion capture system and force-plate. Electromyographic (EMG) signals of trunk/abdominal muscles were assessed using linear and nonlinear approaches. The L5-S1... 

The use of a draft tube fluidized bed bioreactor (DTFBB) has been successfully demonstrated for the bioleaching of a chalcopyrite concentrate (Mousavi, et. al., 2005). In the present paper this technique was used for the bioleaching of zinc from a sphalerite bearing low-grade ore. A strain of the thermophilic bacterium, Sulfobacillus, has been isolated from the Kooshk lead and zinc mine near the city of Yazd (Iran) and is tested at temperatures 47 °C-72 °C. This is compared to leaching with a strain of the mesophile Acidithiobacillus ferrooxidans, which has been adapted to the high levels of zinc and the presence of the low-grade ore, and which was tested at temperatures 18 °C-42 °C. The... 

Isolated Word Recognition (IWR) is becoming increasingly attractive due to the improvement of speech recognition techniques. However, the accuracy of IWR suffers when large databases or words with similar pronunciation are used. The criterion for accurate speech recognition is suitable segmentation. However, the traditional method of segmentation equal segmentation does not produce the most accurate result. Furthermore, utilizing manual segmentation based on events is not possible in large databases. In this paper, we introduce an intelligent segmentation based on Hierarchical Temporal Decomposition (HTD). Based on this method, a temporal decomposition (TD) algorithm can be used to... 

The hydrodistilled oils of the aerial parts of Artemisia armeniaca and Artemisia splendens have been analyzed by a combination of GC and GC/MS. The main components of A. armeniaca were α-pinene (41.9%) and 1,8-cineole (20.6%) followed by spathulenol (6.7%) and limonene (5.6%). l,8-cineole(14.5%), germacrene D (14.3%), α-pinene (11.3%) and bicyclogermacrene (11.3%) were found to be the major constituents of A. splendens  

In this letter, an efficient estimator for 3-D target localization in distributed multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) radars using time delay (TD) and angle of arrival (AOA) measurements is proposed. First, an approximately equivalent maximum likelihood (ML) estimation problem is formulated. Then, the aforementioned ML problem is recast into a convex optimization problem for which we derive a semi closed-form solution that eventually boils down to finding the roots of certain polynomials. Using numerical simulations, we demonstrate that the proposed estimator reaches the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB) up to relatively high Gaussian measurement noise levels. Furthermore, the proposed method... 

In rail transportation, there have been several attempts to determine the best routes for shipments (a number of cars with the same origin-destination) through the network. Shipments enter into several intermediate yards on their routes to separate and regroup shipments into new trains. Most of time, every entering into a yard includes excessive delay for shipments; therefore it is an ideal plan that each shipment has been transported by an exclusive train service. Mainly because of restriction on a number of running trains, this plan cannot be adapted in most cases. Finding the optimal route over the rail network with above and other common constraints would be handled by railroad blocking... 

In this paper we describe some mechanical, hardware and software aspects of our robots specially used in teamwork. The pneumatic design of the gripers and kicker enables the robot to make a good control of ball when dribbling and also passing the ball in short and long distances. The teamwork software enables our robots to perform a cooperative behavior by dividing the field to three major regions and assigning each robot a role such as defender, forward and middle in these three regions. The server can order the robots to change their role when needed and make them return to their original state after a short time. © 2002 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg  

Purpose: This paper aims to study the lateral behavior of cold-formed steel walls with K-shaped bracing by finite element modeling. Design/methodology/approach: The braces which have the same section as those for studs and tracks are connected to the frame by screw connections. By pushover analysis, lateral performance of two frame categories, with different dimensions and bracing arrangements, is examined, and the force-displacement diagram and the ultimate strength of walls are extracted. Probable failure modes during lateral loading including distortional buckling of studs, buckling in braces and failure of connections are simulated in the numerical model, and some strengthening... 

Waterflooding has been regarded as an efficient method for pressure maintenance of oil reservoirs. x Improved techniques such as Smart Water flooding as a new EOR/IOR process has gained more momentum based on the recent research activities in this field and the reduction of oil price. Despite many efforts on achieving the governing mechanisms of Smart Water flooding in many individual fields, most of data are sparse and more possible mechanisms which explains all the interactions yet to be introduced. This experimental study used a systematic laboratory framework which is based on seawater treatments at fixed ionic strength to eliminate the ionic strength effects, NaCl considered as the...