Sharif Digital Repository

Quality and intelligibility are two aspects of speech that are affected by various factors, such as background noise and echo. The performance of many commercial and military speech-based systems depends on at least one of these aspects of speech. Therefore, this research aims to design an improvement model to remove background noise and reverberation from the speech signal. The model training framework is based on deep learning methods and has a supervised approach in the time domain. The input of this system is the raw waveform of the speech signal mixed with noise and reverberation, and the output is the enhanced waveform of this signal. An architecture is proposed in this thesis based on... 

In this study pain level estimation using facial expression is investigated. To do this, there are two approaches, one approach is sequence level pain estimation and the other one is frame level pain estimation. In sequence level, after feature extraction from all frames of sequence, each sequence is represented by a fixed length feature vector, this feature vector is constructed by concatenating min, max and mean of frame features of that specific sequence, then KLPP is applied in order to reduce feature vector dimension and in the end a linear regression is implemented to predict the pain labels of the sequence. In the frame level, two approaches are introduced, the first one is based on... 

In this thesis, a heterogeneous nanocatalyst based on graphene oxide was synthesized. To improve the graphene oxide, it was reacted with paraaminobenzoic acid and then metal salts (cobalt and manganese) were coated on it. The structure of the catalyst was confirmed by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), quantitative X-ray diffraction (EDS) and infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. Finally, the catalytic properties of the catalysts were evaluated in the oxidation reaction of different alcohols in the presence of oxygen. In the presence of benzyl alcohols with lethal electron groups, the oxidation conditions are stricter and the reaction efficiency is lower.... 

The existing continual learning methods are mainly focused on fully-supervised scenarios and are still not able to take advantage of unlabeled data available in the environment. Some recent works tried to investigate semi-supervised continual learning (SSCL) settings in which the unlabeled data are available, but it is only from the same distribution as the labeled data. This assumption is still not general enough for real-world applications and restricts the utilization of unsupervised data. In this work, we introduce Open-Set Semi-Supervised Continual Learning (OSSCL), a more realistic semi-supervised continual learning setting in which out-of-distribution (OoD) unlabeled samples in the... 

Increase in growing concerns over environmental pollution and depletion of fossil fuel resources motivate the need for cleaner energy technologies and stimulate research in facilitating renewable energy systems. In recent years, photovoltaic systems have attracted great attention since they remove the need for energy storage systems and intermediate processess for energy conversion. However, high capital cost, low efficiency and low energy density per area of these systems, as compared with other technologies hinder its industrial use. To surmount these bottlenecks and improve technical performance of PV systems, it is crucial to optimize configuration of convertor connection and to improve... 

In recent years, the use of fiber reinforced polymer (FRP) jackets, as an external lateral confinement has found considerable attention in retrofitting and strengthening existing reinforced concrete (RC) columns in earthquake prone areas. The FRP composites have numerous advantages such as ease in application, high strength and stiffness-weight ratio, no corrosion and negligible changes in the member dimension. Most of previous studies have concentrated on evaluation of the effect of confinement with spiral bars or FRP composites, separately. However, in practice both types of confinements exist in strengthening RC columns.
This paper presents the results of a computational modeling to... 

Different data sources are creating a huge amount of data at increasing speeds that require real-time processing. Such data is called “Big data stream". Although, mining and analysis this type of data is so useful for companies, but it also may cause many privacy breaches. The principle issues for big data stream’ anonymization are real time processing and information loss. There are some works that are proposed for data streams, but they have some drawbacks such as inefficient anonymization of big data stream and also not consider time expiration of tuples that lead to increase the information loss and cost of the data publishing. In this thesis, in order to speed up the ability of big data... 

Multi-Criteria Decision-Making models have been considered by many researchers in recent years. In this study, considering the transition matrix, the probability of changing in the priories of the customers in the framework of a hybrid QFD-ANP has been proposed. The developed methodology is implemented to solve the supplier selection problem, one of the most important problems in the supply chain management, in a dairy manufacturer in Iran. The company is one of the most prominent companies that has a big segment of the dairy market. The results show the efficiency of the proposed methodology for multi-criteria decision-making problems.• Chapter 1) General research reasons for the purpose... 

Partial oxidation of methane (POX) is one of the most common processes to produce synthesis gas. In this study the kinetics of this process is examined and some reduced mechanisms are introduced to model it in this study. The experimental data from Research Institute of Petroleum Industry are used as reference experimental data. Inlets of this reactor are oxygen and methane with equivalence ratio between 2.53 and 2.9. Moreover, the experimental results of previous studies with the air as the oxidant in equivalence ration between 2.4 and 2.6 are used as basis for comparison of simulation results. During the first step, partial oxidation of methane in non-catalytic porous media is simulated by... 

One of the novel methods of stabilization of nuclear waste is the use of vitrification technology. In order to stabilize high level wastes (HLLW) in glass, it is required that the elements are in their oxide form. Therefore, it is necessary to evaporate the waste and turn it into a solid form so that the elements can be converted into oxide form in the calcination furnace. Hence, one of the challenges of stabilization is the optimization of evaporation and calcination conditions. In this research, the parameters affecting evaporation were first investigated. Using laboratory measurements of application: temperature (110 to 180 °C), presence of nitric acid (0.5 to 4 mol/L), ratio of zirconium... 

This study used the emulsion liquid membrane method to investigate the extraction and separation of thorium from nitrate solution. According to the results obtained from the studies, Cyanex 272 was a suitable option for selectively extracting thorium. For simultaneous extraction and stripping of thorium from dilute aqueous solutions, an emulsion liquid membrane system consisting of Cyanex 272 as an extractant, Span 80 as a surfactant and sulfuric acid solution as a receiving phase (internal phase) was used. Emulsion liquid membrane method has high mass transfer flux due to high surface to volume ratio, which causes high extraction efficiency and fast transfer of thorium ions from its low... 

Particulate matter is an important source of air pollution. Particulate matters have an Undesirable effect on the environment, economic, and the health of Tehran Citizens. Annually, more than 8 thousands of tons of mineral dust from Internal and external resources deposit in Tehran city. In this project, the increase in the level of PM10 concentration during June, 12th to 14th, 2015 have been considered. The intrusion and dispersion of mineral dust during June, 11th to 15h, 2015 have been simulated with the HYSPLIT Model. Also, the Trajectory of particle end in Tehran during the mentioned days simulated and plotted with the HYSPLIT. The results show that more than 85% of PM10 reported by Air... 

In this thesis a novel Fuzzy Fractional Order Controller (FFOPID) is presented. This controller is designed by the means of the combination of a fuzzy system and a fractional order PID. Fractional controllers, especially fractional PIDs, shows their performance in control systems after the advent of fractional calculus. Fractional PID has better flexibility according to the classic PID. As the real control systems are nonlinear actually, so solving the control problem needs a nonlinear controller. Therefore, a fuzzy system is used in this thesis, in order to adapt the controller parameters with different operating points of the system. Fuzzy system design needs the optimal values for...