Sharif Digital Repository

In the image segmentation field, traditional techniques do not completely meet the segmentation challenges mostly posed by inherently fuzzy images. Fuzzy connectedness and fuzzy clustering are considered as two well-known techniques for introducing fuzzy concepts to the problem of image segmentation. Fuzzy connectedness-based Segmentation methods consider spatial relation of image pixels by "hanging togetherness" a notion based on intensity homogeneity. But, they do not inherently utilize feature information of image pixels. On the other hand, as the segmentation domain of fuzzy clustering-based methods is the feature space they do not consider spatial relations among image pixels. Recently,... 

In this paper, the performance of traditional variance-based method for detection of epileptic seizures in EEG signals are compared with various methods based on nonlinear time series analysis, entropies, logistic regression, discrete wavelet transform and time frequency distributions. We noted that variance-based method in compare to the mentioned methods had the best result (100%) applied on the same database. © 2006 IEEE  

This paper presents a scalp electroencephalogram (EEG) rhythmic pattern detection scheme based on neural networks. Rhythmic discharges detection is applicable to the majority of seizures seen in newborns, and is listed as detecting 90% of all the seizures. In this approach some features based on various methods are extracted and compared by a modified multilayer neural network in order to find rhythmic discharges. Statistical performance comparison with seizure detection schemes of Gotman et al. and Liu et al. is performed. © 2006 IEEE  

Conductive self -electrical stimuli bioactive scaffolds could be used the potential for peripheral nerve regeneration with the maximum efficiency. To produce such conductive self-electrical stimuli bioactive scaffolds, chopped spun piezoelectric nanofibers of polyvinylidene fluoride/mesoporous silica nanoparticle (PVDF/MCM41) are prepared and incorporated in gellan/polyaniline/graphene (gellan/PAG) nanocomposites which have been previously prepared by incorporation of polyaniline/graphene (PAG) nanoparticles in gellan gel at 80 °C. Highly conductive binary doped polyaniline/graphene nanoparticles are prepared by chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline monomer using in-suite... 

The aim of this work is to introduce a new method based on time frequency distribution for classifying the EEG signals. Some parameters are extracted using time-frequency distribution as inputs to a feed-forward backpropagation neural networks (FBNN). The proposed method had better results with 98.25% accuracy compared to previously studied methods such as wavelet transform, entropy, logistic regression and Lyapunov exponent  

Previous in-vivo investigations on the stabilizing efficacy of knee bracing for ACL reconstructed patients have been often limited to 20-30 degrees of knee flexion. In this study, the effectiveness of a uniaxial hinged functional brace to improve the knee stability was assessed at 30, 60 and 90 degrees of knee flexion. Arthrometry tests were conducted on 15 healthy subjects before and following wearing the brace and the tibial displacements were measured at up to 150 N anterior forces. Results indicated that functional bracing has a significant stabilizing effect throughout the range of knee flexion examined (p < 0.05). The rate of effectiveness, however, was not consistent across the... 

Font recognition is one of the pre-processing steps in optical character recognition (OCR) systems that affects on their performance. In this paper two methods are proposed for Persian font recognition. In the first method, Gabor filter is used for feature extraction from the images, then principle component analysis (PCA) applied to reduce feature dimensions and finally, a multi-layer Perceptron (MLP) neural network is used for the classification. In the second techniques, random forest is utilized for recognizing fonts. For evaluation, a dataset includes 10 popular Persian fonts is used. The proposed Gabor-PCA-MLP method has achieved 98.70% of F-measure, and random forest resulted in of... 

Quality of Experience (QoE) measures the overall quality of a service from users’ point of view by considering several system, human, and contextual factors. There exist various objective and subjective methods for QoE prediction. Although the subjective approach is more expensive and challenging than the objective approach, QoE’s level can be more accurately determined by a subjective test. This paper investigates various features affecting QoE by proposing a comprehensive subjective evaluation. First, we show that many unconsidered factors can significantly affect QoE. We have generated voice samples featuring different values for novel factors related to the speaker, signal, and network.... 

In the present paper, the use of a carbon paste electrode modified by 2,2′-[1,2 buthanediylbis (nitriloethylidyne)]-bis-hydroquinone (BH) and TiO2 nanoparticles prepared by a simple and rapid method was described. The modified electrode showed an excellent character for electrocatalytic oxidization of norepinephrine (NE), acetaminophene (AC) and folic acid (FA). Using differential pulse voltammetry (DPV), a highly selective and simultaneous determination of NE, AC and FA has been explored at the modified electrode. Differential pulse voltammetry (DPV) peak currents of NE, AC and FA increased linearly with their concentration at the ranges of 4.0-1100.0 μM, 12.5-500.0 μM and 200.0-3200.0 μM,... 

Many patients all over the world suffer from acute wounds caused by traumas or burns. In most crucial cases, skin regeneration cannot be promoted spontaneously, and skin grafts are applied as the main treatment. However, this therapy has some drawbacks which motivate researchers to develop wound dressings. In this study, electrospun mats consisting of polycaprolactone (PCL) and polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) incorporated with silver sulfadiazine (SSD) are proposed to be used as antimicrobial wound dressings with the capability of cell seeding. Various amounts of SSD were loaded into PVA nanofibers, and the effects of SSD particles on the morphological characteristics of nanofibers, mechanical... 

Most of the strategies yet implemented to optimal fuel loading pattern design in nuclear power reactors, are based on maximizing the core effective multiplication factor (Keff) to extract maximum energy and lowering the local power peaking factor (Pq) from a predetermined value. However, a new optimization criterion could be of interest, aiming at maximum burn-up of the plutonium content in fuel assemblies, i.e., minimization of remaining plutonium in spent fuel at the end of cycle (EOC). In this research, we developed a new strategy for optimal fuel core loading pattern of a VVER-1000 reactor, based on multi-objective optimization: lowering the Pq, maximization of the Keff and minimization... 

Most of the strategies yet implemented to optimize fuel loading pattern design in the nuclear power reactors, are based on maximizing the core effective multiplication factor (Keff) in order to extract maximum energy and to reduce the local power peaking factor (Pq) from a set value. However, a new optimization criterion would be of interest in order to maximize the burn-up of the plutonium content (Pu) in the fuel assemblies. In this research we have developed a new strategy based on multi objective optimization, to optimize fuel core loading pattern for a VVER-1000 reactor. In this approach we simultaneously have reduced the Pq, maximized Keff and also minimized the plutonium content in... 

In this paper a new approach to accurately classify ECG arrhythmias through a combination of the wavelet transform and artificial neural network is presented. Three kinds of features in a very computationally efficient manner are computed as follows: 1-Joint time-frequency features (discrete wavelet transform coefficients). 2-Time domain features (R-R intervals). 3-Statistical feature (form factor). Using these features, the limitations of other methods in classifying multiple kinds of arrhythmia with high accuracy for all of them at once are overcome. Finally, a cascade classifier including two ANNs has been designed. Considering the whole MIT-BIH arrhythmia database, 10 kinds of arrhythmia... 

In the current study, two series of antimicrobial dressings conjugated with silver sulfadiazine (SSD) and silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) were developed and evaluated for chronic wound healing. Highly porous polycaprolactone (PCL)/polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanofibers were loaded with different concentrations of SSD or AgNPs and compared comprehensively in vitro and in vivo. SSD and AgNPs indicated a strong and equal antimicrobial activity against S. aureus. However, SSD had more toxicity against fibroblast cells over one week in vitro culture. An in vivo model of wound healing on male Wistar rats was developed with a full thickness wound. All the wound dressings indicated enough flexibility and... 

Background: Bone and Site Hold Tendon Inside (BASHTI) technique is an organic implant-less technique for anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction with some clinical advantages, such as speeding up the healing process, over implantable techniques. The study aims to compare the mechanical properties of BASHTI technique with the conventional interference screw technique. Methods: To investigate the mechanical properties, 20 in-vitro experimental tests were conducted. Synthetic dummy bone, along with fresh digital bovine tendons, as a graft, were used for experiments. Three loading steps were applied to all specimens, including a preconditioning, a main cyclic, and a pull-out loading.... 

Conductive self -electrical stimuli bioactive scaffolds could be used the potential for peripheral nerve regeneration with the maximum efficiency. To produce such conductive self-electrical stimuli bioactive scaffolds, chopped spun piezoelectric nanofibers of polyvinylidene fluoride/mesoporous silica nanoparticle (PVDF/MCM41) are prepared and incorporated in gellan/polyaniline/graphene (gellan/PAG) nanocomposites which have been previously prepared by incorporation of polyaniline/graphene (PAG) nanoparticles in gellan gel at 80 °C. Highly conductive binary doped polyaniline/graphene nanoparticles are prepared by chemical oxidative polymerization of aniline monomer using in-suite... 

A SEnsor Network with Mobile Agents (SENMA) is an architecture proposed for large scale sensor networks in which the access point moves above the network and gathers information from a limited number of nodes. However, the performance of such system is limited by estimation errors and packet errors due to collision. In this paper, we first derive the equations of distortion in a general scenario and use this model to obtain four best node positions in order to achieve min-max estimation error in a square. In addition, an opportunistic MAC is proposed that considers both collision effects and estimation error based on Channel State Information (CSI). As the simulation results show the... 

Gel-fiber structure with the potential of extracellular matrix (ECM) mimics can be introduced as a suitable candidate for bioengineering applications. In this study, piezoelectric gellan gel-fiber was prepared with incorporating poly(vinylidenefluoride) (PVDF)/glass-flake in the gellan matrix. Glass-flake nanoparticles were modified with silane group, PVDF/glass-flake nanofibers were synthesized and short-strand nanofibers were fabricated using the mechanical homogenizer method. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) analyses were used for surface modification study, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM),... 

Gel-fiber structure with the potential of extracellular matrix (ECM) mimics can be introduced as a suitable candidate for bioengineering applications. In this study, piezoelectric gellan gel-fiber was prepared with incorporating poly(vinylidenefluoride) (PVDF)/glass-flake in the gellan matrix. Glass-flake nanoparticles were modified with silane group, PVDF/glass-flake nanofibers were synthesized and short-strand nanofibers were fabricated using the mechanical homogenizer method. Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) analyses were used for surface modification study, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM),... 

Discriminative subspace analysis is a popular approach for a variety of applications. There is a growing interest in subspace learning techniques for face recognition. Principal component analysis (PCA) and eigenfaces are two important subspace analysis methods have been widely applied in a variety of areas. However, the excessive dimension of data space often causes the curse of dimensionality dilemma, expensive computational cost, and sometimes the singularity problem. In this paper, a new supervised discriminative subspace analysis is presented by encoding face image as a high order general tensor. As face space can be considered as a nonlinear submanifold embedded in the tensor space, a...