Sharif Digital Repository

Multiple description coding (MDC) is one of the promising solutions for live video delivery over lossy networks. In this paper, we present a review of MDC techniques based on their application domain and we explain their functionality, with the objective of giving enough insight to designers to decide which MDC scheme is best suited for their specific application based on requirements such as standard compatibility, redundancy tunability, complexity, and extendibility to n-description coding. The focus is mainly on video sources but imagebased algorithms applicable to video are considered as well. We also cover the well-known and important problem of drift and solutions to avoid it  

A novel method for direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation is proposed. This technique employs the excellent performance of Bartlett method in coherent environments as well as high resolution and low computational complexity of Beamspace MUSIC. Simulation results show that the use of Beamspace MUSIC with Bartlett yields significantly improved performance compared to the original MUSIC especially in highly correlated situations. © 2008, Electromagnetics Academy. All rights reserved  

Drought is one of the most serious hazards that has more effect on human societies than the others. Scentific researches have important roles in drought planning and management of water resources, especially in time of crisis and predicted big event by the event that the crisis management turnover. The main objective of this research is to develop an approach to analyze the spatial patterns of meteorological droughts based on annual precipitation data in Iran. By using a nonparametric spatial analysis neural network algorithm, the normalized and standardized precipitation data are classified into certain degrees of drought severity (extreme drought, severe drought, mild drought, and... 

Coupling beams have had a widespread application as performance enhancing devices within concrete structures and more recently also in steel structures. However, the conventional coupling beams are not so efficient in coupling distant walls. In this paper, a novel form of coupling members, namely, coupling panels is proposed and, then, the application for a nine-story building is investigated. Coupling panels are steel plates which are exerted in the intermediate spans between adjacent shear walls and act as a mega-coupling beam. First, a verified finite element model is constructed to demonstrate coupling panel behavior along with its global structural mechanism. Subsequently, a nine story... 

In this study, the authors investigate the problem of source localisation based on the time difference of arrival (TDOA) in a group of sensors. Aiming to minimise the squared range-difference errors, the problem leads to a quadratically constrained quadratic programme. It is well known that this approach results in a non-convex optimisation problem. By proposing a relaxation technique, they show that the optimisation problem would be transformed to a convex one which can be solved by semi-definite programming (SDP) and Lagrange multiplier methods. Moreover, these methods offer the exact solution of the original problem and the affirmation of its uniqueness. In contrast to other complicated... 

Abstract Multiple Description Coding (MDC) is a technique where multiple streams from a video source are generated, each individually decodable and mutually refinable. MDC is a promising solution to overcome packet loss in video transmission over noisy channels, particularly for real-time applications in which retransmission of lost information is not practical. The error resiliency feature of MDC is achieved at the cost of redundancy, and the required amount of redundancy for each frame depends on the packet loss ratio and also the importance of the frame in the sequence. Due to the error propagation in video transmission over lossy channels, reference frames of a Group of Pictures (GOP)... 

A new level converter for use in dual voltage SOI digital circuits is presented. The technique which uses the idea of keeper transistors, consumes less power compared to the traditional methods. The effects of load capacitance on the circuit are studied by extensive simulations  

Background: Codon degeneracy and codon usage by organisms is an interesting and challenging problem. Researchers demonstrated the relation between codon usage and various functions or properties of genes and proteins, such as gene regulation, translation rate, translation efficiency, mRNA stability, splicing, and protein domains. Researchers usually represent segments of proteins responsible for specific functions or structures in a family of proteins as sequence patterns or motifs. We asked the question if organisms use the same codons in pattern segments as compared to the rest of the sequence. Methods. We used the likelihood ratio test, Pearson's chi-squared test, and mutual information... 

Real-time detection of Covid-19 has definitely been the most widely-used world-wide classification problem since the start of the pandemic from 2020 until now. In the meantime, airspace opacities spreads related to lung have been of the most challenging problems in this area. A common approach to do on that score has been using chest X-ray images to better diagnose positive Covid-19 cases. Similar to most other classification problems, machine learning-based approaches have been the first/most-used candidates in this application. Many schemes based on machine/deep learning have been proposed in recent years though increasing the performance and accuracy of the system has still remained an... 

Several lattice Boltzmann models for multi-phase flow have been developed, but few of them are capable of modeling fluid flows with high density ratio in the order of 1000. Therefore, an advanced chromodynamics, Rothmann-Keller (RK) type model is employed in current study, which can handle liquid-gas density ratio in the order of 1000 and viscosity ratio in the order of 100. Other distinctive characteristics of the proposed model are high stability, and capability of setting parameters such as surface tension independently. In spite of these benefits, the original RK model fails to model wetting tendency of the fluids. As a result, it is impossible to correctly simulate two-fluid phase flow... 

Conventional lateral resisting systems can provide sufficient strength and ductility for design based earthquakes, although the considerable residual deformation remaining in the plasticized regions undermines the resiliency of the structures. In order to resolve this problem, various self-centering systems have been proposed and tested in recent years, most of which are specified for new buildings and are not simply suitable for retrofitting applications. Moreover, the available self-centering systems are costly and complex to assemble, which can be considered as a serious barrier for practical application. To address these drawbacks, an innovative Core-Less Self-Centering (CLSC) brace is... 

In this study, the kinetics of aging in AA6061 and AA6061 with 5% volume fraction SiCp were studied and compared. The composite was first produced and homogenized using stir casting technique followed by hot extrusion with the ratio of 18:1. Then, both AA6061 and the composite were aged at three different temperatures including room temperature, 170 °C and 240 °C, while mechanical properties during aging were evaluated employing hardness measurements and tensile testing. Moreover, in order to assess the effect of plastic deformation on the kinetics of aging, a series of samples were first deformed by equal-channel angular pressing immediately after solution treatment and then aged in the... 

Infinite series solutions are obtained for electrical potential, electroosmotic velocity, ionic conductance, and surface physicochemical properties of long pH-regulated rectangular nanochannels of low surface potential utilizing the double finite Fourier transform method. Closed form expressions are also obtained for channels of large height to width ratio for which the depthwise variations vanish. Neglecting the Stern layer impact, the effects of EDL (Electric Double Layer) overlap, multiple ionic species, and association/dissociation reactions on the surface are all taken into account. Moreover, finite-element-based numerical simulations are conducted to account for the end effects as well... 

Although it is known that synonymous codons are not chosen randomly, the role of the codon usage in gene regulation is not clearly understood, yet. Researchers have investigated the relation between the codon usage and various properties, such as gene regulation, translation rate, translation efficiency, mRNA stability, splicing, and protein domains. Recently, a universal codon usage based mechanism for gene regulation is proposed. We studied the role of protein sequence patterns on the codons usage by related genes. Considering a subsequence of a protein that matches to a pattern or motif, we showed that, parts of the genes, which are translated to this subsequence, use specific ratios of... 

As the emergence of Internet of Things (IoT) brings the realization of ubiquitous connectivity ever closer, our reliance on these applications gets more important. Nowadays, such connected devices could be found everywhere, from home appliances to industrial control systems and environmental monitoring applications. One of the main challenges in IoT infrastructures is that of reliability, which emboldens itself in the context of Low-power and Lossy Networks (LLN) as they are inherently prone to packet loss as a result of their environmental and design constraints. Therefore, reliability of IoT devices becomes crucially important. With communication, the most important consideration in these... 

During preliminary investigation phase of the national Chabahar-Zahedan railway line, serious geotechnical problems including non-uniform settlements, tensile cracks, and local collapse were reported in parts of the path near the coastline. A follow-up field investigation revealed that the in-situ soil at construction site has a metastable structure being sensitive to saturation and loading. Therefore, a comprehensive series of physical, chemical, electro-chemical, and geotechnical tests were conducted to classify and characterize the soil properties and behavior in its natural state. The natural soil was classified as a clayey loess with moderately dispersive to dispersive characteristics.... 

Semi-analytical solutions are obtained for the electrical potential, electroosmotic velocity, ionic conductance, and surface physicochemical properties associated with long pH-regulated nanochannels of arbitrary but constant cross-sectional area. The effects of electric double layer overlap, multiple ionic species, and surface association/dissociation reactions are all taken into account, assuming low surface potentials. The method of analysis includes series solutions which the pertinent coefficients are obtained by applying the wall boundary conditions using either of the least-squares or point matching techniques. Although the procedure is general enough to be applied to almost any... 

The dispersion of a neutral solute band by electrokinetic flow in polyelectrolyte layer (PEL)-grafted rectangular/slit microchannels is theoretically studied. The flow is assumed to be both steady and fully developed and a first-order irreversible reaction is considered at the wall to account for probable surface adsorption of solutes. Considering low electric potentials, analytical solutions are obtained for electric potential, fluid velocity and solute concentration. Special solutions are also obtained for the case without wall adsorption. To track the dispersion properties of the solute band, the generalized dispersion model is adopted by considering the exchange, the convection and the... 

A new type of collapsible soil was encountered in Southern Iran and caused some serious technical problems including subsidence, collapse and sinkholes during the construction of Zahedan-Chabahar railway. Field observations indicated that in-situ soil contains excessive amount of salts resulting in dispersive features in response to seepage forces in addition to its collapsibility. Therefore, a systematic research plan including field sampling and laboratory testing was carried out to investigate the observed geotechnical features. Results of physio-chemical tests revealed the dominance of Sodium in excess of 70% relative to total dissolved salts, which results in high dispersive potential.... 

The polysaccharide, kappa-carrageenan (κC) was chemically modified to achieve a novel superabsorbent hydrogel via graft copolymerization of methacrylamide (MAM) onto the substrate followed by alkaline hydrolysis. Ammonium persulfate (APS) and N,N′-methylene bisacrylamide (MBA) were used as a free-radical initiator and a crosslinker, respectively. The saponification reaction was carried out using sodium hydroxide aqueous solution. Either κC-g-PMAM or hydrolyzed κC-g-PMAM (PMAM: polymethacrylamide) was characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy. The effect of grafting variables (i.e. concentration of MBA, MAM, and APS) and alkaline hydrolysis conditions (i.e. NaOH concentration, hydrolysis time and...