Sharif Digital Repository

Needle insertion simulation and planning systems (SPSs) will play an important role in diminishing inappropriate insertions into soft tissues and resultant complications. Difficulties in SPS development are due in large part to the computational requirements of the extensive calculations in finite element (FE) models of tissue. For clinical feasibility, the computational speed of SPSs must be improved. At the same time, a realistic model of tissue properties that reflects large and velocity-dependent deformations must be employed. The purpose of this study is to address the aforementioned difficulties by presenting a cost-effective SPS platform for needle insertions into the liver. The study... 

Using passenger cars for daily traveling include advantages and disadvantages simultaneously; this daily traveling causes variety of road excitations in the form of vibration with different amplitude and acceleration to be imposed on body. Exceeding the standard limitations of these parameters results in fatigue, restlessness, and health problems. In this paper, a quarter-car model with semi-active suspension system is considered and three control approaches are applied to reduce these parameters in the limit of standard. Results show adaptive fuzzy optimal controller has better performance compared to others in controlling the critical health parameters, and can be easily used in future... 

Advent of passenger cars has caused people to use them for more efficiency in their performance and wasting less time. Problems, however, still exist in them. For instance, since people travel with cars, their human bodies undergo in fatigue, restlessness, and sometimes health problems. Human body reaction under external vibration depends on the amplitude, frequency, and acceleration of the applied external excitation. These limitations which are usually announced by the bureau of standards imply the necessity of control of amplitude, vibration, frequency, and acceleration received by human body due to cars passing humps and bumps. In this paper, a quarter car model with active suspension... 

Background: Comparison of the kinematic variability and dynamic stability of the trunk between healthy and low back pain patient groups can contribute to gaining valuable information about the movement patterns and neuromotor strategies involved in various movement tasks. Methods: Fourteen chronic low back pain patients with mild symptoms and twelve healthy male volunteers performed repeated trunk flexion-extension movements in the sagittal plane at three different speeds: 20 cycles/min, self-selected, and 40 cycles/min. Mean standard deviations, coefficient of variation and variance ratio as variability measures; maximum finite-time Lyapunov exponents and maximum Floquet multipliers as... 

In this paper, using an analytical optimization method, optimum design of multi-layer compound cylinders with different materials in layers is investigated. For this purpose, considering Tresca criterion, maximum shear stress in each layer is minimized. At the optimum condition, the maximum shear stress at all layers occurs simultaneously. The general analytical relations for optimum dimension of layers, residual pressures and radial interferences are derived. The existence condition of the optimum solution is also investigated and the constraints for materials selection are derived too. It is shown that the allowable shear stress ratio of materials must be close to their geometric mean... 

In this paper, a nonlinear model reference adaptive impedance controller is proposed and tested. The controller provides asymptotic tracking of a reference impedance model for the robot end-effector in Cartesian coordinates applicable to rehabilitation robotics or any other human-robot interactions such as haptic systems. The controller uses the parameters of a desired stable reference model which is the target impedance for the robots end-effector. It also considers uncertainties in the model parameters of the robot. The asymptotic tracking is proven using Lyapunov stability theorem. Moreover, the adaptation law is proposed in joint space for reducing the complexity of its calculations;... 

In this paper, employing an analytical method, optimum design of multi-layer compound cylinders is investigated. To this end, considering Tresca criterion, maximum shear stress in each layer is minimized. Analytical relations for optimum values of a layer dimension, residual pressures and radial interferences are derived. A technique for shrink-fitting of layers is also proposed and relationships for radial interferences, residual pressures and required temperature differences during the shrink-fitting process are derived. Three different examples are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed method. It is shown that increasing the number of layers makes shear stress distribution... 

A new nonlinear model reference adaptive impedance controller is presented for the control of robot manipulators with uncertainties in model parameters such as friction coefficients. This method provides asymptotic tracking of a reference impedance model for the robot end-effector in operational space which is more sensible for the patient compared to the joint space impedance used in previous works. The model uncertainties such as friction coefficients are compensated using an adaptation law. The asymptotic tracking of the reference impedance model is shown using a Lyapunov function. The tracking performance and friction compensation are also demonstrated through simulation on a... 

Nowadays networks-on-chip are emerging as a hot topic in IC designs with high integration. In addition to popular mesh and torus topologies, other structures can also be considered especially in 3D VLSI design. The shuffle-exchange topology is one of the popular interconnection architectures for multiprocessors due to its scalability and self-routing capability. By vertically stacking two or more silicon wafers, connected with a high-density and high-speed interconnect, it is now possible to combine multiple active device layers within a single IC. In this paper we propose an efficient three dimensional layout for a novel 2D mesh structure based on the shuffle-exchange topology. Simulation... 

In this paper, an indirect adaptive fuzzy sliding mode controller for a 3-dimensional inverted pendulum as a fully actuated MIMO system is developed. This inverted pendulum, has four degrees of freedom and equations of the system are nonlinear and non-minimum phase. Thus, control of this system is a challenging issue. Accordingly, in this work, general basis of sliding mode control method with reaching rules is expressed for this system, then the fuzzy control theory is combined, and modeling uncertainties of the system are estimated by universal fuzzy approximation theory. Controller parameters are updated by a defined adaptation law to decrease the tracking error of the inverted pendulum.... 

Compulsory treatment has had a detrimental impact on drug abuse treatment policies and programs in Iran. Physicians are currently required to conduct initial treatment screening. Social workers are a part of the treatment team but have no authority to initiate a compulsory drug treatment plan. For this reason, the present article investigates social work service participation in the process of compulsory drug treatment. The study methodology is content analysis. Nine social workers participated in seven focus group discussions. Overall, 110 codes were extracted from the sessions and were categorized into five main themes: interview and initial assessment; referral; investigation of... 

In this work the effect of nano- and microZrO2 addition on the densification and hydration resistance of MgO–CaO refractories was investigated. 0, 2, 4, 6 and 8 wt% ZrO2 was added to MgO–CaO refractories that contain 35 wt% CaO. The crystalline phases and microstructure characteristics of specimens sintered at 1650 °C for 5 h in an electric furnace were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), respectively. The physical properties are reported in terms of bulk density, apparent porosity and hydration resistance. Results show that with addition of ZrO2 the bulk density and hydration resistance of the samples increased while apparent porosity decreased. Also... 

In this paper, we study a variation of the equations of a chemotaxis kinetic model and investigate it in one dimension. In fact, we use fractional diffusion for the chemoattractant in the Othmar-Dunbar-Alt system (Othmer in J Math Biol 26(3):263-298, 1988). This version was exhibited in Calvez in Amer Math Soc, pp 45-62, 2007 for the macroscopic well-known Keller-Segel model in all space dimensions. These two macroscopic and kinetic models are related as mentioned in Bournaveas, Ann Inst H Poincaré Anal Non Linéaire, 26(5):1871-1895, 2009, Chalub, Math Models Methods Appl Sci, 16(7 suppl):1173-1197, 2006, Chalub, Monatsh Math, 142(1-2):123-141, 2004, Chalub, Port Math (NS), 63(2):227-250,... 

A solvent-free procedure for the synthesis of several 1-aryl-2-(dialkylaminomethyl)-prop-2-en-1-ones 3 (a-e) and 4 (a-e) is reported. Reaction of arylmethyl ketones with formaldehyde and dialkylamines, such as diethyl- or dibutylamines at room temperature in silica gel produce 3 and 4 with moderate yields  

The electromagnetic wave propagation prediction in smooth homogenous earth is studied. This estimation employs Fourier Split-Step algorithm. The process of how parabolic equation and Fourier Split Step algorithm achieved, is investigated. Error resulted from this approximation is studied. Source modeling is analyzed. Simulations based on this method are illustrated on different values of frequency, range and antenna height  

In this study, the corrosion behaviour of Ni-Co alloys with low Co content, electroplated on steel substrate in sulphate bath, was investigated. The morphology of coatings was studied by optical and SEM microscopy. The corrosion products were analyzed using EDX. The results showed that Ni-1%Co coatings had a better corrosion resistance 0.30, 0.92 and 3.75 mpy for atmospheric, salt spray and polarization tests, respectively. These are 0.41, 1.20 and 5.40 mpy for pure nickel coatings that indicate the least corrosion resistance. Surface analysis revealed the presence of oxides, sulphides and chlorides in corrosion products