Sharif Digital Repository

Trunk muscle forces and internal loads are computed under simulated standing postures while carrying a load using a nonlinear finite element model of the T1-S1 spine with realistic nonlinear load-displacement properties. A novel kinematics-based algorithm is applied that exploits a set of a priori known spinal sagittal rotations to solve the redundant active-passive system. The loads consist of upper body gravity distributed along the spine plus 200 N held in hands either in front or on sides. Predictions are in good agreement with reported measurements of posture, muscle EMG and intradiscal pressure. Minimal changes in posture (posterior pelvic tilt and lumbar flattening) substantially... 

As membrane distillation (MD) is an under-developed separation process, specific membranes for MD applications are not yet commercially available. Therefore, microporous polymeric membranes made of hydrophobic materials fabricated for microfiltration purposes are usually used for MD applications. Characterization of such kind of membranes is important in order to achieve a better in-depth understanding of their performance and to fabricate specific membranes for MD process. One of the emerging characterization methods is atomic force microscopy (AFM) analysis. AFM is a newly developed high-resolution method that is useful for studying the surface topography of various types of membranes, and... 

In this study the effects of using different musculoskeletal models on load-displacement behavior of FE models of the human lumbar spine under external loads and moments have been analyzed in terms of equilibrium and clinical stability. A simplified and a complex architecture of muscles have been integrated to FE based models of lumbar spine and were loaded to simulate the load carrying behavior of human lumbar spine in flexion, extension and lateral bending. The displacement values as well as muscle forces have been computed and compared in both cases using optimization methods with different cost functions. The models showed similar kinematics in pure flexion but the simplified model... 

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the photocatalytic degradation of anthracene using Fe-doped TiO2 nanoparticles in the presence of UV. The structure and morphology of Fe-doped TiO2 nanoparticles were studied by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy. The applied nanoparticles were synthesized by the sol–gel method. The effect of influential parameters on the degradation of anthracene, including pH, time, nanopar-ticles dosage, and the concentration of anthracene was studied. Using the UV/Fe-doped TiO2 system, the optimum experimental values were obtained to be as follows: pH = 7, contact time = 60 min, anthracene concentration =... 

In this work, two-membrane distillation (MD) modes, direct contact MD, and sweeping gas MD were investigated for synthesized and real (Persian Gulf) seawater desalination. A commercial PTFE membrane with 0.22 μm pore size was characterized (using atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy) and was used for experiments. A multipurpose plate and frame MD module was used for desalination experiments. The effects of various operating conditions and MD module design, as well as feed type on the permeation flux have been studied. The feed temperature was found to be the most effective operating parameter. The flow rate in both sides of the MD module was found to be effective;... 

This paper presents an analysis of the effects and propagation of faults in the open-core 32-bit OpenRISC 1200 microprocessor. The analysis is based on a total of 13,000 transient faults injected into 65 parts of the CPU module in the OpenRISC 1200 core described at the RTL model. A comparison of the effects of faults on the various parts of the CPU including the pipeline's registers, the CPU component such as the register file, the control unit, and the ALU, and the data and address buses is done. It is shown that about 30%, 40% and 27% of injected faults terminated in address, data, and control errors respectively. About 28% of all injected faults resulted in failures. © 2008 IEEE  

Fluid flow in porous media is affected by surface characteristics such as roughness and topography. In this work, to simulate the surface of natural porous structures in transparent interconnected media like micromodels, various degrees of roughness have been artificially created on flat glass substrates via different methods of laser ablation, cream etching, combination of laser ablation and cream etching, and hydrofluoric acid (HF) etching. The obtained surfaces by each method were characterized in detail via field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX/EDS), and surface profilometry. The impact of high... 

Spine musculoskeletal (MS) models make simplifying assumptions on the intervertebral joint degrees-of-freedom (rotational and/or translational), representation (spherical or beam-like joints), and properties (linear or nonlinear). They also generally neglect the realistic structure of the joints with disc nuclei/annuli, facets, and ligaments. We aim to develop a novel MS model where trunk muscles are incorporated into a detailed finite element (FE) model of the ligamentous T12-S1 spine thus constructing a gold standard coupled MS-FE model. Model predictions are compared under some tasks with those of our earlier spherical joints, beam joints, and hybrid (uncoupled) MS-FE models. The coupled... 

Sweeping gas membrane distillation process was studied using flat sheet hydrophobic PTFE membrane. The effects of operating parameters, including feed temperature, feed flow rate, sweeping gas flow rate, and feed concentration on the permeate flux, were determined. The feed temperature significantly influenced the permeate flux. Increasing the feed temperature increased the permeate flux. The increase of feed concentration caused to reduce the permeate flux due to the increase of concentration polarization effect and reduction of vapor pressure difference. Sweeping gas flow rate led to increase the permeate flux due to reduction of vapor pressure in the permeate side. Higher air flow rate... 

In this work, desalination of saline brines using the sweeping gas membrane distillation (SGMD) process is investigated. The Taguchi method was applied for optimization of the operating parameters. An L9 orthogonal array was used to investigate the influence of pertinent variables, including feed temperature (Tf: 45°C, 55°C and 65°C), feed flow rate (Qf: 200, 400 and 600 mL/min), feed concentration (Cf: 10, 25 and 50 g/L) and sweeping gas flow rate (Qc: 4, 10, and 16 SCFH) on the distillate flux. Results of the experiments showed that maximum distillate flux, which was about 10 L/m2 h, obtained at 65°C feed temperature, 16 SCFH sweeping gas flow rate and brackish water with 10 g/L salt... 

In this work, sweeping gas membrane distillation (SGMD) process was used for concentrating of glucose syrup. The main questions in this work include: is SGMD process practical for concentrating of glucose solution prior the fermentation step in bioethanol process?. and are the commercially available hydrophobic membranes sufficient enough to develop the SGMD process in pilot scale for this issue?. To answer these questions, SGMD process was performed using three commercial membranes made of PP, PVDF and PTFE. All membranes characterized using scanning electron and atomic force microscopes for their morphological and topographical features. Important operating parameters including feed... 

In this paper, particle swarm optimization (PSO) is applied to synchronize chaotic systems in presence of parameter uncertainties and measurement noise. Particle swarm optimization is an evolutionary algorithm which is introduced by Kennedy and Eberhart. This algorithm is inspired by birds flocking. Optimization algorithms can be applied to control by defining an appropriate cost function that guarantees stability of system. In presence of environment noise and parameter uncertainty, robustness plays a crucial role in succeed of controller. Since PSO needs only rudimentary information about the system, it can be a suitable algorithm for this case. Simulation results confirm that the proposed... 

The 1991 NIOSH Lifting Equation (NLE) is widely used to assess the risk of injury to spine by providing estimates of the recommended weight limit (RWL) in hands. The present study uses the predictive equations developed based on a detailed trunk musculoskeletal biomechanical model to verify whether the RWL generates L5-S1 loads within the limits (e.g., 3400N for compression recommended by NIOSH and 1000N for shear recommended in some studies). Fifty lifting activities are simulated here to evaluate the RWL by the NLE and the L5-S1 loads by the predictive equations. In lifting activities involving moderate to large forward trunk flexion, the estimated RWL generates L5-S1 spine loads exceeding... 

Acidizing is widely used to remove near-wellbore damage and enhance the inflow performance of the reservoir to boost the well oil production rate. However, when the injected acid exposes to reservoir oil, either asphaltic sludge or emulsion forms as acid-induced damages. Therefore, laboratory compatibility tests are required before every acidizing job to determine both the acid sensitivity of oil samples and the optimal dosage of chemical inhibitors that should be used to prevent sludge and emulsion formation. The lack of knowledge to predict the risk of asphaltic sludge and emulsion damages for different oil and acid systems necessitates expensive and time-consuming compatibility tests... 

This work aimed to evaluate trunk muscle forces, internal loads and stability margin under some simulated standing postures, with and without external loads, using a nonlinear finite element model of the T1-S1 spine with realistic nonlinear load-displacement properties. A novel kinematics-based algorithm was applied that exploited a set of spinal sagittal rotations, initially calculated to minimize balancing moments, to solve the redundant active-passive system. The loads consisted of upper body gravity distributed along the spine with or without 200 N held in the hands, either in the front of the body or on the sides. Nonlinear and linear stability/perturbation analyses at deformed,... 

In this paper, the tip tracking control problem of a Timoshenko micro-cantilever beam is investigated. The beam is actuated by a piezoelectric layer laminated on one side of the beam. Dynamic equations of the beam and piezoelectric layer are found using the Hamilton principle. By employing the Galerkin projection method, state space representation of the system is derived. Then, a cascade control loop is used for tracking control of the beam's tip. The cascade control structure consists of an inner loop stabilizer and an outer loop proportional-integral-derivative controller. The stabilizer has a linear feedback form whose states are obtained through a linear observer which is based on the... 

Background The ratio of total lumbar rotation over pelvic rotation (lumbopelvic rhythm) during trunk sagittal movement is essential to evaluate spinal loads and discriminate between low back pain and asymptomatic population. Methods Angular rotations of the pelvis and lumbar spine as well as their sagittal rhythm during forward flexion and backward extension in upright standing of eight asymptomatic males are measured using an inertial tracking device. The effect of variations in the lumbopelvic ratio during trunk flexion on spinal loads is quantified using a detailed musculoskeletal model. Findings The mean of peak voluntary flexion rotations of the thorax, pelvis, and lumbar was 121 (SD... 

In this paper, the tip tracking control problem of a Timoshenko micro-cantilever beam is investigated. The beam is actuated by a piezoelectric layer laminated on one side of the beam. Dynamic equations of the beam and piezoelectric layer are found using the Hamilton principle. By employing the Galerkin projection method, state space representation of the system is derived. Then, a cascade control loop is used for tracking control of the beam's tip. The cascade control structure consists of an inner loop stabilizer and an outer loop proportional-integral-derivative controller. The stabilizer has a linear feedback form whose states are obtained through a linear observer which is based on the... 

Microplastics are currently known to be among the most detrimental environmental. The research on ways to counteract these pollutions and the use of microorganisms for the biological decomposition of various plastic polymers have evolved over the recent years. In this regard, the present study collected effluents from the southern Tehran treatment plant and separated and counted the microplastics present in them, it was found that the least number of microplastics was found in the samples of the summer season and the highest number of microplastics was found in the samples of the spring season. In these samples, particles could be identified in three forms: fiber, fragment, and film, which...