Sharif Digital Repository

Controlling dynamic biped robots is a complex challenge. Almost all researches in this field assume that the internal structure and dynamics of the robot is known to the controller. But in real-world problems we don't have exact model of the robot or this model is very complicated and is not useful in real-time control. As a matter of fact, we use many devices without any knowledge about their internal structure or analytical models. Some researchers used learning algorithms to control bipeds, but their performance is not comparable to human's learning. Fuzzy controllers can control the bipeds with lower cost, but they need sufficient rules. In the previous works we proposed a linguistic... 

Background: One of the negative effects of cardiac sympathetic hyperactivity is pathologic hypertrophy. Recent studies have indicated that large tumor suppressor (LATS) is one of the molecules which play a critical role in cardiomyocyte apoptosis. Considering the preventive role of exercise training, we evaluated the effects of endurance training on LATS gene expression and its upstream pathway in the present study. Methods: Eighteen male Wistar rats were randomly divided into 2 groups: Endurance and control. Endurance training was performed for 8 weeks, 1 hour per day, and 6 days per week on the treadmill at a 15° inclination. Pathologic hypertrophy was induced with the injection of 3... 

This paper studies a simultaneous weekly assignment and scheduling decisionmaking problem in operating theaters with elective patients. Because of limited recourses in hospitals, considering assignment and scheduling decisions simultaneously can help mangers exploit the available resources more efficiently and make the work-load uniformly distributed during the planning horizon. This procedure can significantly reduce hospital costs and increase satisfaction of patients and personnel. This paper formulates the mentioned problem as a Mixed Integer Linear Program (MILP) considering applicable assumptions like finite recovery beds and limitation of equipment. Since the problem is NP-hard, in... 

Rank aggregation, that is merging multiple ranked lists, is a pivotal challenge in many information retrieval (IR) systems, especially in distributed IR and multilingual IR. From the evaluation point of view, being able to calculate the upper-bound of performance of the final aggregated list lays the ground for evaluating different aggregation strategies, independently. In this paper, we propose an algorithm based on dynamic programming which, using relevancy information, obtains the aggregated list with the maximum performance that could be possibly achieved by any aggregation strategy. We also provide a detailed proof for the optimality of the result of the algorithm. Furthermore, we... 

Shot peening is widely used to improve the fretting fatigue strength of critical surfaces. Fretting fatigue occurs in contacting parts that are subjected to fluctuating loads and sliding movements at the same time. This paper presents a sequential finite element simulation to investigate the shot peening effects on normal stress, shear stress, bulk stress and slip amplitude, which are considered to be the controlling parameters of fretting damage. The results demonstrated that among the modifications related to shot peening, compressive residual stress has a dominant effect on the fretting parameters  

This study attempts to examine the natural gas fired power plants in Iran. The required data from natural gas fired power plants were gathered during 2008. The characteristics of thirty two gas turbine power plants and twenty steam power plants have been measured. Their emission factor values were then compared with the standards of Energy Protection Agency, Euro Union and World Bank. Emission factors of gas turbine and steam power plants show that gas turbine power plants have a better performance than steam power plants. For economic analysis, fuel consumption and environmental damages caused by the emitted pollutants are considered as cost functions; and electricity sales revenue are... 

Unlike gold and silver, aluminum shows a localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) over a wide spectral range from ultraviolet (UV) to the visible region. Herein, we demonstrate a new process to optically couple TiO2 nanotubes (NTs) with a high-strength aluminum substrate, to achieve a synergistic enhancement of photocatalytic antibacterial effects through controlled LSPR of aluminum. The high-strength aluminum substrate was produced by tubular channel angular pressing (TCAP). Their LSPR was tailored through the formation of superficial nano-concave arrays (NCAs) with desired concave diameters. A layer of aligned TiO2 NTs was fabricated on the surface of aluminum nano-concave arrays (Al... 

Nanomedicine has seen a significant rise in the development of new research tools and clinically functional devices. In this regard, significant advances and new commercial applications are expected in the pharmaceutical and orthopedic industries. For advanced orthopedic implant technologies, appropriate nanoscale surface modifications are highly effective strategies and are widely studied in the literature for improving implant performance. It is well-established that implants with nanotubular surfaces show a drastic improvement in new bone creation and gene expression compared to implants without nanotopography. Nevertheless, the scientific and clinical understanding of mixed oxide... 

Nanomedicine has seen a significant rise in the development of new research tools and clinically functional devices. In this regard, significant advances and new commercial applications are expected in the pharmaceutical and orthopedic industries. For advanced orthopedic implant technologies, appropriate nanoscale surface modifications are highly effective strategies and are widely studied in the literature for improving implant performance. It is well-established that implants with nanotubular surfaces show a drastic improvement in new bone creation and gene expression compared to implants without nanotopography. Nevertheless, the scientific and clinical understanding of mixed oxide... 

Effect of using Al 2O 3-water nanofluids with different volume fractions and particle diameters on generated entropy, hydrodynamic performance and heat transfer characteristics of a tangential micro-heat sink (TMHS) was numerically investigated in this research. Results indicated that considerable heat transfer enhancement is possible when using Al 2O 3-water nanofluids as coolant and clearly the enhancement improves with increasing particles concentration and decreasing particles size. However, using nanofluid has also induced drastic effects on the pumping power that increases with particles volume fraction and Reynolds number. Finally, it was found that generated total entropy decreases... 

Background: Diabetes is associated with many pathological changes and one of the most important consequences of the diabetes is hepatic injury. The present study was performed to investigate the effect of eight weeks endurance training with consumption of cinnamon supplementation on plasma concentrations of liver enzymes,alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferase (AST) in women with type II diabetes. Methods: In this quasi-experimental study,36 female volunteers with type II diabetes (age 52.72±2.64 years and body mass index 29.28±2.94 Kg/m2) were participated. The subjects were homogenized regarding their body mass index and then were divided randomly into four groups... 

Learning a foreign language encompasses a process of trial and error that can lead to the progression of the learner's interlanguage, meaning that the learners make use of their language knowledge that receives feedback and brings about progress through diagnosis of the problems and being corrected by the teacher. Therefore, there exists a need to analyze the underlying reasons causing the students to remain taciturn with a low willingness to communicate (WTC) during a language class. There has been much work done investigating the role of the learner's stable personal characteristics (traits) along with their situational changes at a specific time (states) that influence the student's... 

Seismic isolators are used to decrease the energy and forces of earthquakes. The weight of conventional steel-reinforced elastomeric isolators (SREIs) is high, mostly due to the use of multiple steel shim plates. On the contrary, the damping ratio of SREIs is relatively low. Accordingly, this research utilizes a new approach in which the steel shim plates are replaced by carbon and polyamide fibers. This study attempts to obtain the dynamic and mechanical properties of such carbon fiber- and polyamide fiber-reinforced elastomeric isolators, in comparison with SREIs. In this work, a number of specimens were initially designed and manufactured. Afterwards, compression and cyclic shear tests... 

A size-dependent, explicit formulation for coupled thermoelasticity addressing a Timoshenko microbeam is derived in this study. This novel model combines modified couple stresses and non-Fourier heat conduction to capture size effects in the microscale. To this purpose, a length-scale parameter as square root of the ratio of curvature modulus to shear modulus and a thermal relaxation time as the phase lag of heat flux vector are considered for predicting the thermomechanical behavior in a microscale device accurately. Governing equations and boundary conditions of motion are obtained simultaneously through variational formulation based on Hamilton's principle. As for case study, the model is... 

Functionally graded materials (FGMs) have been introduced to significantly reduce the temperature and thermal stresses on structures at severe thermal loading. Design and development of FGMs as the heat treatable and energy-absorbing materials for high-temperature and thermal protection systems requires understanding of exact temperature and thermal stress distribution, in order to optimize their resistance to failure. In this study, transient temperature and associated thermal stresses in a functionally graded slab symmetrically heated on both sides are determined by separation of the variables scheme. This method is applied to the heat conduction equation in terms of heat flux for... 

Elastomeric bearings are becoming a preferred device for isolating bridges, buildings, and sensitive equipment structures. The technical specifications used to procure these isolators are considered as important factors for the consumers. Lack of communication between structural engineers and rubber technologists, causes structural engineers have slight understanding of rubber properties. In the present study, a number of compounds were initially designed and manufactured, based on a previously studied and manufactured isolator compound. The outcome of the experiments indicated the physical and mechanical properties. Afterwards, the targeted improvement led to modification of the compounds... 

Using 3-D scanned data to analyze and extract pore network plays a vital role in investigation of porous media's characteristics. In this paper, a new simple method is developed to detect pores and throats for analyzing the connectivity and permeability of the network. This automated method utilizes some of the common and well-known image processing functions which are widely accessible by researchers and this has led to an easy algorithm implementation. In this method, after polishing and quality control of images, using city-block distance function and watershed segmentation algorithm, pores and throats are detected and 3-D network is produced. This method can also be applied on 2-D images...