Proposal and assessment of a new geothermal-based multigeneration system for cooling, heating, power, and hydrogen production, using LNG cold energy recovery

, Article Renewable Energy ; Volume 135 , 2019 , Pages 66-87 ; 09601481 (ISSN) Ebadollahi, M ; Rostamzadeh, H ; Zamani Pedram, M ; Ghaebi, H ; Amidpour, M ; Sharif University of Technology

Elsevier Ltd 2019

Abstract

Multigeneration systems (MGSs) driven by renewable sources are proved as cutting-edge technologies for multiple productions purposes to curb greenhouse gas emissions. With this regard, a novel geothermal-based MGS is proposed to produce multiple commodities of cooling, heating, power, and hydrogen, simultaneously, using liquefied natural gas (LNG) as cold energy recovery. The system is composed of an organic Rankine cycle (ORC), an ejector refrigeration cycle (ERC), an LNG power generation system, and a proton exchange membrane (PEM) electrolyzer system. To demonstrate the feasibility of the proposed MGS, energy, exergy, and exergoeconomic analysis are employed as the most effective tools...

Dynamics of Magnetic Nanoparticles in Biologically Inspired Flows under Effect of Electric and Magnetic Fields with Application in Epilepsy Detection

, Ph.D. Dissertation Sharif University of Technology Zamani Pedram, Maysam (Author) ; Alasty, Aria (Supervisor) ; Ghaffarzadeh, Ebrahim (Supervisor) ; Shamloo, Amir (Co-Advisor)

Abstract

This thesis presents my Ph.D. research study focusing on the dynamic analysis of magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) for epilepsy and blood-brain barrier (BBB) applications. In this analysis, we took into account various parameters including the magnetic field, fluid behavior, geometry and material of MNPs. Based on this computational study, the generated magnetic field in epileptic foci results in the aggregation of nanoparticles. This may offer the advantage of using MNPs as a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) contrast agent. Furthermore, in this study, we also demonstrated and discussed the advantage of MNPs for crossing BBB using the external magnetic field. The outcome of this research project...

Hubert Dreyfus on the Impossibility of Artificial Intelligence: Consequences and Implications

, M.Sc. Thesis Sharif University of Technology Aghili Dehkordi, Bamdad (Author) ; Sefidkhosh, Maysam (Supervisor) ; Taqavi, Mostafa ($item.subfieldsMap.e)

Abstract

Hubert Dreyfus other than being a prominent philosopher is amongst early critics of classical artificial intelligence project which was initialized during 1955-1960. Challenging the rationalist presuppositions of this paradigm, he foresaw various situations where mechanical artificial intelligence based upon modeling the world through symbolic representation and mimicking reason by formalized rules would fail to deliver even remotely similar outputs in digital computers as in human though process and problem solving ability.Twenty years later it became obvious for AI researchers that obstacles like frame problem or lack of common sense would follow their projects no matter what computing...

Smart micro/nano-robotic systems for gene delivery

, Article Current Gene Therapy ; Volume 17, Issue 2 , 2017 , Pages 73-79 ; 15665232 (ISSN) Pedram, A ; Nejat Pishkenari, H ; Sharif University of Technology

Bentham Science Publishers B.V 2017

Abstract

Background: Small scale robotics have attracted growing attention for the prospect of targeting and accessing cell-sized sites, necessary for high precision biomedical applications and drug/gene delivery. The loss of controlled gene therapy, inducing systemic side effects and reduced therapeutic efficiency, can be settled utilizing these intelligent carriers. Methods: Newly proposed solutions for the main challenges of control, power supplying, gene release and final carrier extraction/degradation have shifted these smart miniature robots to the point of being employed for practical applications of transferring oligonucleotides (pDNA, siRNA, mRNA, etc.) in near future. Conclusion: In this...

The Status of Scientific-Technological Instruments from the Point of View of Scientific Anti-Realism

, M.Sc. Thesis Sharif University of Technology Pedram, Ali (Author) ; Akbari, Javad (Supervisor)

Abstract

One of the main arguments between scientific realists and scientific anti-realists is about observability. As a prominent anti-realist, van Fraassen and his theory of constructive empiricism and his views on observability and the use of scientific instruments, have been the subject of many debates. He believes that observation is the sole path to knowledge and observation is only possible through unaided human eye, so seeing through scientific instruments like microscopes does not count as observation, therefore the information gained from these procedures are not necessarily true.This thesis not only examines van Fraassen’s outlooks on the matter, but also examines his opponents’ view and...

A Fabrication Method of Neutrally-buoyant Magnetic Micro-robot to Improve Its Motion Control

, M.Sc. Thesis Sharif University of Technology Pedram, Alireza (Author) ; Nejat Pishkenari, Hossein (Supervisor)

Abstract

Micro-robotics is one of the currently emerging technologies which has attracted attentions for its probable applications in different fields including biotechnology, diagnosis and treatment in medical engineering as well as general studies in micro-scale science and engineering. Magnetic micro-robotics is considered as the most promising group, primarily due to the biocompatibility of magnetic fields and advances in electronic circuits to produce and control such fields. One critical point in utilizing these robots is their high density in comparison with the working fluid and their tendency to sink. In this thesis, a method to fabricate buoyant magnetic robots has been proposed based on...

Optimal controller design for 3D manipulation of buoyant magnetic microrobots via constrained linear quadratic regulation approach

, Article Journal of Micro-Bio Robotics ; Volume 15, Issue 2 , 2019 , Pages 105-117 ; 21946418 (ISSN) Pedram, A ; Nejat Pishkenari, H ; Sitti, M ; Sharif University of Technology

Springer 2019

Abstract

We consider magnetic actuation and control of a spherical neutrally buoyant magnetic microrobot via magnetic coil setups and seek to design an optimal controller to reduce the required energy and coils’ currents. We showed that in currently employed setups, where the actuation frequency is few tens of Hertz, the nonlinear dynamics of the system can be well approximated by a set of linear constrained ones. The approximated model is obtained by consciously overlooking the rotational dynamics and the inertia terms in translational dynamics. We acquired the linear quadratic regulation (LQR) controller for the approximated model which is a constrained time-varying system. Finally, 3D manipulation...

Random Walks on the Mapping Class Group

, M.Sc. Thesis Sharif University of Technology Anvari, Leila (Author) ; Safdari, Mohammad (Supervisor) ; Nassiri, Maysam (Supervisor) ; Talebi, Aminossadat (Co-Supervisor)

Abstract

Let Σ be a connected orientable surface of finite type. Due to Nielsen and Thurston’s classification, it is known that any element of the mapping class group of Σ is periodic, reducible, or (exclusively) pseudo-Anosov. Thus it is natural to form a random walk on the mapping class group with a step distribution and ask about the asymptotic distribution of the location of the random walk on each of the mentioned classes. Joseph Maher has proved that if the group generated by the support of is a non-elementary subgroup of the mapping class group, then the random walk will encounter a pseudo-Anosov element with asymptotic probability one. Indeed, this result not only concerns random walks on...

A physicochemical evaluation of modified HZSM-5 catalyst utilized for production of dimethyl ether from methanol

, Article Petroleum Science and Technology ; Vol. 32, issue. 8 , Feb , 2014 , pp. 904-911 ; ISSN: 10916466 Pedram, M. Z ; Kazemeini, M ; Fattahi, M ; Amjadian, A ; Sharif University of Technology

2014

Abstract

A number of HZSM-5 catalysts modified with 5 wt% Mg, Na, Zr, and Al as well as others modified with 5-60 wt% Zn prepared by wet impregnation. These materials were characterized by the NH3-TPD, XRF, and XRD analyses and tested in a slurry reactor to determine their activities in dehydration of methanol solution in kerosene. Reactions were carried out at 230°C and 19 bar for 4 h of residence time in the reactor. Results showed that in the first series, the catalyst modified with Zr and in the second series, the one modified with 10 wt% Zn led to the highest methanol conversion. It was deduced that elimination of strong acid sites and partial replacement of active cations in the HZSM-5 zeolite...

Analysis and fast estimation of energy consumption in template based QDI asynchronous circuits

, Article 2007 International Symposium on Integrated Circuits, ISIC, Singapore, 26 September 2007 through 28 September 2007 ; 2007 , Pages 445-448 ; 1424407974 (ISBN); 9781424407972 (ISBN) Ghavami, B ; Mirza Aghatabar, M ; Pedram, H ; Hessabi, S ; Sharif University of Technology

2007

Abstract

In this paper we analyses the energy consumption of well known family of asynchronous circuits and present a new methodology for energy estimation of these circuits at intermediate-level of abstraction. Energy estimation is performed by simulating the intermediate format of the design. The number of Read and Write accesses on the ports of the concurrent processes are counted by analyzing the conditional and computational portion during the simulation which is the base of our estimation methodology. Our proposed power estimation scheme is faster than usual post-synthesis power estimation by an order of 9, while the estimated power resides in a boundary of 11% total imprecision. © 2007 IEEE

An empirical investigation of mesh and torus NoC topologies under different routing algorithms and traffic models

, Article 10th Euromicro Conference on Digital System Design Architectures, Methods and Tools, DSD 2007, Lubeck, 29 August 2007 through 31 August 2007 ; October , 2007 , Pages 19-26 ; 076952978X (ISBN); 9780769529783 (ISBN) Mirza Aghatabar, M ; Koohi, S ; Hessabi, S ; Pedram, M ; Sharif University of Technology

2007

Abstract

NoC is an efficient on-chip communication architecture for SoC architectures. It enables integration of a large number of computational and storage blocks on a single chip. NoCs have tackled the SoCs disadvantages and are scalable. In this paper, we compare two popular NoC topologies, i.e., mesh and torus, in terms of different figures of merit e.g., latency, power consumption, and power/throughput ratio under different routing algorithms and two common traffic models, uniform and hotspot. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first effort in comparing mesh and torus topologies under different routing algorithms and traffic models with respect to their performance and power consumption....

Reaction-diffusion equations with polynomial drifts driven by fractional brownian motions

, Article Stochastic Analysis and Applications ; Volume 28, Issue 6 , Oct , 2010 , Pages 1020-1039 ; 07362994 (ISSN) Zamani, S ; Sharif University of Technology

2010

Abstract

A reaction-diffusion equation on [0, 1]d with the heat conductivity k > 0, a polynomial drift term and an additive noise, fractional in time with H > 1/2, and colored in space, is considered. We have shown the existence, uniqueness and uniform boundedness of solution with respect to k Also we show that if k tends to infinity, then the corresponding solutions of the equation converge to a process satisfying a stochastic ordinary differential equation

Toward epileptic brain region detection based on magnetic nanoparticle patterning

, Article Sensors (Switzerland) ; Volume 15, Issue 9 , September , 2015 , Pages 24409-24427 ; 14248220 (ISSN) Pedram, M. Z ; Shamloo, A ; Alasty, A ; Ghafar Zadeh, E ; Sharif University of Technology

MDPI AG 2015

Abstract

Resection of the epilepsy foci is the best treatment for more than 15% of epileptic patients or 50% of patients who are refractory to all forms of medical treatment. Accurate mapping of the locations of epileptic neuronal networks can result in the complete resection of epileptic foci. Even though currently electroencephalography is the best technique for mapping the epileptic focus, it cannot define the boundary of epilepsy that accurately. Herein we put forward a new accurate brain mapping technique using superparamagnetic nanoparticles (SPMNs). The main hypothesis in this new approach is the creation of super-paramagnetic aggregates in the epileptic foci due to high electrical and...

Optimal magnetic field for crossing super-para-magnetic nanoparticles through the Brain Blood Barrier: A computational approach

, Article Biosensors ; Volume 6, Issue 2 , 2016 ; 20796374 (ISSN) Pedram, M. Z ; Shamloo, A ; Alasty, A ; Ghafar Zadeh, E ; Sharif University of Technology

MDPI AG 2016

Abstract

This paper scrutinizes the magnetic field effect to deliver the superparamagnetic nanoparticles (SPMNs) through the Blood Brain Barrier (BBB). Herein we study the interaction between the nanoparticle (NP) and BBB membrane using Molecular Dynamic (MD) techniques. The MD model is used to enhance our understanding of the dynamic behavior of SPMNs crossing the endothelial cells in the presence of a gradient magnetic field. Actuation of NPs under weak magnetic field offers the great advantage of a non-invasive drug delivery without the risk of causing injury to the brain. Furthermore, a weak magnetic portable stimulator can be developed using low complexity prototyping techniques. Based on MD...

Dynamic analysis of magnetic nanoparticles crossing cell membrane

, Article Journal of Magnetism and Magnetic Materials ; Volume 429 , 2017 , Pages 372-378 ; 03048853 (ISSN) Pedram, M. Z ; Shamloo, A ; Ghafar Zadeh, E ; Alasty, A ; Sharif University of Technology

Elsevier B.V 2017

Abstract

Nowadays, nanoparticles (NPs) are used in a variety of biomedical applications including brain disease diagnostics and subsequent treatments. Among the various types of NPs, magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) have been implemented by many research groups for an array of life science applications. In this paper, we studied MNPs controlled delivery into the endothelial cells using a magnetic field. Dynamics equations of MNPs were defined in the continuous domain using control theory methods and were applied to crossing the cell membrane. This study, dedicated to clinical and biomedical research applications, offers a guideline for the generation of a magnetic field required for the delivery of...

New method of determination for pressure and shear frictions in the ring rolling process as analytical function

, Article Journal of Solid Mechanics ; Vol. 6, issue. 3 , 2014 , pp. 322-333 ; ISSN: 20083505 Zamani, M. R ; Sharif University of Technology

2014

Abstract

Ring rolling is one of the most significant methods for producing rings with highly precise dimensions and superior qualities such as high strength uniformity, all accomplished without wasting any materials. In this article, we have achieved analytical formulas for calculating the pressure and shear friction over the contact arcs between the rollers and ring in the ring rolling process for the material in general nonlinear hardening property. We have also asserted the best mathematical model to predict friction for rolling processes. The method we use is based on calculating the analytical stress distribution. In other words, by using of Saint-Venan principal the stress components are...

Reimbursing the handshake overhead of asynchronous circuits using compiler pre-synthesis optimizations

, Article 11th EUROMICRO Conference on Digital System Design Architectures, Methods and Tools, DSD 2008, Parma, 3 September 2008 through 5 September 2008 ; 2008 , Pages 290-297 ; 9780769532776 (ISBN) Zamanzadeh, S ; Mirza Aghatabar, M ; Najibi, M ; Pedram, H ; Sadeghi, A ; Sharif University of Technology

2008

Abstract

Asynchronous circuits have many advantages vs synchronous design styles like high performance and lower power consumption; however, there is a drawback of big overhead in handshake circuitry of these circuits. In this paper, we have reduced the amount of these extra circuits by take advantage of some compiler techniques. The compiler methods can be used innovatively to improve the synthesis results in terms of both power consumption and area, since these code motions lead to removing of completion detection and validity check parts of asynchronous designs. To the best of our knowledge this is the first effort in using the compiler pre-synthesis optimizations in asynchronous circuits to...

Sparse array design for millimeter-wave imaging

, Article 2016 IEEE Antennas and Propagation Society International Symposium, APSURSI 2016 - Proceedings, 26 June 2016 through 1 July 2016 ; 2016 , Pages 1039-1040 ; 9781509028863 (ISBN) Zamani, H ; Fakharzadeh, M ; Sharif University of Technology

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc 2016

Abstract

In this paper, the design of an efficient sparse array, used to reconstruct the image from millimeter-wave signals, is presented. The proposed array takes advantage of the sparsity concept of the image in the spatial Fourier domain to reduce the number of array elements such that the beam pattern of the designed array meets the desired beamwidth and sidelobe level. Simulation and measured results confirm the effectiveness of the proposed design on high-quality reconstruction of the image, while 85% reduction in the number of elements is achieved as well as the reduction in scan time and system complexity

A feature fusion based localized multiple kernel learning system for real world image classification

, Article Eurasip Journal on Image and Video Processing ; Volume 2017, Issue 1 , 2017 ; 16875176 (ISSN) Zamani, F ; Jamzad, M ; Sharif University of Technology

2017

Abstract

Real-world image classification, which aims to determine the semantic class of un-labeled images, is a challenging task. In this paper, we focus on two challenges of image classification and propose a method to address both of them simultaneously. The first challenge is that representing images by heterogeneous features, such as color, shape and texture, helps to provide better classification accuracy. The second challenge comes from dissimilarities in the visual appearance of images from the same class (intra class variance) and similarities between images from different classes (inter class relationship). In addition to these two challenges, we should note that the feature space of...

1.5-D sparse array for millimeter-wave imaging based on compressive sensing techniques

, Article IEEE Transactions on Antennas and Propagation ; Volume 66, Issue 4 , April , 2018 , Pages 2008-2015 ; 0018926X (ISSN) Zamani, H ; Fakharzadeh, M ; Sharif University of Technology

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc 2018

Abstract

The goal of this paper is to reduce the antenna count in a millimeter (mm)-wave imaging system by proposing both hardware and software solutions. The concept of image sparsity in the transform domain is utilized to present the compressive sensing (CS) formulation for both mono-static and multistatic imaging at mm-wave frequencies. To reduce the complexity of the imaging system and reconstruction process, we introduce 1.5-D array structure, which is a random sparse array with orthogonal element locations. It is shown that the peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR) of the reconstructed image obtained by a 1.5-D array with 65% sparsity is very close to the PSNR of a uniform 2-D array for mono-static...