Sharif Digital Repository

The microscopic features of binary solvent systems formed by molecular solvents (methanol, ethanol, 2-methylpropan-2-ol, water, pyridine, acetonitrile, 1-propanol, 2-propanol, dimethylformamide) and the ionic liquid ([bmim]BF4) as cosolvent were used to select mixed solvents with particular characteristics. Molecular-microscopic solvent parameters corresponding to these binary mixtures were utilised to study the kinetics of the nucleophilic substitution reaction between 2-chloro-3,5-dinitropyridine and aniline to investigate and compare the effects of the solvents on a model chemical reaction. For these mixtures, the solvation behaviour is dominated by both the dipolarity/ polarisability and... 

In this paper, we consider a dual-sourcing model with constant demand and stochastic lead times. Two suppliers may be different in terms of purchasing prices and lead-time parameters. The ordering takes place when the inventory level depletes to a reorder level, and the order is split among two suppliers. Unlike previous works in the order splitting literature, the supply lead time between vendor and buyer as well as unit purchasing prices is considered to be order quantity dependent. The proposed model finds out the optimal reorder point, order quantity and splitting proportion, using a solution procedure. Numerical results show that neglecting the relationship between ordering batch size... 

Mordenite (MOR) nanocrystals were synthesized using the hydrothermal method. Sol–gel and deposition methods were utilized to modify the zeolite surface with TiO2 and then AgBr or AgCl particles. Photocatalysts were characterized by using X-ray diffraction, Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), and scanning electron microscopy techniques. Activity was evaluated by photodegradation of Acid Blue 92 as an azo dye. The effect of silver halide deposition on the photocatalytic behavior of the prepared nanocomposites was studied under both ultraviolet (UV) and visible light, and the results were compared. The results showed that AgCl/TiO2/MOR was more active under UV, while with visible source,... 

Zeolite-based photocatalysts were prepared by the sol-gel and deposition methods. The photocatalysts were characterised by X-ray diffraction, nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, FTIR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry. The activity of the prepared photocatalysts was evaluated by the UV-induced degradation of acid blue 92, a textile dye in common use. The effect of various parameters, such as catalyst concentration, initial dye concentration, thiosulphate concentration and pH, on the rate and efficiency of the photocatalytic degradation of acid blue 92 was investigated. The results showed that each parameter influenced the degradation... 

Introduction: Some tinnitus subjects habituate to their tinnitus but some others do not and complain of its annoyance tremendously. Normal sensory memory and change detection processes are needed for detecting the tinnitus signal as a prediction error and habituation to tinnitus. The purpose of this study was to compare auditory mismatch negativity as the index of sensory memory and change detection among the studied groups to search for the factors involving in the perception of tinnitus and preventing habituation in decompensated tinnitus subjects. Methods: Electroencephalography was recorded from scalp electrodes in compensated tinnitus, decompensated tinnitus, and no tinnitus control... 

The main aim of the present work was to collect and categorize anti-HIV molecules in order to identify general structure-activity relationships. In this respect, a total of 5580 drugs and drug-like molecules was collected from 256 different articles published between 1992 and 2010. An algorithm called genetic algorithm-pattern search counterpropagation artificial neural networks (GPS-CPANN) was proposed for the classification of compounds. In addition, the CART (classification and regression trees) method was used for construction of decision trees and finding the best molecular descriptors. The results revealed that the developed CPANN models and decision tree can correctly classify the... 

Adsorption of human serum proteins (Albumin and total protein) onto high purity synthesis nano-hydroxyapatite (HA), Ca 10(PO 4) 6(OH) 2, has been studied in a wide temperature range by UV-visible spectrophotometer. Adsorption isotherm is basically important to describe how solutes interact with adsorbent, andiscriticalinoptimizing the use of adsorbent. Inthe present study, the experimental results werefitted tothe Langmuir, Freundlich, Temkin and Dubinin-Radushkevich (DR) models to obtain the characteristic parameters of each model and square of the correlation coefficients (R 2). According to the results, the DR isotherm model had the best agreement with the experimental data. The effect of... 

Selective oxidations of alkenes were investigated using molecular oxygen in aqueous solution under mild conditions. Colloidal gold nanoparticles are particularly versatile catalysts for oxidation reaction with exceptionally high efficiency and significant selectivity. Gold nanorods (Au NRs) exhibited a slightly enhanced activity compare to gold nanospheres  

The main aim of this study was to improve current efficiency and to obtain thicker coatings via aluminum oxide (Al2O3) addition to the chromium (Cr) (III) bath. Design/methodology/approach ‐ Pure Cr and nanocomposite Cr–Al2O3 coatings were electrodeposited from Cr (III) bath onto cathode copper substrates by conventional method. Dependence of current efficiency to current density, Al2O3 content and particle size were investigated. Findings ‐ Current efficiency increased with Al2O3 amount and decreased with Al2O3 particle size. Maximum current efficiency was achieved at 25 A/dm2 for pure Cr and 30 A/dm2 for composite coatings. Al2O3 bath content, current density and stirring rate increased... 

In this work a double step algorithm is presented for the integration of equations governing the behavior of von Mises material in plastic limit. The isotropic and kinematic hardenings employed are of general type and the evolution of back stress follows the Armstrong-Frederick rule. Theoretical and numerical aspects are discussed in detail and a comparison is made with the classical backward Euler method  

Investigating the behavior of materials in plastic limit is very important in different fields of engineering. Due to the simplicity of implementation and numerical stability, implicit types of algorithms are conventionally used to deal with plasticity problems. The backward Euler method as a first order accurate algorithm has proven very efficient for integrating the rate form of differential equations governing the behavior of different plasticity models. However, it is desirable to have algorithms with superior performance and quadratic rate of convergence compared with backward Euler method. Many second order integration algorithms have been proposed in the literature which are majorly... 

The investigation of plastic behavior and determining the collapse load factors are the important ingredients of every kinematical method that is employed for plastic analysis and design of frames. The determination of collapse load factors depends on many effective parameters such as the length of bays, height of stories, types of loads and plastic moments of individual members. As the number of bays and stories increases, the parameters that have to be considered make the analysis a complex and tedious task. In such a situation, the role of algorithms that can help to compute an approximate collapse load factor in a reasonable time span becomes more and more crucial. Due to their... 

A simple model is proposed to estimate the critical properties of alkanes-temperature, pressure, and volume. This model is dependent on normal boiling and molecular weight of hydrocarbons. The model has been expanded based on a Taylor series in the form of a polynomial function of normal boiling. Because methane has the simplest structure among hydrocarbons, this model has been calculated around methane. The coefficients of this model were assumed in the form of a linear function of molecular weight. These parameters can be obtained from regression between experimental results and results from this model. By a comparison of this model and previous models, it is shown that this model is... 

Photocatalytic reduction of p-nitrochlorobenzene was studied over aluminosilicate-based AgBr and AgBr-TiO2 photocatalysts which were prepared and characterized. The photoreaction was performed in the presence of LiBH4, which is a strong reducing agent, in the solution medium. A new mechanism is proposed for reduction of p-nitrochlorobenzene under photocatalytic conditions. The effect of pH, illumination source, LiBH4 concentration, temperature, catalyst dosage, and alcoholic scavengers was also studied. The results showed that the best efficiency was obtained over Ag/AgBr/TiO2/aluminosilicates at natural pH under UV light. We observed that the reaction yield was affected by changing the... 

Functionalized magnetic core-zeolitic shell nanostructures were prepared by hydrothermal and coprecipitation methods. The products were characterized by Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD), Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectra, nitrogen adsorption-desorption isotherms, and Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). The growth of mordenite nanoparticles on the surface of silica coated nickel ferrite nanoparticles in the presence of organic templates was also confirmed. Antibacterial activity of the prepared nanostructures was investigated by the inactivation of Escherichia coli as a gram negative bacterium. A new mechanism was proposed for inactivation of E.... 

There are a number of Artificial In elligence (AI) algorithms for implementation of 'Blokus Duo' game. We needed an implementation on FPGA, and moreover, the design had to respond under a given time constraint. In this paper we examine some of these algorithms and propose a heuristic algorithm to solve the problem by considering intelligence, time constraint and FPGA implementation limitations  

In this article, a new mixed finite element formulation is presented for the analysis of two-dimensional compressible solids in finite strain regime. A three-field Hu–Washizu functional, with displacement, displacement gradient and stress tensor considered as independent fields, is utilized to develop the formulation in spatial configuration. Certain constraints are imposed on displacement gradient and stress tensor so that they satisfy the required continuity conditions across the boundary of elements. From theoretical standpoint, simplex elements are best suited for the application of continuity constraints. The techniques that are proposed to implement the constraints facilitate their...