Sharif Digital Repository

For more than a decade, stent implantation has been strategically used for solving gastrointestinal dilemmas such as biliary stenosis. Predicaments like insufficient radial strength, low twisting ability, inappropriate dynamic behaviour and restenosis are expected to be solved by the introduction of new designs. Superelastic Nitinol stent is an interesting alternative for minimising these tight spots. The application of finite element method to predict metallurgical and geometric behaviour of superelastic Nitinol stents for biliary duct dilatation is supported by conventional crimp tests. Model calculations show that all stents encounter the highest stress in their intersegment curvature.... 

Risk aversion is a prevalent phenomenon when sufficiently large amounts are at risk. In this paper, we introduce a new prescriptive approach for coping with risk in sequential decision problems with discrete scenario space. We use Conditional Value-at-Risk (CVaR) risk measure as optimization criterion and prove that there is an explicit linear representation of the proposed model for the problem  

Nitinol stents are used to minimize improper dynamic behavior, low twistability, and inadequate radial mechanical strength of femoral artery stents. In this study, finite element method is used to investigate the effect of crimping and Austenite finish temperature (A f) of Nitinol on mechanical performance of Z-shaped open-cell femoral stent under crimping conditions. Results show that low A f Nitinol has better mechanical and clinical performance due to small chronic outward force, large radial resistive force, and appropriate superelastic behavior  

Treatment of dye pollution containing C.I. Acid Red 14 (AR14) by a coupled photocatalytic process was studied. Titanium dioxide, in the form of anatase and rutile, and zinc oxide, were used as photocatalysts. The investigated photocatalysts were Aldrich-produced nanopowders with crystallites of a mean size of 20-30 nm and a specific surface area of about 50 m 2/g. A comparison of TiO 2(anatase), TiO 2(rutile), TiO 2(a,r), and ZnO for the decolorization of the AR14 solution was performed. Results showed that color removal followed the decreasing order of TiO 2(a,r), ZnO > TiO 2(a,r) > TiO 2(a), ZnO > TiO 2(r), ZnO >TiO 2(a,r) > TiO 2(a) > ZnO > TiO 2(r). Response surface methodology (RSM) was... 

Effects of pH, D2EHPA, Cyanex® 272 and Cyanex® 302 on extraction of zinc, manganese and cobalt from a Zn-Mn-Co-Cd-Ni containing solution at the room temperature was comprehensively investigated. Addition of Cyanex® 302 indicated a left-shifting-effect on the extraction curve of zinc, a right-shifting-effect on the extraction curve of manganese and no effect on the extraction of cobalt. Addition of Cyanex® 272 shifted all three curves to the right. Therefore, the most suitable extractant for separation of zinc from manganese was therefore 0.3-0.3 mixture of D2EHPA and Cyanex® 302, and that for separation of manganese from cobalt was pure D2EHPA. The stoichiometric coefficient for the... 

The effect of Stone-Wales (SW) defect on the performance of an armchair graphene nanoribbon (AGNR)-based photodetector is studied. To model the SW defect two new tight-binding (TB) parameters are proposed that provide results that are in good agreement with density functional theory calculations. SW defect is introduced in different locations in the channel of the AGNR detector and the photocurrent, quantum efficiency and responsivity of defected structures are calculated using TB approximation and non-equilibrium Green's function formalism. By inspecting the photo-generated hole density in different points of the channel, the way that photocurrent is affected by SW defect in different... 

Discrete-time Markov Chains (MCs) and Markov Decision Processes (MDPs) are two standard formalisms in system analysis. Their main associated quantitative objectives are hitting probabilities, discounted sum, and mean payoff. Although there are many techniques for computing these objectives in general MCs/MDPs, they have not been thoroughly studied in terms of parameterized algorithms, particularly when treewidth is used as the parameter. This is in sharp contrast to qualitative objectives for MCs, MDPs and graph games, for which treewidth-based algorithms yield significant complexity improvements. In this work, we show that treewidth can also be used to obtain faster algorithms for the... 

This paper presents an approach that integrates clinical methods with Neuro-Fuzzy system in order to diagnose Neonatal Jaundice in newborns. First, a fuzzy logic system designed with medical rules to model the uncertainty that exists in medical diagnosis. Then a fuzzy neural network with an evolutionary learning helps the system to learn the new data gained from the patient and to help the fuzzy system to update itself in an online manner. By combining the aforementioned systems, the proposed approach can help physicians to diagnose jaundice with low risk cost associated with this disease. © 2006 IEEE  

One of the major challenges in the manufacturing parts, especially metals, is turning with good/excellent surface quality, which has a significant effect on the fatigue strength of the industrial components. Selecting incorrect or unsuitable values of machining parameters leads to vibration instability in the cutting tool and as a result, excessive roughness is created on the product’s surface. Therefore, one of the ways to reduce the roughness factor and increase the product fatigue life is to control the relative slip and vibration between the cutting tool and the workpiece. To achieve this goal, the authors attempted to investigate the simultaneous effects of tool overhang and cutting... 

The fabrication of TixNi1-x shape memory films using simultaneous magnetron sputtering from two separate, elemental targets was investigated. The films were deposited at room temperature and then annealed at 500 °C to achieve the shape memory effect. The influence of sputtering parameters such as power ratio to the targets (to control the composition) and Ar gas pressure (to control the film structure) were studied. It was found that the Ar gas pressure had a critical influence on the shape memory effect of the films. Characterization of the films was carried out by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy in a scanning electron microscope (to measure the film composition and uniformity), in... 

Multi-site photoplethysmography is an optoelectronic technique that measures changes in blood volume associated with cardiac contraction. Photoplethysmogram (PPG) recording enables researchers to study the vascular and hemodynamic properties of human subjects. Currently, there is no commercial system available in the market to perform multi-channel PPG recording. The measurements can be obtained from fingertips, ear lobes and toes due to their low absorption and high degree of vasculature. The main objective of this project is to develop a suitable data compression algorithm for two-channel simultaneous high resolution wireless PPG recording system. MATLAB software was used during the... 

Fully supramolecular dendrosomes (FSD) as bi-phase drug delivery systems are reported in this work. For preparation of FSD, amphiphilic linear-dendritic supramolecular systems (ALDSS) have been synthesized by host-guest interactions between hyperbranched polyglycerol having β-cyclodextrin core and bi-chain polycaprolactone (BPCL) with a fluorescine focal point. Self-assembly of ALDSS in aqueous solutions led to FSD. They were able to encapsulate paclitaxel with a high loading capacity. The dendrosome-based drug delivery systems were highly sensitive to pH and temperature. They were stable at 20-37. °C and pH7-8, but dissociated and released drug at temperatures lower than 20. °C or higher... 

We report the results of our numerical investigation on the temperature dependence of the characteristics of the cylindrical gate-all-around Si nanowire field effect transistor (Si-NW-FET). Assuming the effect of temperature on the energy band structure of Si just like the effect of strain, we simulate the transistor characteristics at various temperatures (50 K ≤ T ≤ 300 K). In this investigation, we demonstrate the temperature dependence of the transistor sub-threshold swing and the threshold voltage are both linear functions of the temperature, represented by 61.5 × (T/300) + 63.4 (mV/decade) and 220140 × (T/300-1) (mV). By calculating the IDS - T characteristics for VDS = 0.4 V and... 

Hot corrosion is a serious problem in gas turbines due to poor quality fuels which contain Na, V, S and Cl. To resolve the problem, Cr-aluminide was coated on IN-738LC superalloy with a two steps pack cementation process. Oxidation behavior and near-surface microstructure of the coating showed consecutive increase in destruction by exposition to Na2SO4, 75Na2SO4 + 25 V2O5 and 70Na2SO4 + 25 V2O5 + 5NaCl (wt.%). Kinetic studies indicated parabolic corrosion rate in salt-less samples due to diffusion. Similar expression for salt-covered samples was assessed for oxide dissolution. Plate-like, broken-plate-like and cauliflower-like morphologies attributed to the corrosion products were observed... 

This work describes coating of NiCoCrAlY on IN-738LC superalloy by high-velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) process. Properties of the coatings are significantly influenced by oxygen/fuel ratio and other spraying parameters. The effect of oxygen/fuel ratio on the oxidation behavior, bond strength, hardness, roughness and microstructure including porosity, inclusion formation and unmelted particles are discussed here. The porosity and inclusion in C1 coating are maximal. C2 coating with oxygen/fuel ratio of 2 has the highest bond strength and the lowest unmelted particles. C3 coating with the lowest total porosity and inclusion has the minimal roughness and the highest oxidation resistance and... 

Cupric oxide (CuO) nanostructures are grown on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) coated glass substrate using aqueous solution approach. The concentration of precursor's solution has significant impact on morphology of CuO nanostructure. By varying concentration of precursor, the growth of two different morphologies (oriented nanosheets and nanoleaves) is achieved. X-ray diffraction pattern and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy reveals formation of pure CuO crystalline phase. Mott-Schottky characteristic confirms the p-type semiconducting nature. Ultrathin structures of nanoleaves lead to higher light trapping and light absorption in visible-NIR region. The nanoleaves film has lower bandgap in... 

Owing to the expensive and time-consuming nature of durability experiments, finite element based durability analysis is quite prevalent in the automotive industry. Numerical fatigue life analyses are typically divided into two different categories, the quasi-static methods which are faster and the dynamic methods which are more accurate. The aim of this paper is to compare the inertia relief and modal dynamic approaches in terms of formulation, accuracy and computation time. The chosen case study is the fatigue life of the vehicle body which is considered the main load-bearing component in a vehicle. By utilizing multi-body dynamics model and driving the vehicle on different standardized... 

Abstract: This work describes coating of NiCoCrAlY on IN-738LC superalloy by high-velocity oxygen fuel (HVOF) process. Properties of the coatings are significantly influenced by oxygen/fuel ratio and other spraying parameters. The effect of oxygen/fuel ratio on the oxidation behavior, bond strength, hardness, roughness and microstructure including porosity, inclusion formation and unmelted particles are discussed here. The porosity and inclusion in C1 coating are maximal. C2 coating with oxygen/fuel ratio of 2 has the highest bond strength and the lowest unmelted particles. C3 coating with the lowest total porosity and inclusion has the minimal roughness and the highest oxidation resistance... 

The food industry is dealing with the challenge of preserving fruits and vegetables and extending their shelf life, so the methods of food preservation have been investigated. Pathogens causing intestinal infections have been identified as a major cause of human disease; therefore, efforts should be made to reduce these pathogens in fruits and vegetables. Essential oils extracted from herbs and edible plants have natural antimicrobial additives. Due to their low water solubility, high volatility, and strong organoleptic qualities, essential oils are not commonly used to reduce microbial growth in fruits and vegetables. To overcome these challenges, encapsulation of essential oils in... 

Optical tweezers provide an accurate measurement technique for evaluating mechanical properties of the living cells and many experimental studies have been done to understand the behavior of cells due to external forces. Numerical studies such as finite element methods have been used in order to simulate mechanical behavior of the Red Blood Cells (RBCs). Recent studies have shown that the particle methods are useful tools to simulate the mechanical behavior of living cells. Since in microscopic scales, using discrete models are preferred than continuum methods, a particle-based method is used to simulate the deformation of RBC which is stretched by optical tweezers. The cytoplasm of RBC is...