Sharif Digital Repository

The sintering behavior of commercially available granulated ZrO2-3 mol% Y2O3 (3Y-TZP) powder compacts with an aggregate size of 75 nm was studied. The shrinkage response of the powder compacts during non-isothermal sintering was measured in a sensitive dilatometer at different heating rates. Densification and grain growth were also studied after isothermal firing in air according to different sintering cycles. The sintering and grain growth activation energy was estimated to be QS = 485 ± 12 kJ mol-1 and QG = 546 ± 23 kJ mol-1, respectively. Using the estimated Q-values, the master curves for sintering and grain growth were established and used for prediction of the densification and... 

The effects of geometrical scaling on a supersonic external compression axisymmetric inlet are investigated. Various lower and higher geometrical scales of supersonic inlet are considered as the case studies. The inlet flow is simulated numerically using RANS solver along with the SST k-w turbulence model. The numerical results are in an acceptable agreement with the NACA experimental data at free stream Mach number of 1.79 and at zero angle of attack. The results show that the static pressure distribution of the inlet flow experiences some differences for various scales especially at the regions of the flow entrance and throat area. The mean flow Mach number and the mass flow rate at the... 

The lattice Boltzmann simulation of natural convection fluid flow and heat transfer is performed. The double-MRT lattice Boltzmann method is employed. The D2Q5 and D2Q9 lattice models are used to simulate the temperature field and flow field, respectively. The configuration of the cavity is U-shaped, and the cavity is filled with CuO-water nanofluid. The KKL (Koo-Kleinstreuer-Li) model is utilized to estimate the thermal conductivity and dynamic viscosity; as well as, the nanoparticle shape effect on the thermo-physical properties of nanofluid is considered. The streamlines, temperature distribution, local entropy generation map, average Nusselt number, magnitude of total entropy generation... 

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief. Concern has been raised about the identity of the author “David Ross” as the listed institution has denied the affiliation of a person with this name. Further inquiry revealed that the names of the co-authors were added to the revised version of the article without notifying the handling Editor, which is contrary to the journal policy on changes to authorship. Also, the co-authors were not able to provide a reasonable description of their contribution to the article.... 

This article has been retracted: please see Elsevier Policy on Article Withdrawal (https://www.elsevier.com/about/our-business/policies/article-withdrawal). This article has been retracted at the request of the Editor-in-Chief. Concern has been raised about the identity of the author “David Ross” as the listed institution has denied the affiliation of a person with this name. Further inquiry revealed that the names of the co-authors were added to the revised version of the article without notifying the handling Editor, which is contrary to the journal policy on changes to authorship. Also, the co-authors were not able to provide a reasonable description of their contribution to the article.... 

In this paper we propose a content-based text and image retrieval architecture using Fuzzy Adaptive Resonance Theory neural network. This method is equipped with an unsupervised mechanism for dynamic data clustering to deal with incremental information without metadata such as in web environment. Results show noticeable average precision and recall over search results. © 2006 IEEE  

The importance of tracing dopaminergic agents in the progression assessment of Parkinson's disease has boosted the demand for fast, sensitive, and real-time multi-analyte detection. Herein, visual and fingerprint fluorimetric patterns have been created by an optical sensor array to simultaneously detect and discriminate among levodopa, carbidopa, benserazide, and entacapone, as important dopaminergic agents. A dual emissive nanoprobe consisting of red quantum dots and blue carbon dots with an overall pink emission has been fabricated to provide unique emission patterns in the presence of the target analytes. The sensor elements in the array come from it's differential response in the absence... 

In this work, phase evolution, solid solution formation and diffusion behavior of three binary systems, including TaC-HfC, TaC-ZrC and HfC-ZrC, were investigated. In this regard, pure carbide powders of TaC, HfC, and ZrC were selected as starting raw materials. The prepared samples were heat treated at 2000 C for 1 hour in Ar atmosphere. For each system, three compositions were chosen for phase evolution investigation by X-ray diffractometer. Moreover, three couple samples were prepared for diffusion behavior survey through SEM/EDX analyses. It was found that ZrC diffuses faster in TaC structure rather than HfC and a single phase solid solution phase with hosting TaC is formed in TaC-HfC and... 

In this study, titanium substrates which previously oxidized through Micro arc oxidation method, was coated by Hydroxyapatite (HAp) coating once more by means of the same method. Morphology, topography and chemical properties as well as phase composition and thickness of layers were studied to reveal the effect of the electrolyte concentration on coating features. According to results, the obtained coatings are consisted of HAp and titania as the major phases along with minor amounts of calcium titanate and α-tri calcium phosphate. Ca and P are present on surface of obtained layers as well as predictable Ti and O based on the XPS results. Thickness profile of coatings figured out that by... 

In this paper an optimized wind/PV hybrid system with battery and diesel backup is designed. As a result of this study the costs of the hybrid system will be minimized in its 20-year life time. The optimization is done by considering the annual load increase and fuel cost rise. This Optimization is subject to load covering and minimizing the total cost. The total cost entailed maintenance, equipment and diesel fuel consumption substitution. An advanced variation of individual particle optimization algorithm (IPO) is used to solve the optimization problem  

This paper presents a hierarchically distributed algorithm for the execution of distribution state estimation function in active networks equipped with some phasor measurement units. The proposed algorithm employs voltage-based state estimation in rectangular form and is well-designed for large-scale active distribution networks. For this purpose, as the first step, the distribution network is supposed to be divided into some overlapped zones and local state estimations are executed in parallel for extracting operating states of these zones. Then, using coordinators in the feeders and the substation, the estimated local voltage profiles of all zones are coordinated with the local state... 

A highly efficient magnetic Brønsted acid catalyst was synthesized based on immobilization of 2-methylimidazole functionalized by chlorosulfonic acid on the surface of silica-coated magnetic nanoparticles (Fe3O4@SiO2-2mimSO3H). The catalyst has an excellent activity and recyclable for at least 6 reaction runs and is proven to be highly effective in the synthes is of α-aminophosphonate compounds in a green way. The facile recovery of the catalyst is carried out by applying an external magnet device. It is both "green" and efficient. The catalyst was fully characterized by techniques of TEM, SEM, FT-IR, TGA, and elemental analysis (CHNS)  

A new catalyst based on metallophthalocyanine nanoparticles has been synthesized and characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The aqueous oxidation of alcohols to the corresponding carbonyl compounds (aldehydes and ketones) has been studied using tetra-n-butyl-ammonium-peroxo-monosulfate (n-Bu4NHSO5) as an oxidant and a catalytic system consisting of copper (II) phthalocyanine nanoparticles in water. The highly selective oxidation gave excellent yields of related aldehydes or ketones without remarkable over-oxidation of the carboxylic acids. Organic co-solvents, surfactants, and co-catalysts were not used in this catalytic strategy. This strategy was green and time effective. The... 

The artificial neural network (ANN) is a sort of machine learning method which has been used in determination of risk of human disorders. In the current investigation, we have created an ANN and trained it based on the genetic data of 401 multiple sclerosis (MS) patients and 390 healthy subjects. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) within ANRIL (rs1333045, rs1333048, rs4977574 and rs10757278), EVI5 (rs6680578, rs10735781 and rs11810217), ACE (rs4359 and rs1799752), MALAT1 (rs619586 and rs3200401), GAS5 (rs2067079 and rs6790), H19 (rs2839698 and rs217727), NINJ2 (rs11833579 and rs3809263), GRM7 (rs6782011 and rs779867), VLA4 (rs1143676), CBLB (rs12487066) and VEGFA (rs3025039 and... 

Acute and chronic inflammatory demyelinating polyradiculoneuropathies (AIDP and CIDP) are two immune-related conditions in the peripheral nervous system. In the current study, we assessed expression levels of Beta-secretase (BACE1), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and their antisense transcripts in the peripheral blood of AIDP and CIDP patients compared with age- and sex-matched controls to assess their potential as biomarkers for these conditions. Expressions of BACE1 and BACE1-AS were down-regulated in CIDP cases compared with controls (Ratios of mean expressions=0.01 and 0.03; P values= 1.07E-08, respectively). On the other hand, expressions of BDNF and BDNF-AS were up-regulated... 

Coronary artery disease (CAD) causes oscillations in peripheral arteries. Oscillations of the walls of the brachial arteries of 51 patients were recorded [together with the electrocardiogram (ECG)] by an accelerometer at different cuff pressures. By analyzing the energy of the oscillations in the 30-250 Hz band, 16 of 22 patients with CAD and 26 of 29 non-CAD subjects were classified correctly, independent of the ECG, and with no effect of heart murmurs  

A silicon carbide coating was formed on the surface of graphite flakes by reaction of molten Si with carbon at 1100-1300. °C in a 95%KCl-5%NaF molten salt under Ar atmosphere. The effect of temperature and Si/graphite ratio in the initial mixture on the quality and the amount of SiC were investigated by XRD and SEM/EDS analyses. Also, the water wettability, oxidation resistance and zeta potential of un-coated and coated graphite were examined by TGA analysis and sedimentation test. The results show the amount of coating to increase in the coated flakes with increasing temperature and Si/graphite ratio. The SiC coating improves water wettability of graphite and acts as a protective layer to... 

This work presents the catalytic graphitization process of phenolic resins (PR's) by addition of in situ nano-Fe particles as catalyst. Pyrolysis treatments of prepared compositions including various contents of nano-Fe particles were carried out at 600–1200 °C for 3 h under reducing atmosphere and graphitization process were evaluated by different techniques such as X-Ray diffraction (XRD), Field Emission Scanning Electron Microscopy (FESEM), High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM), Simultaneous Thermal Analysis (STA) and Raman spectroscopy that mainly performed to identify the phase and microstructural analysis, oxidation resistance and extend of graphitized carbon... 

In the present paper, phase and microstructural characterization of low carbon MgO-C refractories with addition of Fe-catalyzed phenolic resins as binder were investigated. Initially, phenolic resin was modified using various amounts of Fe particles as catalyst originated from iron nitrate ([Fe(NO3)3·9H2O]). The MgO-C matrix compositions were prepared by using 7% of modified phenolic resin, shaped and cured at 200 °C for 24 h. The cured samples were coked in the temperature range from 800 to 1400 °C and then characterized by XRD and FE-SEM techniques. Based on attained results, in-situ graphitic carbons, particularly in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) network were gradually formed from Fe-catalyzed... 

In the present paper, phase and microstructural characterization of low carbon MgO-C refractories with addition of Fe-catalyzed phenolic resins as binder were investigated. Initially, phenolic resin was modified using various amounts of Fe particles as catalyst originated from iron nitrate ([Fe(NO3)3·9H2O]). The MgO-C matrix compositions were prepared by using 7% of modified phenolic resin, shaped and cured at 200 °C for 24 h. The cured samples were coked in the temperature range from 800 to 1400 °C and then characterized by XRD and FE-SEM techniques. Based on attained results, in-situ graphitic carbons, particularly in carbon nanotubes (CNTs) network were gradually formed from Fe-catalyzed...