Sharif Digital Repository

Purpose: The purpose of this research was to model the impact of customer knowledge on the performance of organization with a focus on information technology industry. Furthermore, it is intended to analyze the effect of customer knowledge investment on the performance measures, by reviewing investment policies. Design/methodology/approach: The relationship between customer knowledge and performance measures was specified using literature review and grounded theory method. The system dynamics approach was then applied to analyze the impact of the customer knowledge on the performance measures. Findings: This study provided a dynamic model on the causal relationship between customer knowledge... 

The effect of the asymmetric water entry over a submerged part of a ship on the hydrodynamic impact is investigated numerically. A wedge body is considered and the problem is assumed to be two-dimensional. The results of symmetric and asymmetric impacts are compared. The effect is found significant in the numerical simulation. The maximum hydro-dynamic pressure at a heel angle of 10 degrees becomes about 95% more than that of the symmetric entry. The result of the present work proves the importance of asymmetrical hydrodynamic impact loading for structural design of a ship. Besides, the numerical procedure is not limited to a wedge type cross section and it is possible to apply it for any... 

Purpose: The paper aims to report a fire test conducted on a three-dimensional frame in order to investigate the behaviour of bare steel flush end-plate connections with relatively low thickness at elevated temperatures. Design/methodology/approach: A half-scale model was fabricated and exposed to modified (scaled) ISO 834 heating curve using a semi-open furnace. The maximum temperature inside the furnace reached 1,026 °C. Findings: The rotations of connections are reported and compared with those of a previous study on an exactly the same model with thick end-plates. Various modes of failure such as local buckling of the beams flanges and lateral-torsional buckling of beams were observed... 

The effect of ihe asymmetric water entry over a submerged part of a ship on the hydrodynamic impact is investigated numerically. A wedge body is considered 10 study and the problem is assumed to be two-dimensional. The Results of symmetric and asymmetric impacts are compared together. The effect is found significant in the numerical simulation. The maximum hydrodynamic pressure at a heel angle of 10 degrees becomes about 95% more than that of the symmetric entry. The result of the present, work proves the importance of asymmetrical hydrodynamic impact leading for structural design of a ship. Besides, the numerical procedure is not limited to a wedge type cross section and it is possible to... 

In this study, the properties of poly (vinyl alcohol)(PVA) films incorporated with Zataria multiflora essential oil (ZMO) as a potential antioxidant/antibacterial material was investigated. PVA films were prepared from PVA solutions (2% w/v) containing different concentrations of ZMO. Water solubility, moisture absorption, water swelling, and water vapor permeability for pure PVA films were 57 ± 1.1, 99 ± 3.2%, 337 ± 8%, and 0.453 ± 0.015 g mm/m2 h, respectively. Incorporation of ZMO into PVA films caused a significant decrease in water swelling and moisture absorption and increase in solubility and water vapor permeability. Tensile strength, elastic modulus, and elongation at break for pure... 

The control of a brachiation robot has been the primary objective of this study. A brachiating robot is a type of a mobile arm that is capable of moving from branch to branch similar to a long-armed ape. In this paper, to minimize the actuator work, Pontryagin's minimum principle was used to obtain the optimal trajectories for two different problems. The first problem considers brachiation between fixed branches with different distance and height, whereas the second problem deals with the brachiating and catching of a moving target branch. Theoretical results show that the control effort in the proposed method is reduced by 25% in comparison with the target dynamics method which was proposed... 

Nanocomposite films based on low density polyethylene (LDPE), containing of 2, 3, and 4. wt.% organoclay (OC) and ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) copolymer as a new compatibilizer were prepared and characterized using rheological tests, X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry, oxygen permeation measurements, and tensile tests. There was no exfoliation or intercalation of the clay layers in the absence of EVA, while an obvious increase in d-spacing was observed when the samples were prepared with EVA present. This issue was reflected in the properties of nanocomposites. The oxygen barrier properties of the LDPE/EVA/OC film were significantly better than those of the LDPE/OC film.... 

This paper deals with control of the brachiation robot. The brachiation is a type of mobile robot that moves from branch to branch like a long-armed ape. Here, as a new innovation, Pontryagin's minimum principle is used to obtain the optimal trajectories for two different problems. The first problem is "Brachiation between fixed branches with different distance and height" and the second is "Brachiating and catching the moving target branch". Theoretical results show that the control effort in the proposed method is reduced by 25% in comparison with the "Target Dynamics" method which was proposed in prior articles for this robot. The obtained optimal trajectory also minimizes the brachiation... 

Shear lag phenomenon has long been taken into consideration in various structural codes; however, the AISC provisions have not proposed any specific equation to calculate the shear lag ratio in some cases such as fillet-welded connections of front-to-front double channel sections. Moreover, those equations and formulas proposed by structural codes are based on the studies that were conducted on riveted and bolted connections, and can be applied to single channel sections whilst using them for fillet-welded double channels would be extremely conservative due to the symmetrical shape and the fact that bending moments will not develop in the gusset plate, resulting in less stress concentration.... 

In most image retrieval systems, images include various high-level semantics, called tags or annotations. Virtually all the state-of-the-art image annotation methods that handle imbalanced labeling are search-based techniques which are time-consuming. In this paper, a novel coupled dictionary learning approach is proposed to learn a limited number of visual prototypes and their corresponding semantics simultaneously. This approach leads to a real-time image annotation procedure. Another contribution of this paper is that utilizes a marginalized loss function instead of the squared loss function that is inappropriate for image annotation with imbalanced labels. We have employed a marginalized... 

In this investigation, a mathematical model for HDS of diesel fuel in a slurry bubble column reactor was developed. The model is based on the axial dispersion of the heterogeneous gas flow regime, which includes two various bubble classes: large (20±70mm) and small (1±10mm). By assuming only large or large plus small bubbles in the column, single- and two-bubble class mode equations are developed. The developed models to solving the mass and enthalpy balances from which the sulfur conversion was obtained that undertaken. The chemical kinetics over NiMoS/γ-Al2O3 catalyst were undertaken for the reaction rate of the involved reactions. The reactor operating conditions... 

Modified versions of the Zener drag equation were obtained by evaluating a non-random distribution of incoherent ceramic particles in a nano-crystalline material. Analytical investigation of particle-boundary correlation indicates that the limiting grain size would be proportional to fV -1/3 for fV larger than 2.96%. The limiting grain size can be obtained by a combination of random and non-random Zener drag pressure in the case of volume fractions smaller than 2.96%  

We use multifractal detrended fluctuation analysis (MF-DFA) to study the electrical discharge current fluctuations in plasma and show that it has multifractal properties and behaves as a weak anti-correlated process. Comparison of the MF-DFA results for the original series with those for the shuffled and surrogate series shows that correlation of the fluctuations is responsible for the multifractal nature of the electrical discharge current  

A vast number of deaths in the world have been attributed to atherosclerosis. The prominent aim of this study is proposing an accurate and simple model to investigate the process of arterial wall thickening. In order to investigate LDL (Low Density Lipoprotein) accumulation in arterial wall, a four layer model for arterial wall consisting of endothelium, intima, IEL, and media is presented. All layers are treated as homogenous porous media. This model has been solved both numerically and analytically. Obtained accumulated LDL in the intima is used to calculate oxidized LDL flux. Also, the presented model and clinical data are used to prepare the growth model for arterial wall. Furthermore,... 

Several semi-analytical models are considered for a double-gyre problem in a turbulent flow regime for which a reference fully numerical eddy-resolving solution is obtained. The semi-analytical models correspond to solving the depth-averaged Navier–Stokes equations using the spectral Galerkin approach. The robustness of the linear and Smagorinsky eddy-viscosity models for turbulent diffusion approximation is investigated. To capture essential properties of the double-gyre configuration, such as the integral kinetic energy, the integral angular momentum, and the jet mean-flow distribution, an improved semi-analytical model is suggested that is inspired by the idea of scale decomposition... 

The UiO-66 NH2 and ZIF-8 metal organic framework nanoparticles (NMOFs) were incorporated into the polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) nanofibrous membrane. Then, the chitosan nanofibers were coated on the PVDF nanofibers to produce the PVDF/chitosan nanofibers. The performance of synthesized PVDF/NMOFs single layer and PVDF/chitosan/NMOFs two layers nanofibrous membranes was investigated for BSA protein molecules and Cr(VI) ions separation via ultrafiltration membrane process. The potential of synthesized nanofibers was also examined for BSA and Cr(VI) adsorption in a batch system. The characteristics of synthesized nanofibrous membranes were determined using SEM, EDX, TGA, BET, porosity and... 

Despite the importance of deformation mechanisms on mechanical behavior of materials, not much attention is paid to this subject for glass-fiber/polypropylene (GF/PP) composite. Thus, it is noteworthy that it is the type of deformation mechanism that largely determines the energy absorbed prior to fracture. Hence, understanding this phenomenon is of great importance in analyzing the mechanical performance of this composite system. This paper aims to present a physical model for elucidating the role of short glass fibers and their adhesion to the matrix on the deformation behavior of polypropylene composites  

Background. Temporary artery clipping facilitates safe cerebral aneurysm management, besides a risk for cerebral ischemia. We developed an artificial neural network (ANN) to predict the safe clipping time of temporary artery occlusion (TAO) during intracranial aneurysm surgery. Method. We devised a three-layer model to predict the safe clipping time for TAO. We considered age, the diameter of the right and left middle cerebral arteries (MCAs), the diameter of the right and left A1 segment of anterior cerebral arteries (ACAs), the diameter of the anterior communicating artery, mean velocity of flow at the right and left MCAs, and the mean velocity of flow at the right and left ACAs, as well... 

The powder metallurgy process is ideally suited to the mass production of structural parts of complicated shape and with tight tolerances without appreciable loss of material. Because of its unique attributes such as reducing weight and production cost, powder metallurgy has made very significant in roads as a substitution technology in automotive parts, such as cams and gears in this process, we can improve the mechanical properties such as fatigue resistance of PM materials by changing of manufacturing parameters, for example, density, sintering temperature, sintering time, etc. In this research, the fatigue behaviour of sintered steel (Fe - 1.5 Mo - 3 Mn - 0.7 C) was investigated with... 

We study the rotational motion of nano-flake ferromagnetic disks suspended in a Newtonian fluid, as a potential material owing the vortex-like magnetic configuration. Using analytical expressions for hydrodynamic, magnetic and Brownian torques, the stochastic angular momentum equation is determined in the dilute limit conditions under applied magnetic field. Results are compared against experimental ones and excellent agreement is observed. We also estimate the uncertainty in the orientation of the disks due to the Brownian torque when an external magnetic field aligns them. Interestingly, this uncertainty is roughly proportional to the ratio of thermal energy of fluid to the magnetic energy...