Sharif Digital Repository

The primary objective of this research is to obtain an accurate forecasting model for the US presidential election. To identify a reliable model, artificial neural networks (ANN) and support vector regression (SVR) models are compared based on some specified performance measures. Moreover, six independent variables such as GDP, unemployment rate, the president’s approval rate, and others are considered in a stepwise regression to identify significant variables. The president’s approval rate is identified as the most significant variable, based on which eight other variables are identified and considered in the model development. Preprocessing methods are applied to prepare the data for the... 

Long-chain branches are incorporated into the molecular backbone of a polypropylene (PP) in a foaming process. The branching of PP occurs by radical reactions of dicumyl peroxide and a tri-functional monomer, trimethylol propane trimethacrylate. Use of peroxide without tri-functional monomer results in scission of PP molecular chains and significant reduction in melt viscosity. The increase in melt viscosity in conjunction with the flow ability of the modified PP indicates that the polymer has a branched structure. Melting temperature of PP remains unchanged with branching reactions implying that reactions occur mainly in amorphous regions of PP. The improvement in melt strength and... 

In this paper, the effects of flame retardant fillers mixture, zinc borate and aluminum hydroxide, on polypropylene including various ratios of their accumulated concentrations, have been studied. Maleic anhydrate grafted polypropylene and calcium stearate have been used to increase filler-matrix interactions and filler dispersion in matrix. Effects of filler types and their concentrations on fire resistibility of different composite samples have been determined via limiting oxygen index test method. Effects of foregoing parameters on the mechanical properties of prepared samples were also investigated. Recorded data shows that adding polypropylene, containing aluminum anhydrate lump,... 

This paper presents a new method for the design of variable fractional delay (VFD) FIR digital filters using Genetic Algorithm (GA). Each sub-filter of Farrow structure is designed individually with defined accuracy and bandwidth. A variable mutation probability is also employed, which improves the accuracy of the solution. Compared with existing methods, it reduces the computational complexity and enhances the design flexibility. Furthermore, a simple GA is used to compute the filter coefficients in canonic singed digit (CSD) representations. Since this algorithm selects the initial population in CSD representation and searches for the digits between [-1 1], most of the digits become zero.... 

The diseases and disorders of the cornea may lead to blindness, and cornea transplantation has been an effective treatment in this regard. However, lack of cornea throughout the world makes this treatment difficult. Therefore, the first goal of the present study is to make a chitosan/gelatin hyaline film with NHS and EDC crosslinkers for transplanting the epithelial cells of the cornea. Two solutions of gelatin and chitosan were mixed homogeneously before crosslinking in ratios of 20/80, 30/70, 40/60, and 50/50 (Gel/Chi). After 24 hours, they were put in an oven to dry, then EDC and NHS were added to the mixture as crosslinker. Corneal epithelial cell morphology was assessed qualitatively... 

Contact modeling plays a central role in motion planning, simulation and control of legged robots, as legged locomotion is realized through contact. The two prevailing approaches to model the contact consider rigid and compliant premise at interaction ports. Contrary to the dynamics model of legged systems with rigid contact (without impact) which is straightforward to develop, there is no consensus among researchers to employ a standard compliant contact model. Our main goal in this paper is to study the dynamics model structure of bipedal walking systems with rigid contact and a novel compliant contact model, and to present experimental validation of both models. For the model with rigid... 

PbCO 3·PbO and PbCO 3·2PbO compounds were prepared by thermal methods. The structure of each compound was determined by using XRD technique, and their purity was confirmed by analytical methods (98%). Also the thermal characteristics of each compound were investigated by thermogravimetry. At 600°C both compounds decompose completely and produce lead(II) oxide. © 2006 Nauka/Interperiodica  

High molecular mass of naphthalene make it non-biodegradable and the biological methods for treated the pollutant are much time consuming. In this paper, two methods of ozonation and aeration are used to remove naphthalene. Because of the industrial wastewater has a great range of pH, in this study different concentrations of soluble naphthalene are placed in variable pH conditions, different contact times and changes in amount of aeration and ozonation. ANOVA results indicated a significant difference between two methods. The average removal of naphthalene by use of ozonation is 55 % and 37 % for aeration. As results, the best conditions that naphthalene are removed is in acidic environment... 

Holding yokes made of investment cast 17-4PH stainless steel were too soft (below 20. HRC). Optical microscopy of the parts showed that there is a high fraction of retained austenite after oil quench due to high amount of molybdenum found in parts as an impurity. Subzero treatment in liquid nitrogen after solution heat treating was used to convert retained austenite to martensite but parts became too brittle and fractured during post-heat treating machining. Double and triple aging at 538 °C (1000 °F) after subzero cooling was done on parts. Detailed fractography and tensile testing along with optical microscopy (OM) investigation proved that repeated aging at 538 °C (1000 °F) led to lower... 

Here, Graphene oxide/poly (acrylamide -2-acrylamide-methyl-propanesulfonic acid)/sodium alginate (GO/PA-AMPS/SA) hydrogel was synthesized through a free-radical polymerization approach. The impact of Graphene Oxide (GO) content on mechanical strength, swelling behavior, and the adsorption performance of prepared hydrogel was studied. The operating parameters, including contact time, solution pH, and initial Cu(II) content on the adsorption capacity of the hydrogel, were studied. The maximum Cu(II) adsorption capacity of 230.8 mg/g was obtained for GO/PA-AMPS/SA under a pH of 5, the contact time of 270 min, and adsorbent content of 0.5 g/L at 25 °C. The high value of adsorption capacity after... 

The solution for bulk fluid motion of a bidirectional coaxial vortex for application in vortex engine has been derived. The vortex engine is a novel combustion chamber in which swirl motion of reactants are used to maintain the chamber walls cool. The flow field has been considered both analytically and numerically. The model is based on incompressible, steady, axisymmetric, and non-reactive flow conditions. The governing PDEs are reduced to a system of nonlinear ODEs and then, by a coordinate transformation, their singularity has been relaxed. Solution domain has been decomposed into the inner viscous and outer inviscid regions, then, the velocity and pressure fields are obtained... 

This paper presents a novel sectionalizing method for the build-up strategy in power system restoration. Power system restoration is the procedure of restoring power system elements after a partial or a complete blackout. Because of its economic and political importance, different strategies have been developed for power system restoration. One of the most practical and economical is the build-up strategy that includes the process of restoring separated parts (islands) in the power system and interconnecting them afterwards. This paper intends to develop a systematic algorithm for sectionalizing a power system considering various constraints such as black-start capability of generators,... 

Two-dimensional semiconductor materials can be combined with conventional silicon-based technology and sort out part of the future challenges in semiconductor technologies due to their novel electrical and optical properties. Here, we exploit the optoelectronics property of the silicon/SnS2 heterojunction and present a new class of backward diodes using a straightforward fabrication method. The results indicate an efficient device with fast photoresponse time (5-10 μs), high photoresponsivity (3740 AW-1), and high quantum efficiency (490%). We discuss device behavior by considering the band-to-band tunneling model and band bending characteristics of the heterostructure. This device structure... 

Malaysian secondary schools are facing a shortage of male teachers. Almost 70% of the teaching profession is dominated by female teachers. There is an obvious gap in the reason why teaching is not preferred by the male gender. This study intends to find the determinants of career success among male teachers with the hope of revealing the career success factors that are associated with male teachers. A survey was done among 140 male teachers in secondary schools in the state of Malacca, Malaysia. Results showed that 4out of 5 of the determinants factors are significantly explaining career success among the teachers (Emotional Intelligence, Person-Job-Fit, Career Adaptability & Work-Life... 

Porous NiTi-shape memory alloy (SMA) is a promising biomaterial with desirable mechanical property and appropriate biocompatibility for human implant manufacturing. In this research, porous NiTi-SMAs have been successfully produced by using thermohydrogen process (THP). This process has capability of production of homogenous structures, appropriate pore-size distributions and short sintering times. The THP-SMA samples produced in this research have a low Young's modulus (19.8 GPa) and a high tensile strength of 255 MPa. These properties are close to those of the natural bone and can meet the mechanical property demands of the hard-tissue implants for heavy load-bearing applications. The... 

The volume change that occurs due to membrane penetration into peripheral voids of gravelly specimens during hydrostatic compression test in a conventional triaxial apparatus is studied by performing a set of hydrostatic compression tests on gravelly specimens with different initial relative densities. During the isotropic loading on the specimens, the total volume changes of the specimens were determined by measuring the amount of water seeping out of the specimens at different loading steps. Image processing technique was implemented simultaneously to determine the skeletal volume changes of the specimens. In this regard specimens were compressed to isotopic pressures from 10 to 500 kPa... 

This paper addresses the problem of aerothermoelastic behavior of a flat skin panel with wall shear stress effect in high supersonic flow. A fully coupled high-supersonic skin panel model that accounts for all thermal-fluid-structure interactions is developed. The governing equations are based on the von Kármán large deflection of Isotropic flat plates. Viscous and inviscid aerothermoelastic loading mechanisms between the fluid and structure are considered. The lumped-capacity assumption and Duhamel superposition principle are used for heat communication analysis. In addition, the effects of viscous flow shear stress, static pressure differential over the external surface, and constant axial... 

In this paper chaotic behavior of nonlinear viscoelastic panels in a supersonic flow is investigated. The governing equations, based on von Kàrmàn's large deflection theory of isotropic flat plates, are considered with viscoelastic structural damping of Kelvin's model included. Quasi-steady aerodynamic panel loadings are determined using piston theory. The effect of constant axial loading in the panel middle surface and static pressure differential have also been included in the governing equation. The panel nonlinear partial differential equation is transformed into a set of nonlinear ordinary differential equations through a Galerkin approach. The resulting system of equations is solved... 

For a given (d-1)-dimensional simplicial complex Γ, we denote its h-vector by h(Γ)=(h 0(Γ),h 1(Γ),...,hd (Γ)) and set h -1(Γ)=0. The known Swartz equality implies that if Δ is a (d-1)-dimensional Buchsbaum simplicial complex over a field, then for every 0 ≤ i ≤ d, the inequality ihi (Δ)+(d-i+1)h i-1(Δ) ≥ 0 holds true. In this paper, by using these inequalities, we give a simple proof for a result of Terai (N. Terai, On h-vectors of Buchsbaum Stanley-Reisner rings, Hokkaido Math. J. 25(1) (1996), 137-148) on the h-vectors of Buchsbaum simplicial complexes. We then generalize the Swartz equality (E. Swartz, Lower bounds for h-vectors of k-CM, independence, and broken circuit complexes, SIAM J....