Sharif Digital Repository

In this research an intelligent emotional learning controller, Takagi- Sugeno- Kang (TSK) is applied to govern the dynamics of a novel Ionic-Polymer Metal Composite (IPMC) actuated manipulator. Ionic-Polymer Metal Composites are active actuators that show very large deformation in existence of low applied voltage. In this research, a new IPMC actuator is considered and applied to a 2-dof miniature manipulator. This manipulator is designed for miniature tasks. The control system consists of a set of neurofuzzy controller whose parameters are adapted according to the emotional learning rules, and a critic with task to assess the present situation resulted from the applied control action in... 

The fabrication of ITO-capped WO3 nanowires associated with their bio-sensing properties in field-effect transistor diagnostics basis as a biosensor has been reported. The bio-sensing property for manipulated nanowires elucidated that the grown nanostructures were very sensitive to protein. The ITO-capped WO3 nanowires biosensor showed an intensive bio-sensing activity against reliable protein. Polylysine strongly charged bio-molecule was applied as model system to demonstrate the implementation of materialized biosensor. The employed sensing mechanism was ‘label-free’ and depended on bio-molecule’s intrinsic charge. For nanowires synthesis, the vapor–liquid–solid mechanism was used.... 

In this paper the field-effect transistor DNA biosensor for detecting hepatitis B virus (HBV) based on indium tin oxide nanowires (ITO NWs) in label free approach has been fabricated. Because of ITO nanowires intensive conductance and functional modified surface, the probe immobilization and target hybridization were increased strongly. The high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) measurement showed that ITO nanowires were crystalline and less than 50 nm in diameter. The single-stranded hepatitis B virus DNA (SS-DNA) was immobilized as probe on the Au-modified nanowires. The DNA targets were measured in a linear concentration range from 1fM to 10 µM. The detection limit of... 

The tension-only braced frames (TOBFs) are widely used as a lateral force resisting system (LFRS) in low-rise steel buildings due to their simplicity and economic advantage. However, the system has poor seismic energy dissipation capacity and pinched hysteresis behavior caused by early buckling of slender bracing members. The main concern in utilizing the TOBF system is the determination of appropriate performance factors for seismic design. A formalized approach to quantify the seismic performance factor (SPF) based on determining an acceptable margin of safety against collapse is introduced by FEMA P695. The methodology is applied in this paper to assess the SPFs of the TOBF systems. For... 

Due to variety of industrial dryers and also importance of selecting appropriate dryer to achieve the required quality of product as well as considering economical aspects, using methods and algorithms which take all effective factors into account and present the best selection is regarded by engineers and researchers. In this paper selection of dryer applying fuzzy logic is presented and the advantages of this method are investigated. For this a program is written using MATLAB programming software and its result compared with real cases. It has been found that there is a good agreement between the prepared program results and industrial experiences. Selection of dryer for a specific... 

The gas nanosensor of indium oxide nanowires in laser assisted approach, doped with tin and zinc for gas sensing and 1D growth purposes respectively, was reported. The nanowires were very sensitive to H2S gas in low concentration of 20 ppb gas at room temperature. The fast dynamic intensive and sensitive response to gas was in a few seconds with an on/off sensitivity ratio of around 10. The square cross-section indium oxide nanowires were fabricated through physical vapor deposition (PVD) mechanism and annealing approach. The field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) observations indicated that the annealing temperature was vital in nanostructures' morphology. The fabricated... 

In this work, an exergy analysis is performed for the waste heat recovery section (WHRS) of the steam-natural gas reforming (SNGR) process as a major energy intensive process. Two alternate conditions are investigated to evaluate the required thermodynamic parameters: normal operating condition and increase of C2+ components in the process feed stream. At normal operating condition, the exergy efficiency of WHRS amounts to 0.58 while some 17.2 kJ energy is destructed for each mole of H2 produced. If heavier than methane components are increased in the feed up to 8.5 mole %, despite the increase of H2 production, the exergy efficiency decreases down to 0.54... 

In this study, an industrial acetylene hydrogenation unit is simulated utilizing three available kinetic models. The results are compared against six-day experimental data and the best model is selected. Effects of feed temperature and the amount of injected hydrogen on ethylene selectivity are also studied. According to the simulation results, the unit is not working under its optimum conditions. Furthermore, by reduction of the hydrogen flow rate to 52 kg/h, process selectivity is increased. In addition, a new approach is proposed to modify the hydrogenation process and reduce undesired by-products. In the simulation of the modified process, hydrogenation reactors temperature, hydrogen... 

Thermal degradation behavior of multi-wall carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs)/ultra high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) nanocomposites, with different nanotubes contents (0.5, 1.5 and 3.5 wt%) prepared via in-situ polymerization technique have been investigated using thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). TGA spectra revealed that these nanocomposites had enhanced thermal stability and no significant mass loss (<0.4 wt%) occurred up to 350°C. Thermal degradation of these UHMWPE/MWCNT nanocomposites was investigated in terms of parameters such as the onset temperature of degradation (T 10), the decomposition temperature at 50% wt loss (T 50), the degradation temperature of maximum rate of the... 

Sigma-Delta modulator ADCs used in signal processing applications are usually implemented by switched-capacitor (SC) circuits and CMOS transmission gates. Clock feed-through effect is one of the main non-ideal parameters existing in SC integrators degrading modulator total SNDR and its linearity. In this paper, a comprehensive analysis of clock feed-through effect on CMOS transmission gates on both rising and falling edges on output node will be presented. The main interferer parameters such as clock signal timing model, input signal level and switch parameters effect on output error will be analyzed. Finally, circuit simulations using 0.18um CMOS technology in ADS environment show the... 

Every year, about a thousand million tires reach the end of their service life, more than half of which are disposed of in landfills. The waste tire rubber has a great potential for application as aggregate phase in production of lightweight concrete/mortar. This study is aimed at evaluating the effects of using crumb rubber (CR) as fine aggregate at replacement ratios of 0–60% (by volume) in alkali-activated slag mortars. Furthermore, polypropylene fibre (PPF) was used at 0.5% and 1% of volume of the mix to enhance the properties of mortar mixes such as flexural strength and shrinkage behaviour. The compressive strength, flexural strength, water absorption, thermal conductivity, drying... 

Every year, about a thousand million tires reach the end of their service life, more than half of which are disposed of in landfills. The waste tire rubber has a great potential for application as aggregate phase in production of lightweight concrete/mortar. This study is aimed at evaluating the effects of using crumb rubber (CR) as fine aggregate at replacement ratios of 0–60% (by volume) in alkali-activated slag mortars. Furthermore, polypropylene fibre (PPF) was used at 0.5% and 1% of volume of the mix to enhance the properties of mortar mixes such as flexural strength and shrinkage behaviour. The compressive strength, flexural strength, water absorption, thermal conductivity, drying... 

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, following a complaint from a reader. The editors have been made aware of multiple instances of duplicate SEM images used in this and two other papers reported as showing different materials in different papers. Following investigation and expert review, the editors are no longer confident of the content of the SEM images in this paper. Regrettably, this issue is unlikely to have been revealed during the peer-review process; the journal editors apologise for the error.... 

An impedimetric human papilloma virus (HPV) DNA biosensor based on gold nanotubes (AuNTs) in label free detection was materialized. The AuNTs decorated nanoporous polycarbonate (AuNTs-PC) template as biosensor electrode was fabricated by electrodeposition method. The single strand DNA (ss-DNA) probe was covalently immobilized onto the AuNTs-PC electrode. The hybridization of target sequences with the ss-DNA probe was observed by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The biosensor showed high selectivity and could differentiate between the complementary, mismatch and non-complementary DNA sequences. The EIS measurements were matched to Randle's equivalent circuit. The... 

An impedimetric human papilloma virus (HPV) DNA biosensor based on gold nanotubes (AuNTs) in label free detection was materialized. The AuNTs decorated nanoporous polycarbonate (AuNTs-PC) template as biosensor electrode was fabricated by electrodeposition method. The single strand DNA (ss-DNA) probe was covalently immobilized onto the AuNTs-PC electrode. The hybridization of target sequences with the ss-DNA probe was observed by the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The biosensor showed high selectivity and could differentiate between the complementary, mismatch and non-complementary DNA sequences. The EIS measurements were matched to Randle's equivalent circuit. The... 

Bilateral PPG signals have been used for comparative study of two groups of healthy (free from any cardiovascular risk factors) and diabetic (as cardiovascular disease risk group) subjects in the age-matched range 40-50 years. The peripheral blood pulsations were recorded simultaneously from right and left index fingers for 90 s. Pulses have been modeled with the ARX440 model in the interval of 300 sample points with 100 sample points overlap between segments. Model parameters of three segments based on the highest fitness (higher than 80%) of modeled segments were retained for each subject. Subsequently, principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to the parameters of retained segments...