Sharif Digital Repository

Background and objective: L-Sorbose, as a precursor of ascorbic acid, can be biologically produced using Gluconobacter oxydans. The aim of this study was to optimize production of L-Sorbose by controlling concentration of the substrates and starter cultures. Material and methods: In this study, effects of three various fermentation parameters on the concentration of L-sorbose were assessed using fermenter (28°C, 1.4 vvm) and response surface methodology. These parameters included quantities of D-sorbitol (120-180 g lDw-1) (Deionized water) and yeast extract (6-18 g lDw-1) and inoculum/substrate ratios (5-10%). Results and conclusion: Results showed that the fitted model with high values of... 

Supply chain management has gained much interest from researchers and practitioners in recent years. Proposing practical models that efficiently address different aspects of the supply chain is a difficult challenge. This research investigates an integrated production-distribution supply chain problem. The developed model incorporates parties with a specified number of processes to obtain raw materials from the suppliers in order to convert them to semi and final products. These products are then distributed through warehouses to end-distributors having uncertain demands. This uncertainty is captured as a dynamic stochastic data process during the planning horizon and is modeled into a... 

In this paper, the effect of radial structure on the performance of a linear-lateral GaAs high power photoconductive semiconductor switch (PCSS) is investigated. For this purpose a three-dimensional device modeling is used to model the optically initiated GaAs switch. In this simulation a p-type device with carbon as shallow acceptor is compensated by deep donor EL2 level as a trap level. The PCSS device is designed in a back-triggered, radially symmetric switch structure which extends the blocking voltage by reducing the peak electric field near the electrodes. Device modeling was performed and the effect of different trap concentrations on dark I-V characteristics has been investigated. In... 

In this paper, a novel algorithm for cooperative relative localization of multiple Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) is proposed based on relative range and inertial measurements. In this algorithm, a relative motion estimation model is established for each group of three UAVs that can form a triangle in space. Each group member estimates the relative position and heading angle of the other group members and shares the estimation results with the other group members. When members satisfy the triangle law among their estimated relative position vectors, they can estimate more accurately. After analyzing the observability of the presented model, the necessary conditions for observability are... 

On-chip interconnections play an important role in multi/many-processor systems-on-chip (MPSoCs). In order to achieve efficient optimization, each specific application must utilize a specific architecture, and consequently a specific interconnection network. For design space exploration and finding the best NoC solution for each specific application, a fast and flexible NoC simulator is necessary, especially for large design spaces. In this paper, we present an FPGA-based NoC co-simulator, which is able to be configured via software. In our proposed NoC simulator, entitled DuCNoC, we implement a Dual-Clock router micro-architecture, which demonstrates 75x-350x speed-up against BOOKSIM.... 

The formation of water drops as a Newtonian fluid and formation of a shear-thinning non-Newtonian fluid, Carboxyl Methyl Cellulose (CMC) from a capillary into different bulk fluids are experimentally investigated. A high speed camera is used to visualize the images of the drops and an image-processing code employed to determine the drop properties from each image. It was found that the properties of the water drops when they are drooped into the liquids bulk fluids such as toluene and n-hexane are almost the same while they differed substantially when they were drooped into the air bulk fluid. It is shown that during the formation of water drop in all three kinds of bulk fluids, the drop... 

Freezing of gait (FOG) is a debilitating symptom in patients with Parkinson's disease (PD), which may be associated with motor control impairments in tasks other than gait. This study aimed to examine whether symmetric and asymmetric bimanual coordination is impaired in PD with FOG (PD +FOG) patients and whether dual-task and drug phases may affect bimanual coordination in these patients. Twenty PD +FOG patients, 20 PD patients without FOG (PD –FOG) performed symmetric and asymmetric functional bimanual tasks (reach to and pick up a box and open a drawer to press a pushbutton inside it, respectively) under single-task and dual-task conditions. PD patients were evaluated during on- and... 

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disorder characterized by motor and non-motor symptoms that can impact daily activities. Objectives: Activity-based interventions, particularly when combined with motivational strategies, may enhance upper extremity function and participation in people with PD. Methods: This study will include forty-five patients with PD aged 35 to 85 years, categorized as stages I to III according to the Hoehn and Yahr Scale. Patients will be recruited from neurological and rehabilitation centers and randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups: Activity-based interventions with motivational strategy, activity-based interventions without... 

Shape memory polymers (SMPs) are a class of smart materials which can recover their shape even after many shape changes in application of an external stimulus. In this paper, flexural behavior of a composite beam, constructed of a corrugated part filled with SMPs, is studied. This composite beam is applicable in sensor and actuator applications. Since the corrugated profiles display higher stiffness-to-mass ratio in the transverse to the corrugation direction, the beams with a corrugated part along the transverse direction are stiffer than ones with a corrugated part along the length. Employing a developed constitutive model for SMPs and the Euler–Bernoulli beam theory, the behavior of the... 

The α-FAPbI3 perovskite nanocrystals exhibit interesting optical properties, which make them attractive for versatile optoelectronic applications; however, the spontaneous phase transformation to the non-perovskite phase (δ-FAPbI3) in humid conditions requires a new strategy to improve the phase stability of the material. We employed 3-Aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTES)-assisted reprecipitation and sol-gel methods at ambient temperature to prepare stable α-FAPbI3 nanocrystals embedded in a silica matrix. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction analysis determined that ultrafine perovskite nanocrystals (11.5 ± 3 nm) were uniformly distributed in a silica matrix.... 

Owning to interesting properties of biosurfactants such as biodegradability and lower toxicity, they have broad application in the food industry, healthy products, and bioremediation as well as for oil recovery. The present study was aimed to develop a GA-ANFIS model for predicting the breakthrough curves for rhamnolipid adsorption over activated carbon. To that end, a set of 296 adsorption data points were utilized to train the proposed FIS structure. Different graphical and statistical methods were also used to evaluate the model's accuracy and reliability. Results were then compared to those of the previously reported Artificial Neural Network (ANN) and Group Method Data Handling (GMDH)... 

Wireless networks with the shared media require Medium Access Control (MAC) protocol that provides contention resolution mechanism. The design of MAC protocol in underwater sensor networks is a challenging issue because of limited energy source and high propagation delay. The most important goal of the MAC design for underwater sensor networks is to resolve data packet collision efficiently with respect to energy consumption. So, selection of MAC protocol is an important task because it has significant impact on the system efficiency. A suitable MAC protocol must consider some factors such as fairness, energy consumption, latency and throughput based on various applications. The bandwidth in... 

Clay liners are widely used as porous membrane barriers to control solute transport and to prevent the leakage of leachate both in horizontal and vertical flow scenarios, such as the isolated base and ramps of sanitary landfills. Despite the primary importance of saturated hydraulic conductivity in a reliable simulation of fluid flow through clay barriers, there is no model to predict hydraulic conductivity of clayey soils permeated with saline aqueous solutions because most of the current models were developed for pure water. Therefore, the main motivation behind this study is to derive semi-empirical models for simulating the hydraulic conductivity of clayey soils in the presence of... 

Solid waste is often buried in landfills isolated with a bentonite-based clay barrier to guarantee the high quality of groundwater. As the efficiency of clay barriers is highly dependent on solute concentration, this study aims to modify membrane efficiency, effective diffusion, and hydraulic conductivity of bentonite-based clayey barriers exposed to saline environments for numerical investigation of solute transport in such barriers. Therefore, the theoretical equations were modified as a function of solute concentration instead of constant values. First, a model was extended for membrane efficiency as a function of void ratio and solute concentration. Second, an apparent tortuosity model... 

Hybrid-reinforced metals are novel composite materials in which nano-phases including nanoparticles and nanotubes/nanosheets are used simultaneously to reinforce metals or alloys to enhance physical, mechanical, wear and other properties. In this research, Cu/(CNT-SiC) hybrid nanocomposite was synthesized using flake powder metallurgy and spark plasma sintering method and the effects of hybrid reinforcements on microstructural, wear and corrosion properties of the developed material were investigated and compared with those of copper. Microstructural characterization showed reduction of average grain size from 419 to 307 nm and increase of low angle grain boundaries with the introduction and... 

This paper proposes an innovative robust-fuzzy method for multi-objective, multi-period supplier selection problem under multiple uncertainties. This approach integrates robust optimization and fuzzy programming. Uncertain parameters are modeled as random variables that take value within a symmetrical interval. However, due to the complexity or ambiguity of some real world problems and especially the nature of some of the available input data, the length of interval is also highly uncertain. This ambiguity motivated us to present a new approach, which could be applicable to multiple uncertainties conditions. Thus, in our approach, the half-length of these intervals is also represented by...