Sharif Digital Repository

In this study, a novel technique based on adaptive fading extended Kalman filter for atomic force microscopy is proposed to directly estimate the topography of a sample surface without needing any control system. While in conventional imaging techniques, the scanning speed or the bandwidth is limited due to a relatively large settling time, the method proposed in this research is able to address this issue and estimate the topography throughout transient oscillation of the microcantilever. With this aim, an estimation process using an adaptive fading extended Kalman filter (augmented with forgetting factor) as the system observer is designed and coupled with the system dynamics to obtain... 

In our previous work, we presented a Z-based formalism, called NZ, by which one can explicitly specify bounded, unbounded, erratic, angelic, demonic, loose, strict, singular, and plural nondeterminism. The NZ notation is mainly based on a new notion of operation schemas, called multi-schema. Since the operations of the Z schema calculus do not work on multi-schemas anymore, in this paper we augment NZ with a new set of schema calculus operations that can be applied on multi-schemas as well as ordinary operation schemas. To demonstrate the usability of the resulting formalism, we show how this formalism can assist to model game-like situations and concurrent systems as two well-known classes... 

Despite the need for change, highly available software systems cannot be stopped to perform changes because disruption in their services may consequent irrecoverable losses. Current work on runtime evolution are either too disruptive, e.g., "blackouts" in unnecessary components in the quiescence criterion approach or presume restrictive assumptions such as the "black-box design" in the tranquility approach. In this paper, an architecture-based approach, called SAFER, is proposed which provides a better timeliness by relaxing any precondition required to start reconfiguration. We demonstrate the validity of the SAFER through model checking and a realization of the approach on a component... 

In this paper, we introduce a refinement approach to develop probabilistic programs formally. To achieve this goal, we first present a way to specify probabilistic programs in a Z-based notation. We then use an existing method of translating Z into a refinement calculus to transform our Z-style specifications of probabilistic programs into specification statements of the refinement calculus. We finally add new laws to the refinement calculus helping us to refine the resulting specification statements into probabilistic choice constructs of a probabilistic imperative language. In this way, we will provide a completely formal way for developing probabilistic programs. ©2009 IEEE  

The abstraction inherent in most specifications and the need to specify nondeterministic programs are two well-known sources of nondeterminism in formal specifications. In this paper, we present a Z-based formalism by which one can specify bounded, unbounded, erratic, angelic, demonic, loose, strict, singular, and plural nondeterminism. To interpret our specifications, we use a constructive set theory, called CZ set theory, instead of the classical set theory Z. We have chosen CZ since it allows us to investigate the notion of nondeterminism from the formal program development point of view. In this way, we formally construct functional programs from Z specifications and then probe the... 

Due to the high level of abstraction involved in formal specification of software systems, nondeterminism comes as an inevitable part of formal specifications. Therefore, support for nondeterminism should be provisioned in developing programs from their formal specifications. In this paper, an existing translation of CZ set theory into Martin-Löf's theory of types is extended to consider nondeterministic specifications in CZ language. © 2006 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved  

Wearable robots are becoming increasingly practical to use to rehabilitate wounded parts of the body as the number of injuries to the hand, particularly fingers, has increased. Wearable robots are designed to help people save time and money. This exoskeleton is intended to rehabilitate the thumb such that it may do an opposing movement with one Degree Of Freedom (DOF) and a cable system. Two drums, one on the thumb and the other on the tip of the assistive finger place the cables, which feature a cable adjusting screw that can be adjusted for fingers of various lengths. To choose the assistive finger from 4 intact fingers, the two perspectives of the cable length changes and finger forces... 

The galaxy cluster system Abell 1689 has been well studied and yields good lensing and X-ray gas data. Modified gravity (MOG) is applied to the Abell 1689 cluster and the acceleration data is well fitted without assuming dark matter. Newtonian dynamics and modified Newtonian dynamics (MOND) are shown not to fit the acceleration data, while a dark matter model based on the Navarro-Frenk-White (NFW) mass profile is shown to fit the acceleration data for the radial range r> 200 kpc. © 2017, Società Italiana di Fisica and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany  

In this study, a novel approach based on a modified Kalman filter algorithm is presented to directly estimate and measure the surface topography of samples by trolling mode atomic force microscopy. Trolling mode atomic force microscopy was introduced as an atomic force microscopy alternative to overcome imaging problems in liquid environments by reducing the liquid-resonator interaction forces. In conventional imaging techniques, the time to reach the steady state periodic motion of the oscillating probe restricts scanning speed. To overcome this limitation, we propose a novel imaging technique for trolling mode atomic force microscopy based on the system dynamics model and using the... 

An invisible image watermarking scheme tends to insert the mark in a transparent manner, with the highest possible energy. Several watermarking algorithms use human visual models as perceptual masks to maximize the power of watermark. We take advantage of inhibitory and excitatory characteristics of eye receptors which yield an extra capacity, for amplifying watermark power, while still satisfying imperceptibility constraint. Spatial-domain image entropy is used as a measure of strength of inhibitory effect. The principle of our idea is based on the decomposition of mark sequence into two parts, corresponding to two complementary sets of pixels in spatial-domain. These sets are determined... 

Transparent, robust watermarking schemes tend to insert invisible watermarks with the highest possible energy. Singular values, in singular value decomposition (SVD), are shown to be robust to intentional and unintentional attacks. However, none of the algorithms proposed in the literature considered the visual imperceptibility constraint imposed by the human visual models. In this paper, we introduce an optimal SVD-based embedding framework, based on the well-known linear programming concept. Given a binary sequence of the mark, we show how to insert the message with the highest possible magnitude, without outlawing the just noticeable thresholds driven by the human visual system models in... 

The resonant frequencies and torsional sensitivities of an atomic force microscope (AFM) with assembled cantilever probe (ACP) are studied. This ACP comprises a horizontal cantilever, a vertical extension and two tips located at the free ends of the cantilever and the extension which makes the AFM capable of simultaneous topography at top-surface and sidewalls of microstructures especially microgears which consequently leads to a time-saving swift scanning process. In this work, the effects of the sample surface contact stiffness and the geometrical parameters such as the ratio of the vertical extension length to the horizontal cantilever length and the distance of the vertical extension... 

The resonant frequencies and flexural sensitivities of an atomic force microscope (AFM) assembled cantilever probe which comprises a horizontal cantilever, a vertical extension and two tips located at the free ends of the cantilever and the extension are studied. This probe makes the AFM capable of simultaneous topography at top-surface and sidewalls of microstructures especially microgears which leads to a time-saving swift scanning process. In this work, the effects of the sample surface contact stiffness and the geometrical parameters such as the ratio of the vertical extension length to the horizontal cantilever length and the distance of the vertical extension from clamped end of the... 

The resonant frequencies and flexural sensitivities of an atomic force microscope (AFM) with assembled cantilever probe (ACP) are studied. This ACP comprises a horizontal cantilever, a vertical extension and two tips located at the free ends of the cantilever and the extension, which makes the AFM capable of simultaneous topography at top surface and sidewalls of microstructures especially microgears, which consequently leads to a time-saving swift scanning process. In this work, the effects of the sample surface contact stiffness and the geometrical parameters such as the ratio of the vertical extension length to the horizontal cantilever length and the distance of the vertical extension... 

The discrepancy between expected and observed cooling rates of X-ray emitting gas has led to the cooling-flow problem at the cores of clusters of galaxies. A variety of models have been proposed to model the observed X-ray spectra and resolve the cooling-flow problem, which involves heating the cold gas through different mechanisms. As a result, realistic models of X-ray spectra of galaxy clusters need to involve both heating and cooling mechanisms. In this paper, we argue that the heating timescale is set by the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) turbulent viscous heating for the Intracluster plasma, parameterized by the Shakura-Sunyaev viscosity parameter, α. Using a cooling+heating flow model, we... 

The resonant frequencies and torsional sensitivities of an atomic force microscope (AFM) assembled cantilever probe which comprises a horizontal cantilever, two vertical extensions and two tips located at their free ends are studied. This probe makes the AFM capable of measuring, for instance, the outer/inner diameter, roundness and roughness of microstructures like micro-holes and micro nozzles which leads to a time-saving swift scanning process. In this work, the effects of the sample surface contact stiffness and the geometrical parameters such as the ratio of the vertical extension length to the horizontal cantilever length and the distance of the first vertical extension from the... 

The preparation and characterization of a new type of nanocomposite polyelectrolyte membrane, based on DuPont Nafion/imidazole-modified nanosilica (Im-Si), for direct methanol fuel cell applications is described. Related to the interactions between the protonated imidazole groups, grafted on the surface of nanosilica, and negatively charged sulfonic acid groups of Nafion, new electrostatic interactions can be formed in the interface of Nafion and Im-Si which result in both lower methanol permeability and also higher proton conductivity. Physical characteristics of these manufactured nanocomposite membranes were investigated by scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetry analysis,... 

Microbial enhanced oil recovery (MEOR) is receiving renewed interest worldwide in recent years as a viable method while not damaging the reservoir is proven to be remarkably effective, however to some extent costly. This method is based on microorganisms' activities to reduce residual oil of reservoirs, which is dependent on behavior of inherent microorganisms or injection of bioproduct of external microorganisms. In this work, five bacterial species were taken from MIS crude oil that is one of the aging Persian fractured reservoirs. These microorganisms are substantially strong in increasing oil recovery especially by reducing IFT and other MEOR mechanisms such as change of wettability of... 

Microbial EOR (MEOR) is receiving renewed interest worldwide. The method is based on microorganisms' activities to reduce residual oil of reservoirs, which is dependent on behavior of inherent microorganisms or injection of bioproduct of external microorganisms. Five bacterial species were taken from MIS crude oil that is one of the aging Persian fractured reservoirs. Visualization experiments were carried out to examine the behavior of MEOR in micromodels designed to resemble the fractured system: static and dynamic. A new surface sample of the MIS oil was taken at the well head and physical specifications were measured at the lab. This was fairly light oil with API gravity of 42.5. The... 

Self-repairing is not an advanced ability of articular cartilage. Tissue engineering has provided a novel way for reconstructing cartilage using natural polymers because of their biocompatibility and bio-functionality. The purpose of cartilage tissue engineering is to design a scaffold with proper pore structure and similar biological and mechanical properties to the native tissue. In this study, porous scaffolds prepared from gelatin, chitosan and silk fibroin were blended with varying ratios. Between the blends of chitosan (C), gelatin (G) and silk fibroin (S), the scaffold with the weight per volume ratio of 2:2:3 (w/v) showed the most favorable and higher certain properties than the...