Sharif Digital Repository

While standard Empirical Risk Minimization (ERM) training is proven effective for image classification on in-distribution data, it fails to perform well on out-of-distribution samples. One of the main sources of distribution shift for image classification is the compositional nature of images. Specifically, in addition to the main object or component(s) determining the label, some other image components usually exist, which may lead to the shift of input distribution between train and test environments. More importantly, these components may have spurious corre-lations with the label. To address this issue, we propose Decompose-and-Compose (DaC), which improves robustness to correlation... 

This paper proposes Blenda, a dynamically-partitioned memory-cache blend architecture for giga-scale die-stacked DRAMs. Blenda architects the stacked DRAM partly as memory and partly as cache, and dynamically adjusts each part's size to workloads' demands. The memory part hosts hot data objects and serves requests to them efficiently (i.e., without metadata overheads). The cache part captures transient data and filters requests to bandwidth-limited off-chip DRAM. Blenda provides three key contributions: (i) Blenda partitions stacked DRAM's capacity in a workload-aware manner: different workloads enjoy different memory-cache configurations. (ii) Blenda is reactive: the configuration is... 

In this paper, an optimized topology for switched-capacitor (SC) multilevel inverter is proposed. The proposed topology, which is referred to as Optimized Switched-Capacitor Multilevel Inverter (OSC-MI), offers a boosted staircase voltage by using only one dc source and fewer switches count. Since each industrial load requires a specific power factor (PF), an optimal converter can be designated in a way that it both satisfies the required PF and employs fewer switches and gate drivers. Therefore, the main strategy of reducing switches count in the proposed topology is to design the converter according to the required PF value. In this paper, the theoretical analytics and comparison results... 

In this study, the effects of an exercise therapy comprising yoga exercises and medial-thrust gait (YogaMT) on lower-extremity kinetics, pain, and function in patients with medial knee osteoarthritis were investigated. Fifty-nine patients were randomly allocated to three treatment groups: (a) the YogaMT group practiced yoga exercises and medial thrust gait, (b) the knee-strengthening group performed quadriceps-and hamstring-strengthening exercises, and (c) the treadmill walking group practiced normal treadmill walking in 12 supervised sessions. The adduction and flexion moments of the hip, knee, and ankle; pain intensity; and 2-min walking test were assessed before and after treatment and at... 

BACKGROUND: Medial thrust (MT) gait is a nonsurgical approach for reducing the knee adduction moment (KAM) in patients with knee osteoarthritis. However, its usefulness is indeterminate due to scarcity of research about changes in lower extremity kinetics and the ground reaction force (GRF) which have been investigated in this study. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty patients (6 males, 14 females, age: 56.2±6.2 years) with medial knee osteo-arthritis participated in this cross-sectional study. A 12-camera motion analysis system and two force plates recorded kinematic and GRF data while participants walked barefoot along a 12m path with 1) their regular gait pattern and 2) MT gait pattern. The... 

Most part of Iran is dominated by arid and semi-arid areas due to low annual rainfall. The need for production of fresh water from brackish water is considerably high, especially in dry regions. In this study 1 month daily-based experimental data from a solar still site has been reported. The technical and operational problems of this site which finally contributed to the total cease of the site are described. Then a detailed analysis is investigated on progress of a prototype which constructed in order to solve the site's problems. The results of 1 month of experimental data of the final design showed that the last prototype could be used to solve the current problems of the site. The... 

Plug-In hybrid electric vehicles could be connected to the electrical grid to be recharged. To ease the charging process, one solution could use an on-board charger to charge the electric vehicle battery. This charger should be able to be connected to a conventional outlet for convenience reasons and moreover, it should be a grid friendly charger in order not to pollute the electrical network. Since most of the electric vehicle related projects are at their initial phases, keeping up with the pace and developing new technologies and proposing innovations and concepts will help growing the industry. In this regard, a new integrated bidirectional isolated soft-switched plug-in hybrid electric... 

Ground improvement techniques are inevitable for weak soils that cannot endure the design load imposed by superstructures. Deep mixing technique (DMT) as one of these methods is promising and effective when a deep soil layer with low bearing capacity is encountered. Such deposits are quite common in the South-west of Iran where the studied site is located. In order to validate the influence of DMT on the enhancement of strength, both in-situ and laboratory tests were conducted. Afterwards, a parametric study was carried out to investigate the influence of key factors including cement content, water–cement ratio, curing time and plasticity index (PI) on the performance of DMT. In summary, a... 

This study aims to optimize, design, and predict the MTMDs performance in SDOF systems using spectral analysis, and then apply their results to MDOF structures. Given the importance of spectral analysis in the design of new engineering structures, achieving a method for designing TMDs based on this theory can be of great importance for structural designers. In this study, several convenient combinations of MTMDs in an SDOF system are first considered to minimize the maximum displacement. For calculating the frequency ratios of dampers, an innovative technique is adopted in which the values of different modal responses obtained from the spectral analysis are approached together. This... 

Physical and hydraulic properties of new stainless steel spring packing are introduced. The measured hydraulic properties are: dry and wetted packed bed pressure drop, loading and flooding points and the liquid holdups. The appropriate coefficients for predicting the mentioned hydraulic properties from different correlations are also reported. Hydraulic properties for this packing are compared with available packings. In spite of small size, the dry and wetted packed bed pressure drops of spring packing are less than similar Raschig and Protruded rings. The total liquid holdup of this packing is greater than other commercial packings. The big total liquid holdup and physical surface area are... 

Capture of the discrete nature of crystalline solids for the purpose of the determination of their mechanical behavior with high precision is of interest. To achieve this objective, two fundamental contributing factors are on top of the list: (1) formulation in the mathematical framework of an appropriate higher order continuum theory rather than using classical treatment, and (2) incorporation of the true anisotropy of the media. The present work revisits Toupin–Mindlin first strain gradient theory for media with general anisotropy, and then specialize it to cubic crystals of hexoctahedral class. This formulation in addition to 3 classical material constants encountered in classical theory... 

This paper presents a nonlocal strain gradient theory for capturing size effects in buckling analysis of Euler-Bernoulli nanobeams made of threedimensional functionally graded materials. The material properties vary according to any function. These models can degenerate to the classical models if the material length-scale parameters is assumed to be zero. The Hamilton's principle applied to drive the governing equation and boundary conditions. Generalized differential quadrature method used to solve the governing equation. The effects of some parameters, such as small-scale parameters and constant material parameters are studied. © 2022 PAGEPress Publications. All rights reserved  

The objective of the present work is to compare the performance of the regenerator of pulse tube refrigerators at low and high frequencies. The hydrodynamic and thermal behavior of the regenerator is investigated in this respect. To consider the system performance, a system of conservation equations including two energy equations for the regenerator as a porous media is employed. The present model considers one-dimensional, periodic, unsteady, compressible flow in the regenerator. The conservation equations are transformed by implementing the volumetric average scheme. The method of harmonic approximation is employed to derive an analytical solution. To explore the system performance, net... 

Technology scaling has exacerbated the aging impact on the performance and reliability of integrated circuits. By entering into nanotechnology era in recent years, the power density per unit of area has increased, which leads to a higher chip temperature. Aging in a chip is originated from multiple phenomena; all of them are intensified by increased temperature. Several circuit- and architecture-level schemes tried to mitigate the aging in the literature. However, these schemes are not sufficient for multi-core systems due to their unawareness of the unique constraints and features of these platforms. In this paper, we propose a system-level aging mitigation method, so-called Adaptive Task... 

Technology scaling has exacerbated the aging impact on the performance and reliability of integrated circuits. By entering into nanotechnology era in recent years, the power density per unit of area has increased, which leads to a higher chip temperature. Aging in a chip is originated from multiple phenomena; all of them are intensified by increased temperature. Several circuit- and architecture-level schemes tried to mitigate the aging in the literature. However, these schemes are not sufficient for multi-core systems due to their unawareness of the unique constraints and features of these platforms. In this paper, we propose a system-level aging mitigation method, so-called Adaptive Task... 

Stochastic simulation is carried out to investigate intracellular viral reaction kinetics and the time evolution of the average particle number ( N̄) and coefficient variation (CV) for genome, template, and structural protein. The coefficient variation of these components is found to be ordered as: CV template > CV structural protein > CVgenome. The average particle number is also calculated via a deterministic approach. The magnitude value of the difference between the stochastic and deterministic approaches is found to be N̄ template ̃ N̄ structural protein > N̄ genome. The Poisson algorithm has been used to investigate the number of particles in the dynamics of intracellular viral... 

This paper proposes a new method to detect and classify all kinds of faults, capacitor switching, and load switching in a power system network based on wavelet transform and support vector machines (SVMs). In this regard, a sample of a power system is simulated via MATLAB/Simulink, and by reading the voltage of the point of common coupling and using the wavelet transform, the differences of the outputs of the wavelet transform are investigated. The SVM approach is employed to distinguish the type of the transient (capacitor switching, fault, and/or load switching) in use for the high level outputs of the wavelet transform. Similar to neural networks, this method, which is based on learning,... 

This paper is aimed at proposing a new hybrid method for the islanding detection of distributed-generation (DG) units. Hybrid method operation is based on the combination of an active and a passive method, for which the optimized Sandia frequency shift (SFS) method is used as the selected active method, and rate of change of frequency relay (ROCOF) is used as the passive method. In order to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed technique on islanding detection, several simulation studies based on IEEE 1547 and UL1741 anti-islanding test requirements are carried out. The evaluation of simulation results reveals that the control system, based on the proposed hybrid algorithm, meets the...