Sharif Digital Repository

This work develops a systematic uncertainty quantification framework to assess the reliability of prediction delivered by physics-based material models in the presence of incomplete measurement data and modeling error. The framework consists of global sensitivity analysis, Bayesian inference, and forward propagation of uncertainty through the computational model. The implementation of this framework on a new multiphase model of novel porous silica aerogel materials is demonstrated to predict the thermomechanical performances of a building envelope insulation component. The uncertainty analyses rely on sampling methods, including Markov-chain Monte Carlo and a mixed finite element solution of... 

Carbon dioxide storage in geological formations is one of the mature strategies developed for controlling global warming. This paper represents a comprehensive experimental and geochemical modeling study to analyze CO2-brine-rock interactions in a carbonate rock containing calcite and dolomite minerals. PHREEQC geochemical package has been applied for modeling the geochemical reactions in the studied porous media. Firstly, dynamic experiments are performed to calibrate the geochemical model. Then, static experiments are conducted to study the geochemical reactions in the CO2-brine-rock interaction system. This study contributes to analyzing the precipitation-dissolution and ion exchange... 

The dynamics of droplet detachment from a surface is a fundamental topic studied in coating engineering, fluid mechanics, and subsurface engineering applications. This topic has direct relevance to wettability alteration using the modified ionic composition of water in contact with oil droplet, low salinity waterflooding (LSWF). Previous experimental studies of LSWF have shown a very long timescale in wettability alteration which cannot be explained using bulk diffusion coefficient. In the present study, we address both the time scale of detachment, as well as the impact of buoyancy and interfacial forces (referred to as Bond number) on droplet detachment by proposing an advanced... 

Early onset adjacent segment degeneration (ASD) can be found within six months after anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). Deficits in deep paraspinal neck muscles may be related to early onset ASD. This study aimed to determine whether the morphometry of preoperative deep neck muscles (multifidus and semispinalis cervicis) predicted early onset ASD in patients with ACDF. Thirty-two cases of early onset ASD after a two-level ACDF and 30 matched non-ASD cases were identified from a large-scale cohort. The preoperative total cross-sectional area (CSA) of bilateral deep neck muscles and the lean muscle CSAs from C3 to C7 levels were measured manually on T2-weighted magnetic resonance... 

Background: Planarians are non-parasitic Platyhelminthes (flatworms) famous for their regeneration ability and for having a well-organized brain. Dugesia japonica is a typical planarian species that is widely distributed in the East Asia. Extensive cellular and molecular experimental methods have been developed to identify the functions of thousands of genes in this species, making this planarian a good experimental model for regeneration biology and neurobiology. However, no genome-level information is available for D. japonica, and few gene regulatory networks have been identified thus far. Results: To obtain whole-genome information on this species and to study its gene regulatory... 

Learning a foreign language encompasses a process of trial and error that can lead to the progression of the learner's interlanguage, meaning that the learners make use of their language knowledge that receives feedback and brings about progress through diagnosis of the problems and being corrected by the teacher. Therefore, there exists a need to analyze the underlying reasons causing the students to remain taciturn with a low willingness to communicate (WTC) during a language class. There has been much work done investigating the role of the learner's stable personal characteristics (traits) along with their situational changes at a specific time (states) that influence the student's... 

Using 3-D scanned data to analyze and extract pore network plays a vital role in investigation of porous media's characteristics. In this paper, a new simple method is developed to detect pores and throats for analyzing the connectivity and permeability of the network. This automated method utilizes some of the common and well-known image processing functions which are widely accessible by researchers and this has led to an easy algorithm implementation. In this method, after polishing and quality control of images, using city-block distance function and watershed segmentation algorithm, pores and throats are detected and 3-D network is produced. This method can also be applied on 2-D images... 

In this paper, we try to recognize and distinguish different groups of arrhythmia using novel features which have been obtained from the heart rate's phase space in recent years. For this purpose, we used Triangular Phase Space Mapping (TPSM) and Parabolic Phase Space Mapping (PPSM). For recognition, we used three groups of 15 subjects using the Physionet database (Arrhythmia, Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), and Atrial Fibrillation (AF)) with Normal Sinus Rhythm (NSR). The obtained features discriminate arrhythmia from NSR by p