Development of a coupled wavelet transform and evolutionary Levenberg‐Marquardt neural networks for hydrological process modeling

This research aims to present a general framework by which the most appropriate wavelet parameters including mother wavelet, vanishing moment, and decomposition level can be chosen for a joint wavelet transform and machine learning model. This study is organized in 2 parts: the first part presents an evolutionary Levenberg‐Marquardt neural network (ELMNN) model as the most effective machine learning configuration, and the second part describes how the wavelet transform can be effectively embedded with the developed ELMNN model. In this research, the rainfall and runoff time series data of 2 distinct watersheds at 2 different time scales (daily and monthly) were used to build the proposed hybrid wavelet transform and ELMNN model. The conclusions of this study showed that the Daubechies wavelet more than other wavelet families is capable to extract the informative features of hydrologic series. The vanishing moment and decomposition level of this mother wavelet should be selected based on the watershed behavior and the time resolution of rainfall and runoff time series, respectively. The verification results for both watersheds at daily and monthly time scales indicated root mean square error, peak value criterion, low value criterion, and Kling‐Gupta efficiency as about 0.017, 0.021, 0.023, and 0.91, respectively.     

Effects of slots on thermoelastic quality factor of a vertical beam MEMS resonator

Thermoelastic damping is one of the dominant mechanisms of structural damping in vacuum-operated microresonators. A three dimensional numerical model based on the finite element method is used for simulating thermoelastic damping in clamped–clamped microelectromechanical beam resonators. In this regards, both simple and slotted beam are considered. To understand the effect of slot positions and sizes on the resonator performance, resonant frequency and thermoelastic quality factor are calculated for both simple and slotted beams for a wide range of beam length from 10 to 400 µm. Punching slots in the resonator beam reduces the stiffness and mass of the beam which affect the resonant frequency. In addition thermo-mechanical coupling mechanisms of the resonator are affected by the slots which improve the thermoelastic quality factor. For most of the beam lengths, it is shown that the slots at the beam-anchor interface region, where the strain is high, are more effectively enhanced the thermoelastic quality factor than one at the centre of the beam region. However, the highest resonance frequency is achieved with the slots at the center region.     

Autonomous vehicles: challenges,opportunities, and future implications for transportation policies

This study investigates the challenges and opportunities pertaining to transportation policies that may arise as a result of emerging autonomous vehicle (AV) technologies. AV technologies can decrease the transportation cost and increase accessibility to low-income households and persons with mobility issues. This emerging technology also has far-reaching applications and implications beyond all current expectations. This paper provides a comprehensive review of the relevant literature and explores a broad spectrum of issues from safety to machine ethics. An indispensable part of a prospective AV development is communication over cars and infrastructure (connected vehicles). A major knowledge gap exists in AV technology with respect to routing behaviors. Connected-vehicle technology provides a great opportunity to implement an efficient and intelligent routing system. To this end, we propose a conceptual navigation model based on a fleet of AVs that are centrally dispatched over a network seeking system optimization. This study contributes to the literature on two fronts: (i) it attempts to shed light on future opportunities as well as possible hurdles associated with AV technology; and (ii) it conceptualizes a navigation model for the AV which leads to highly efficient traffic circulations.

     

Hybrid variable damping control: design,simulation, and optimization

This paper presents the design, formulation, and performance optimization of a new hybrid electromagnetic damper in response to the demand for a tunable, regenerative and fail-safe damping device for various applications. Damping in a multitude of engineering applications has a variable threshold requirement based on system excitation. Since system excitation is also variable; dampers are such that an adequate amount of damping is provided, opposed to an optimal amount as a function of excitation. In this research it was shown that, by implementing a hybrid damper design based on a bias component provided through a hydraulic medium and a variable component provided by electromagnetics, an optimal damping quantity can be obtained for a given excitation. The produced damping force and electrical power were formulated based on the structure’s geometry and input displacement. The presented design was optimized for a scooter scaled application and it was shown that the damping and regenerative characteristics can be adjusted for different requirements. Furthermore, it was illustrated that this design has the potential to be scaled for other applications as well.     

CAD tools for efficient RF/microwave transistor modeling and circuit design

In today’s radiofrequency and microwave communication circuits, there is an ever-increasing demand for higher integration and miniaturization. This trend leads to massive computational tasks during simulation, optimization and statistical analyses, requiring robust modeling tools so that the whole process can be achieved reliably. In this paper, the authors proposed frequency- and time-domain computer-aided design tools that can characterize RF/microwave field effect and heterojunction bipolar transistors and efficiently predict a circuit performance. The proposed tools are demonstrated through examples.     

A critical review on spark plasma sintering of copper and its alloys

Journal of Materials Science - Copper and its alloys have been in the service of humankind earlier than any other metal throughout history. In the present review, all aspects of the SPS of copper...     

Automatic zone identification in scientific papers via fusion techniques

Scientometrics - Zone identification is a topic in the area of text mining which helps researchers be benefited by the content of scientific papers in a satisfactory manner. The major aim of zone...     

Characterization of the Influence of Tool Pin Profile on Microstructural and Mechanical Properties of Friction Stir Welding

In this study, the effect of tool pin profile on mechanical properties, microstructural, material flow, thermal and strain distributions of friction stir welding of AA5083 was investigated. Two different tools with cylindrical and square pin profiles were employed to produce the welds. A numerical model is developed for investigating the effect of tool pin profiles on material flow, thermal and strain distributions based on thermo-mechanically coupled rigid-viscoplastic 3D FEM. Then, optical microscopy was employed to characterize the microstructures features of the weld. Finally, tensile test was carried out to characterize the mechanical properties of the weld. Obtained results showed that square pin profile produced finer grain structure and higher ultimate strength relative to cylindrical one. These results may be related to higher eccentricity, larger stirred zone, and higher temperature in the weld zone of the square pin profile.     

Magnetic molecularly imprinted polymer nanoparticles coupled with high performance liquid chromatography for solid‐phase extraction of carvedilol in serum samples

Herein, we report a magnetic molecularly imprinted polymers (m‐MIPs) using Fe₃O₄ as a magnetic component, carvedilol as a template molecule for the solid‐phase extraction (MISPE) as the sample clean‐up technique combined with high‐performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and for the controlled release of carvedilol at different pH values of 1.0 (simulated gastric fluid), 6.8 (simulated intestinal fluid), and 7.4 (simulated biological fluid). The adsorption kinetics was modeled with the pseudo‐first‐order and pseudo‐second‐order kinetics, and the adsorption isotherms were fitted with Langmuir and Freundlich models. The performance of the m‐MIPs for the controlled release of carvedilol was assessed and results indicated that the magnetic MIPs also have potential applications in controlled drug release. Furthermore, the m‐MIPs were applied to the extraction of carvedilol from human blood plasma samples. Carvedilol can be quantified by this method in the 2–350 μg L^?1 concentration range. The limit of detection and limit of quantification in plasma samples are 0.13 and 0.45 μg L^?1. The results from HPLC showed good precision (3.5% for 50.0 μg L^?1) and recoveries (between 85 and 93) using m‐MIP from human plasma samples. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2014 , 131, 41209.