Polynomial interior-point algorithm for P * {(\kappa)} horizontal linear complementarity problems

In this paper an interior-point algorithm for P _*(κ) horizontal linear complementarity problems is proposed that uses new search directions. The theoretical complexity of the new algorithm is calculated. It is investigated that the proposed algorithm has quadratically convergent with polynomial iteration complexity $O((1+\kappa)\sqrt{n}\log\frac{n}{\varepsilon})$ , coincide with the best known iteration bound for P _*(κ) horizontal linear complementarity problems.     

Asymptotically FRW black holes

Special solutions of the LTB family representing collapsing over-dense regions corresponding to asymptotically closed, open, or flat FRW models are found. These solutions may be considered as representing dynamical mass condensations leading to black holes immersed in a FRW universe. We study the dynamics of the collapsing region, and its density profile. The question of the strength of the central singularity and its nakedness, as well as the existence of an apparent horizon and an event horizon is dealt with in detail, shedding light to the notion of cosmological black holes. Differences to the Schwarzschild black hole are addressed.     

Sur les variétés sous-riemanniennes de contact isotropes

In this Note, we show that contrary to the dimension 3 case, isotropic contact sub-Riemannian manifolds of dimension greater than 3 do not exist. To cite this article: A.-R. Mansouri, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 339 (2004).     

Walk-off reduction,using an external optical plate and Bessel–Gaussian interaction

To reduce the walk-off angle of the extraordinary third-harmonic ultraviolet wave at 355 nm generated by type ⅡKTiOPO_4 and type I β-BaB_2O_4 optical crystals,and the Gaussian output beam of a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser,a simple theoretical model was developed based on a rotatable BK7 plate of variable thickness.By rotating the plate up to 35°along the beam direction,we reduced the walk-off angle up to ~ 13%.The same phenomenon is predicted by the model,confirming the performance of the model.It is found that,due to the walk-off effect,the intensity profile of the thirdharmonic generation beam is slightly degraded.To compensate for the observed phenomena and further reduce the walkoff,we used a combination of a convex lens and an axicon to transform the beam profile of the interacting fundamental and second-harmonic generation waves to the zero-order Bessel-Gaussian form.As a result,the walk-off is decreased to~ 48.81 mrad,providing ~ 30%relative reduction.By using the same BK7 plate rotated up to 35° along the third-harmonic beam direction,the walk-off angle is further reduced to 38.9 mrad.Moreover,it is observed that the beam profile of the emerged Bessel-Gaussian third-harmonic generation beam remains unchanged with no degradation.     

Fabrication of electrospun polyethersulfone/titanium dioxide (PES/TiO2) composite nanofibers membrane and its application for photocatalytic degradation of phenol in aqueous solution

The main objective of this research is to use the photocatalytic properties of PES/TiO₂ nanofibers membranes to remove the phenol as a toxic pollutant in various effluents. The uniform fibers in terms of minimum bead formation and fibers diameter were fabricated. Therefore, more TiO₂ catalysts are on the surface of the fibers which increase the active surface area of nanoparticles and consequently improve the phenol degradation efficiency. The effects of TiO₂ concentration on hydrophilicity, mechanical properties, porosity, mean pore size, and water flux of membranes were studied. The PES/TiO₂ nanofibers were evaluated for phenol degradation under UVA irradiation through a transparent membrane module. The amount of removable phenol was analyzed with high‐performance liquid chromatography. Central composite design was used as a statistical experimental design. Finally, the effect of TiO₂ content in nanofibers and initial phenol concentrations were investigated as well as pH values in synthetic wastewater, on phenol degradation. The results from analysis of variance (ANOVA) analysis indicated that TiO₂ content in nanofibers was the most important and effective parameter on phenol degradation. It was also presented that there is no significant interaction between parameters so that the effect of each parameter was investigated separately. Maximum phenol degradation was 43.0 ± 0.3% and found under conditions of TiO₂ content, initial phenol concentration, and pH value of 8%, 120 ppm, and 7, respectively.     

MicroRNA‐2861 and nanofibrous scaffold synergistically promote human induced pluripotent stem cells osteogenic differentiation

Tissue engineering using new strategies has become a growing and promising method for treating large tissue lesions in the body. On the other hand, microRNAs (miRNAs), which are small non‐coding regulatory RNAs, are a new class of genetic materials that can have effective pharmacological roles. The combination of these two themes has created promising prospects for the treatment of diseases. Herein, human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) were transduced with miRNA‐2861 and then the osteogenic differentiation potential of transduced iPSCs and non‐transduced iPSCs was investigated while cultured on the electrospun poly lactic‐co‐glycolic acid (PLGA) nanofibrous scaffold and culture plate. MiR‐2861‐transduced iPSCs showed a significantly higher viability, mineralization, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, calcium content, and bone‐related gene expression in comparison with those iPSCs that non‐transduced. The results also indicated that this increase is improved when miR‐2861 transduced iPSCs are cultured on the PLGA nanofibrous scaffold synergistically. This synergy was also confirmed by the results obtained from of Western blot analysis. It can be concluded that, miR‐2861, by negative regulation of those proteins that decrease/inhibit osteogenic differentiation and PLGA nanofibrous scaffold by preparation of a suitable artificial extracellular matrix, have a great positive impact in improving iPSCs osteogenic differentiation potential and this blend can be proposed to use in bone tissue engineering application.     

Experimental study on effect of different parameters on size and shape of triangular silver nanoparticles prepared by a simple and rapid method in aqueous solution

This paper continues our previous work on preparation of truncated triangular silver nanoparticles. The method proceeds with reaction of silver nitrate with hydrazine in the presence of sodium citrate in aqueous solution, in which triangular nanoparticles are formed in a few minutes with some spherical ones. In particular range of reactants, especially high reductant concentration, only spherical nanoparticles are formed. In further investigation we observed that spherical nanoparticles shape could change to triangular by aging. This means that controlled growth of nanoparticles could lead to the formation of triangular ones. Therefore, a method was devised to slow down the rate of reduction by adding Fe³⁺ to the reaction solution. The results show that in this case more triangular nanoparticles are formed compared to the original one. This result also confirms that with the increasing hydrazine concentration, growth becomes less important compared to nucleation and smaller triangles are formed.     

A new approach for modeling of RO membranes using MD-SF-PF model and CFD technique

The modified surface force-pore flow (MD-SF-PF) model is a successful and powerful model for prediction of reverse osmosis (RO) membrane separation. In the MD-SF-PF model, a suitable mass and momentum balances were made through the cylindrical micro porous of the membranes. A one-dimensional potential function in radial direction was used to attain the velocity profile. The obtained nonlinear equations were solved by orthogonal collocation method. In our model, extended MD-SF-PF (Ex-MD-SF-PF) model, the potential function of the MD-SF-PF model was developed as both radial and axial directions. Both Ex-MD-SF-PF and MD-SF-PF models were solved by finite volume and finite difference methods based on a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) technique. The profiles of velocity and concentration were achieved and thereby the values of separation factors and fluxes for both models were obtained and were compared accordingly. This approach affected only at the end of pore, mainly on the concentration profile and slightly on the velocity profile.     

Image quality assessment using the singular value decomposition theorem

In objective image quality metrics, one of the most important factors is the correlation of their results with the perceived quality measurements. In this paper, a new method is presented based on comparing between the structural properties of the two compared images. Based on the mathematical concept of the singular value decomposition (SVD) theorem, each matrix can be factorized to the products of three matrices, one of them related to the luminance value while the two others show the structural content information of the image. A new method to quantify the quality of images is proposed based on the projected coefficients and the left singular vector matrix of the disturbed image based on the right singular vector matrix of the original image. To evaluate this performance, many tests have been done using a widespread subjective study involving 779 images of the Live Image Quality Assessment Database, Release 2005. The objective results show a high rate of correlation with subjective quality measurements.