On the hydroperoxyl radical scavenging activity of two Edaravone derivatives: mechanism and kinetics

The free radical scavenging activity of two Edaravone (EDA) derivatives (C1 and D1) has been studied in aqueous and lipid solutions using the Density Functional Theory. Different mechanisms of reaction have been considered, as well as the acid/base equilibrium in aqueous solution. The studied compounds were found to be rather poor ^?OOH scavengers in non‐polar environments, but better than the parent molecule, EDA, which suggests that the peroxyl scavenging activity of this kind of compounds in lipid media could be increased via structural modifications. In aqueous solution, at physiological pH, D1 is predicted to be a better peroxyl scavenger than C1, and slightly better than its parent molecule, EDA. Their excellent activity, under such conditions, is attributed to the electron transfer from their anionic forms. D1 was found to be among the best peroxyl scavengers known so far, with a rate constant for its reaction with ^?OOH near the diffusion limit regime (2.3 × 10⁸ M^?1s^?1). Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The role of duct thickness on the quenching process of premixed flame propagation

The propagation of premixed laminar flame in ducts of circular cross-section considering a thermal-diffusive model is investigated numerically. Heat losses by conduction to the channels walls are taken into account using the thermally thin wall regime. The effects and the relationship between thickness and diameter of the tube with the flame speed propagation are studied and the quenching condition is obtained as a function of the heat-loss parameter. The mathematical model employs the axisymmetric energy and species equations. The calculations are based on a two-step chemistry, with an Arrhenius, energetically neutral, radical production reaction followed by an exothermic radical recombination reaction. For large values of the heat-loss parameter, the wall temperature is close to the free stream temperature and all the heat losses through the wall are convected away. No heat feedback occurs. On the other hand, for small values of the heat-loss parameter, a feedback mechanism occurs by transferring heat from the burned gas to the fresh mixture along the tube wall. For values of the heat-loss parameter of order unity, the heat feedback mechanism is able to sustain the flame propagation and the quenching condition disappears, producing an almost planar flame front as the propagation velocity reduces. For this two-step reaction mechanism, the radical species behaviour at the duct walls seems to have negligible effect on the quenching process.     

A mathematical model of hotspot condensed phase ignition in the presence of a competitive endothermic reaction

We consider the propagation of a combustion front resulting from the gasless combustion of a condensed state fuel. The propagation of the front, essentially a premixed laminar flame, is supported by an exothermic reaction subject to possible heat loss through a competitive endothermic reaction. The dynamics of the endothermic process inducing the heat loss strongly depend on the temperature and the local fuel concentration. Through an analysis based on high activation energy, the steady-state values of the final burnt temperature as well as the burning velocity are obtained, and the control parameters are identified. Using a linear perturbation method, we assess the stability of the propagating front and obtain a condition for oscillatory behaviour. The critical parameter values for the transition from steady to oscillatory burning speeds are identified. The results represent a generalization of those obtained by Matkowsky and Sivashinsky to include the effects of heat loss induced by a competitive endothermic reaction.     

Numerical simulation of flat-tip micro-indentation of glassy polymers: Influence of loading speed and thermodynamic state

Flat-tip micro-indentation tests were performed on quenched and annealed polymer glasses at various loading speeds. The results were analyzed using an elasto-viscoplastic constitutive model that captures the intrinsic deformation characteristics of a polymer glass: a strain-rate dependent yield stress, strain softening and strain hardening. The advantage of this model is that changes in yield stress due to physical aging are captured in a single parameter. The two materials studied (polycarbonate (PC) and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA)) were both selected for the specific rate-dependence of the yield stress that they display at room temperature. Within the range of strain rates experimentally covered, the yield stress of PC increases linearly with the logarithm of strain rate, whereas, for PMMA, a characteristic change in slope can be observed at higher strain rates. We demonstrate that, given the proper definition of the viscosity function, the flat-tip indentation response at different indentation speeds can be described accurately for both materials. Moreover, it is shown that the model captures the mechanical response on the microscopic scale (indentation) as well as on the macroscopic scale with the same parameter set. This offers promising possibilities of extracting mechanical properties of polymer glasses directly from indentation experiments.     

Residual stress delaying phase transformation in Y-TZP bio-restorations

Engineering favorable residual stress for the complex geometry of bi-layer porcelain-zirconia crowns potentially prevents crack initiation and improves the mechanical performance and lifetime of the dental restoration. In addition to external load, the stress field depends on initial residual stress before loading. Residual stress is the result of factors such as the thermal expansion mismatch of layers and compliance anisotropy of zirconia grains in the process of sintering and cooling. Stress induced phase transformation in zirconia extensively relaxes the residual stress and changes the stress state. The objective of this study is to investigate the coupling between tetragonal to monoclinic phase transformations and residual stress. Residual stress, on the surface of the sectioned single load to failure crown, at 23 points starting from the pure tetragonal and ending at a fully monoclinic region were measured using the micro X-ray diffraction sin² ψ method. An important observation is the significant range in measured residual stress from a compressive stress of ?400?MPa up to tensile stress of 400?MPa and up to 100% tetragonal to monoclinic phase transformation.     

Design of Hamming Code Checker Using Titanium-Diffused Lithium Niobate-Based Waveguide

ABSTRACT

This work presents an electro-optic effect-based design for the widely used Hamming code for checking single bit errors in the received data. The structure is based on Mach-Zehnder Interferometer, designed using Titanium-diffused Lithium Niobate-based waveguides. The proposed device has been successfully tested using the beam propagation method. For a received 7-bit code, the three simultaneously generated check bits are combined to check the error position. Critical performance parameters like extinction ratio (24.39dB), contrast ratio (25.711dB), insertion loss (0.041dB), and amplitude modulation (0.079dB) calculated for the overall device are within acceptable limits for the feasibility of the device.     

On the noise limit of stress and temperature measurements with micro‐Raman spectroscopy

We report for the first time on the thorough experimental and theoretical assessment of the noise limit of mechanical stress and temperature measurements with micro‐Raman spectroscopy. A comprehensive study has been performed in which, for different incident laser light intensities and acquisition times, 1000 Raman spectra of mono‐crystalline silicon were acquired per setting. Curve fitting was employed to obtain the peak positions of all the spectra, from which the standard deviations of the measured peak positions were obtained versus the total accumulated amount of laser light incident on the sample during one measurement. It has been found that the noise in the obtained peak position decreases as 1/sqrt(n) over more than three decades of the incident amount of laser light. At very low light conditions, the noise decreases as 1/n. By comparing the experimental results obtained to recent theoretical work, we show that the acquisition is limited by photon shot noise over most of the range and is limited by electronic detector noise at very low light conditions only. Pixelation errors do not play a role. It is concluded that the low electronic noise of typical Raman spectroscope detectors is overkill for the investigation of mechanical stress and temperature in silicon and other materials with comparable peaks, as it has absolutely no influence on the noise level of such an experiment. Maximum Raman signal intensity on the detector and high quantum efficiency detection are more important. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Detecting community structure using label propagation with weighted coherent neighborhood propinquity

Community detection has become an important methodology to understand the organization and function of various real-world networks. The label propagation algorithm (LPA) is an almost linear time algorithm proved to be effective in finding a good community structure. However, LPA has a limitation caused by its one-hop horizon. Specifically, each node in LPA adopts the label shared by most of its one-hop neighbors; much network topology information is lost in this process, which we believe is one of the main reasons for its instability and poor performance. Therefore in this paper we introduce a measure named weighted coherent neighborhood propinquity (weighted-CNP) to represent the probability that a pair of vertices are involved in the same community. In label update, a node adopts the label that has the maximum weighted-CNP instead of the one that is shared by most of its neighbors. We propose a dynamic and adaptive weighted-CNP called entropic-CNP by using the principal of entropy to modulate the weights. Furthermore, we propose a framework to integrate the weighted-CNP in other algorithms in detecting community structure. We test our algorithm on both computer-generated networks and real-world networks. The experimental results show that our algorithm is more robust and effective than LPA in large-scale networks.     

Three-dimensional dynamic Green’s functions in transversely isotropic tri-materials

An analytical derivation of the elastodynamic fundamental solutions for a transversely isotropic tri-material full-space is presented by means of a complete representation using two displacement potentials. The complete set of three-dimensional point-load, patch-load, and ring-load Green’s functions for stresses and displacements are given, for the first time, in the complex-plane line-integral representations. The formulation includes a complete set of transformed stress-potential and displacement-potential relations in the framework of Fourier expansions and Hankel integral transforms, that is useful in a variety of elastodynamic as well as elastostatic problems. For the numerical computation of the integrals, a robust and effective methodology is laid out. Selected numerical results for point-load and patch-load Green’s functions are presented to portray the dependence of the response on layering, the frequency of excitation, and type of loading.     

Wave propagation analysis in buried pipe conveying fluid

A study of wave propagation in buried pipe conveying fluid is presented in the paper. The Flüggle shell model is adopted for pipe and surrounding solid is modeled as elastic matrix by using Winkle model. Wave dispersion curves of a buried vacant pipe and a pipe conveying fluid are obtained numerically by considering coupling conditions. Results show that wave velocity exhibits sharp drop points in dispersion curves, and remains to an identical values before and after the points for both of vacant pipe and pipe conveying fluid. Effects of wall thickness, elastic matrix properties and fluid velocity are also discussed.