Frequency dependence of amplifying parameters of a copper vapor laser using air as a buffer gas

We use a pair of copper vapor lasers in an oscillator–amplifier configuration to investigate amplifying parameters such as the small signal gain and the saturation intensity versus the pulse repetition frequency when two different types of buffer gases are employed. We show that the values of these parameters are not the same if different gas mixtures are used in the gain medium. We show that the values of the parameters are estimated to be higher if a He–Ne buffer gas is used than in the case of air. The laser output power is relatively high and has fairly good stability at some special pulse repetition frequencies when air is used as a buffer gas.     

Bose gases near resonance: Renormalized interactions in a condensate

Bose gases at large scattering lengths or beyond the usual dilute limit for a long time have been one of the most challenging problems in many-body physics. In this article, we investigate the fundamental properties of a near-resonance Bose gas and illustrate that three-dimensional Bose gases become nearly fermionized near resonance when the chemical potential as a function of scattering lengths reaches a maximum and the atomic condensates lose metastability. The instability and accompanying maximum are shown to be a precursor of the sign change of g₂$g_2$, the renormalized two-body interaction between condensed atoms. g₂$g_2$ changes from effectively repulsive to attractive when approaching resonance from the molecular side, even though the scattering length is still positive. This occurs when dimers, under the influence of condensates, emerge at zero energy in the atomic gases at a finite positive scattering length. We carry out our studies of Bose gases via applying a self-consistent renormalization group equation which is further subject to a boundary condition. We also comment on the relation between the approach here and the diagrammatic calculation in an early article [D. Borzov, M.S. Mashayekhi, S. Zhang, J.-L. Song, F. Zhou, Phys. Rev. A 85 (2012) 023620].     

A hybrid metaheuritic technique developed for hourly load forecasting

Electricity load forecasting has become one of the most functioning tools in energy efficiency and load management and utility companies which has been made very complex due to deregulation. Due to the importance of providing a secure and economic electricty for the consumers, having a reliable and robust enough forecast engine in short‐term load management is very needful. Fuzzy inference system is one of primal branches of Artificial Intelligence techniques which has been widely used for different applications of decision making in complex systems. This paper aims to develop a Fuzzy inference system as a main forecast engine for Short term Load Forecasting (STLF) of a city in Iran. However, the optimization of this platform for this special case remains a basic problem. Hence, to address this issue, the Radial Movement Optimization (RMO) technique is proposed to optimize the whole Fuzzy platform. To support this idea, the accuracy of the proposed model is analyzed using MAPE index and an average error of 1.38% is obtained for the forecast load demand which represents the reliability of the proposed method. Finally, results achieved by this method, demonstrate that an adaptive two‐stage hybrid system consisting of Fuzzy & RMO can be an accurate and robust enough choice for STLF problems. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 21: 521–532, 2016     

Numerical solution of the fractional Bagley‐Torvik equation by using hybrid functions approximation

In this paper, a new numerical method for solving the fractional Bagley‐Torvik equation is presented. The method is based upon hybrid functions approximation. The properties of hybrid functions consisting of block‐pulse functions and Bernoulli polynomials are presented. The Riemann‐Liouville fractional integral operator for hybrid functions is introduced. This operator is then utilized to reduce the solution of the initial and boundary value problems for the fractional Bagley‐Torvik differential equation to a system of algebraic equations. Illustrative examples are included to demonstrate the validity and applicability of the technique. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Cephalosporin Prodrug Inhibitors Overcome Metallo-β-Lactamase Driven Antibiotic Resistance

The increasing prevalence of metallo-β-lactamase (MBL)-expressing bacteria presents a worrying trend in antibiotic resistance. MBLs rely on active site zinc ions for their hydrolytic activity and the pursuit of MBL-inhibitors has therefore involved the investigation of zinc chelators. To ensure that such chelators specifically target MBLs, a series of cephalosporin prodrugs of two potent zinc-binders: dipicolinic acid (DPA) and 8-thioquinoline (8-TQ) was prepared. Although both DPA and 8-TQ bind free zinc very tightly (K_d values in the low nm range), the corresponding cephalosporin conjugates do not. The cephalosporin conjugates are efficiently hydrolyzed by MBLs to release DPA or 8-TQ, as confirmed by using both NMR and LC-MS studies. Notably, the cephalosporin prodrugs of DPA and 8-TQ show potent inhibitory activity against NDM, VIM, and IMP classes of MBLs and display potent synergy with meropenem against MBL-expressing clinical isolates of K. pneumoniae and E. coli.     

Colloidal behavior of aluminum oxide nanoparticles as affected by pH and natural organic matter

The colloidal behavior of aluminum oxide nanoparticles (NPs) was investigated as a function of pH and in the presence of two structurally different humic acids (HAs), Aldrich HA (AHA) and the seventh HA fraction extracted from Amherst peat soil (HA7). Dynamic light scattering (DLS) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were employed to determine the colloidal behavior of the NPs. Influence of pH and HAs on the surface charges of the NPs was determined. zeta-Potential data clearly showed that the surface charge of the NPs decreased with increasing pH and reached the point of zero charge (ZPC) at pH 7.9. Surface charge of the NPs also decreased with the addition of HAs. The NPs tend to aggregate as the pH of the suspension approaches ZPC, where van der Waals attraction forces dominate over electrostatic repulsion. However, the NP colloidal suspension was stable in the pHs far from ZPC. Colloidal stability was strongly enhanced in the presence of HAs at the pH of ZPC or above it, but in acidic conditions NPs showed strong aggregation in the presence of HAs. AFM imaging revealed the presence of long-chain fractions in HA7, which entangled with the NPs to form large aggregates. The association of HA with the NP surface can be assumed to follow a two-step process, possibly the polar fractions of the HA7 sorbed on the NP surface followed by entanglement with the long-chain fractions. Thus, our study demonstrated that the hydrophobic nature of the HA molecules strongly influenced the aggregation of colloidal NPs, possibly through their conformational behavior in a particular solution condition. Therefore, various organic matter samples will result in different colloidal behavior of NPs, subsequently their environmental fate and transport.     

A Planar Biaxial Experiment Platform for In Situ High-Energy Diffraction Studies

Experimental Mechanics - An experimental platform for multiscale studies of materials subjected to plane stress loads is presented. Coupling with far-field high-energy diffraction microscopy for...     

NUMERICAL PREDICTIONS AND EXPERIMENTAL VALIDATIONS OF DUCTILE DAMAGE EVOLUTION IN SHEET METAL FORMING PROCESSES

Prediction of forming limit in sheet metal forming is among the most important challenges confronting researchers. In this paper, a fully coupled elastic-plastic-damage model has been developed and implemented into an explicit code. Due to the adoption of the plane stress and finite strain theories, model can predict deformation and damage of parts quickly and accurately. Also, damage initiation, propagation, and fracture in some operations are predicted and validated with experiments. It is concluded that finite strain combined with continuum damage mechanics can be used as a quick tool to predict ductile damage, fracture, and forming limits in sheet metal forming processes.