Spatial dependency of the groundwater uranium in the alluvial soil region of Gunnaur,India

Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry - GIS based groundwater uranium and other physico-chemical parameters pH, electrical conductivity, oxidation reduction potential, temperature,...     

Organotin (IV) complexes derived from tridentate Schiff base ligands: Synthesis,spectroscopic analysis,antimicrobial and antioxidant activity

Organotin complexes of Schiff bases (derived from the condensation of hydrazides with salicylaldehyde derivatives) were prepared and their characterization was done using several spectroscopic techniques like FTIR, NMR (¹H, ¹³C, and ¹¹⁹Sn) and mass spectrometry. The spectroscopic data of the ligands and their corresponding complexes revealed that the Schiff bases chelated to the tin metal in a tridentate manner through –ONO atoms (oxygen atom of the hydroxyl group of the salicylaldehydic derivatives, the nitrogen atom of azomethine group, and the oxygen atom of enolic group present in the carboxylic acid hydrazides). Around tin atom pentacoordinated geometry was exhibited. The synthesized ligands and their complexes have been assessed for their biological potency (antibacterial, antifungal and antioxidant using Ciprofloxacin, Fluconazole and Ascorbic acid as reference compounds) and few of the compounds showed optimistic activity. The ligands having electron withdrawing group attached showed greater antimicrobial activity as compared to the other ligands. The complexes showed the better activity than the ligands. The general trend followed by the complexes was diphenyl ?> ?dibutyl ?> ?dimethyl substituted complexes. Compound 11 was the most active against microbes. The antioxidant activity increased with electron donating group. The phenyl substituted complexes showed better activity as compared to the dibutyl and dimethyl substituted complexes. Compound 20 was the best antioxidant.     

Optimal solenoidal interpolation of turbulent vector fields: application to PTV and super-resolution PIV

A new approach for the interpolation of a filtered turbulence velocity field given random point samples of unfiltered turbulence velocity data is described. In this optimal interpolation method, the best possible value of the interpolated filtered field is obtained as a stochastic estimate of a conditional average, which minimizes the mean square error between the interpolated filtered velocity field and the true filtered velocity field. Besides its origins in approximation theory, the optimal interpolation method also has other advantages over more commonly used ad hoc interpolation methods (like the adaptive Gaussian window). The optimal estimate of the filtered velocity field can be guaranteed to preserve the solenoidal nature of the filtered velocity field and also the underlying correlation structure of both the filtered and the unfiltered velocity fields. The a posteriori performance of the optimal interpolation method is evaluated using data obtained from high-resolution direct numerical simulation of isotropic turbulence. Our results show that for a given sample data density, there exists an optimal choice of the characteristic width of cut-off filter that gives the least possible relative mean square error between the true filtered velocity and the interpolated filtered velocity. The width of this optimal filter and the corresponding minimum relative error appear to decrease with increase in sample data density. Errors due to the optimal interpolation method are observed to be quite low for appropriate choices of the data density and the characteristic width of the filter. The optimal interpolation method is also seen to outperform the adaptive Gaussian window, in representing the interpolated field given the data at random sample locations. The overall a posteriori performance of the optimal interpolation method was found to be quite good and hence makes a potential candidate for use in interpolation of PTV and super-resolution PIV data.     

On a highly accurate computational scheme for the approximate analysis of shear-flexible anisotropie plates

Summary The paper deals with the analysis of shear-flexible anisotropic plates subjected to arbitrary boundary conditions. In order to solve the pertinent boundary value problem, a Ritz-type technique has been developed which, however, ist not based on the standard principle of minimum potential energy but a modification thereof. In this variational theorem, the boundary conditions are satisfied a posteriori as natural constraints, therefore relatively simple trial functions can be used to approximate the displacement variables in the interior of the plate. Extensive studies carried out on a series of relevant examples illustrate that the proposed method represents an inexpensive, reliable and highly efficient tool for solving a wide variety of plate bending problems.

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Ein sehr genaues numerisches verfahren zur näherungsweisen berechnung des tragund deformationsverhaltens schubsteifer anisotroper platten

Übersicht Die vorliegende Arbeit beschäftigt sich mit der Berechnung des Trag- und. Deformationsverhaltens beliebig gelagerter Platten unter Berücksichtigung von Materialanisotropie sowie Schubkrafteinfluß. Beim entwickelten Berechnungsverfahren handelt es sich um eine Ritz-Methode, welche allerdings nicht auf dem Prinzip des Minimums der potentiellen Energie, sondern einer Modifikation davon basiert. Das Besondere an dieser modifizierten Variationsgleichung liegt darin, daß die geometrischen Rand- und Übergangsbedingungen nicht als wesentliche, sondern als natürliche Nebenbedingungen erfüllt werden. Die Genauigkeit und praktische Relevanz der entwickelten Methode wird anhand einiger Representativbeispiele demonstriert.

     

The Cancer Genetics Network: recruitment results and pilot studies

OBJECTIVE: The National Cancer Institute established the Cancer Genetics Network (CGN) to support collaborative investigations into the genetic basis of cancer susceptibility, explore mechanisms to integrate this new knowledge into medical practice, and identify ways of addressing the associated psychosocial, ethical, legal, and public health issues. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: The CGN has developed the complex infrastructure required to support the projects, including the establishment of guidelines and policies, uniform methods, standard questionnaires to be used by all of the centers, and a standard format for submission of data to the Informatics Center. Cancer patients and their family members have been invited to enroll and be included in a pool of potential study participants. The Information Technology Group is responsible for support of the design, implementation, and maintenance of the multicenter Network-wide research protocols. RESULTS: As of January 2004, the CGN contained data on 23,995 probands (participants) and 425,798 family members. As a resource for cancer genetic studies, the CGN has a large number of probands and first-degree relatives with and without cancer and with multiple ethnicities. Different study designs can be used including case-control, case-case, and family studies. CONCLUSIONS: The unique resources of the CGN are available for studies on cancer genetic susceptibility, translational research, and behavioral research. The CGN is now at a point where approved collaborators may have access to enrolled patients and their families for special studies, as well as to the clinical, environmental and family cancer history data banked in the Informatics Center.     

Dynamic shearing resistance of molten metal films under high pressures and extremely high shearing rates

In the present study plate-impact pressureshear experiments have been conducted to study the dynamic shearing resistance of molten metal films at shearing rates of approximately 10⁷ s⁻¹. These molten films are generated by pressure-shear impact of relatively low melt-point metals such as 7075-T6 Al alloy with high hardness and high flow-strength tool-steel plates. By employing high impact speeds and relatively smooth impacting surfaces, normal interfacial pressures ranging from 1–3 GPa and slip speeds of over 100 m/s are generated during the pressure-shear loading. The resulting friction stress (∼100 to 400 MPa) combined with the high slip speeds generate conditions conductive to interfacial temperatures approaching the fully melt temperature regime of the lower melt-point metal (7075-T6 aluminum alloy) comprising the tribo-pair. During pressure-shear loading, laser interferometry is employed to measure normal and transverse motion at the rear surface of the target plate. The normal component of the particle velocity provides the interfacial normal traction while the transverse component provides the shearing resistance of the interface as it passes through melt. In order to extract the critical interfacial parameters, such as the interfacial slip-speed and interfacial temperatures, a Lagrangian finiteelement code is developed. The computational procedure accounts for dynamic effects, heat conduction, contact with friction, and full thermo-mechanical coupling. At temperatures below melt the flyer and target materials are described as an isotropic thermally softening elastic-viscoplastic solid. For material elements with temperatures in excess of the melt point, a purely Newtonian fluid constitutive model is employed. The results of this hybrid experimental-computational study provide insights into the dynamic shearing resistance of molten metal films at high pressures and extremely high shearing rates.     

A numerical study of the steady forced convection heat transfer from an unconfined circular cylinder

Forced convection heat transfer from an unconfined circular cylinder in the steady cross-flow regime has been studied using a finite volume method (FVM) implemented on a Cartesian grid system in the range as 10 ≤ Re ≤ 45 and 0.7 ≤ Pr ≤ 400. The numerical results are used to develop simple correlations for Nusselt number as a function of the pertinent dimensionless variables. In addition to average Nusselt number, the effects of Re, Pr and thermal boundary conditions on the temperature field near the cylinder and on the local Nusselt number distributions have also been presented to provide further physical insights into the nature of the flow. The rate of heat transfer increases with an increase in the Reynolds and/or Prandtl numbers. The uniform heat flux condition always shows higher value of heat transfer coefficient than the constant wall temperature at the surface of the cylinder for the same Reynolds and Prandtl numbers. The maximum difference between the two values is around 15–20%.     

Preliminary Study of Cationic Copolymerization of α-Methylstyrene and Isobutyl Vinyl Ether. II

α-Methylstyrene (α-MS) and isobutyl vinyl ether (IBVE) were copolymerized by using the H₂O/EtAlCl₂ initiator system and CH₂Cl₂ and CH₃Cl solvent in the temperature range from -30 to -90°C. As compared to homopolymerization of α-MS, both yields and molecular weights are reduced upon addition of small amounts of IBVE to the feed. The reactivity ratios were calculated by the method of Kelen and Tödös as well as the Fineman and Ross method, and the combined effect of change of solvent and temperature on reactivity ratios was determined. Effects of feed composition and temperature on the copolymer yield, composition, and number-average molecular weight M _n were studied in detail. M _n showed a novel exponential dependence on the IBVE concentration in the feed. The overall activation energies of molecular weight were determined from the Arrhenius plots for both homo-and copolymerization systems. Based on these and the yield data, a speculation is made regarding reaction mechanism for molecular weight control. NMR and DTA data are reported, which establish the random nature of the copolymers.     

Dye-sensitized solar cells concocted with dyes extracted from fresh and dried leaves of Henna using different solvents

Optical and Quantum Electronics - Nowadays, world is moving from conventional energy sources to non-conventional energy sources like solar energy, wind power, hydropower and those energy sources...     

Impact of FRET between Molecular Aggregates and Quantum Dots

Energy transfer has been employed in third‐generation solar cells for the conversion of light into electrical energy. Long‐range nonradiative energy transfer from semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) to fluorophores has been demonstrated by using CdS QDs and thiophene?BODIPY (boron dipyrromethene, abbreviated as TG2). TG2 shows a broad photoluminescence (PL) spectrum, which varies with concentration. At very low concentrations, monomeric units are present; then, upon increasing the concentration, these monomers form a mixed (J‐/H‐)aggregated state. Energy transfer between the CdS QDs and TG2 was confirmed by separately investigating the interactions between CdS and the monomer of TG2 and between CdS and the aggregated states of TG2. Size‐dependent PL quenching confirmed that nonradiative Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) from photoexcited CdS QDs to the J‐aggregate state of TG2 was the major energy‐relaxation channel, which occurred on the timescale of hundreds of fs. These results have broad applications in the field of light harvesting based on the assembly of molecular aggregates.