Estimating the Scale Parameter of a Lévy-stable Distribution via the Extreme Value Approach

The characteristic exponent α of a Lévy-stable law S _α (σ, β, μ) was thoroughly studied as the extreme value index of a heavy tailed distribution. For 1 < α < 2, Peng (Statist. Probab. Lett. 52: 255–264, 2001) has proposed, via the extreme value approach, an asymptotically normal estimator for the location parameter μ. In this paper, we derive by the same approach, an estimator for the scale parameter σ and we discuss its limiting behavior.      

Investigation on corrosion inhibition and adsorption mechanism of azomethine derivatives at mild steel/0.5 ​M ​H2SO4 solution interface: Gravimetric,electrochemical, SEM and EDX studies

The inhibition performance of five azomethine derivatives such as: 1-(4-Methyloxy phenylimino)-1-(phenylhydrazono)-propan-2-one (SB₁), 1-(4-Methylphenylimino)-1-(phenylhydrazono) propan-2-one (SB₂), 1-(phenylimino)-1(phenylhydrazono)-propan-2-one (SB₃), 1-(4-Bromo phenylimino)-1(phenylhydrazono)-propan-2-one (SB₄) and 1-(4-Chlorophenylimino)-1(phenylhydrazono) -propan-2-on (SB₅) as corrosion inhibitors for mild steel in sulfuric acid 0.5 ?M were investigated using different methods. All experimental results demonstrate that these compounds are eficients inhibitors. The inhibition efficiencies ($IE$) increase with inhibitors concentration. At 7.5 $\times$ 10^?5 ?M, the $IE$ was 97.27%, 96.31%, 94.23%, 93.19 and 91.64% for SB₁, SB₂, SB₃, SB₄ and SB₅, respectively. The potentiodynamic polarization results indicated that all the studied inhibitors act as mixed type. The adsorption process on mild steel surface obeyed Langmuir isotherm. The associated activation parameters and thermodynamic have been calculated and discussed. The adsorbed film formed on the metal surface was characterized by SEM and EDX.     

Low-temperature formation and characterization of Cu2O nanoparticles in the binary gold alloys

Thermal analyses, using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dilatometry, reveal an important anomaly at low temperature for Au-25 wt.% Cu composition after homogenization at 700°C during 2 hours under vacuum followed by heating up to 160°C before water quenching. This anomaly has been already observed and not explained. Surface characterization, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), exhibits a specific topography, consisting of a nanostructured surface. The precipitates of nanostructured particles are homogeneously scattered all over the surface for this 18-carat gold alloy. Moreover, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) shows that the composition of the observed particles corresponds to cuprous oxide phase (Cu₂O). The formation of such material can be explained by the diffusion of copper atoms from the lattice to the surface at 160°C. Pulsed radio-frequency glow discharge optical emission spectroscopy (RF GD-OES) further proves the proposed Cu₂O formation through a diffusion process. The appearance of such cuprous oxide nanoparticles on the Au-Cu alloy surface explains the low-temperature DSC and dilatometry anomaly and affects directly the surface electrical resistance at low temperature. These results might open a large gate for new ideas to investigate in catalytic, electronic, and antimicrobial activities.     

Topology change from quantum instability of gauge theory on fuzzy CP

Many gauge theory models on fuzzy complex projective spaces will contain a strong instability in the quantum field theory leading to topology change. This can be thought of as due to the interaction between space–time via its noncommutativity and the fields (matrices) and it is related to the perturbative UV–IR mixing. We work out in detail the example of fuzzy CP²${\mathbf{CP}}^2$ and discuss at the level of the phase diagram the quantum transitions between the 3 spaces (space–times) CP²${\mathbf{CP}}^2$, S²${\mathbf{S}}^2$ and the 0-dimensional space consisting of a single point {0}$\{0\}$.     

A numerical dispersion compensation technique for time recompression of Lamb wave signals

A Fourier domain numerical reconstruction technique has been created in order to eliminate the time spread of Lamb wave signals caused by their dispersive nature. This method allows a good time compaction of the echoes obtained from a Lamb wave inspection. In a pulse-echo setup, reflection peaks coming from targets located close one from each other that could not be separated or seen within raw signals are identified using this procedure. The utility of this new technique goes from simple signal analysis to imaging purposes such as the improvement of B-scan images or SAFT processing. It has been tested in three different situations with the S0 mode generated in a frequency bandwidth where it is highly dispersive. The reconstruction of a pure reflection coming from the edge of a plate, the separation of the echoes resulting from reflections on two targets near one each other and the effects of the presence of an obstacle between the emitter and the receiver are treated. Good results are obtained for every case studied.     

In Vitro Biomineralization and Bulk Characterization of Chitosan/Hydroxyapatite Composite Microparticles Prepared by Emulsification Cross-Linking Method: Orthopedic Use

Chitosan/hydroxyapatite composite microparticles were prepared by a solid-in-water-in-oil emulsification cross-linking method. The characteristics and activity in presence of simulated body fluid for 14 and 21?days were investigated. The size distribution, surface morphology, and microstructure of these biomaterials were evaluated. The scanning electron microscopy revealed an aggregate of microparticles with a particle size, ranged from 4 to 10???m. The deposited calcium phosphate was studied using X-ray diffraction analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and inductively coupled plasma/atomic emission?spectroscopy analysis of phosphorus. These results show that the mineral, formed on microparticles, was a mixture of carbonated hydroxyapatite and calcite. Scanning electron microscopy revealed that calcium phosphate crystals growth was in form of rods organized as concentric triangular packets interconnected to each other by junctions. Interaction between chitosan and growing carbonated hydroxyapatite and calcite crystals are responsible for a composite growth into triangular and spherical shapes. The results demonstrated that these microparticles were potential materials for bone repair.     

Resolution approach for multi-objective problems with uncertain demands

The job-shop scheduling problem (JSP) is one of the hardest problems (NP-complete problem). In a lot of cases, the combination of goals and resource exponentially increases search space. The objective of resolution of such a problem is generally, to maximize the production with a lower cost and makespan. In this paper, we explain how to modify the objective function of genetic algorithms to treat the multi-objective problem and to generate a set of diversified “optimal” solutions in order to help decision maker. We are interested in one of the problems occurring in the production workshops where the list of demands is split into firm (certain) jobs and predicted jobs. One wishes to maximize the produced quantity, while minimizing as well as possible the makespan and the production costs. Genetic algorithms are used to find the scheduling solution of the firm jobs because they are well adapted to the treatment of the multi-objective optimization problems. The predicted jobs will be inserted in the real solutions (given by genetic algorithms). The solutions proposed by our approach are compared to the lower bound of the cost and makespan in order to prove the quality and robustness of our proposed approach.     

Accurate numerical estimation of interphase momentum transfer in Lagrangian–Eulerian simulations of dispersed two-phase flows

The Lagrangian–Eulerian (LE) approach is used in many computational methods to simulate two-way coupled dispersed two-phase flows. These include averaged equation solvers, as well as direct numerical simulations (DNS) and large-eddy simulations (LES) that approximate the dispersed-phase particles (or droplets or bubbles) as point sources. Accurate calculation of the interphase momentum transfer term in LE simulations is crucial for predicting qualitatively correct physical behavior, as well as for quantitative comparison with experiments. Numerical error in the interphase momentum transfer calculation arises from both forward interpolation/approximation of fluid velocity at grid nodes to particle locations, and from backward estimation of the interphase momentum transfer term at particle locations to grid nodes. A novel test that admits an analytical form for the interphase momentum transfer term is devised to test the accuracy of the following numerical schemes: (1) fourth-order Lagrange Polynomial Interpolation (LPI-4), (3) Piecewise Cubic Approximation (PCA), (3) second-order Lagrange Polynomial Interpolation (LPI-2) which is basically linear interpolation, and (4) a Two-Stage Estimation algorithm (TSE). A number of tests are performed to systematically characterize the effects of varying the particle velocity variance, the distribution of particle positions, and fluid velocity field spectrum on estimation of the mean interphase momentum transfer term. Numerical error resulting from backward estimation is decomposed into statistical and deterministic (bias and discretization) components, and their convergence with number of particles and grid resolution is characterized. It is found that when the interphase momentum transfer is computed using values for these numerical parameters typically encountered in the literature, it can incur errors as high as 80% for the LPI-4 scheme, whereas TSE incurs a maximum error of 20%. The tests reveal that using multiple independent simulations and higher number of particles per cell are required for accurate estimation using current algorithms. The study motivates further testing of LE numerical methods, and the development of better algorithms for computing interphase transfer terms.     

General decay for a class of viscoelastic problem with not necessarily decreasing kernel

In this paper, a problem which arises in a class of viscoelasticity is considered. We obtain the decay rate of the energy, for certain class of relaxation functions not necessarily exponentially or polynomially decaying to zero.