FMS scheduling based on timed Petri Net model and reactive graph search

This paper presents a new scheduling method for manufacturing system based on the Timed Petri Net model and a reactive fast graph search algorithm. The following two typical problems are addressed in this paper. (1) Minimization of the maximum completion time. (2) Minimization of the total tardiness. As for the problem (1), a new search algorithm which combines the RTA^∗ and a rule-based supervisor is proposed. As for problem (2), the original Petri Net model is converted to its reverse model and the algorithm developed for the problem (1) is applied, regarding the due date as the starting time in the reverse model. Some numerical experiments are carried out to demonstrate usefulness of our algorithm.     

Adsorptive Behavior of Methylene Blue onto Sawdust of Sour Lemon,Date Palm,and Eucalyptus as Agricultural Wastes

In the present study, to remove methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solution, some agricultural residues and cheap bioadsorbents such as sawdust of palm trees, eucalyptus, and sour lemon were used. To do this, significant parameters like contact time, temperature, pH, initial concentration, and adsorbent dosage were checked. The results affirmed that the best conditions for MB adsorption from aqueous solution were obtained such as the temperature of 25?°C, pH of 8, adsorbent dosage of 2g/L, contact time of 120?minutes, and dye concentration of 5?mg/l which under these conditions the adsorption efficiencies determined were 95.8, 93.4, and 92.8% using sawdust of palm tree, eucalyptus, and sour lemon, respectively. Also, the equilibrium behavior of adsorbents showed that the Freundlich model could better predict the adsorption behavior of the process due to having a larger correlation coefficient (R²). The maximum biosorption capacities by Langmuir isotherm model were also obtained 54, 53.5, and 52.4?mg/g for sawdust of palm trees, eucalyptus, and lemon, respectively, which were significant amounts. In addition, kinetic behavior of adsorption showed that pseudo-second-order model can describe the kinetics of the adsorption process better than the pseudo-first-order model. Moreover, kinetic, equilibrium, and thermodynamic behaviors of adsorption affirmed that the biosorption process was desirable, physisorption, spontaneous, and exothermic.     

含有偏好的DEA-BWM评价方法研究

针对传统的DEA模型在评估过程中并未考虑决策者对相关指标权重的偏好,将最优最差方法(BWM)嵌入到传统DEA模型中,基于决策者偏好排序的判断矩阵,构建一种含有偏好的DEA-BWM评价方法。首先在保持传统DEA方法的优势基础上,构建了CCR-BWM评价模型对各DMU进行评价。同时考虑为了便于各决策单元在统一权重基础上相互比较,构建了CSW-BWM公共权重模型。另外考虑决策单元自评和互评,构建了NCE-BWM中立型交叉效率。然后采用min-max方法分别将上述三种多目标评价模型转换为单目标线性规划进行求解。最后,选择一组算例对三种模型的有效性与合理性进行验证。     

Evaluation of synthesized green carbon catalyst from waste date pits for tertiary butylation of phenol

The present study is intended to adopt a facile method for preparing a sulphonated green carbon catalyst from date pits biomass. Catalyst synthesis involves in situ carbonization and sulphonation and it has been characterized by following techniques such as XRD, SEM, EDX, TEM, FTIR, TGA, and BET. Surface and internal morphology results exhibited that the synthesized sulphonated carbon material possesses a mesoporous structure, while activated carbon possesses a microporous structure. Furthermore, the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra confirmed the presence of acidic groups (OH, COOH, and SO₃H) in synthesized sulphonated carbon material. Sulphonated carbon material exhibited high acidity (4.7 mmol/g) and good thermal stability. The application of this catalyst for the tertiary butylation of phenol without using any solvent has been investigated. The phenol alkylation reaction showed maximum conversion at reaction condition: temperature (140 °C) with 2 bar (nitrogen gas) pressure with maximum phenol conversion 79.27 wt%, with 68.01% selectivity towards 4TBP+2,4TBP, which is used as an intermediate in antioxidants. The catalyst exhibits comparable catalytic performance up to five reaction cycles. Thus it can be concluded that waste date pits can be successfully employed for green catalyst synthesis and used for reactions involving large molecules.     

A penalty method for numerically handling dispersive equations with incompatible initial and boundary data

This article is the numerical counterpart of a theoretical work in progress Qin and Teman, Applicable Anal (2011), 1–19, related to the approximation of evolution hyperbolic equations with incompatible data. The Korteweg‐de Vries and Schrödinger equations with incompatible initial and boundary data are considered here. For hyperbolic equations, the lack of regularity (compatibility) is known to produce large numerical errors which propagate throughout the spatial domain, destroying convergence. In this article, we numerically test the effectiveness of the penalty‐based method proposed in Qin and Teman, Applicable Anal (2011), 1–19, which replaces the hyperbolic equations with incompatible data by a system with compatible data. We observe that convergence is increased. As explained in the text, in the case of the Schrödinger equation, the impact of incompatible (nonregular) data is most severe, and the authors are not aware of any other method that can handle such severe incompatible data. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Numer Methods Partial Differential Eq 2011     

Novel tri-carbazole modified fluorene host material for highly efficient solution-processed blue and green electrophosphorescent devices

A series of novel solution-processable small-molecule host materials: 2DPF-TCz, 2SBF-TCz, 27DPF-TCz, and 27SBF-TCz comprising a fluorene monomer as the rigid core and tri-carbazole as the periphery have been designed and synthesized, and their optical, electrochemical, and thermal properties have been fully characterized. The host materials exhibit high glass-transition temperatures (231–310 °C) and high triplet energy levels (2.61–2.73 eV). High-quality amorphous thin films can be obtained by spin-coating the host materials from solutions. It is found that the HOMO level of the host materials can be tuned by linking the tri-carbazole unit to the 2,7 positions of the fluorine core, resulting in appropriate HOMO energy levels (−5.36 to −5.23 eV) for improved hole-injection in the device. Solution-processed blue and green electrophosphorescent devices bases on the developed host materials exhibit high efficiencies of 21.2 and 34.8 cd A⁻¹, respectively.     

Bicriteria problems to minimize maximum tardiness and due date assignment cost in various scheduling environments

We study bicriteria problems of minimizing maximum tardiness and total due date assignment cost in various scheduling environments. We assume that each job can be assigned a different due date without any restriction, and that each due date assignment cost is a non-decreasing function of the quoted due date. We settle the complexity of most of the problems studied by either proving that they are NP-hard or finding a polynomial time solution for them. We also include approximation and non-approximability results for several parallel-machine problems.     

Effects of modified starch and fat on the rheological characteristics of newly formulated processed cheese: Use of experimental design method

This study aims to investigate the impact of the incorporation of starch (modified and non-modified) on the texture of the processed cheese in order to appreciate a new recipe on one hand and to try to reduce fat content (FC) on the other. The modeling of the experimental results has been performed. An experimental design was used (the variable factors are the amount of starch and FC). The dry extract (DE) of cheese and parameters derived from the modeling of rheological results are the selected responses. The cheese with a concentration of modified starch that is greater than 2% has a high viscosity at rest, while the cheese with non-modified starch has a lower viscosity. When the FC exceeds 15%, the viscosity increases as the concentration of the starch exceeds 2%. Below this concentration, the FC effect is negligible except when the starch concentration is 1%, in this case the viscosity decreases.     

Considerable improvement in the stability of solution processed small molecule OLED by annealing

We investigated the annealing effect on solution processed small organic molecule organic films, which were annealed with various conditions. It was found that the densities of the spin-coated (SC) films increased and the surface roughness decreased as the annealing temperature rose. We fabricated corresponding organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) by spin coating on the same annealing conditions. The solution processed OLEDs show the considerable efficiency and stability, which were prior or equivalent to the vacuum-deposited (VD) counterparts. Our research shows that annealing process plays a key role in prolonging the lifetime of solution processed small molecule OLEDs, and the mechanism for the improvement of the device performance upon annealing was also discussed.