Development of an improved divergence‐free‐condition compensated coupled framework to solve flow problems with time‐varying geometries

In this article a coupled version of the improved divergence‐free‐condition compensated method will be proposed to simulate time‐varying geometries by direct forcing immersed boundary method. The proposed method can be seen as a quasi‐multi‐moment framework due to the fact that the momentum equations are discretized by both cell‐centered and cell‐face velocity. For simulating time‐varying geometries, a semi‐implicit iterative method is proposed for calculating the direct forcing terms. Treatments for suppressing spurious force oscillations, calculating drag/lift forces, and evaluating velocity and pressure for freshly cells will also be addressed. In order to show the applicability and accuracy, analytical as well as benchmark problems will be investigated by the present framework and compared with other numerical and experimental results.     

Wound Healing Attributes of Polyelectrolyte Multilayers Prepared with Multi‐l‐arginyl‐poly‐l‐aspartate Pairing with Hyaluronic Acid and γ‐Polyglutamic Acid

Biodegradable multi‐l ‐arginyl‐poly‐l ‐aspartate (MAPA), more commonly cyanophycin, prepared with recombinant Escherichia coli contains a polyaspartate backbone with lysine and arginine as side chains. Two assemblies of polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEMs) are fabricated at three different concentration ratios of insoluble MAPA (iMAPA) with hyaluronic acid (iMAPA/HA) and with γ‐polyglutamic acid (iMAPA/γ‐PGA), respectively, utilizing a layer‐by‐layer approach. Both films with iMAPA and its counterpart, HA or γ‐PGA, as the terminal layer are prepared to assess the effect on film roughness, cell growth, and cell migration. iMAPA incorporation is higher for a higher concentration of the anionic polymer due to better charge interaction. The iMAPA/HA films when compared to iMAPA/γ‐PGA multilayers show least roughness. The growth rates of L929 fibroblast cells on the PEMs are similar to those on glass substrate, with no supplementary effect of the terminal layer. However, the migration rates of L929 cells increase for all PEMs. γ‐PGA incorporated films impart 50% enhancement to the cell migration after 12 h of culture as compared to the untreated glass, and the smooth films containing HA display a maximum 82% improvement. The results present the use of iMAPA to construct a new layer‐by‐layer system of polyelectrolyte biopolymers with a potential application in wound dressing.     

Universal power law behavior of the AC conductivity versus frequency of agglomerate morphologies in conductive carbon nanotube‐reinforced epoxy networks

The Jonscher universal power law for ac conductivity versus frequency (f = ω/2π) in the dispersion region was tested for a multiwall carbon nanotube/epoxy nanocomposite. The effect of changes in agglomerate morphology on the fitting parameters A and n in the equation σ_{ac =} Aωⁿ was investigated. Changing nanotube agglomerate morphology was tracked by optical microscopy through curing. Evolving morphology was compared alongside ac conductivity obtained via a broadband dielectric spectrometer to elucidate possible physical meaning of the universal power law in the context of this system. The ?logA/n was unaffected by changes in agglomerate morphology affected during cure, yet connected with each other in their dependence on temperature. For this system, the relationship between the fitting parameters in the universal dynamic response equation remains empirical at this stage with regard to biphasic “texture” or morphology within such a network. Electrical conductivity σ versus frequency ω for a composite consisting of agglomerated multiwalled carbon nanotubes dispersed throughout a cured epoxy matrix was discovered to follow the empirical universal dynamic response equation of Jonscher. The frequency behavior of the exponent n is discussed in terms of underlying morphology throughout which charge carriers migrate. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part B: Polym. Phys. 2016 , 54, 1918–1923     

Distributed subgradient method for multi‐agent optimization with quantized communication

This paper focuses on a distributed optimization problem associated with a time‐varying multi‐agent network with quantized communication, where each agent has local access to its convex objective function, and cooperatively minimizes a sum of convex objective functions of the agents over the network. Based on subgradient methods, we propose a distributed algorithm to solve this problem under the additional constraint that agents can only communicate quantized information through the network. We consider two kinds of quantizers and analyze the quantization effects on the convergence of the algorithm. Furthermore, we provide explicit error bounds on the convergence rates that highlight the dependence on the quantization levels. Finally, some simulation results on a l₁‐regression problem are presented to demonstrate the performance of the algorithm. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Adaptive Fourier decomposition‐based Dirac type time‐frequency distribution

The Dirac‐type time‐frequency distribution (TFD), regarded as ideal TFD, has long been desired. It, until the present time, cannot be implemented, due to the fact that there has been no appropriate representation of signals leading to such TFD. Instead, people have been developing other types of TFD, including the Wigner and the windowed Fourier transform types. This paper promotes a practical passage leading to a Dirac‐type TFD. Based on the proposed function decomposition method, viz., adaptive Fourier decomposition, we establish a rigorous and practical Dirac‐type TFD theory. We do follow the route of analytic signal representation of signals founded and developed by Garbo, Ville, Cohen, Boashash, Picinbono, and others. The difference, however, is that our treatment is theoretically throughout and rigorous. To well illustrate the new theory and the related TFD, we include several examples and experiments of which some are in comparison with the most commonly used TFDs. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Global stability of a multi‐group model with distributed delay and vaccination

A delayed multi‐group SVEIR epidemic model with vaccination and a general incidence function has been formulated and studied in this paper. Mathematical analysis shows that the basic reproduction number plays a key role in the dynamics of the model: the disease‐free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable when , while the endemic equilibrium exists uniquely and is globally asymptotically stable when . For the proofs, we exploit a graph‐theoretical approach to the method of Lyapunov functionals. Our results show that distributed delay has no impact on the global stability of equilibria, and the results improve and generalize some known results. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Multi‐switching combination–combination synchronization of non‐identical fractional‐order chaotic systems

In this paper, multi‐switching combination–combination synchronization scheme has been investigated between a class of four non‐identical fractional‐order chaotic systems. The fractional‐order Lorenz and Chen's systems are taken as drive systems. The combination–combination of multi drive systems is then synchronized with the combination of fractional‐order Lü and Rössler chaotic systems. In multi‐switching combination–combination synchronization, the state variables of two drive systems synchronize with different state variables of two response systems simultaneously. Based on the stability of fractional‐order chaotic systems, the multi‐switching combination–combination synchronization of four fractional‐order non‐identical systems has been investigated. For the synchronization of four non‐identical fractional‐order chaotic systems, suitable controllers have been designed. Theoretical analysis and numerical results are presented to demonstrate the validity and feasibility of the applied method. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimizing garbage collection vehicle routing problem with alternative fuel-powered vehicles

Abstract

This paper considers the garbage collection problem in which vehicles with multiple compartments are used to collect the garbage. The vehicles are considered to be Alternative Fuel-powered Vehicles (AFVs). Compared with the traditional fossil fuel powered vehicles, the AFVs have limited fuel tank capacity. In addition, AFVs are allowed to refuel only at the depot. We provide a mathematical formulation and develop two solution approaches to solve the problem. The first approach is based on the saving algorithm, while the second is based on the ant colony system (ACS) metaheuristic. New problem instances have been generated to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithms.     

Effects of β‐nucleating agent and crystallization conditions on the crystallization behavior and polymorphic composition of isotactic polypropylene/multi‐walled carbon nanotubes composites

In this study, the effects of crystallization conditions (cooling rate and end temperature of cooling) on crystallization behavior and polymorphic composition of isotactic polypropylene/multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (iPP/MWCNTs) composites nucleated with different concentrations of β‐nucleating agent (tradename TMB‐5) were investigated by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD) and scanning electronic microscopy (SEM). The results of DSC, WAXD and SEM revealed that the addition of MWCNTs and TMB‐5 evidently elevates crystallization temperatures and significantly decreases the crystal sizes of iPP. Because of the competition between α‐nucleation (provided by MWCNTs) and β‐nucleation (induced by TMB‐5), the β‐phase crystallization takes place only when 0.15 wt% and higher concentration of TMB‐5 is added. Non‐isothermal crystallization kinetics study showed that the crystallization activation energy ΔE of β‐nucleated iPP/MWCNTs composites is obviously higher than that of pure iPP, which slightly increases with the increase of TMB‐5 concentration, accompanying with the transition of its polymorphic crystallization behavior. The results of non‐isothermal crystallization and melting behavior suggested that the cooling rate and end temperature of cooling (T_end) are important factors in determining the proportion and thermal stability of β‐phase: Lower cooling rate favors the formation of less amount of β‐phase with higher thermal stability, while higher cooling rate encourages the formation of higher proportion of β‐phase with lower thermal stability. The T_end = 100°C can eliminate the β–α recrystallization during the subsequent heating and therefore enhance the thermal stability of the β‐phase. By properly selecting TMB‐5 concentration, cooling rate and T_end, high β‐phase proportion of 88.9% of the sample was obtained. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

浅埋的圆柱形孔洞对SH波的散射与地震动

研究了浅埋的圆柱形孔洞对以任意方向入射的平面SH波的散射与地震动问题。利用复变函数和多极坐标方法构造了问题的位移解。当入射波的波长与圆孔的半径相比较小时,地震动将受到较大的影响。影响地震动有三个主要参数:(1)SH波的入射角0;(2)入射波波数,即圆柱形孔洞的半径与入射波半波长之比;(3)h/R,即圆柱形孔洞至表面的距离与圆孔半径之比。当较大时,地震动幅值变化激烈,位移幅值可出现跳动和放大的现象。当h/R增大至10～12时,位移幅值变化恢复至半空间的情况,表明圆柱形孔洞的影响可被忽略。