Effects of gamma and electron beam irradiation on the properties of calendered cord fabrics

The effects of gamma and e-beam irradiation on mechanical and structural properties of nylon 66 (Ny 66), nylon 6 (Ny 6) and poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) fabrics used in tyres were investigated. The untreated (greige), treated cords and calendered fabrics were irradiated at different doses. It is found that the effects of high energy irradiation on greige, treated cords and calendered fabrics are similar. No protective effect of compounds used in calendering was observed against radiation-induced oxidative degradation. The deterioration effect of gamma irradiation on mechanical properties is much higher than that of e-beam irradiation for all types of samples. Limiting viscosity numbers of both gamma and e-beam irradiated nylon 6 and nylon 66 cords were found to decrease with increasing dose. It is concluded that PET calendered fabric has higher resistance to ionizing radiation. Ny 6 and Ny 66 calendered fabrics are more sensitive even at low doses. Therefore, the effects of high energy irradiation on tyre cords have to be taken into consideration during tyre design reinforced with particularly Ny fabrics if pre-vulcanization with high energy radiation is to be applied.     

Determination of Milnacipran in Human Plasma Using GC–MS

A new, simple, and fully validated gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) method was presented for quantitative analysis of milnacipran (MNP) in human plasma. MNP was efficiently derivatized with N-methyl-N-trimethylsilyltrifluoroacetamide (MSTFA) before analysis. The role of catalyst, temperature, time, solvent on the trimethylsilylation reaction were evaluated. The proposed method was fully validated by assessment of the following parameters: limits of detection and quantitation, precision, accuracy, linearity, specificity, stability, extraction recovery and robustness/ruggedness. The limit of quantitation (LOQ) was 30 ng mL^?1. The calibration curve was linear (r ² > 0.9988) in the range 30–500 ng mL^?1. The method was found specific, precise, accurate, selective and reliable according to validation data. This developed method was successfully applied to determine the steady state concentration of MNP in patients.     

Energy preserving integration of bi-Hamiltonian partial differential equations

The energy preserving average vector field (AVF) integrator is applied to evolutionary partial differential equations (PDEs) in bi-Hamiltonian form with nonconstant Poisson structures. Numerical results for the Korteweg de Vries (KdV) equation and for the Ito type coupled KdV equation confirm the long term preservation of the Hamiltonians and Casimir integrals, which is essential in simulating waves and solitons. Dispersive properties of the AVF integrator are investigated for the linearized equations to examine the nonlinear dynamics after discretization.     

Potentiometric urea biosensor based on poly(glycidylmethacrylate)-grafted iron oxide nanoparticles

Urease enzyme was covalently attached on the poly(glycidylmethacrylate) (PGMA)-grafted iron oxide nanoparticles on Au electrode for the fabrication of urea biosensor. The telomere of poly(glycidylmethacrylate) (PGMA) with a trimethoxysilyl terminal group was synthesized by telomerization of glycidylmethacrylate. Iron oxide nanoparticles were coated with telomere of poly(glycidylmethacrylate) in order to obtain good enzyme immobilization platform. The telomere and nanoparticles were characterized by using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA). The biosensor’s potentiometric response was measured as a function of urea concentration in phosphate buffer solution (10 mM, pH 7.5) and showed a linear range of 0.25–5.0 mM urea. The produced biosensor exhibited a good response time of ～8 s and was stable for about two months. The basic features (optimum pH, optimum temperature, interference and storage stability) of the enzyme electrode were determined.     

Dielectric‐loaded plasmonic waveguide components: Going practical

Surface plasmon propagating modes supported by metal/dielectric interfaces in various configurations can be used for radiation guiding similarly to conventional dielectric waveguides. Plasmonic waveguides offer two attractive features: subdiffraction mode confinement and the presence of conducting elements at the mode‐field maximum. The first feature can be exploited to realize ultrahigh density of nanophotonics components, whereas the second feature enables the development of dynamic components controlling the plasmon propagation with ultralow signals, minimizing heat dissipation in switching elements. While the first feature is yet to be brought close to the domain of practical applications because of high propagation losses, the second one is already being investigated for bringing down power requirements in optical communication systems. In this review, the latest application‐oriented research on radiation modulation and routing using thermo‐optic dielectric‐loaded plasmonic waveguide components integrated with silicon‐based photonic waveguides is overviewed. Their employment under conditions of real telecommunications is addressed, highlighting challenges and perspectives.     

Thermal hysteresis and memory effects in TlGaSe2 crystal with incommensurate phase

Temperature dependencies of dielectric permittivity of TlGaSe₂ have been measured under various thermal cycles. Peculiarities of anomalies in temperature dependencies of dielectric permittivity corresponding to structural phase transitions at 108 and 115?K are discussed. The coexistence of two different incommensurate structures in TlGaSe₂ was proposed. The phase transitions at 108 and 115?K are considered as commensurate lock-in transitions. As a result a new model of the structural phase transitions in TlGaSe₂ has been suggested.     

Existence of solutions for discrete p-Laplacian with potential boundary conditions

We are concerned with the existence of solutions for some discrete p-Laplacian equations subjected to a potential type boundary condition. Our approach is a variational one and relies on Szulkin's critical point theory. We obtain the existence of solutions in a coercive case as well as the existence of non-trivial solutions when the corresponding energy functional has a ‘mountain pass’ geometry.     

Statistically D-bounded sequences in probabilistic normed spaces

In this study, the concept of a statistically D-bounded sequence in a probabilistic normed (PN) space endowed with the strong topology is introduced and its basic properties are investigated. It is shown that a strongly statistically convergent sequence and a strong statistically Cauchy sequence are statistically D-bounded under certain conditions. A sequence which goes far away from the limit point infinitely many times and presents random deviations in a PN space may be handled with the tools of strong statistical convergence and statistical D-boundedness.     

Two extensions for fitting discrete time term structure models with normally distributed factors

This paper provides extensions to procedures for the implementation of two well‐known term structure models. In the first part, a misleading implication given in two textbooks concerning the ability to fit a Ho–Lee type term structure tree through trial and error is corrected, and it is shown that the tree can be fitted precisely with a simple and easily programmable formula. In the second part, a previously published result that obtains the drift for a single‐factor discrete time Heath–Jarrow–Morton model is extended to a multi‐factor world. In both cases numerical examples are provided.     

Light-emitting iridium(III) and ruthenium(II) polypyridyl complexes containing quadruple hydrogen-bonding moieties

A novel compound containing both a 2,2'-bipyridine as well as a 2-ureido-4[1H]-ureidopyrimidinone supramolecular moiety (3) has been synthesised and fully characterized by 1H-NMR, MALDI-TOFMS, UV-vis and IR spectroscopy. Subsequent coordination to iridium and ruthenium polypyridyl precursors allowed the formation of iridium(III) and ruthenium(II) polypyridyl dimers (5 and 7) assembled via quadruple hydrogen-bonding as well as metal coordination interactions. The syntheses and complete characterization of these materials by means of two-dimensional NMR techniques (1H-1H COSY and 1H-1H DOSY) as well as IR and MALDI-TOFMS are described in detail. Comparative studies of the optical properties of the luminescent model complexes (5' and '7) and the dimer species (5 and 7) are also illustrated. In addition, good processability of the materials has been demonstrated by inkjet printing leading to thin films revealing their potential for light-emitting devices.