Relaxation in the wealth exchange models

We examine the concept of relaxation in the wealth exchange models that are recently proposed in econophysics to interpret wealth distributions. To quantify and characterize the process of relaxation, we define an appropriate quantity and evaluate that numerically for the systems of many agents. Also, heuristic arguments are provided in support of some numerical results.     

Elastic wave field computation in multilayered nonplanar solid structures: a mesh-free semianalytical approach

Multilayered solid structures made of isotropic, transversely isotropic, or general anisotropic materials are frequently used in aerospace, mechanical, and civil structures. Ultrasonic fields developed in such structures by finite size transducers simulating actual experiments in laboratories or in the field have not been rigorously studied. Several attempts to compute the ultrasonic field inside solid media have been made based on approximate paraxial methods like the classical ray tracing and multi-Gaussian beam models. These approximate methods have several limitations. A new semianalytical method is adopted in this article to model elastic wave field in multilayered solid structures with planar or nonplanar interfaces generated by finite size transducers. A general formulation good for both isotropic and anisotropic solids is presented in this article. A variety of conditions have been incorporated in the formulation including irregularities at the interfaces. The method presented here requires frequency domain displacement and stress Green's functions. Due to the presence of different materials in the problem geometry various elastodynamic Green's functions for different materials are used in the formulation. Expressions of displacement and stress Green's functions for isotropic and anisotropic solids as well as for the fluid media are presented. Computed results are verified by checking the stress and displacement continuity conditions across the interface of two different solids of a bimetal plate and investigating if the results for a corrugated plate with very small corrugation match with the flat plate results.     

Clustered chimera states in delay-coupled oscillator systems

We investigate chimera states in a ring of identical phase oscillators coupled in a time-delayed and spatially nonlocal fashion. We find novel clustered chimera states that have spatially distributed phase coherence separated by incoherence with adjacent coherent regions in antiphase. The existence of such time-delay induced phase clustering is further supported through solutions of a generalized functional self-consistency equation of the mean field. Our results highlight an additional mechanism for cluster formation that may find wider practical applications.     

Impact of CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> Injection on Flow Behavior of Coalbed Methane Reservoirs

On the basis of observations at four enhanced coalbed methane (ECBM)/CO₂ sequestration pilots, a laboratory-scale study was conducted to understand the flow behavior of coal in a methane/CO₂ environment. Sorption-induced volumetric strain was first measured by flooding fresh coal samples with adsorptive gases (methane and CO₂). In order to replicate the CO₂–ECBM process, CO₂ was then injected into a methane-saturated core to measure the incremental “swelling.” As a separate effort, the permeability of a coal core, held under triaxial stress, was measured using methane. This was followed by CO₂ flooding to replace the methane. In order to best replicate the conditions in situ, the core was held under uniaxial strain, that is, no horizontal strain was permitted during CO₂ flooding. Instead, the horizontal stress was adjusted to ensure zero strain. The results showed that the relative strain ratio for CO₂/methane was between 2 and 3.5. The measured volumetric strains were also fitted using a Langmuir-type model, thus enabling calculation of the strain at any gas pressure and using the analytical permeability models. For permeability work, effort was made to increase the horizontal stress to achieve the desired zero horizontal strain condition expected under in situ condition, but this became impossible because the “excess” stress required to maintain this condition was very large, resulting in sample failure. Finally, when CO₂ was introduced and horizontal strain was permitted, permeability reduction was an order of magnitude greater, suggesting that the “excess” stress would have reduced it significantly further. The positive finding of the work was that the “excess” stresses associated with injection of CO₂ are large. The excess stresses generated might be sufficient to cause microfracturing and increased permeability, and improved injectivity. Also, there might be a weakening effect resulting from repeated CO₂ injection, as has been found to be the case with thermal cycling of rocks.     

A Triangular Platinum(II) Multinuclear Complex with Cytotoxicity Towards Breast Cancer Stem Cells

The preparation of multinuclear metal complexes offers a route to novel anticancer agents and delivery systems. The potency of a novel triangular multinuclear complex containing three platinum atoms, Pt‐3 , towards breast cancer stem cells (CSCs) is reported. The trinuclear platinum(II) complex, Pt‐3 exhibits selective toxicity towards breast CSCs over bulk breast cancer cells and non‐tumorigenic breast cells. Remarkably, Pt‐3 inhibits the formation, size, and viability of mammospheres to a better extent than salinomycin, an established CSC‐potent agent, and cisplatin and carboplatin, clinically used platinum drugs. Mechanism of action studies show that Pt‐3 effectively enters breast CSCs, penetrates the nucleus, induces genomic DNA damage, and prompts caspase‐dependent apoptosis. To the best of our knowledge, Pt‐3 is the first multinuclear platinum complex to selectively kill breast CSCs over other breast cell types.     

ortho‐Oxygenative 1,2‐Difunctionalization of Diarylalkynes under Merged Gold/Organophotoredox Relay Catalysis

Reported herein is an ortho‐oxygenative 1,2‐difunctionalization of diarylalkynes under merged gold/organophotoredox catalysis to access highly functionalized 2‐(2‐hydroxyaryl)‐2‐alkoxy‐1‐arylethan‐1‐ones. Detailed mechanistic studies suggested a relay process, initiating with gold‐catalyzed hydroalkoxylation of alkynes, to generate enol‐ether followed by a key formal [4+2]‐cycloaddition reaction. The successful application of the present methodology was also shown for the synthesis of benzofurans.     

Delineating sources of groundwater recharge and carbon in Holocene aquifers of the central Gangetic basin using stable isotopic signatures

Stable isotopes of water (δ²H, δ¹⁸O) and δ¹³C_TIC were used as a tool to trace the recharge processes, natural carbon (organic and inorganic) source and dynamics in the aquifers of the central Gangetic basin, India. Stable isotope (δ²H, δ¹⁸O) record of groundwater (n?=?105) revealed that the groundwater of Piedmont was recharged by meteoric origin before evaporation, while aquifers of the older and younger alluvium were recharged by water that had undergone evaporation loss. River Ganges and its tributaries passing through this area have very little contribution in recharging while ponds play no role in the recharging of adjacent aquifers. The connectivity of shallow aquifers of aquitard formation (comprised of clay/sandy clay with thin patches of fine grey sand), i.e. 25–60?m below ground level (bgl) with the main upper aquifer (at a depth of >120?m?bgl) was found to be higher in older and younger alluvium. Negative values of δ¹³C_TIC (median ?9.6 ‰; range ?13.2 to ?5.4 ‰) and high TIC (median 35?mM; range 31–46?mM) coupled with low TOC (median 1.35?mg/L; range 0.99–1.77?mg/L) indicated acceleration in microbial activity in the younger alluvium, especially in the active floodplain of river Ganges and its proximity.     

Synthesis and characterization of N,N-dimethyldodecylamine-capped Aucore-Pdshell nanoparticles in toluene

In this paper a convenient route for synthesizing Au(core)-Pd(shell) bimetallic nanoparticles in toluene has been reported as a result of co-reduction of gold(III) and palladium(II) precursors in toluene. N,N-Dimethyldodecylamine was used as a capping agent for the core-shell particles, which not only imparts stability to the organosol but also controls morphology of the evolved particles. The particles were characterized using UV-visible, transmission electron microscopy, and X-ray diffraction measurements. All results substantiate the formation of core-shell structure of the synthesized particles.     

Bernstein functions, complete hyperexpansivity and subnormality—I

Special classes of functions on the classical semigroupN of non-negative integers, as defined using the classical backward and forward difference operators, get associated in a natural way with special classes of bounded linear operators on Hilbert spaces. In particular, the class of completely monotone functions, which is a subclass of the class of positive definite functions ofN, gets associated with subnormal operators, and the class of completely alternating functions, which is a subclass of the class of negative definite functions onN, with completely hyper-expansive operators. The interplay between the theories of completely monotone and completely alternating functions has previously been exploited to unravel some interesting connections between subnormals and completely hyperexpansive operators. For example, it is known that a completely hyperexpansive weighted shift with the weight sequence {_n}(n0) (of positive reals) gives rise to a subnormal weighted shift whose weight sequence is {1/_n}(n0). The present paper discovers some new connections between the two classes of operators by building upon some well-known results in the literature that relate positive and negative definite functions on cartesian products of arbitrary sets using Bernstein functions. In particular, it is observed that the weight sequence of a completely hyperexpansive weighted shift with the weight sequence {_n}(n0) (of positive reals) gives rise to a subnormal weighted shift whose weight sequence is {_n+1/_n}(n0). It is also established that the weight sequence of any completely hyperexpansive weighted shift is a Hausdorff moment sequence. Further, the connection of Bernstein functions with Stieltjes functions and generalizations thereof is exploited to link certain classes of subnormal weighted shifts to completely hyperexpansive ones.