Uncertainty,economics and optimization: recent developments

Computational Management Science -     

Energy harvesting through arterial wall deformation: A FEM approach to fluid–structure interactions and magneto-hydrodynamics

Engineers are confronted with the energy demand of active medical implants in patients with increasing life expectancy. Scavenging energy from the patient’s body is envisioned as an alternative to conventional power sources. Joining in this effort towards human-powered implants, we propose an innovative concept that combines the deformation of an artery resulting from the arterial pressure pulse with a transduction mechanism based on magneto-hydrodynamics. To overcome certain limitations of a preliminary analytical study on this topic, we demonstrate here a more accurate model of our generator by implementing a three-dimensional multiphysics finite element method (FEM) simulation combining solid mechanics, fluid mechanics, electric and magnetic fields as well as the corresponding couplings. This simulation is used to optimize the generator with respect to several design parameters. A first validation is obtained by comparing the results of the FEM simulation with those of the analytical approach adopted in our previous study. With an expected overall conversion efficiency of 20% and an average output power of 30 μW, our generator outperforms previous devices based on arterial wall deformation by more than two orders of magnitude. Most importantly, our generator provides sufficient power to supply a cardiac pacemaker.     

Heterocycles by PtCl2-catalyzed intramolecular carboalkoxylation or carboamination of alkynes

PtCl2 constitutes a convenient catalyst for intramolecular hydroalkoxylation, carboalkoxylation, hydroamination, and carboamination reactions of alkynes, effecting the formation of substituted benzo[b]furan, indole-, and isochromene-1-one derivatives, respectively. This procedure allows for the transfer of (substituted) allyl, methoxymethyl (MOM), benzyloxymethyl (BOM), and (trimethylsilyl)ethoxymethyl (SEM) groups from oxygen to carbon and is compatible with functional groups that are susceptible to oxidative insertion of low valent metal species previously used for similar purposes. Although some of the reactions can even be carried out in air, the rates are significantly increased when conducted under an atmosphere of CO. A mechanistic rationale is proposed, implying activation of the alkyne by the carbophilic Pt(2+) template as the primary step of the catalytic cycle.     

Mode-coupling theory for the dynamics of tunnelling systems in dielectrics

A mode-coupling theory (MCT) is presented for the spin-boson model with a spectral density which accounts for a heat bath made up of lattice vibrations of a dielectric solid (superohmic dissipation). A usual decoupling approximation provides a set of non-linear integral equations which are solved both numerically by iteration on a computer and analytically by means of a frequency dependent ansatz for the memory functions. There is a transition to incoherent motion at a temperatureT ^* where the bare two-level energy is equal to the damping rate, in contradiction to results obtained previously from a path integral formulation. The discrepancy arises since in the MCT the relevant self-energy function does not exhibit a 1/z-pole atz=0. For tunnelling systems in dielectrics this yields a new relaxation mechanism due to incoherent tunnelling: the present results might require to modify some of the basic assumptions of the standard tunnelling model for dielectric glasses.