Alterations in peristaltic pumping of Jeffery nanoliquids with electric and magnetic fields

The combined effects of electric and magnetic fields on peristaltic flow of Jeffery nanoliquids are analytically investigated. Double-diffusive convection in the asymmetric microchannel is also carried out. The walls of the microchannel are propagating with a finite phase difference in a sinusoidal manner. Rosseland diffusion flux model is employed to examine the thermal radiation effect. The zeta potential on the walls is considered very low to apply Hückel–Debye approximations. The coupled non-linear governing equations are simplified by using dimensional analysis and lubrication theory. The closed form solutions for potential function, nanoparticle fraction field, solute concentration field, temperature field, stream function, and axial velocity are derived under the appropriate boundary conditions. It is noteworthy that the pumping characteristics strongly depend on the magnetic fields, electric fields, electric double layer thickness, Jeffery parameter, thermal radiation and Grashof number. Furthermore, trapping phenomenon is analyzed under the effects of Hartmann number, Jeffrey parameter, Grashof number and Helmholtz–Smoluchowski velocity. The novelty of the present work is the amalgamation of biomimetics (peristaltic propulsion), electro-magneto-hydrodynamics and nanofluid dynamics to produce a smart pump system model for smart drug delivery systems.     

Velocity and conformation statistics based on reduced Karhunen–Loeve projection data from DNS of viscoelastic turbulent channel flow

To investigate the effectiveness of the Karhunen–Loeve (K–L) method as a data reduction approach, we study here its effect on the velocity and conformation statistics in a drag reducing turbulent polymer flow. The K–L method has been used to construct a set of basis velocity eigenfunctions from a large number of independent realizations of the velocity. Those were obtained from direct numerical simulation (DNS) of a viscoelastic turbulent channel flow using the Giesekus model. A subset of the K–L eigenfunctions, large enough to contain more than 90% of the fluctuating kinetic energy of the flow on the average, has then been subsequently used to obtain time series of projection coefficients of the velocity fields generated further from DNS. In a post-processing step, velocity fields were reconstructed using selected subsets of the projection coefficients. Those reconstructed velocity fields were then used to evaluate turbulent statistics as well as to integrate the constitutive equation. The turbulent statistics (r.m.s. velocities, Reynolds stress etc.) thus constructed showed good agreement with the full results from DNS. The Reynolds stress anisotropy was also calculated in this work for the first time. It was found to increase with viscoelasticity that was well reproduced in the reduced K–L data except near the channel centerline where the K–L data showed some loss of anisotropy. The biggest differences however between the K–L reduced data and the full DNS results were seen in the conformation statistics. The average polymer conformation extracted from the K–L reduced data was significantly less than that corresponding to the full DNS results anywhere except in the shear-dominated wall region. A further comparison of the energy and dissipation spectra between the full DNS and the K–L reconstructed data illustrated the impact of the K–L process in resulting to a significant damping of small turbulent scales even those contributing to the maximum in turbulent dissipation. This may also be the principal reason behind the poor quality of the K–L reconstructed conformation data.     

Approximation of the Posterior Distribution in a Change-Point Problem

We consider a family of models that arise in connection with sharp change in hazard rate corresponding to high initial hazard rate dropping to a more stable or slowly changing rate at an unknown change-point . Although the Bayes estimates are well behaved and are asymptotically efficient, it is difficult to compute them as the posterior distributions are generally very complicated. We obtain a simple first order asymptotic approximation to the posterior distribution of . The accuracy of the approximation is judged through simulation. The approximation performs quite well. Our method is also applied to analyze a real data set.     

Privacy and pricing personal information

The issues we address here are – How should a firm (e.g. Internet service provider (ISP)) that is capable of collecting personal information (browsing information, purchase history, etc.) about consumers, price its service, given that consumers vary in their valuation for privacy, and also vary in terms of the value of their personal information to a third party (firms that need consumer information)? Should the firm have a blanket policy of never collecting, or a policy of always collecting and revealing information? Surprisingly we find that in some cases the collector of information may be no worse off in the asymmetric information case than in the full information case. The paper provides a justification for the strategy of some firms such as ISP’s which never collect information and also for the strategy of other firms, like grocery stores that do. We also find that it is non-optimal for the firm to design contracts where the consumer can choose an intermediate level of privacy.     

Analysis of finite capacity discrete-time <Emphasis Type="Italic">GI</Emphasis>/<Emphasis Type="Italic">Geo</Emphasis>/1 queueing system with multiple vacations

This paper investigates a discrete-time single-server finite-buffer queueing system with multiple vacations in which arrivals occur according to a discrete-time renewal process. Service and vacation times are mutually independent and geometrically distributed. We obtain steady-state system length distributions at prearrival, arbitrary and outside observer's observation epochs under the late arrival system with delayed access and early arrival system. The analysis of actual waiting-time for both the systems has also been carried out. The model has potential application in high-speed computer network, digital communication systems and other related areas.     

Lifetime maximization in wireless directional sensor network

This paper addresses two versions of a lifetime maximization problem for target coverage with wireless directional sensor networks. The sensors used in these networks have a maximum sensing range and a limited sensing angle. In the first problem version, predefined sensing directions are assumed to be given, whereas sensing directions can be freely devised in the second problem version. In that case, a polynomial-time algorithm is provided for building sensing directions that allow to maximize the network lifetime. A column generation algorithm is proposed for both problem versions, the subproblem being addressed with a hybrid approach based on a genetic algorithm, and an integer linear programming formulation. Numerical results show that addressing the second problem version allows for significant improvements in terms of network lifetime while the computational effort is comparable for both problem versions.     

A convenient synthesis of pyrrolopyridines and 2-substituted indoles by gold-catalyzed cycloisomerization

We have developed a gold-catalyzed intramolecular cyclization of variously substituted acetylenic amines under mild conditions, which yields pyrrolopyridines and 2-substituted indoles, quantitatively. The cycloisomerization of acetylenic amines was achieved with AuCl₃ as catalyst without the use of base, acid or N-protecting group.     

Laser induced optoacoustic spectroscopy of benzil: Evaluation of structural volume change upon photoisomerization

The cis-skew to trans-planar photoisomerization of benzil in the photoexcited state was studied by laser-induced optoacoustic spectroscopy (LIOAS) in a series of normal alkane solvents at room temperature. The structural volume change due to the photoisomerization process has been estimated and compared with the same calculated from the optimized skew and trans structures. The magnitude of the structural volume change is estimated to be 22.9 ± 1.2 mL/mol. This study reveals that an expansion in volume occurs during the photoinduced isomerization process. In non-polar alkane solvents, the estimated volume change has been argued to be free from electrostrictional contribution.     

Pregnane and pregnane tetraglycoside from Marsdenia roylei

Pregnane oligoglycoside, namely roylinine, and a pregnane derivative, namely marsgenin, have been isolated from chloroform-soluble extract of dried stem of Marsdenia roylei, and their structures were determined using 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, 1H-1H COSY, HSQC, TOCSY and FABMS spectral techniques as well as chemical degradation and derivatisation.