A theoretical approach to determination of the thermal diffusivity of solids by using a periodic heating technique

The present work is part of a program aimed at development of an experiment to determine the thermal diffusivity of solids by using the method of periodic heating. The spacetime heat conduction equation is solved analytically in the form of an infinite series for a slab with a uniform initial temperature. One of the slab surfaces is maintained at a constant temperature, while the other is subjected to a periodic temperature. We have proved numerically that the series can be truncated to a few terms according to the slab thickness, giving a negligible error. On the basis of the discussed theoretical approach, the experimental requirements are suggested for determination of the thermal diffusivity of solids.

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Zusammenfassung Vorliegende Arbeit ist Teil eines Experimenteprogrammes zur Bestimmung der TemperaturleitfÄhigkeit von Feststoffen mittels der Methode des periodischen Erhitzens. Die Raumzeit-Gleichung für die WÄrmeleitfÄhigkeit wurde für eine Platte mit homogener Ausgangstemperatur analytisch in Form einer unendlichen Reihe gelöst. Eine der PlattenoberflÄchen wird auf konstanter Temperatur gehalten, wÄhrend die andere einer periodischen Temperatur ausgesetzt wird. Es konnte gezeigt werden, da\ die Reihen je nach Dicke der Platte nach einigen Gliedern abgebrochen werden können, ohne dabei einen unvernachlÄssigbaren Fehler zu begehen. Auf der Grundlage der theoretischen Ergebnisse wurden experimentelle Anforderungen zur Bestimmung der TemperaturleitfÄhigkeit von Feststoffen erarbeitet.

     

Batching deteriorating items with applications in computer communication and reverse logistics

We study two deterministic scheduling problems that combine batching and deterioration features. In both problems, there is a certain demand for identical good quality items to be produced in batches. In the first problem, each batch is assigned an individual machine that requires a cost and a time to be activated. All the machines are identical, work in parallel, and always produce good quality items. All the items are available at time zero and they deteriorate while waiting for production. Deterioration results in a linear increase of time and cost of production. In the second problem, there is a single machine that produces good quality as well as defective items in batches. Each batch is preceded by a setup time and requires a setup cost. Defective items have to be reworked on the same machine. They deteriorate while waiting for rework. At a time to be decided, the machine switches from production to rework defective items of the current batch. After rework, every defective item has the required good quality. In both problems, the objective is to find batch partitioning such that a linear combination of the production cost and production completion time is minimized. The two problems are observed at computer service providers and also reverse logistics. In computer service providers, machines and items correspond to communication service channels and information transfer tasks, respectively. We reduce both problems to minimizing a function of one variable representing the number of batches. In an optimal solution of either problem, there are at most two different batch sizes. Linear time algorithms are proposed for both problems.     

Chromatographic separation of neodymium isotopes by using chemical exchange process

The neodymium isotope effects were investigated in Nd–malate ligand exchange system using the highly porous cation exchange resin SQS-6. The temperature of the chromatographic columns was kept constant at 50 °C by temperature controlled water passed through the columns jackets. The separation coefficient of neodymium isotopes, ?’s, was calculated from the isotopic ratios precisely measured by means of an ICP mass spectrometer equipped with nine collectors as ion detectors. The separation coefficient, ? × 10⁵, were calculated and found to be 1.4, 4.8, 5.4, 10.6, 16.8 and 20.2 for ¹⁴³Nd, ¹⁴⁴Nd, ¹⁴⁵Nd, ¹⁴⁶Nd, ¹⁴⁸Nd and ¹⁵⁰Nd, respectively.     

Chemical Constituents,Antioxidant, and Enzyme Inhibitory Activities Supported by In-Silico Study of n-Hexane Extract and Essential Oil of Guava Leaves

Psidium guajava (Guava tree) is one of the most widely known species in the family Myrtaceae. The Guava tree has been reported for its potential antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, and cytotoxic activities. In the current study, the chemical compositions of the n-hexane extract and the essential oil of P. guajava were investigated using the GC/MS analysis, along with an evaluation of their antioxidant potential, and an investigation into the enzyme inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE), butyrylcholinesterase (BchE), tyrosinase, α-amylase, and α-glucosidase. Moreover, molecular docking of the major identified active sites of the target enzymes were investigated. The chemical characterization of the n-hexane extract and essential oil revealed that squalene (9.76%), α-tocopherol (8.53%), and γ-sitosterol (3.90%) are the major compounds in the n-hexane extract. In contrast, the major constituents of the essential oil are D-limonene (36.68%) and viridiflorol (9.68%). The n-hexane extract showed more antioxidant potential in the cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC), the ferric reducing power (FRAP), and the metal chelating ability (MCA) assays, equivalent to 70.80 ± 1.46 mg TE/g, 26.01 ± 0.97 mg TE/g, and 24.83 ± 0.35 mg EDTAE/g, respectively. In the phosphomolybdenum (PM) assay, the essential oil showed more antioxidant activity equivalent to 2.58 ± 0.14 mmol TE/g. The essential oil demonstrated a potent BChE and tyrosinase inhibitory ability at 6.85 ± 0.03 mg GALAE/g and 61.70 ± 3.21 mg KAE/g, respectively. The α-amylase, and α-glucosidase inhibitory activity of the n-hexane extract and the essential oil varied from 0.52 to 1.49 mmol ACAE/g. Additionally, the molecular docking study revealed that the major compounds achieved acceptable binding scores upon docking with the tested enzymes. Consequently, the P. guajava n-hexane extract and oil can be used as a promising candidate for the development of novel treatment strategies for oxidative stress, neurodegeneration, and diabetes mellitus diseases.     

Advances in the Synthesis of Ring-Fused Benzimidazoles and Imidazobenzimidazoles

This review article provides a perspective on the synthesis of alicyclic and heterocyclic ring-fused benzimidazoles, imidazo[4,5-f]benzimidazoles, and imidazo[5,4-f]benzimidazoles. These heterocycles have a plethora of biological activities with the iminoquinone and quinone derivatives displaying potent bioreductive antitumor activity. Synthesis is categorized according to the cyclization reaction and mechanisms are detailed. Nitrobenzene reduction, cyclization of aryl amidines, lactams and isothiocyanates are described. Protocols include condensation, cross-dehydrogenative coupling with transition metal catalysis, annulation onto benzimidazole, often using CuI-catalysis, and radical cyclization with homolytic aromatic substitution. Many oxidative transformations are under metal-free conditions, including using thermal, photochemical, and electrochemical methods. Syntheses of diazole analogues of mitomycin C derivatives are described. Traditional oxidations of o-(cycloamino)anilines using peroxides in acid via the t-amino effect remain popular.     

High-Pressure Metal-Free Catalyzed One-Pot Two-Component Synthetic Approach for New 5-Arylazopyrazolo[3,4-b]Pyridine Derivatives

An appropriate and efficient Q-tube-assisted ammonium acetate-mediated protocol for the assembly of the hitherto unreported 5-arylazopyrazolo[3,4-b]pyridines was demonstrated. This methodology comprises the cyclocondensation reaction of 5-amino-2-phenyl-4H-pyrazol-3-one with an assortment of arylhydrazonals in an NH₄OAc/AcOH buffer solution operating a Q-tube reactor. This versatile protocol exhibited several outstanding merits: easy work-up, mild conditions, scalability, broad substrate scope, safety (the Q-tube kit is simply for pressing and sealing), and a high atom economy. Consequently, performing such reactions under elevated pressures and utilizing the Q-tube reactor seemed preferable for achieving the required products in comparison to the conventional conditions. Diverse spectroscopic methods and X-ray single-crystal techniques were applied to confirm the proposed structure of the targeted compounds.     

New trend for optical signal-to-noise ratio of disturbed Raman fiber amplifier

In a distributed Raman fiber amplifier (DRFA), Raman amplification allows a lower signal launch powers to transverse the span above the noise floor while still increasing the optical signal-to-noise ratio (OSNR). It improves the noise figure and reduces the nonlinear penalty of fiber systems. In this paper, we demonstrate a new trend of OSNR at different pump configurations: forward, backward and bidirectional pumping for DRFAs as a function of fiber length. We also present the variation of OSNR with both input pump power and input signal power. It is found that forward pumping provides the highest OSNR, reaching its maximum value of 37 dB. However, backward pumping provides the smallest OSNR that has its maximum of 22 dB and the bidirectional pumping provides the moderate OSNR between the others having its peak of 26 dB.     

On the Linear Complexity Profile of Nonlinear Congruential Pseudorandom Number Generators with Dickson Polynomials

Linear complexity and linear complexity profile are important characteristics of a sequence for applications in cryptography and Monte-Carlo methods. The nonlinear congruential method is an attractive alternative to the classical linear congruential method for pseudorandom number generation. Recently, a weak lower bound on the linear complexity profile of a general nonlinear congruential pseudorandom number generator was proven by Gutierrez, Shparlinski and the first author. For most nonlinear generators a much stronger lower bound is expected. Here, we obtain a much stronger lower bound on the linear complexity profile of nonlinear congruential pseudorandom number generators with Dickson polynomials.     

Complexes of biologically important ligands. I. Ternary complexes of nickel(II) comprising 1,10-o-phenanthrolineazosulfonamide derivatives and alkyldithiophosphates

5-[p-(R-Sulfonyl)phenylazo]-1,10-o-phenanthroline (L) and its octahedral complexes of the type [Ni(R₂dtp)₂(L)] (where R₂dtp = diethyl-or dipropyldithiophosphate) with the core NiN₂S₄ have been prepared and characterized by spectral, magnetic, and thermogravimetric methods. The thermal decomposition mechanism of the compounds was proposed and the kinetic parameters of decomposition were calculated making use of the Coats—Redfern and Horowitz—Metzger equations.