Exact boundary controllability of vibrating non-classical Euler–Bernoulli micro-scale beams

This study investigates the exact controllability problem for a vibrating non-classical Euler–Bernoulli micro-beam whose governing partial differential equation (PDE) of motion is derived based on the non-classical continuum mechanics. In this paper, it is proved that via boundary controls, it is possible to obtain exact controllability which consists of driving the vibrating system to rest in finite time. This control objective is achieved based on the PDE model of the system which causes that spillover instabilities do not occur.     

On the fractional-order extended Kalman filter and its application to chaotic cryptography in noisy environment

In this paper via a novel method of discretized continuous-time Kalman filter, the problem of synchronization and cryptography in fractional-order systems has been investigated in presence of noisy environment for process and output signals. The fractional-order Kalman filter equation, applicable for linear systems, and its extension called the extended Kalman filter, which can be used for nonlinear systems, are derived. The result is utilized for chaos synchronization with the aim of cryptography while the transmitter system is fractional-order, and both the transmitter and transmission channel are noisy. The fractional-order stochastic chaotic Chen system is then presented to apply the proposed method for chaotic signal cryptography. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Quasistatic frictional thermo‐piezoelectric contact problem

We consider here a mathematical model describing the bilateral frictional contact between a thermo‐piezoelectric body and a thermally conductive foundation. We model the behavior of the material with a linear thermo‐electro‐elastic constitutive law. The process is assumed to be quasistatic and the contact is modeled with a nonlocal version of Coulomb's dry friction law, in which the frictional heat generated in the process, is taken into account. We drive a variational formulation of the problem and establish the existence of its weak solution.     

A collocation method of lines for two‐sided space‐fractional advection‐diffusion equations with variable coefficients

We present the method of lines (MOL), which is based on the spectral collocation method, to solve space‐fractional advection‐diffusion equations (SFADEs) on a finite domain with variable coefficients. We focus on the cases in which the SFADEs consist of both left‐ and right‐sided fractional derivatives. To do so, we begin by introducing a new set of basis functions with some interesting features. The MOL, together with the spectral collocation method based on the new basis functions, are successfully applied to the SFADEs. Finally, four numerical examples, including benchmark problems and a problem with discontinuous advection and diffusion coefficients, are provided to illustrate the efficiency and exponentially accuracy of the proposed method.     

Evaluation and comparison of three novel microbubbles: Enhancement of ultrasound-induced cell death and free radicals production

Three novel lipid-shell-type microbubbles (MBs), AS-0100, BG6356A and BG6356B, have been evaluated for their impact on ultrasound (US)-induced cell death and free radicals production. Previously studied and well-characterized US exposure conditions were employed in which human myelomonocytic lymphoma U937 cells were exposed to 1 MHz pulsed US beam (0.3 W/cm², 10% duty factor) for 1 min with or without MBs. Three different concentrations of each MB were used. Apoptosis and cell lysis were assessed by examining phosphatidylserine externalization and by counting viable cells, respectively, 6 h post-exposure. Free radicals production and scavenging activities were evaluated using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR)-spin trapping. The results showed that only AS-0100 and BG6356A were able to enhance the US-induced apoptosis, mainly by increasing the secondary necrosis. Apoptosis and cell lysis seemed to depend more on mechanical forces exerted by oscillating MBs while free radicals played a trivial role. BG series MBs exhibited pronounced scavenging activities. Generally, despite the need for further optimization, AS-0100 and BG6356A appear to be promising as adjuncts in cases where US-induced cell death is required.     

Turbulent flow computations on 3D unstructured grids

An edge-based finite element method is presented for the simulation of compressible turbulent flows on unstructured tetrahedral grids. A two equation k–ω turbulence model is employed and the standard Galerkin approach is used for spatial discretisation. Stabilisation of the resulting procedure is achieved by the addition of an appropriate diffusion. An explicit multistage time-stepping scheme is used to advance the solution in time to steady state. The performance of the algorithm is demonstrated for the simulation of a high Reynolds number transonic separated flow over a wing.     

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.     

Robust adaptive synchronization of uncertain complex networks with multiple time‐varying coupled delays

In this article, the synchronization problem of uncertain complex networks with multiple coupled time‐varying delays is studied. The synchronization criterion is deduced for complex dynamical networks with multiple different time‐varying coupling delays and uncertainties, based on Lyapunov stability theory and robust adaptive principle. By designing suitable robust adaptive synchronization controllers that have strong robustness against the uncertainties in coupling matrices, the all nodes states of complex networks globally asymptotically synchronize to a desired synchronization state. The numerical simulations are given to show the feasibility and effectiveness of theoretical results. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 20: 62–73, 2015     

A Spectral Method for the Electrohydrodynamic Flow in a Circular Cylindrical Conduit

This paper presents a combination of the hybrid spectral collocation technique and the spectral homotopy analysis method(SHAM for short) for solving the nonlinear boundary value problem(BVP for short) for the electrohydrodynamic flow of a fluid in an ion drag configuration in a circular cylindrical conduit. The accuracy of the present solution is found to be in excellent agreement with the previously published solution. The authors use an averaged residual error to find the optimal convergence-control parameters. Comparisons are made between SHAM generated results, results from literature and Matlab ode45 generated results, and good agreement is observed.     

New Spectrofluorimetric Method for Determination of Cephalosporins in Pharmaceutical Formulations

Simple, accurate and sensitive spectrofluorimetric method has been proposed for the determination of three cephalosporins, namely; cefixime (cefi), cephalexine (ceph), cefotaxime sodium (cefo) in pharmaceutical formulations. The method is based on a reaction between cephalosporins with 1, 2-naphthoquinone-4-sulfonic (NQS) in alkaline medium, at pH values of 12.0 for cefi and 13.0 for ceph and cefo to give highly fluorescent derivatives extracted with chloroform and subsequently measured at 600,580 and 580 nm after excitation at 520,455 and 490 nm for cefi, ceph and cefo respectively. The optimum experimental conditions have been studied. Beer’s law is obeyed over the concentrations of 10–35 ng/mL, 10–60 ng/mL and 20–45 ng/mL for cefi,ceph and cefo, respectively. The detection limits were 2.02 ng/mL, 2.09 ng/mL and 2.30 ng/mL for cefi, ceph and cefo, respectively, with a linear regression correlation coefficient of 0.9987, 0.9995 and 0.9991 and recoveries in range from 98.5-107.04, 95.17-101.00 and 95.00-109.55% for cefi, ceph and cefo, respectively. This method is simple and can be applied for the determination of cefi, ceph and cefo in pharmaceutical formulations in quality control laboratories.