Optimization, bandwidth and the effect of loss on the characteristics of the coupled ring reflector

Reflection and group delay characteristics of the coupled ring reflector (CRR), consisting of two identical microrings coupled to each other and to a bus waveguide providing feedback, is analytically and numerically investigated under loss-free and lossy conditions and subject to arbitrary (asymmetric) positioning of the couplers. Allowing for a variable coupling strength, the spectral locations where the extreme values of the reflectivity occur as well as its bandwidth are determined and their sensitivity to loss evaluated. Critical coupling conditions that determine the shape and the turning points of the reflectance spectrum, and their sensitivity to loss are obtained. Attention is paid to the bandwidth maximization satisfying a prescribed ripple tolerance within the passband. Group delay in the presence of loss and circuit parameter variations is also treated.     

A comparative study of chaotic and white noise signals in digital watermarking

Digital watermarking is an ever increasing and important discipline, especially in the modern electronically-driven world. Watermarking aims to embed a piece of information into digital documents which their owner can use to prove that the document is theirs, at a later stage. In this paper, performance analysis of watermarking schemes is performed on white noise sequences and chaotic sequences for the purpose of watermark generation. Pseudorandom sequences are compared with chaotic sequences generated from the chaotic skew tent map. In particular, analysis is performed on highpass signals generated from both these watermark generation schemes, along with analysis on lowpass watermarks and white noise watermarks. This analysis focuses on the watermarked images after they have been subjected to common image distortion attacks. It is shown that signals generated from highpass chaotic signals have superior performance than highpass noise signals, in the presence of such attacks. It is also shown that watermarks generated from lowpass chaotic signals have superior performance over the other signal types analysed.     

A new easily accessible chiral phosphite-phosphoramidite ligand based on 2-anilinoethanol and R-BINOL moieties for Rh-catalyzed asymmetric olefin hydrogenation

A novel chiral phosphite-phosphoramidite ligand based on 2-anilinoethanol and R-BINOL moieties has been synthesized in one-pot. The ligand was evaluated in the rhodium-catalyzed enantioselective hydrogenation of α- and β-dehydroamino acid derivatives and dimethyl itaconate in three different solvents at 25 °C, at 1 or 50 bar of hydrogen pressure. The solvent and the pressure effect are discussed.     

Response surface methodology for the modelling of copper removal from aqueous solutions using micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration

Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to study the cumulative effect of the various parameters, namely surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulphate (SDS), anionic) concentration, pH, and surfactant/metal molar ratio and to optimise the process conditions for the maximum removal of copper from aqueous solutions via micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration (MEUF). For obtaining the mutual interaction between the variables and optimising these variables, a central composite design (CCD) by use of response surface methodology was employed. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) of the quadratic model demonstrated that the model was highly significant. The model was statistically tested and verified by experimentation. Values of pH at the range of ca. 7.5 were very successful for the separation. The maximum rejection coefficient of 98.4% was obtained for the following optimal conditions: SDS/Cu²⁺ molar ratio *r = 7.85, *pH 7.36, *C_surf = 6.82 g/l SDS. A modification of micellar-enhanced ultrafiltration for the removal of copper from aqueous solutions was studied by the implementation of sodium dodecyl sulphate–polyethylene glycol (PEG) aggregates. A full factorial design (FFD) was employed for studying the effect of molar ratio of surfactant/metal, pH and mass ratio of surfactant/polymer at a constant concentration of surfactant equal to 5 g/l. The comparison of the two systems in the region of their common factors showed that the addition of polyethylene glycol caused a slight increase in rejection coefficient of copper but also could function as ‘scavenger’ for surfactant species.     

Recent advances with association models for practical applications

ABSTRACT

Association models like Cubic Plus Association (CPA) equation of state and other Statistical Associating Fluid Theory variants have found widespread use, especially over the recent 30 or so years, and this is not limited anymore to universities and researchers. Industry is beginning slowly to adopt such models for some applications and a few of the association models are now provided by commercial simulators. Association models account explicitly for hydrogen bonding (and other complex) phenomena, and for this reason, they are potentially more useful and more successful than traditional models like cubic equations of state and activity coefficient models. Still, for practical applications, all models are judged by their results and these depend on the availability of experimental data, the number and type of adjustable parameters and the performance of the models for phase equilibria and occasionally also for other properties. We will consider four case studies in this work which, will illustrate some of the capabilities and limitations of these association models in different applications. We will offer a ‘model developer’s’ point of view showing in several cases all stages of model development in order to illustrate what worked, what did not and how it was corrected (when possible). The ‘physics’ and ‘application’ aspects of the models will be in all cases discussed. All results will be shown with the CPA equation of state, although we expect that the overall conclusions will be the same for a wide range of association models.     

Using clathrate hydrates for gas storage and gas-mixture separations: experimental and computational studies at multiple length scales

ABSTRACT

Clathrate hydrates have characteristic properties that render them attractive for a number of industrial applications. Of particular interest are the following two cases: (i) the incorporation of large amounts of gas molecules into the solid structure has resulted in considering hydrates as possible material for the storage/transportation of energy or environmental gases, and (ii) the selective incorporation of guest molecules into the solid structure has resulted in considering hydrates for gas-mixture separations. For the proper design of such industrial applications, it is essential to know accurately a number of thermodynamic, structural and transport properties. Such properties can either be measured experimentally or calculated at different scales that span the molecular scale-up to the continuum scale. By using clathrate hydrates as a particular case study, we demonstrate that performing studies at multiple length scales can be utilised in order to obtain properties that are essential to process design.     

Silver Nanoparticles Using Eucalyptus or Willow Extracts (AgNPs) as Contact Lens Hydrogel Components to Reduce the Risk of Microbial Infection

Eucalyptus leaves (ELE) and willow bark (WBE) extracts were utilized towards the formation of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs(ELE), AgNPs(WBE)). AgNPs(ELE) and AgNPs(WBE) were dispersed in polymer hydrogels to create pHEMA@AgNPs(ELE)_2 and pHEMA@AgNPs(WBE)_2 using hydroxyethyl-methacrylate (HEMA). The materials were characterized in a solid state by X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectroscopy, X-ray powder diffraction analysis (XRPD), thermogravimetric differential thermal analysis (TG-DTA), differential scanning calorimetry (DTG/DSC) and attenuated total reflection spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) and ultraviolet visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy in solution. The antimicrobial potential of the materials was investigated against the Gram-negative bacterial strain Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) and the Gram-positive bacterial strain of the genus Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), which are involved in microbial keratitis. The percentage of bacterial viability of P. aeruginosa and S. epidermidis upon their incubation over the pHEMA@AgNPs(ELE)_2 discs is interestingly low (28.3 and 6.8% respectively), while the inhibition zones (IZ) formed are 12.3 ± 1.7 and 13.2 ± 1.2 mm, respectively. No in vitro toxicity of this material towards human corneal epithelial cells (HCEC) was detected. Despite its low performance against S. aureus, pHEMA@AgNPs(ELE)_2 could be an efficient candidate towards the development of contact lenses that reduces microbial infection risk.     

Laminar axisymmetric flow of a weakly compressible viscoelastic fluid

The combined effects of weak compressibility and viscoelasticity in steady, isothermal, laminar axisymmetric Poiseuille flow are investigated. Viscoelasticity is taken into account by employing the Oldroyd-B constitutive model. The fluid is assumed to be weakly compressible with a density that varies linearly with pressure. The flow problem is solved using a regular perturbation scheme in terms of the dimensionless isothermal compressibility parameter. The sequence of partial differential equations resulting from the perturbation procedure is solved analytically up to second order. The two-dimensional solution reveals the effects of compressibility and the other dimensionless numbers and parameters in the flow. Expressions for the average pressure drop, the volumetric flow rate, the total axial stress, as well as for the skin friction factor are also derived and discussed. The validity of other techniques used to obtain approximate solutions of weakly compressible flows is also discussed in conjunction with the present results.     

Numerical simulation of contraction and expansion flows of Langmuir monolayers

Langmuir monolayers consist of amphiphilic molecules at the air–water interface and can be modeled as two-dimensional fluids. Earlier experiments [D.J. Olson, G.G. Fuller, J. Non-Newtonian Fluid Mech. 89 (2000) 187–207] on 4:1 contraction and 4:1 expansion flows have been simulated using an integral constitutive equation of the K-BKZ type, suitably modified to account for strain-thickening in the planar extensional viscosity. The model has been used to fit linear viscoelastic data (G′ and G″) and the shear viscosity (η_S), while the amount of strain-hardening is assumed, due to lack of experimental data. The simulations are in good agreement with the experiments on Newtonian monolayers, which show no vortices in the contraction but large inertial vortices in the expansion. For the viscoelastic monolayer (a poly-octadecyl methacrylate or PODMA), the opposite is true. The contraction flow shows vortices, while in the expansion flow the vortex activity is substantially reduced compared with the Newtonian one. The viscoelastic behavior is well captured by the model, provided that substantial strain-thickening is exhibited by the monolayer in planar extension. The latter behavior is very much like that for a branched LDPE melt, which also shows big vortices due to strain-hardening in planar as well as in uniaxial extension.     

Characterization of the Phenolic Fingerprint of Kolovi Extra Virgin Olive Oils from Lesvos with Regard to Altitude and Farming System Analyzed by UHPLC-QTOF-MS

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) is recognized for its nutritional virtues and the beneficial health effects deriving from its hydrophilic fraction (phenolic acids, phenolic alcohols, flavonoids, and secoiridoids). The phenolic compounds of EVOOs possess multiple biological properties such as antioxidant, antimicrobial, anticarcinogenic, and anti-inflammatory properties, among others. Considering that EVOOs produced in Greece are recognized as high-quality products due to their rich phenolic content, it is imperative to characterize Greek monovarietal EVOOs and ensure that their uniqueness is closely linked to their botanical and territorial origin. In this work, an ultra-high-performance liquid chromatography–quadrupole time-of-flight tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QTOF-MS) analytical method combined with target and suspect screening was used to characterize monovarietal EVOOs of the Kolovi variety from Lesvos, and thereby establish their phenolic fingerprint. Overall, 25 phenols were determined, and the total quantification and semi-quantification results ranged between 251 and 1230 mg/kg, highlighting the high phenolic content of the Kolovi variety from the island of Lesvos in the North Aegean.