A phase regulated back wave propagation technique for geoacoustic inversion

An inversion method based on the concept of back wave propagation (BWP) is described in this paper for estimation of geoacoustic parameters from acoustic field data. A phase-regulation technique is introduced to increase the sensitivity of the method for geoacoustic model parameters having low sensitivity. The case of data consisting of signal plus additive noise is also addressed. It is shown theoretically that the sensitivity can be increased by a factor alpha using the phase regulation procedure, and that the spatial resolution of signal energy that is concentrated by BWP at the known source position is increased when a increases. This result suggests an effective criterion for use in the inversion, based on the spatial distribution of signal energy around the true source location. The basis for the criterion is the spatial variance of the back-propagated pressure field in a window around the known source location. A multistep search process is proposed to avoid using a complicated multidimensional search process. Inversion results from both simulations and experimental data are given. The real data were taken from the Pacific Shelf experiment carried out in shallow water off the West Coast of Vancouver Island in the Northeast Pacific Ocean.     

All optical switch based on Fano resonance in metal nanocomposite photonic crystals

We investigate the potential of plasmonic resonance in metal nanocomposite materials for the design of photonic crystal all optical switches by numerical methods. We study the absorption effect of the plasmonic resonance on the Fano resonances of one dimensional photonic crystal slabs covered by a metal nanocomposite layer. It is shown that the absorption reduces the contrast of the Fano resonances. However, for adequate metal nanoparticle concentrations it is possible to achieve both sufficiently sharp Fano resonance and strong Kerr nonlinearity, which provides a suitable condition for the design of high contrast and low threshold switches.     

Nonrigid group theory for 1,3,5‐trimethylbenzene

Using nonrigid group theory, the full nonrigid (f‐NRG) group of 1,3,5‐trimethylbenzene (TMB) is shown to be isomorphic to the group S₃[C₃] = C₃ S₃ of order 162, where denotes the wreath product of groups, and C₃ is the cyclic group of order three and S₃ is the symmetric group of order six on three letters. This group has 22 conjugacy classes and irreducible representations. The character table of the full nonrigid TMB is then derived for the first time. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2007     

Synthesis of Novel Chiral Ionic Liquid and Its Application in Reduction of Prochiral Ketones to the Corresponding Chiral Alcohols Using NaBH4

A novel chiral ionic liquid (CIL) based on nicotinium salt has been synthesized and used as an efficient asymmetric chiral catalyst for reduction of acetophenone derivatives with NaBH₄ in methanol at room temperature. The optically active alcohols were obtained in low to moderate enantiomeric excess in a short reaction time.     

Non-fourier temperature field in a solid homogeneous finite hollow cylinder

Analytical solution of the non-Fourier Axisymmetric temperature field within a finite hollow cylinder is investigated considering the Cattaneo-Vernotte constitutive heat flux relation. The solution is found for the most general linear time-independent boundary conditions. The material is assumed to be homogeneous and isotropic with temperature-independent thermal properties. The standard method of separation of variables is used. The present solution can be reduced to special problems of interest by choosing appropriate boundary condition parameters. The solution is applied for two special cases including constant heat flux and the Gaussian distribution heating of a cylinder, and their respective non-Fourier thermal behavior is studied.     

A new model for deformed carbon nanotubes using Green’s function

A new method for modeling and analysis of deformed carbon nanotubes (CNTs) using Green’s function, is presented in this paper, for the first time. Using the proposed method, a new circuit model is obtained for the deformation region of a deformed single-walled CNT (SWCNT), which the values of its elements depend on the type of deformation and also the deformation parameters such as the coupling matrices and the energy variations of deformation region. The comparison between the obtained results from the analysis of proposed model and the literature gives a good match which approves the accuracy and correctness of the proposed model.     

Doping effect of Ag nanoparticles on critical current of YBa2Cu3O7−δ bulk superconductor

The objective of this work is to investigate the effect of Ag nanoparticles on critical current of YBa₂Cu₃O_7?δ (YBCO) superconductor. Ag nanoparticles with different particle sizes from 30 to 1000 nm were prepared through the chemical reduction of AgNO₃ in an alcohol solution. Then, samples of YBCO superconductors were doped by 1 and 2 wt.% of Ag nanoparticles with different sizes. Samples were characterized with XRD, SEM and EDX measurements. Critical current measurements were performed using a standard four-probe technique at liquid nitrogen temperature. The results showed by increasing of Ag nanoparticles up to 700 nm the J_c increases, but decreases by further increase in Ag particles size. The critical current enhancement is attributed to the improved connectivity between the grain boundaries and better crystallization of the grains.     

Acetone extracted propolis as a novel membrane and its application in phenol biosensors: the case of catechol

A novel biosensor for catechol has been constructed by immobilizing polyphenol oxidase (PPO) into acetone-extracted propolis (AEP) composite modified with gold nanoparticles (GNPs) and attached to multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNTs) on a gold electrode surface. The propolis for AEP was obtained from honeybee colonies. Under the optimum conditions, this method could be successfully used for the amperometric determination of catechol within a concentration range of 1 × 10^?6 to 5 × 10^?4?M, with a detection limit of 8 × 10^?7?M (S/N = 3). The effects of pH and operating potential are also explored to optimize the measurement conditions. The best response was obtained at pH?5, while an optimum ratio of signal-to-noise (S/N) was obtained at ?20?mV (versus Ag/AgCl), which was selected as the applied potential for the amperometric measurements. All subsequent experiments were performed at pH?5. Cyclic voltammetry and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used to characterize the PPO/CNTs/GNPs/AEP/Au biosensor. The biosensor also exhibited good selectivity, stability, and reproducibility.     

Upscaled Unstructured Computational Grids for Efficient Simulation of Flow in Fractured Porous Media

Discrete fracture modeling (DFM) is currently the most promising approach for modeling of naturally fractured reservoirs and simulation of multiphase fluid flow therein. In contrast with the classical double-porosity/double permeability models, in the DFM approach all the interactions and fluid flow in and between the fractures and within the matrix are modeled in a unified manner, using the same computational grid. There is no need for computing the shape factors, which are crucial to the accuracy of the double-porosity models. We have exploited this concept in order to develop a new method for the generation of unstructured computational grids. In the new approach the geological model (GM) of the reservoir is first generated, using square or cubic grid blocks. The GM is then upscaled using a method based on the multiresolution wavelet transformations that we recently developed. The upscaled grid contains a distribution of the square or cubic blocks of various sizes. A map of the blocks’ centers is then used with an optimized Delauney triangulation method and the advancing-front technique, in order to generate the final unstructured triangulated grid suitable for use in any general reservoir simulator with any number of fluid phases. The new method also includes an algorithm for generating fractures that, contrary to the previous methods, does not require modifying their paths due to the complexities that may arise in spatial distribution of the grid blocks. It also includes an effective partitioning of the simulation domain that results in large savings in the computation times. The speed-up in the computations with the new upscaled unstructured grid is about three orders of magnitude over that for the initial GM. Simulation of waterflooding indicates that the agreement between the results obtained with the GM and the upscaled unstructured grid is excellent. The method is equally applicable to the simulations of multiphase flow in unfractured, but highly heterogeneous, reservoirs.