Three-dimensional electrostatic waves in a nonuniform quantum electron-positron magnetoplasma

The dispersion properties of three-dimensional electrostatic waves in a nonuniform quantum electron-positron magnetoplasma are examined. A new dispersion relation is derived using the electron and positron densities response arising from the balance between the quantum Bohm and electrostatic forces, and from the electron and positron continuity and Poisson equations. In the local approximation regime, the dispersion relation admits both oscillatory and purely growing instabilities those depend on the quantum parameters as well as the density, velocity and magnetic field inhomogeneities.     

Investigation of phase diagrams for cylindrical Ising nanotube using cellular automata

Recent developments in the field of applied nanoscience and nanotechnology have heightened the need for categorizing various characteristics of nanostructures. In this regard, this paper establishes a novel method to investigate magnetic properties (phase diagram and spontaneous magnetization) of a cylindrical Ising nanotube. Using a two-layer Ising model and the core-shell concept, the interactions within nanotube has been modelled. In the model, both ferromagnetic and antiferromagnetic cases have been considered. Furthermore, the effect of nanotube's length on the critical temperature is investigated. The model has been simulated using cellular automata approach and phase diagrams were constructed for different values of inter- and intra-layer couplings. For the antiferromagnetic case, the possibility of existence of compensation point is observed.     

Reverse micelle-mediated dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid and 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid

A supramolecular solvent consisting of reverse micelles of decanoic acid, dispersed in a continuous phase of tetrahydrofuran:water, was proposed as an efficient microextraction technique for extraction of selected chlorophenoxy acid herbicides from water samples prior to high-performance liquid chromatography UV determination. The disperser solvent (1.0 mL tetrahydrofuran) containing 20 mg decanoic acid was rapidly injected into 10.0 mL of water sample. After centrifugation, the reverse micelle-rich phase (25 ± 0.5 μL) was floated at top of the home-designed centrifuge tube. The solvent was collected and 20 μL of it was injected into high-performance liquid chromatography for analysis. The results showed that the in situ solvent formation and extraction process can be completed in a few seconds. Under the optimal conditions, limits of detection of the method for 4-chloro-2-methylphenoxyacetic acid and 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid were in the range of 0.5-0.8 μg L(-1) and the repeatability of the proposed method, expressed as relative standard deviation, varied in the range of 2.5-3.2%. Linearity was found to be in the range of 1-200 μg L(-1) and the preconcentration factors were between 148 and 157. The mean percentage recoveries exceeded 92.0% for all the spiking levels in real water samples.     

Anodic stripping voltammetric determination of bismuth after solid-phase extraction using amberlite XAD-2 resin modified with 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol

A highly selective and sensitive anodic stripping differential pulse polarographic method has been developed for the determination of trace amount of bismuth in various samples after adsorption of its 2-(5-bromo-2-pyridylazo)-5-diethylaminophenol complex on amberlite XAD-2 resin in the pH range of 2.0-3.0. The retained analyte on the resin recovered with 10.0 ml of 2 M hydrochloric acid and bismuth is determined by anodic stripping differential pulse polarography. In this case, 0.15 μg of bismuth can be concentrated in the column from 1100 ml of aqueous sample, where its concentration is as low as 0.14 ng ml⁻¹ and the linearity is maintained in the concentration range 0.05-160 μg ml⁻¹ in final solution with a correlation coefficient of 0.999 and relative standard deviation of ±1.2%. Various parameters such as the effect of pH, flow rate, and interference of number of metal ions on the determination of bismuth have been studied in detail to optimize the conditions for determination of bismuth in standard alloys: Nippon Keikinzoku Kogyo (NKK CRM No. 916 aluminum alloy); (NKK CRM No. 1021 Al, Si, Cu, Zn alloy); and (NKK CRM No. 920 aluminum alloy), biological samples: National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES, No. 5 human hair; NIES, No. 7 tea leaves) and water samples: (spring water, river water; Kerman water; and Shiraz water).     

Thin sums matroids and duality

Building on the recent axiomatisation of infinite matroids with duality, we present a theory of representability for infinite matroids. This notion of representability allows for infinite sums, and is preserved under duality.     

Flame atomic absorption spectrometric determination of trace amounts of lead, cadmium and nickel in different matrixes after solid phase extraction on modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes

The potential of modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes (a solid-phase extraction sorbent), for the simultaneous separation and preconcentration of lead, cadmium and nickel; has been investigated. Lead, cadmium and nickel, were adsorbed quantitatively; on modified multiwalled carbon nanotubes (in the pH range of 2–4). Parameters influencing, the simultaneous preconcentration of Pb(II), Ni(II) and Cd(II) ions (such as pH of the sample, sample and eluent flow rate, type and volume of elution solution and interfering ions), have been examined and optimized. Under the optimum experimental conditions, the detection limits of this method. for Pb(II), Ni(II) and Cd(II) ions, were 0.32, 0.17 and 0.04 ng mL⁻¹ in original solution, respectively. Seven replicate determinations, of a mixture of 2.0 μg mL⁻¹ lead and nickel, and 1.0 μg mL⁻¹ cadmium; gave a mean absorbance of 0.074, 0.151 and 0.310, with relative standard deviation 1.7%, 1.5% and 1.2%, respectively. The method has been applied, to the determination of trace amounts of lead, cadmium and nickel; in biological and water samples, with satisfactory results.      

Graphene oxide/Fe3O4/polyaniline nanocomposite as an efficient adsorbent for the extraction and preconcentration of ultra-trace levels of cadmium in rice and tea samples

Research on Chemical Intermediates - The magnetic graphene oxide–polyaniline (MGOPA) nanocomposite was synthesized through oxidative polymerization of aniline and at the presence of...     

LAHS: A novel harmony search algorithm based on learning automata

This study presents a learning automata-based harmony search (LAHS) for unconstrained optimization of continuous problems. The harmony search (HS) algorithm performance strongly depends on the fine tuning of its parameters, including the harmony consideration rate (HMCR), pitch adjustment rate (PAR) and bandwidth (bw). Inspired by the spur-in-time responses in the musical improvisation process, learning capabilities are employed in the HS to select these parameters based on spontaneous reactions. An extensive numerical investigation is conducted on several well-known test functions, and the results are compared with the HS algorithm and its prominent variants, including the improved harmony search (IHS), global-best harmony search (GHS) and self-adaptive global-best harmony search (SGHS). The numerical results indicate that the LAHS is more efficient in finding optimum solutions and outperforms the existing HS algorithm variants.