Courtyard acoustics

The acoustic environment of courtyard housing has been studied and the ability of the courtyard to attenuate external noise examined. A scale-model was used to study the effect of the ground treatment, the source and the receiver locations, the depth of the courtyard and the position and arrangement of openings in the walls.Experimental results obtained from the model, together with a simple procedure for predicting the sound pressure levels inside the courtyard, are presented.     

Measurement of the thermoelectric power of lead sulphide

The thermoelectric power of natural specimens of lead sulphide crystals has been measured between room temperature and 700° K. Specimens which are of then-type remain as such throughout the temperature range. Thep-type specimens, however, show an initial small rise followed by a gradual decrease and a subsequent change of sign ata temperature which, in some specimens, is well defined. Further increase of temperature results in a negative extremum. From this stage onwards there seems to develop a common behaviour for both types of specimens. Some crystals which were initially of thep-type changed over to then-type and remained as such throughout subsequent investigation. Among the crystals one showed a metallic conduction and an extraordinary large thermoelectric power.     

A perturbed hard-sphere equation of state extended to imidazolium-based ionic liquids

A perturbed hard-sphere equation of state (EOS) has been previously employed to predict pressure–volume–temperature properties of some ionic liquids (ILs) with phosphonium-, pyridinium-, and pyrrolidinium cations. In this work, we have extended the considered EOS to another class of ILs in compressed states. This class consists of 14 imidazolium-based ILs. The predicted densities were compared with those obtained from the experiment, over a broad pressure range from 0.1 to 200 MPa. From 1,122 data points examined for the aforementioned ILs, the total average absolute deviation was found to be 1.05%.     

A neural network to solve quadratic programming problems with fuzzy parameters

In this paper, a representation of a recurrent neural network to solve quadratic programming problems with fuzzy parameters (FQP) is given. The motivation of the paper is to design a new effective one-layer structure neural network model for solving the FQP. As far as we know, there is not a study for the neural network on the FQP. Here, we change the FQP to a bi-objective problem. Furthermore, the bi-objective problem is reduced to a weighting problem and then the Lagrangian dual is constructed. In addition, we consider a neural network model to solve the FQP. Finally, some illustrative examples are given to show the effectiveness of our proposed approach.     

Cognitive ability experiment with photosensitive organic molecular thin films

We present an optical experiment which permits us to evaluate the information exchange necessary to self-induce cooperatively a well-organized pattern in a randomly activated molecular assembly. A low-power coherent beam carrying polarization and wavelength information is used to organize a surface relief grating on a photochromic polymer thin film which is photoactivated by a powerful incoherent beam. We demonstrate experimentally that less than 1% of the molecules possessing information cooperatively transmit it to the entire photoactivated polymer film.     

Radiation Effects on Optical Properties of Ethylene Vinyl Acetate Copolymer Films

The optical properties of ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) film have been studied. The effects of gamma irradiations on the optical spectrum of EVA films have been investigated using spectrophotometric measurements of reflectance and transmittance in the wavelength range 200–1100 nm. The absorption spectra were recorded in the UV–vis region for the unirradiated and irradiated films (from 0 to 50 kGy). Optical constants such as refractive index (n), extinction coefficient (K), and complex dielectric constant have been determined, as well as the optical dispersion parameters and high frequency dielectric constants. A large dependence of the fundamental optical constants on the irradiation dose was noticed. On irradiation, a higher refractive index was obtained as compared with that for unirradiated film. The dispersion parameters, such as E ₀ (single‐oscillator energy), E _d (dispersive energy), and M _?1 and M _?3 (moments), are discussed in terms of the single‐oscillator Wemple–DiDomenico model.     

Thermal stability and UV–Vis-NIR spectroscopy of a new erbium-doped fluorotellurite glass

A new transparent bulk glass from the system 76TeO₂?·?10ZnO?·?9.0PbO?·?1.0PbF₂?·?3.0Na₂O doped with Er³⁺ (TZPPN doped with Er³⁺) has been prepared using the conventional melt-quenching method. Results of differential thermal analysis (DTA) measurements indicate good thermal stability of this glass. The refractive indices at different wavelengths, the optical energy gap, the Sellmeier gap energy and the dispersion energy have been estimated. The Judd–Ofelt parameters, Ω _t (t?=?2,?4,?6) of Er³⁺ were evaluated from optical absorption spectra. Electric dipole, magnetic dipole type transition probabilities, spectroscopic quality factors, branching ratio and radiative lifetimes of several excited states of Er³⁺ have been predicted using intensity Judd–Ofelt parameters. The spectroscopic properties indicate that TZPPN glass doped with Er³⁺ is a promising candidate for laser applications and may be suitable for upconversion fibre optical devices.     

Direct Synthesis of Multi‐functional Pyrimidine,Pyrazine, and Pyridine Scaffolds via Inter‐ and Intramolecular Annulations of 3‐Amino‐thieno[2,3‐b]pyridine‐2‐carboxylate

The synthesis of a new series of annulated thieno[2,3‐b]pyridines was performed. Ester compound 1 underwent heterocyclization upon reaction with phenylisothiocyanate and formamide to afford pyrimidines 2 and 3 , respectively. Thienopyrimidine 5 was resulted via reaction of amino derivative 1 with triethyl orthoformate to afford the non‐isolable intermediate 4 , which allowed hydrazinolysis with hydrazine hydrate to afford the target compound. Pyrimidine type 5 was condensed with p‐nitrobenzaldehyde to afford Schiff base 6 . Refluxing of ester 1 with ethyl cyanoacetate and diethyl malonate followed by base‐mediated heterocyclization afforded condensed pyridines 8 and 9 , respectively. The tetracyclic pyrazine derivative 14 was obtained from the reaction of amino compound 1 with 2,5‐dimethoxytetrahydrofuran followed by hydrazinolysis to give carbohydrazide 11 , which undergo diazotization followed by Curtius rearrangement. The antibacterial results illustrated no significant results for the investigated compounds except compound 5 , which has moderate activity against Gram‐positive bacteria.     

Cycloaddition of Aroyl Isothiocyanate: A Novel Synthesis of Triazine,Oxazine, Pyrimidine,and Pyridine Derivatives

A simple and direct synthetic methodology for a novel series of azines and their annulated systems was performed. Heterocyclization of acyl isothiocyanate 2 with urea or malononitrile gave s‐triazine 4 and 1,3‐oxazine 7 derivatives, respectively. The reaction of heteroallene 1 with acetylacetone tolerated 2‐thioxopyridine derivative 9 . The latter compound underwent heterocyclization with urea, hydrazine hydrate, or phenyl hydrazine to give the annulated pyridines 10 – 12 . Pyrimidinethione 14 was resulted from reaction of acylisothiocyanate with enamine 13 . Condensation of compound 14 with hydrazine hydrate, phenyl hydrazine, urea, and 3‐nitrobenzaldehyde in the presence of ethyl cyanoacetate or sodium hydroxide afforded 15 – 20 , respectively.     

Study of γ‐Fast Neutron Attenuation and Mechanical Characteristics of Modified Concretes for Shielding and Sheltering Purposes

The study of γ‐neutrons attenuation and mechanical characteristics of modified concrete are vital and crucial parameters for the construction of civilian radiological, nuclear shielding, and/or shelters. In this work, fifteen samples of ordinary concretes with five different additives; steel fibers, polypropylene, silica fume, and fly ash, with variation of cement percentages, were prepared and used for performing the mechanical and radiation attenuation investigations. The compressive strength, tensile strength, slump test, bulk density, and water permeability were also carried out for the prepared concrete mixes. Collimated coherent beams from ⁶⁰Co and Pu‐Be fast neutron sources were used to check the radiation penetrability through the syntheized mixed concrete‐additives. Very sensitive and well calibrated gamma‐neutron pulse shape discriminating spectrometer with its electronic componenets and stilbene organic detector and 3′′ × 3′′ NaI scintillation crystal was used to measure the radiation before and after attenuation and transmission. The integrated fast neutron removal macroscopic cross section (Σ_r) and linear attenuation coefficient of total gamma rays (μ) were calculated for all the analysed concrete mixes. The results of measurements, tests, analyses and calculations are given and explained. The investigated modified concrete mixes show good workability and properties from the view point of mechanical loads and γ‐fast neutrons penetrability and resistance. These results can be used for shielding and sheltering design.