Natural radioactivity and hazard-level assessment of Portland cements in Turkey

The natural radioactivity levels and some radiological parameters of Turkish Portland cements (PC) originated in various regions were determined in this study. The activity concentration of cement samples for ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K were measured using a gamma-ray spectrometer with high purity germanium radiation detector. The PC samples had activity concentrations of 33.0, 16.7, and 239.5 Bq kg⁻¹ for ²²⁶Ra, ²³²Th, and ⁴⁰K, respectively. The mean value of radium equivalent value (Ra_eq) was found to be 75.4 Bq kg⁻¹. The radium equivalent values in the cement samples were lower than the acceptable level of 370 Bq kg⁻¹. The calculated radiological parameters were found to be below the acceptance levels.

     

Determination of selected natural hormones and endocrine disrupting compounds in domestic wastewater treatment plants by liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry after solid phase extraction

A new analytical method for the simultaneous determination of two natural hormones (progesterone and estrone) and two selected endocrine disrupter compounds (EDCs) (diltiazem and carbamazepine (Cbz)) was developed by liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS/MS) after pre-concentration with solid phase extraction (SPE). Influent and effluent samples taken from five different wastewater treatment plants throughout Turkey namely Hurma/Antalya, Lara/Antalya, Kemer-1 and Kemer-2 and METU/Ankara were analyzed for their EDCs contents under the optimum conditions. All of the parameters in the pre-concentration step were optimized and the best recoveries for all compounds of interest were achieved at pH 7 (about 100%). Progesterone was not detected in any of the treatment plants while diltiazem was found in all samples with the exception of Lara effluent.     

CMARS and GAM & CQP—Modern optimization methods applied to international credit default prediction

In this paper, we apply newly developed methods called GAM & CQP and CMARS for country defaults. These are techniques refined by us using Conic Quadratic Programming. Moreover, we compare these new methods with common and regularly used classification tools, applied on 33 emerging markets’ data in the period of 1980-2005. We conclude that GAM & CQP and CMARS provide an efficient alternative in predictions. The aim of this study is to develop a model for predicting the countries’ default possibilities with the help of modern techniques of continuous optimization, especially conic quadratic programming. We want to show that the continuous optimization techniques used in data mining are also very successful in financial theory and application. By this paper we contribute to further benefits from model-based methods of applied mathematics in the financial sector. Herewith, we aim to help build up our nations.     

BEM solution to magnetohydrodynamic flow in a semi‐infinite duct

We consider the magnetohydrodynamic flow that is laminar and steady of a viscous, incompressible, and electrically conducting fluid in a semi‐infinite duct under an externally applied magnetic field. The flow is driven by the current produced by a pressure gradient. The applied magnetic field is perpendicular to the semi‐infinite walls that are kept at the same magnetic field value in magnitude but opposite in sign. The wall that connects the two semi‐infinite walls is partly non‐conducting and partly conducting (in the middle). A BEM solution was obtained using a fundamental solution that enables to treat the magnetohydrodynamic equations in coupled form with general wall conductivities. The inhomogeneity in the equations due to the pressure gradient was tackled, obtaining a particular solution, and the BEM was applied with a fundamental solution of coupled homogeneous convection–diffusion type partial differential equations. Constant elements were used for the discretization of the boundaries (y = 0, ?a ? x ? a) and semi‐infinite walls at x = ±a, by keeping them as finite since the boundary integral equations are restricted to these boundaries due to the regularity conditions as y → ∞ . The solution is presented in terms of equivelocity and induced magnetic field contours for several values of Hartmann number (M), conducting length (l), and non‐conducting wall conditions (k). The effect of the parameters on the solution is studied. Flow rates are also calculated for these values of parameters. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The DRBEM solution of incompressible MHD flow equations

This paper presents a dual reciprocity boundary element method (DRBEM) formulation coupled with an implicit backward difference time integration scheme for the solution of the incompressible magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) flow equations. The governing equations are the coupled system of Navier‐Stokes equations and Maxwell's equations of electromagnetics through Ohm's law. We are concerned with a stream function‐vorticity‐magnetic induction‐current density formulation of the full MHD equations in 2D. The stream function and magnetic induction equations which are poisson‐type, are solved by using DRBEM with the fundamental solution of Laplace equation. In the DRBEM solution of the time‐dependent vorticity and current density equations all the terms apart from the Laplace term are treated as nonhomogeneities. The time derivatives are approximated by an implicit backward difference whereas the convective terms are approximated by radial basis functions. The applications are given for the MHD flow, in a square cavity and in a backward‐facing step. The numerical results for the square cavity problem in the presence of a magnetic field are visualized for several values of Reynolds, Hartmann and magnetic Reynolds numbers. The effect of each parameter is analyzed with the graphs presented in terms of stream function, vorticity, current density and magnetic induction contours. Then, we provide the solution of the step flow problem in terms of velocity field, vorticity, current density and magnetic field for increasing values of Hartmann number. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The structural, elastic and thermodynamic properties of thorium tetraboride

The structural, elastic and thermodynamic properties of thorium tetraboride (ThB₄) have been investigated by using first-principles plane-wave pseudopotential density functional theory with generalized gradient approximation. The behaviors of structural parameters under 0-70 GPa hydrostatic pressure are studied by means of Broyden, Fletcher, Goldfarb, and Shanno (BFGS) geometry optimization scheme. By using the stress-strain method, single crystal elastic constants are calculated to test the mechanical stability of the crystal structure and to determine mechanical properties such as bulk modulus at each pressure. However, in order to study the thermodynamic properties of ThB₄, the quasi-harmonic Debye model is used. Then, the dependencies of bulk modulus, heat capacities, thermal expansions, Grüneisen parameters and Debye temperatures on the temperature and pressure are obtained in the whole pressure range 0-70 GPa and temperature range 0-1500 K.     

The six-dimensional self-dual tensor

The equations of motion for a self-interacting self-dual tensor in six dimensions are extracted from the equations describing the M-theory five-brane. These equations are presented in a self-contained, six-dimensional Lorentz-covariant form. In particular, it is shown that the field-sttrength tensor satisfies a non-linear generalised self-duality constraint. The self-duality equation is rewritten in five-dimensional notation and shown to be identical to the corresponding equation in the non-covariant formalism.     

Proton conductivity survey of the acid doped copolymers based on 4‐vinylbenzylboronic acid and 4(5)‐vinylimidazole

In this work, poly(4‐vinylbenzylboronic acid‐co‐4(5)‐vinylimidazole) (poly(4‐VBBA‐co‐4‐Vim)) copolymers were synthesized by free‐radical copolymerization of the monomers 4‐VBBA and 4‐Vim at various monomer feed ratios. The copolymers were characterized by ¹H MAS NMR and ¹¹B MQ‐MAS NMR methods and the copolymer composition was determined via elemental analysis. The membrane properties of these copolymers were investigated after doping with phosphoric acid at several stoichiometric ratios. The proton exchange reaction between acid and heterocycle is confirmed by FTIR. Thermal properties of the samples were investigated via thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The morphology of the copolymers was characterized by x‐ray diffraction, XRD. The temperature dependence of proton conductivities of the samples was investigated by means of impedance spectroscopy. Proton conductivity of the copolymers increased with the doping ratio and reached to 0.0027 S/cm for poly(4‐VBBA‐co‐4‐Vim)/2H₃PO₄ in the anhydrous state. The boron coordination in the copolymer was determined by ¹¹B MQ‐MAS experiment and the coexistence of three and four coordinated boron sites was observed. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 1267–1274, 2009     

Two‐level finite element method with a stabilizing subgrid for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations

We consider the Galerkin finite element method for the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations in two dimensions. The domain is discretized into a set of regular triangular elements and the finite‐dimensional spaces employed consist of piecewise continuous linear interpolants enriched with the residual‐free bubble functions. To find the bubble part of the solution, a two‐level finite element method with a stabilizing subgrid of a single node is described, and its application to the Navier–Stokes equation is displayed. Numerical approximations employing the proposed algorithm are presented for three benchmark problems. The results show that the proper choice of the subgrid node is crucial in obtaining stable and accurate numerical approximations consistent with the physical configuration of the problem at a cheap computational cost. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.