Micropolar hypo-elasticity

In this paper, the concept of hypo-elasticity is generalized to the micropolar continuum theory, and the general forms of the constitutive equations of the micropolar hypo-elastic materials are presented. A new co-rotational objective rate whose spin is the micropolar gyration tensor is introduced which describes the deformation of the material in view of an observer attached to the micro-structure. As special case, simplified versions of the proposed constitutive equations are given in which the same fourth-order elasticity tensors are used as in the micropolar linear elasticity. A 2-D finite element formulation for large elastic deformation of micropolar hypo-elastic media based on the simplified constitutive equations in conjunction with Jaumann and gyration rates is presented. As an example, buckling of a shallow arc is examined, and it is shown that an increase in the micropolar material parameters results in an increase in the buckling load of the arc. Also, it is shown that micropolar effects become important for deformations taking place at small scales.     

Dissipation of carbendazim and its metabolites in cucumber using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry

Currently, there is growing interest in the degradation pathways of organic contaminants such as pesticides. In the case of pesticides, the determination of metabolites in agricultural products and environment is necessary as some of them could present similar toxicity to or even higher toxicity than the parent compound. The development of analytical methodology for the identification and quantification of carbendazim fungicide and its metabolites in cucumber was studied. Cucumber (cucumis sativus) is a global food in terms of economic importance and nutritional quality. Careful optimisation of the liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry (LC-MS)/MS parameters was achieved in order to attain a fast separation with the best sensitivity. The detection was carried out on an Ion-Trap tandem mass spectrometer (MS/MS) by electrospray ionisation in positive ion mode (ESI+) with multiple reaction monitoring (MRM).     

Wave transmission through laminated composite double-walled cylindrical shell lined with porous materials

A study on free harmonic wave propagation in a double-walled cylindrical shell, whose walls sandwich a layer of porous materials, is presented within the framework of the classic theory for laminated composite shells. One of the most effective components of the wave propagation through the porous core is estimated with the aid of a fiat panel with the same geometrical properties. By considering the effective wave component, the porous layer is modeled as a fluid with equivalent properties. Thus, the model is simplified as a double-walled cylindrical shell trapping the fluid media. Finally, the transmission loss (TL) of the structure is estimated in a broadband frequency, and then the results are compared.     

A new multi-objective stochastic model for a forward/reverse logistic network design with responsiveness and quality level

Logistic network design has an important and strategic platform in an efficient and effective supply chain management, and usually involves multiple and conflicting goals, such as cost/profit, resource balance, customer responsiveness, quality, and the like. Besides, due to the implementation of government legislation, environmental concern, social responsibility and customer awareness, companies have been forced by customers not only to supply environmentally amicable products but also to be responsible for the returned products. Hence, this paper presents a stochastic multi-objective model for forward/reverse logistic network design under a uncertain environment including three echelons in forward direction (i.e., suppliers, plants, and distribution centers) and two echelons in backward direction (i.e., collection centers and disposal centers). We demonstrate a method to evaluate the systematic supply chain configuration maximizing the profit, customer responsiveness, and quality as objectives of the logistic network. The set of Pareto optimal solutions is obtained and also financial risk relevant to them is computed in order to show the tradeoff between objectives. The results give important insight for fostering the decision making process.     

Prime Filtrations and Primary Decompositions of Modules

We give a new characterization for prime filtrations of an R-module M in terms of primary decomposition of the zero submodule of M. Using this characterization we prove that some classes of monomial ideals like generic and cogeneric monomial ideals are clean, pretty clean, or almost clean.     

Stability analysis of electrostatic nanotweezers

In this paper, the pull-in instability of electrostatically actuated nanotweezers considering the dispersion forces is studied using distributed and lumped parameter models. By analogy to nanoswitches, closed-form solutions are obtained for electrostatic nanotweezers. The distributed and lumped parameter modeling of the tweezer result, respectively, in two coupled nonlinear boundary value problems and two coupled nonlinear equations, which are solved numerically in the cases of electrostatic microtweezers, freestanding nanotweezers, and electrostatic nanotweezers. In each case, analytical and numerical solutions are obtained and compared with those of the corresponding switch. In addition, the results of the distributed and lumped parameter models are compared. The detachment length and minimum initial gap of nanotweezers are determined.     

The effect of carrier gas flow on structural and optical properties of TiO2 nanowires

Optical properties and photoluminescence of TiO₂ nanowires, synthesized by two-step thermal evaporation process, under different Ar gas flow as carrier have been studied. The gas flow was varied from 50 to 150 sccm in order to find the optimum gas flow to growth TiO₂ nanowires. As evidenced by X-ray diffraction patterns, our synthesized nanowires, were found to be crystalline rutile TiO₂. Our results indicated a convenient gas flow for controlling diameter size of nanowires was about 100 sccm. In this case, diameters and lengths were, respectively, within the ranges of 40–100 and 400–1800 nm. The experimental data of the reflectance of TiO₂ nanowires have been obtained through using spectrometer of wavelength 250–800 nm that has been indicated reflectance decreasing with increasing the gas flow, due to the scattering from the surface of the nanowires and also an increase in voids’ roughness. Under excitation 370 nm, the TiO₂ nanowires can emit light peaked at 435 nm. It is believed that peak 435 may be due to free excitons emission.     

Novel nano-porous hydrogel as a carrier matrix for oral delivery of tetracycline hydrochloride

A novel nano-porous hydrogel (NPH) was synthesized via graft copolymerization of sodium acrylate (Na-AA) and acrylamide (AAm) onto salep backbones and its application as a carrier matrix for oral delivery of tetracycline hydrochloride (TH) was investigated. The Taguchi method as a strong experimental design tool was used for synthesis optimization. The swelling behavior of optimum hydrogel was measured in various media. The hydrogel formation was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and thermogravimetrical analysis (TGA). The study of the surface morphology of the hydrogels using SEM and AFM showed a nanoporous (average pore size: 180 nm) structure for the sample obtained under optimized conditions. The drug delivery results demonstrated that this NPH could successfully deliver a drug to the intestine without losing the drug in the stomach, and could be a good candidate as an orally administrated drug delivery system.     

A generalization of Mizoguchi and Takahashi’s theorem for single-valued mappings in partially ordered metric spaces

We present a generalization of Mizoguchi and Takahashi’s fixed point theorem for single-valued mappings in partially ordered metric spaces. As an application of the main result, we give an existence and uniqueness theorem for the solution of a periodic boundary value problem.     

Helium ion distributions in a 4 kJ plasma focus device by 1 mm-thick large-size polycarbonate detectors

Helium ion beam profile, angular and iso-ion beam distributions in 4 kJ Amirkabir plasma focus (APF) device were effectively observed by the unaided eyes and studied in single 1 mm-thick large-diameter (20 cm) polycarbonate track detectors (PCTD). The PCTDs were processed by 50 Hz–HV electrochemical etching using a large-size ECE chamber. The results show that helium ions produced in the APF device have a ring-shaped angular distribution peaked at an angle of ∼±60°$\sim \pm 60\mathrm{°}$ with respect to the top of the anode. Some information on the helium ion energy and distributions is also provided. The method is highly effective for ion beam studies.