Theoretical and experimental vibration analysis of an oblique space frame

This paper has the general objectives of relating analytical and experimental techniques for analysis of indeterminate spatial frames under dynamic loading. The model used has been made as general as possible to explore validity for nonstereotyped configurations. A highly redundant oblique four-bar space frame was selected having a lowest natural frequency of 42.1 cps. Recent success of the finite-element-matrix method and progress in the field of nonlinear optimization provides a rational basis for the synthesis of space frames; however, the validity of the discretization, both for strength-stiffness analysis and dynamic analysis, has not been explored for this type of configuration. The flexibility influence coefficients, the natural frequencies and the steady-state vibration amplitudes were experimentally determined and compared with theoretical values. Influence coefficients had an “error” of between four and 10 percent; the six lowest natural frequencies were in agreement within 15 percent when rotary inertia was considered. Steady-state amplitudes were in good agreement at frequencies not too close to resonance.     

Modeling the depletion of dissolved oxygen in a water body located near a city

Water bodies located nearby cities are much prone to pollution, especially in the developing countries, where effluents treatment facilities are generally lacking. The main reason for this phenomenon is the increasing population in the cities, and the large number of industries located near them. This leads to generation of huge amounts of domestic and industrial sewage that is discharged into the water bodies, increasing their organic pollutant load and resulting in the depletion of dissolved oxygen. In this paper, we propose a mathematical model for this situation, focusing especially on the resulting quality of the water, determined by the level of dissolved oxygen. The model also accounts for resources needed for the population survival and for the industrial operations. In addition, we describe also the decomposition of organic pollutants by bacteria in the aquatic medium. Feasibility conditions and stability criteria of the system's equilibria are determined analytically. The results show that human population and industries are relevant influential factors responsible for the increase in organic pollutants and the decrease in dissolved oxygen in the water body, in the sense that they may exert a destabilizing effect on the system. The numerical simulations confirm the analytical results. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fuzzy goal programming for inventory management: A bacterial foraging approach

An efficient inventory planning approach in today’s global trading regime is necessary not only for increasing the profit margin, but also to maintain system flexibility for achieving higher customer satisfaction. Such an approach should hence be comprised of a prudent inventory policy and clear satisfaction of stakeholder’s goals. Relative significance given to various objectives in a supply chain network varies with product as well as time. In this paper, a model is proposed to fill this void for a single product inventory control of a supply chain consisting of three echelons. A generic modification proposed to the membership functions of the fuzzy goal-programming approach is used to mathematically map the aspiration levels of the decision maker. The bacterial foraging algorithm has been modified with enhancement of the algorithms’ capability to map integer solution spaces and utilised to solve resulting fuzzy multi-objective function. An illustrative example comprehensively covers various decision scenarios and highlights the underlying managerial insights.     

Synthesis of BF2 complexes of prodigiosin type oligopyrroles

We developed a simple, facile route for the synthesis of BF(2) complexes of prodigiosin type oligopyrroles and their cholesterol conjugates. This route gives an access to synthesize any desired meso-aryl-substituted 3-pyrrolyl BODIPYs which were not easily accessible earlier.     

Identification of Interaction Pressure Between Structure and Explosive with Inverse Approach

An inverse approach for the identification of the time-dependent localized interaction pressure between a structure and an explosive has been proposed and developed. In this approach, surface measurements of structural response (displacement and velocity) are integrated with numerical simulations to identify the spatial and time-dependent interaction pressure (i.e. the normal traction) on a structure surface. For verification and validation purposes, numerical simulations are used to (a) generate the time-dependent displacement and velocity fields on the free surface of the specimen at specified time intervals, (b) form a blast wave and compute the resulting interaction traction field between the structure and blast wave on the interaction interface for comparison to inverse predictions. In particular, validation of the proposed approach was performed using numerical simulation results for an underwater explosion, with excellent agreement between the identified interaction traction and the simulation generated interaction traction up to and including the maximum traction condition. To demonstrate the potential of the method, the proposed inverse procedure was employed to estimate the interaction traction field on a thin aluminum specimen subjected to transient pressure loading through detonation of explosive buried in sand.     

Hilbert Space Methods in Quantum Mechanics,by Werner O. Amrein

This article, which is in two parts, surveys the wide application of scattering experiments to studies of the structures of solids and liquids. Part 1 outlines the general principles, and shows how the angular distribution of a scattered radiation is related by Fourier transform to correlations in the distributions of electrons and nuclei in the scattering target, citing the use of X-rays and of neutrons in determining time-averaged density distributions. Part 2 (to appear in the next issue) discusses the time-dependent aspects of the distributions for solids and liquids, including superfluid helium, and also of dynamical distributions of magnetization (or angular momentum) density, and examines the present limitations and future possibilities of scattering experiments.     

Investigation of optimum pulse shape for 112 Gbps DP-DQPSK in DWDM transmission

This paper reports the simulative analyses to investigate the impact of different pulse shapes on DP-DQPSK modulation for high-spectral efficient DWDM transmission at 112 Gbps per channel. In the simulation model we have considered three different pulse shapes viz. NRZ, 50% duty cycle RZ (RZ50) and 67% duty cycle RZ (RZ67) in symbol-aligned and symbol-interleaved format. The analysis has been carried out for various linear and nonlinear system impairments where the pulse is subjected to degradation under the influence of amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) noise, group velocity dispersion (GVD), cross-phase modulation (XPM) and polarization mode dispersion (PMD) and thus, limiting the system performance. Results show that the RZ50 pulse shape for DP-DQPSK with symbol interleaving shows the maximum tolerance for the various system degradations in long haul DWDM transmission. Even the system based on the NRZ pulse shape can gain significant improvement from the symbol-interleaving.     

A microfocus X‐ray fluorescence beamline at Indus‐2 synchrotron radiation facility

A microfocus X‐ray fluorescence spectroscopy beamline (BL‐16) at the Indian synchrotron radiation facility Indus‐2 has been constructed with an experimental emphasis on environmental, archaeological, biomedical and material science applications involving heavy metal speciation and their localization. The beamline offers a combination of different analytical probes, e.g. X‐ray fluorescence mapping, X‐ray microspectroscopy and total‐external‐reflection fluorescence characterization. The beamline is installed on a bending‐magnet source with a working X‐ray energy range of 4–20 keV, enabling it to excite K‐edges of all elements from S to Nb and L‐edges from Ag to U. The optics of the beamline comprises of a double‐crystal monochromator with Si(111) symmetric and asymmetric crystals and a pair of Kirkpatrick–Baez focusing mirrors. This paper describes the performance of the beamline and its capabilities with examples of measured results.     

Lysinated Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes with Carbohydrate Ligands as an Effective Nanocarrier for Targeted Doxorubicin Delivery to Breast Cancer Cells

Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) are elongated, hollow cylindrical nanotubes made of sp2 carbon. MWCNTs have attracted significant attention in the area of drug delivery due to their high drug-loading capacity and large surface area. Furthermore, they can be linked to bioactive ligands molecules via covalent and noncovalent bonds that allow for the targeted delivery of anticancer drugs such as doxorubicin. The majority of methodologies reported for the functionalization of MWCNTs for drug delivery are quite complex and use expensive linkers and ligands. In the present study, we report a simple, cost-effective approach for functionalizing MWCNTs with the carbohydrate ligands, galactose (GA), mannose (MA) and lactose (LA), using lysine as a linker. The doxorubicin (Dox)-loaded functionalized MWCNTs were characterized using FT-IR, NMR, Raman, XRD and FE-SEM. The drug–loaded MWCNTs were evaluated for drug loading, drug release and cell toxicity in vitro, in breast cancer cells. The results indicated that the carbohydrate-modified lysinated MWCNTs had greater Dox loading capacity, compared to carboxylated MWCNTs (COOHMWCNTs) and lysinated MWCNTs (LyMWCNTs). In vitro drug release experiments indicated that the carbohydrate functionalized LyMWCNTs had higher Dox release at pH 5.0, compared to the physiological pH of 7.4, over 120 h, indicating that they are suitable candidates for targeting the tumor microenvironment as a result of their sustained release profile of Dox. Doxorubicin-loaded galactosylated MWCNTs (Dox-GAMWCNTs) and doxorubicin loaded mannosylated MWCNTs (Dox-MAMWCNTs) had greater anticancer efficacy and cellular uptake, compared to doxorubicin–loaded lactosylated MWCNTs (Dox-LAMWCNTs) and pure Dox, in MDA-MB231 and MCF7 breast cancer cells. However, neither the ligand conjugated multiwall blank carbon nanotubes (GAMWCNTs, MAMWCNTs and LAMWCNTs) nor the lysinated multiwalled blank carbon nanotubes produced significant toxicity in the normal cells. Our results suggest that sugar-tethered multiwalled carbon nanotubes, especially the galactosylated (Dox-GAMWCNTs) and mannosylated (Dox-MAMWCNTs) formulations, may be used to improve the targeted delivery of anticancer drugs to breast cancer cells.