Stabilizing network bargaining games by blocking players

Cooperative matching games (Shapley and Shubik) and Network bargaining games (Kleinberg and Tardos) are games described by an undirected graph, where the vertices represent players. An important role in such games is played by stable graphs, that are graphs whose set of inessential vertices (those that are exposed by at least one maximum matching) are pairwise non adjacent. In fact, stable graphs characterize instances of such games that admit the existence of stable outcomes. In this paper, we focus on stabilizing instances of the above games by blocking as few players as possible. Formally, given a graph G we want to find a minimum cardinality set of vertices such that its removal from G yields a stable graph. We give a combinatorial polynomial-time algorithm for this problem, and develop approximation algorithms for some NP-hard weighted variants, where each vertex has an associated non-negative weight. Our approximation algorithms are LP-based, and we show that our analysis are almost tight by giving suitable lower bounds on the integrality gap of the used LP relaxations.     

Molecularly imprinted polymer on a SiO2‐coated graphene oxide surface for the fast and selective dispersive solid‐phase extraction of Carbamazepine from biological samples

A surface carbamazepine‐imprinted polymer was grafted and synthesized on the SiO₂/graphene oxide surface. Firstly SiO₂ was coated on synthesized graphene oxide sheet using the sol–gel technique. Prior to polymerization, the vinyl group was incorporated on to the surface of SiO₂/graphene oxide to direct selective polymerization on the surface. Methacrylic acid, ethylene glycol dimethacrylate and ethanol were used as monomer, cross‐linker and porogen, respectively. Nonimprinted polymer was also prepared for comparison. The properties of the molecularly imprinted polymer were characterized using field‐emission scanning electron microscopy and Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy. The surface molecularly imprinted polymer was utilized as an adsorbent of dispersive solid‐phase extraction for separation and preconcentration of carbamazepine. The effects of the different parameters influencing the extraction efficiency, such as sample pH were investigated and optimized. The specificity of the molecular imprinted polymer over the nonimprinted polymer was examined in absence and presence of competitive drugs. The carbamazepine calibration curve showed linearity in the ranges 0.5–500 μg/L. The limits of detection and quantification under the optimized conditions were 0.1 and 0.3 μg/L, respectively. The within‐day and between‐day relative standard deviations (n = 3) were 3.6 and 4.3%, respectively. Furthermore, the relative recoveries for spiked biological samples were above 85%.     

Single-nucleotide polymorphism analysis by allele-specific extension of fluorescently labeled nucleotides in a microfluidic flow-through device

We describe a microfluidic approach for allele-specific extension of fluorescently labeled nucleotides for scoring of single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). The method takes advantage of the fact that the reaction kinetics differs between matched and mismatched configurations of allele-specific primers hybridized to DNA template. A microfluidic flow-through device for biochemical reactions on beads was used to take advantage of the reaction kinetics to increase the sequence specificity of the DNA polymerase, discriminating mismatched configurations from matched. The volume of the reaction chamber was 12.5 nL. All three possible variants of an SNP site at codon 72 of the p53 gene were scored using our approach. This work demonstrates the possibility of scoring SNP by allele-specific extension of fluorescently labeled nucleotides in a microfluidic flow-through device. The sensitive detection system and easy microfabrication of the microfluidic device enable further miniaturization and production of an array format of microfluidic devices for high-throughput SNP analysis.     

On the stability of multiple parameter time-varying dynamic systems

A technique is presented for determaining the stability of lumped-pararaeter, time-varying, dynamic systems with aperiodic coefficients. An “energy like” function is used to develop stability conditions which are direct in terms of the coefficient matrices. The significance of what is presented here is twofold. First, it gives stability conditions applicable to systems which are not necessarily periodic. Second, is allows for a systematic categorization of the effects of the parameter changes on system response and stability, in order to provide a better understanding of the behavior of this class of dynamic systems as they arise in various areas of engineering.     

Analytical modeling of static behavior of electrostatically actuated nano/micromirrors considering van der Waals forces

In this paper,the effect of van der Waals(vdW)force on the pull-in behavior of electrostatically actuatednano/micromirrors is investigated.First,the minimum potential energy principle is utilized to find the equation governing the static behavior of nano/micromirror under electrostatic and vdW forces.Then,the stability of static equilibrium points is analyzed using the energy method.It is foundthat when there exist two equilibrium points,the smaller oneis stable and the larger one is unstable.The effects of different design parameters on the mirror’s pull-in angle andpull-in voltage are studied and it is found that vdW forcecan considerably reduce the stability limit of the mirror.Atthe end,the nonlinear equilibrium equation is solved numerically and analytically using homotopy perturbation method(HPM).It is observed that a sixth order perturbation approximation can precisely model the mirror’s behavior.The results of this paper can be used for stable operation design andsafe fabrication of torsional nano/micro actuators.     

Variation of constant formula for the solution of interval differential equations of non-integer order

In the recent years some efforts were made to propose simple and well-behaved fractional derivatives that inherits the classical properties from the first order derivative. Therefore, we propose in this research a new strategy to acquire interval solution of fractional interval differential equations (FIDEs) under interval fractional conformable derivative. This scheme is developed based on a variation of the constant formula to achieve the solution explicitly. The important characteristic of this technique is that it helps us to find a solution with decreasing length of its support which is critical for the solutions based on the interval or fuzzy notions. Two examples are experienced to illustrate our approach and validate it.     

Heat transfer analysis of micropolar hybrid nanofluid over an oscillating vertical plate and Newtonian heating

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The unsteady flow of micropolar hybrid nanofluids through an oscillating vertical plate having infinite length has been analyzed in this study. This...     

The effects of using corrugated booster reflectors to improve the performance of a novel solar collector to apply in cooling PV cells-Navigating performance using ANN

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - In this study, turbulent flow and heat transfer of water in a solar collector equipped with corrugated booster reflectors to apply in cooling...     

CuCl2 heterogenized on metformine‐modified polystyrene resin as an antibacterial agent and recyclable nanocatalyst for Ullmann‐type C‐N coupling reactions

Merrifield Resin was functionalized with metformine and applied as a solid support to immobilize the CuCl₂. The Ps‐Met/CuCl₂ was characterized by several techniques including Fourier transform infrared (FTIR), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (EDX), wavelength‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy (WDX) and inductively coupled plasma (ICP). The Ps‐Met/CuCl₂ was used as an efficient recyclable solid nanocatalyst for N‐arylation of indole and aniline through coupling reactions of Ullmann‐type C‐N. The advantages of this method are easy workup, improved yields, and simple recovery via filtration. Ultimately, the Ps‐Met/CuCl₂ antibacterial property was examined against two bacteria (Staphylococcus aureus (Staph. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli)) and indicated its antibacterial performance against gram negative (E. coli) bacteria and gram positive (Staph. aureus).     

Electromagnetic fields with 217 Hz and 0.2 mT as hazardous factors for tubulin structure and assembly (in vitro study)

Nowadays exposure to extremely low frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF-EMFs) is an unavoidable fact in human societies. In spite of destructive effects of ELF-EMF such as impression on short-term memory and cognitive performances, neuroprotective and neurogeneration effects of ELF-EMF have been reported. On the other hand, microtubule (MT) proteins, the dynamic cytoskeleton proteins that are mostly located in axons, are able to produce local EMFs and possess key role in memory formation and consciousness. Therefore, MTs have strong potential to be affected by exogenous ELF-EMFs. In the present study, decline of MT polymerization was shown by transmission electron microscopy images and turbidimetry method after exposure to ELF-EMFs with 50, 100, and 217 Hz frequencies at 0.2 mT intensity. Circular dichroism and 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonate (ANS) fluorometry were used to demonstrate the MT secondary and third structural changes. Decrement of MT polymerization through disruption of tubulin native structure, and increasing the β-sheets and random coils were observed in all exposure conditions. Therefore, ELF-EMFs with 50, 100, and specially 217 Hz frequencies at 0.2 mT could lead to disruption of MT functions in the neural cells.