Velocity dispersion in an elastic plate with microstructure: effects of characteristic length in a couple stress model

Microstructural effects become important, when dimensions of the heterogeneous material are comparable to the length scale of microstructure and the state of stress needs to be defined in a non-local manner. Linear theory of elasticity, which is associated with the concept of homogeneity of material and local stresses, cannot describe the behavior of the materials with microstructures. In this study, Couple stress theory of elasticity has been employed to capture the size effects on the propagation of Lamb waves in an elastic plate with microstructure. Effects on the dispersion curves of Lamb waves are studied, when the characteristic length of the material is comparable to cell size. The governing equations of couple stress theory, involving stresses and couple stresses are solved to study the impact of different characteristic lengths, comparable with cell size. Since bone is a material with microstructure, so for numerical calculations and graphical representation of the results, the plate is considered to have mechanical properties typically used for bones.     

Effect of phosphate on sorption of Eu(III) by montmorillonite

Eu(III) sorption by Na-montmorillonite, the principal component of bentonite, has been studied in absence and presence of phosphate under varying experimental conditions of pH, metal ion, phosphate and sorbent concentration. The sorption edge was found to shift to high pH with decreasing sorbent concentration indicating site heterogeneity on the clay. Eu(III) sorption by Na-montmorillonite was found to increase in presence of phosphate at lower sorbent concentration of 0.5 g/L while at higher sorbent loading no effect of phosphate was observed. ATR–FTIR spectroscopy has been used to understand transition from surface complexation to surface precipitation with decreasing sorbent concentration.     

Distributionally robust chance-constrained games: existence and characterization of Nash equilibrium

We consider an n-player finite strategic game. The payoff vector of each player is a random vector whose distribution is not completely known. We assume that the distribution of a random payoff vector of each player belongs to a distributional uncertainty set. We define a distributionally robust chance-constrained game using worst-case chance constraint. We consider two types of distributional uncertainty sets. We show the existence of a mixed strategy Nash equilibrium of a distributionally robust chance-constrained game corresponding to both types of distributional uncertainty sets. For each case, we show a one-to-one correspondence between a Nash equilibrium of a game and a global maximum of a certain mathematical program.     

Kinetics and TL glow curve study of europium-activated strontium aluminate

The present paper reports the thermoluminescence (TL) glow curve of Eu²⁺-activated SrAl₂O₄ phosphor with different UV exposure times. Evaluation of kinetic parameters was done by the peak shape method. The recorded glow curve shifts towards lower temperatures with respect to increasing UV exposure time. The peaks were found at 146.76, 141.34 and 140.37 °C, respectively, for 5, 10 and 15 min of UV exposure using the heating rate of 3°C s^?1. The glow peak shows the second-order kinetics. Different kinetic parameters, i.e. trap depth, order of kinetics, activation energy, and frequency factor are also calculated. The XRD pattern of the sample is compared with reported XRD using the software match.     

Purification,Characterisation and Cloning of a 2S Albumin with DNase,RNase and Antifungal Activities from Putranjiva Roxburghii

The present study reports the characterisation of a novel ~12-kDa heterodimeric protein, designated as putrin, from the seeds of Putranjiva roxburghii. The purification of putrin to homogeneity was accomplished using DEAE-sepharose where protein was unbound, CM-sepharose and Cibacron blue 3GA where it was bound and appeared as single peak on a size-exclusion chromatography column. A 15 % sodium dodecyl sulphate polyacrylamide electrophoresis gel, under reducing condition, demonstrated that putrin is made of two polypeptide chains of approximately 4.5 and 7.5 kDa. Circular dichroism studies demonstrated the helical nature and conformational stability of protein at increasing temperatures. Putrin exhibited both RNase and DNase activities and exerted antifungal activity but possessed relatively weak translation–inhibitory activity in cell-free system. The cloning and sequence analysis revealed a 414 bp open reading frame encoding a preproprotein of 137 amino acid residues. The amino acid sequence comparisons and phylogenetic analysis of putrin showed significant homology to 2S seed storage family proteins. The results demonstrated that putrin belongs to 2S albumin family and exhibits a spectrum of biotechnologically exploitable functions.     

Kinetic and Spectroscopic Characterization of 1-Naphthol 2-hydroxylase from Pseudomonas sp. Strain C5

1-Naphthol 2-hydroxylase (1-NH) catalyzes the conversion of 1-naphthol to 1,2-dihydroxynaphthalene. 1-NH from carbaryl degrading Pseudomonas strain C5 was purified and characterized for its kinetic and spectroscopic properties. The enzyme was found to be NAD(P)H-dependent external flavin monooxygenase. Though the kinetic parameters of 1-NH from strain C5 appear to be similar to 1-NH enzyme from strains C4 and C6, however, they differ in their N-terminal sequences, mole content of flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD), reconstitution of apoenzyme, and K _i. 1-NH showed narrow substrate specificity with comparable hydroxylation efficiency on 1-naphthol and 5-amino 1-naphthol (~30 %) followed by 4-chloro 1-naphthol (~9 %). Salicylate was found to be the nonsubstrate effector. The flavin fluorescence of 1-NH was found to increase in the presence of 1-naphthol (K _d?=?11.3 μM) and salicylate (K _d?=?1027 μM). The circular dichroism (CD) spectra showed significant perturbations in the presence of NAD(P)H, whereas no changes were observed in the presence of 1-naphthol. Naphthalene, 1-chloronaphthalene, 2-napthol, and 2-naphthoic acid were found to be the mixed inhibitors. Chemical modification studies showed the probable involvement of His, Cys, and Tyr in the binding of 1-naphthol, whereas Trp was found to be involved in the binding of NAD(P)H.     

Transport Through a Clay Barrier with the Contaminant Concentration Dependent Permeability

Transport of contaminants through clays is characterized by a very low dispersivity, but depends on the sensitivity of its intrinsic permeability to the contaminant's concentration. An additional constitutive relationship for a variable intrinsic permeability is thus adopted leading to a coupled system of equations for diffusive–advective transport in multicomponent liquid. A one-dimensional transport problem is solved using finite difference and Newton–Raphson procedure for nonlinear algebraic equations. The results indicate that although diffusion contributes to an increase of transport with respect to pure advection, the flux ultimately depends on end boundary conditions for concentration which, if low, may actually slow down the evolution of concentration and thus of permeability. Indeed, the advective component of flux may still remain secondary if the end portion of the layer remains unaffected by high concentrations. With no constraints on concentration at the bottom (zero concentration gradient boundary condition) and high concentration applied at the top, a significant shortening of the breakthrough time occurs.     

Bis(2-Hydroxy-3-Isopropyl-6-Methyl-Benzaldehyde)Ethylenediamine: A Novel Cation Sensor

Novel substituted phenol-based new symmetrical bis(2-hydroxy-3-isopropyl-6-methyl-benzaldehyde)ethylenediamine (1) has been designed and synthesized. The compound 1 fluorometrically recognized Cu²⁺ ion in CH₃OH/H₂O (90:10, v/v) by exhibiting an increase in emission upon complexation. In addition, Cu²⁺ gave rise to a change in colour of the solution of compound 1, which was clearly visible to the naked eye under UV irradiation. The association constant (K) of compound 1 with Cu²⁺ ion was computed with the Benesi-Hildebrand plot and Scatchard plot at 43,000 M^?1 and 43,011 M^?1 respectively.     

High CEC generation and surface modification in mica and vermiculite minerals

Montmorillonite layered silicate has been commonly used to reinforce polymer matrices. Due to its swelling in water, organic modification of the mineral surface is easily achieved which makes the surface compatible with polymers. Other minerals like mica and vermiculite though can also lead to high aspect ratio platelets in nanocomposites, but they do not swell in water owing to much stronger electrostatic forces of attraction holding their platelets together (layer charge density >0.5?eq?·?mol^?1 in comparison with 0.25–0.5?eq?·?mol^?1 for montmorillonite). In current study, milling, delamination and cation exchange processing of mica and vermiculite minerals has been reported to explore their potential as reinforcement materials. Wet grinding and subsequent sieving of the coarse minerals led to fine-sized particles suitable to perform chemical delamination in water. The delamination process resulted in Li-mica and Na-vermiculite with enhanced access to the interlayer cations, thus, higher CEC. Successful surface modification of the delaminated minerals with alkyl ammonium ions could be achieved which resulted in significant enhancements in their basal plane spacing. Peak degradation temperatures of 260°C were measured for C18 and 2C18 modified vermiculite, whereas 300°C and 275°C were observed respectively for C18 and 2C18 modified mica minerals which make them suitable for compounding with polymers at high temperature.     

Effect of entrance channel parameters on the fusion of two heavy ions: Excitation functions of reaction products in16O +66Zn and37Cl +45Sc reactions

Excitation functions of reaction products formed in¹⁶O +⁶⁶Zn and³⁷Cl +⁴⁵Sc systems, leading to the same compound nucleus,⁸²Sr, were measured using recoil-catcher technique and off-line γ-ray spectrometry. The contribution of non-compound processes like transfer and incomplete fusion (ICF) reactions to the cross-sections of different evaporation residues were delineated by comparing the experimental data with the predictions of Monte Carlo simulation code PACE2. The results show that non-compound processes become a significant fraction of the total reaction cross-section in¹⁶O +⁶⁶ systems in the beam energy range studied, while³⁷Cl +⁴⁵Sc gives mainly compound nucleus products. The mass asymmetry dependence of the fusion and non-compound cross-sections have been analysed in terms of the static fusion model and sum rule model