Intraspecific competition of predator for prey with variable rates in protected areas

Nonlinear Dynamics - In this present study, we systematically explore the periodicity (almost periodic nature) of a dynamical system in time-varying environment, which portrays a special case of...     

Magnetic solid-phase extraction using Schiff base ligand supported on magnetic nanoparticles as sorbent combined with dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction for the extraction of phenols from water samples

ABSTRACT

In this work, the magnetic sorbent was developed by covalent binding of a Schiff base ligand, N,N’-bis(3-salicyliden aminopropyl)amine (salpr), on the surface of silica coated magnetic nanoparticles (Salpr@SCMNPs). The core-shell nanoparticle was applied for the magnetic solid-phase extraction (MSPE) combined with dispersive liquid-liquid microextraction (DLLME) of phenolic compounds from water samples prior to gas chromatography-flame ionisation detector (GC?FID). Characterisation of the Salpr@SCMNPs was performed with different physicochemical methods such as Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). Variables affecting the performance of both extraction steps such as pH of the water sample, the sorbent amount, the desorption conditions, the extraction time; and extraction solvent were studied. Under the optimised conditions, the analytical performances were determined with a linear range of 0.01–100 ng mL^?1 and a limit of detection at 0.003–0.02 ng mL^?1 for all of the analytes studied. The intra-day (n = 5) and inter-day (n = 3) relative standard deviations (RSD%) of three replicates were each demonstrated in the range of 6.9–8.9% and 7.3–10.1%, respectively. The proposed method was executed for the analysis of real water samples, whereby recoveries in the range of 92.9–99.0% and RSD% lower than 6.1% were attained.     

Viscosity of concentrated colloidal suspensions: comparison of bidisperse models

In this paper, recent advances in the study of rheological behavior of concentrated bimodal suspensions are briefly reviewed. The predictive models are divided into two categories, namely, the effective volume fraction (or hard sphere scaling) approach and the separation of contributions approach. Predictions of both approaches are compared with experimental data of electrostatically and sterically stabilized suspensions. It is shown that the predictions of both hard sphere scaling and the scaling method of Zaman and Moudgil (J. Colloid Interface Sci. 212 (1999) 167) to separate the contributions of fine and coarse particles are in good agreement with the experimentally observed results. The approach by Dames, Morrison, Wilenbacher (Rheol. Acta 40 (2001) 434) to separate the hard-sphere and non-hard-sphere contributions is investigated using the aqueous silica and polystyrene suspensions respectively. A good agreement is shown for aqueous silica suspensions. However, significant differences between the predictions and experimental data are found for the sterically stabilized polystyrene suspensions, suggesting a more generalized expression is needed. As an attempt to classify the models on the viscosity of colloidal suspensions, the present study will provide guidelines for interpretation of experimental results and for the development of more comprehensive predictive methodologies for polydispersed colloidal dispersions.     

Natural radioactivity and radon exhalation rates in building materials used in Egypt

Natural and fabricated building materials commonly used in Egypt were surveyed for both natural radionuclides content and radon exhalation rate. These include raw as well as construction products. Concentration of natural radionuclides in all samples were determined by γ-ray spectroscopy with HPGe detector. For Radon exhalation rate measurements of fabricated samples, the seal can-technique has been applied using CR-39 plastic track detectors. The radiation hazard indices of the total natural radioactivity in the studied samples were estimated. The results were compared with the corresponding results of different countries and were found to be lying within the average world values. Radon exhalation rate in the studied samples varied between 197 (cement brick) and 907 mBq m⁻² h⁻¹ (blast furnace slag cement). The results of this survey suggest that, using blast furnace slag cement for pre-coating the internal walls of buildings in the Urban region of Egypt is discouraged and the replacement of clay brick by cement brick will be more healthy for the public.     

On shadowing: Ordinary and ergodic

The aim of this paper is to introduce the notion of ergodic shadowing for a continuous onto map which is equivalent to the map being topologically mixing and has the ordinary shadowing property. In particular, we deduce the chaotic behavior of a map with ergodic shadowing property. Moreover, we define some kind of specification property and investigate its relation to the ergodic shadowing property.     

Cyclicity of the unramified Iwasawa module

For a number field k and a prime number p, let k _?? be the cyclotomic Z _p -extension of k with finite layers k _n . We study the finiteness of the Galois group X _?? over k _?? of the maximal abelian unramified p-extension of k _?? when it is assumed to be cyclic. We then focus our attention to the case where p?=?2 and k is a real quadratic field and give the rank of the 2-primary part of the class group of k _n . As a consequence, we determine the complete list of real quadratic number fields for which X _?? is cyclic non trivial. We then apply these results to the study of Greenberg??s conjecture for infinite families of real quadratic fields thus generalizing previous results obtained by Ozaki and Taya.     

Iterative approximation of fixed points of Prešić operators on partial metric spaces

We study the convergence of the Pre?i? type k‐step iterative method for a class of operators satisfying Pre?i? type contractive conditions on the setting of partial metric spaces. Some examples are presented to illustrate our obtained results. As applications of the presented convergence theorems, we derive global attractivity results for a class of matrix difference equations. Numerical experiments are also presented to illustrate the theoretical findings.     

Improvement of performance of tetraphenylporphyrin-based red organic light emitting diodes using WO3 and C60 buffer layers

One of the porphyrin derivatives, meso-tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP), has been synthesized and examined as an emitter material (EM) for efficient fluorescent red organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). By inserting a tungsten oxide (WO₃) layer into the interface of anode (ITO) and hole transport layer N,N′-Di-[(1-napthyl)-N,N′-diphenyl]-(1,1′-biphenyl)-4,4′-diamine (NPB) and by using fullerene (C₆₀) in contact with a LiF/Al cathode, the performance of devices was markedly improved. The current density–voltage–luminance (J–V–L) characterizations of the samples show that red OLEDs with both WO₃ and C₆₀ as buffer layers have a lower driving voltage and higher luminance compared with the devices without buffer layers. The red OLED with the configuration ITO/WO₃ (3 nm)/NPB (50 nm)/TPP (60 nm)/BPhen (30 nm)/C₆₀ (5 nm)/LiF (0.8 nm)/Al (100 nm) achieved the high luminance of 6359 cd/m² at the low driving voltage of 8 V. At a current density of 20 mA/cm², a pure red emission with CIE coordinates of (0.65; 0.35) is observed for this device. Moreover, a power efficiency of 2.07 lm/W and a current efficiency of 5.17 cd/A at 20 mA/cm² were obtained for the fabricated devices. The study of the energy level diagram of the devices revealed that the improvement in performance of the devices with buffer layers could be attributed to lowering of carrier-injecting barrier and more balanced charge injection and transport properties.     

Stability analysis of graphene based laminated composite sheets under non-uniform inplane loading by nonlocal elasticity

Size dependent buckling of composite laminates made of isotropic graphene layers interlaid with bonding agents is considered. Nonlocal theory of elasticity is used in the buckling analysis to reflect the size scale effects on the critical buckling loads which is discussed in detail. The method is capable of predicting the relative buckling modes for non-uniform inplane loading applied through the thickness of the laminate. All modes of buckling in which the layers may displace together or opposite one another are investigated to study their scale dependent effects. Displacement or load controls are implemented through independent parameters as constraints to form special combination of buckling modes. Each graphene sheet is considered as a Kirchhoff plate model. The interlaid bonding agent is laterally treated as Winkler elastic foundation between graphene layers while neglecting their other load carrying capacities. Various numerical results are obtained reflecting the nonlocality effects. It is observed that in cases of higher load ratios and simpler buckling modes, the effect of nonlocality tends to drastically increase. The results of simpler examples studied are verified by another reference.     

Existence and Attractivity of <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-Pseudo Almost Automorphic Sequence Solution of a Model of Bidirectional Neural Networks

In this paper we discuss the existence and global attractivity of k-pseudo almost automorphic sequence solution of a model of bidirectional cellular neural networks. We consider the corresponding difference equation analogue of the model system using suitable discretization method and obtain certain conditions for the existence of solution. The k-pseudo almost automorphic sequence solutions generalize the results of pseudo almost periodic, almost periodic and almost automorphic sequences solutions. Moreover the results proved in this paper are new and compliment the existing one.