Minimum Required Local Storages of an Automated Assembly System

An optimal strategy for selection of the required local storages of the workstations and transporter stations of a finite capacity flexible assembly line system is presented while controlling the bottleneck problem. For this purpose, a mixed non-Markovian queueing network with infinite capacity nodes is presented to model its performance, a stochastic optimization model is provided and a heuristic algorithm is developed for solving it. Finally, an example is presented and the approximation results are compared with those from a simulation study.     

Detection of enantiomers in dissymmetric biaryls with chiral shift reagents

Methoxycarbonyl groups in racemic biphenyls show separation of the methyl proton magnetic resonance signals in the presence of large amounts of chiral shift reagents.     

Chemistry of benzo[b] furan IV.. Chemical behaviour of furo[3,4-b] -benzofuran and synthesis of 4-Arylbenzofuro[2,3-d] pyridazines

Furo[3,2-b]benzofuran was demonstrated to be an intermediate for the synthesis of dibenzofuran and 1,4-epoxy-1,4-dihydrodibenzofuran ring systems. Starting from the readily available aryl 3-bromomethyl-2-benzo[b]furyl ketones, a method was developed for the synthesis of 4-arylbenzofuro[2,3-d]pyridazines.     

An integrated CMOS high voltage supply for lab-on-a-chip systems

Electrophoresis is a mainstay of lab-on-a-chip (LOC) implementations of molecular biology procedures and is the basis of many medical diagnostics. High voltage (HV) power supplies are necessary in electrophoresis instruments and are a significant part of the overall system cost. This cost of instrumentation is a significant impediment to making LOC technologies more widely available. We believe one approach to overcoming this problem is to use microelectronic technology (complementary metal-oxide semiconductor, CMOS) to generate and control the HV. We present a CMOS-based chip (3 mm x 2.9 mm) that generates high voltages (hundreds of volts), switches HV outputs, and is powered by a 5 V input supply (total power of 28 mW) while being controlled using a standard computer serial interface. Microchip electrophoresis with laser induced fluorescence (LIF) detection is implemented using this HV CMOS chip. With the other advancements made in the LOC community (e.g. micro-fluidic and optical devices), these CMOS chips may ultimately enable 'true' LOC solutions where essentially all the microfluidics, photonics and electronics are on a single chip.     

Tandem Behaviour of a Telecommunication System with Repeated Calls: A Markovian Case with Buffers

The performance of a telecommunication system consisting of a set of transmitters with finite capacity buffers is modelled with a Markovian queueing network, and its tandem behaviour is approximated, in steady state. In this system, a fraction of the units which, at the instants of their arrival at each transmitter, find it busy may retry to be processed by merging with the incoming arrival units at the same transmitter after a fixed delay time. The performance of this system is approximated by a recursive algorithm, in steady state. Furthermore, the approximation outcomes are compared against those from a simulation study. In summary, our numerical results indicate that approximating the non-renewal superposition arrival, the non-renewal overflow and the non-renewal departure processes at each node of the network can be approximated with compatible Poisson processes.     

The endomorphism monoids and automorphism groups of Cayley graphs of semigroups

In this note, we introduce the notions of color-permutable automorphisms and color-permutable vertex-transitive Cayley graphs of semigroups. As a main result, for a finite monoid S and a generating set C of S, we explicitly determine the color-permutable automorphism group of \(\mathrm {Cay}(S,C)\) [Theorem 1.1]. Also for a monoid S and a generating set C of S, we explicitly determine the color-preserving automorphism group (endomorphism monoid) of \(\mathrm {Cay}(S,C)\) [Proposition 2.3 and Corollary 2.4]. Then we use these results to characterize when \(\mathrm {Cay}(S,C)\) is color-endomorphism vertex-transitive [Theorem 3.4].     

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles using water extract of Salvia leriifolia: Antibacterial studies and applications as catalysts in the electrochemical detection of nitrite

Here, a green method is described for the biosynthesis of Ag nanoparticles (Ag NPs) using aqueous extracts of the leaf of Salvia leriifolia as reducing and stabilizing agent. Various techniques such as scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X‐ray diffraction (XRD) were employed for the characterization of the structure and morphology of bio‐synthesized AgNPs. The results reveal that AgNPs synthesized with uniform spherical morphology and average diameters of 27 nm. The AgNPs as a green and efficient heterogeneous catalyst presented superior antibacterial activity. Direct electrochemistry studies of the synthesized AgNPs confirmed that nanoparticles retained their direct electrochemical activity. This is mainly attributed to the proper biosynthesis process, the large specific surface area and the good conductivity of the synthesized nanoparticles. Hence, the present synthesized AgNPs displayed good electrocatalytic activity to the reduction of nitrite ions. The proposed method is highly recommended as a novel platform for the development of electrochemical sensors which can further expand the applications of AgNPs. Antibacterial activity of the synthesized AgNPs was evaluated against nine microorganisms. AgNPs prevented the growth of all selected bacteria. The nanoparticles inhibited the growth of Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumonia, Staphylococcus coagulase, Acinetobacter baumannii, and Streptococcus pneumonia more than antibiotic of vancomycin, however, the ability of AgNPs against Echerishia coli and Serratia marcescens was less than the antibiotic. On the other hand AgNPs were active against Citrobacter frurdii, while the antibiotic was inactive.     

Chemical characterization and anti-hemolytic anemia potentials of tin nanoparticles synthesized by a green approach for bioremediation applications

The therapeutic properties of tin nanoparticles have been proved in recent years. One of their probable effects is anti-anemia. In this study, tin nanoparticles were synthesized and characterized in aqueous medium using Ziziphora clinopodioides Lam leaf aqueous extract as the reducing and stabilizing agent. We also assessed the antihemolytic anemia potential of tin nanoparticles (SnNPs) in an animal model of hemolytic anemia. Tin nanoparticles were characterized using many techniques including Fourier transform-infrared and UV-visible spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry, and field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM). FE-SEM images showed a uniform spherical morphology in size of 18.12 nm for the green synthesized nanoparticles. According to XRD analysis, SnNPs crystal size was17.94 nm. SnNPs had low cell viability dose-dependently against human umbilical vein endothelial cell line. in vivo design, induction of hemolytic anemia was done by phenylhydrazine in 40 mice. Tin nanoparticles significantly (p ≤ 0.01) reduced the weight and volume of liver and spleen and the concentration of pro-inflammatory cytokines, and increased the body weight, anti-inflammatory cytokines concentration, total platelet, WBC, neutrophil, lymphocyte, eosinophil, monocyte, and basophil counts, and red blood cell parameters compared to the untreated mice. For the biochemical parameters, SnNPs significantly (p ≤ 0.01) increased the concentrations of GPx, CAT, and SOD in serum, liver, and spleen and decreased the concentration of GR in serum, liver, and spleen, and also erythropoietin, ferritin, and ferrous in serum as compared to the anemic mice. The 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl test showed similar antioxidant activities for SnNPs and butylated hydroxytoluene. The results demonstrate the excellent antihemolytic anemia, hematoprotective, cytotoxicity, and antioxidant potentials of SnNPs compared to other experimental groups.