Supercontinuum generation with femtosecond optical pulse compression in silicon photonic crystal fibers at 2500 nm

In this paper, femtosecond optical pulses compression and supercontinuum generation in a triangular silicon photonic crystal fiber at 2500 nm are investigated. A region of large minimum anomalous group velocity dispersion, negligible higher order dispersions and unique nonlinearity of silicon are used to demonstrate compression of 100 fs initial input optical pulses to 2.5 fs and ultra-broadband supercontinuum generation with very low input pulse energy over short distances of the fiber.     

Spin transfer torque in the semiconductor/ferromagnetic structure in the presence of Rashba effect

Spin transfer torque in magnetic structure occurs when the transverse component of the spin current that flows from the nonmagnetic medium to ferromagnetic medium is absorbed by the interface. In this paper, considering the Rashba effect on the semiconductor region, we discuss the spin transfer torque in semiconductor/ferromagnetic structure and obtain the components of spin-current density for two models:(i) single electron and(ii) the distribution of electrons. We show that no matter whether the difference in Fermi surface between semiconductor and Fermi spheres for the up and down spins in ferromagnetic increases, the transmission probability decreases. The obtained results for the values used in this article illustrate that Rashba effect increases the difference in Fermi sphere between semiconductor and Fermi sphere for the up and down spins in ferromagnetic. The results also show that the Rashba effect, brings an additional contribution to the components of spin transfer torque, which does not exist in the absence of the Rashba interaction. Moreover, the Rashba term has also different effects on the transverse components of the spin torque transfer.     

A Timoshenko beam reduced order model for shape tracking with a slender mechanism

We consider a flexible bio-inspired slender mechanism, modeled as a Timoshenko beam. It is coupled to the environment by a continuous distribution of compliant elements. We derive a reduced order model by projecting the governing partial differential equations along the linear modal basis of the Timoshenko beam. The coupling with the substrate allows us to formulate the problem in a control framework, and eventually to treat the system as a sensor to reconstruct the profile of the substrate through the deformation of the body. The coupling is modeled in the framework of two parameters elastic foundations. The convergence of the reduced order model with increasing number of basis functions is addressed in a suitable H¹ error norm. A closed loop force control is simulated for shape morphing when the system is coupled with a smooth substrate.     

An Analytical Solution for 1-D Non-Darcy Flow Through Slanting Coarse Deposits

In this paper, an analytical solution to solve 1-D partial differential equation is presented for fully developed turbulent flow through highly permeable sloping deposited porous medium. The present solution will be applicable for a wide range of slopes varying from zero to relatively steep slopes. To confirm the solution, the analytical results have been validated using two sets of experimental data including rounded and crushed material. To see the compatibility of solution, a Darcy-based form of the solution is derived and compared with proposed solution and experimental data. The results showed a satisfactory agreement with experimental records from water surface profiles through rock cavities for both rounded and crushed rock materials. Finally, it may be concluded that the proposed solution could be used to analyze water surface profiles and normal depth in such slanting permeable porous media. This solution provides a reliable realization of the flow profiles in porous materials which are widely used in open-channel flow concepts.     

Non-affine minimum variance controller design by inverse modeling procedure

The minimum variance lower bound (MVLB) represents the best achievable controller capability in the variance sense. Realization of MVLB for nonlinear systems confronts some difficulties. To realize the MVLB, in this paper, a nonlinear non-affine generalized minimum variance controller is designed. The situations in which the model is not in hand, accurate, or invertible are addressed. Moreover, in order to design minimum variance controller for nonlinear structures, inverse of the system is modeled; then, the controller parameters are tuned by a recursive optimization algorithm. The most classical recursive algorithms are gradient-based. In this paper, a relationship between gradient of the controller with that of the system model is derived by inverse lemma. Therefore, the recursive algorithm is free of any need for the gradient of the system model. Finally, an experimental test on four-tank benchmark processes is used to clarify the effectiveness of the proposed control scheme.     

Composition and in vitro antibacterial activity of essential oils from four Satureja species growing in Iran

The composition and in?vitro antibacterial activity of essential oils from four Satureja species (S. bachtiarica, S. khuzistanica, S. mutica and S. rechingeri) growing in Iran were determined. According to the results of GC-FID and GC-MS analysis, all oil samples were principally composed of phenolic constituents (carvacrol and/or thymol) with the percentages ranging from 41.2% (S. bachtiarica) to 77.7% (S. rechingeri). Determining antibacterial activities by the disc diffusion method against two Gram-positive and two Gram-negative bacteria revealed the maximum activity against Bacillus cereus with a range of minimum inhibitory concentration values from 0.25 to 1?mg?mL(-1) and minimum bactericidal concentration values from 0.5 to 1?mg?mL(-1). The oils of S. khuzistanica and S. rechingeri appeared to be more active in general than those of other species. In conclusion, the essential oils of studied Satureja species have the potential to be considered as alternatives for synthetic food preservatives.     

Pd-poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone)/KIT-6 nanocomposite: Preparation,structural study,and catalytic activity

The Pd-poly(N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone)/KIT-6 nanocomposite was prepared by an in situ polymerization method and used as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for C–C bond formation through the Heck coupling reaction of aryl iodides, bromides and chlorides with styrene. The physical and chemical properties of the catalyst were characterized by XRD, BET, FT-IR, TGA, UV-Vis and TEM techniques. The reactions were performed in methanol-water as solvent and the products were obtained in high yield and purity after a simple work-up. The stability of the nanocomposite catalyst was excellent and could be reused 8 times without much loss of activity in the Heck coupling reaction.     

Zinc oxide nanoparticles:A highly efficient and readily recyclable catalyst for the synthesis of xanthenes

A novel and efficient route for the synthesis of 1,8-dioxooctahydroxanthenes and 14-aryl-14H-dibenzo[a,j]xanthenes is described through one-pot multi-component reaction of dimedone and 2-naphthol with various aryl aldehydes using ZnO nanoparticles under solvent-free conditions.This method provides a novel and improved pathway for the synthesis of xanthenes in the terms of excellent yields,short reaction times,reusability and low catalyst loading.     

Effects of substrate on surface morphology, crystallinity, and photoluminescence properties of sputtered ZnO nano films

Effects of substrate on crystallinity, surface morphology, and luminescence properties of radio frequency sputtered zinc oxide (ZnO) thin films were investigated. A variety of materials such as Si (100), Si (111), Al₂O₃, quartz, and silicon carbide (SiC) wafers were examined as substrates for deposition of ZnO thin films. The results showed smooth and uniform growth of c-axis orientation films. The thickness of the layers was about 50 nm. The average grain sizes of films were about 10, 13, and 12 nm for Si (111), quartz, and SiC samples, respectively. The deposited film on Al₂O₃ showed the largest grain size, about 500 nm. Grazing incidence x-ray diffraction patterns of the samples revealed that sputtered layers on Al₂O₃ and quartz had better crystallinity with higher peak at (002) orientation compared to Si and SiC substrates. Moreover, the Al₂O₃ sample exhibited a weak peak at position of (100) planes of ZnO too. The photoluminescence spectra of the samples showed a typical luminescence behavior with a broad UV band, including a main peak at around 388 nm and a weak shoulder peak at around 381 nm, corresponding with bound excitonic recombination and free excitonic recombination, respectively. The luminescence peak revealed that the intensity of UV emission is not necessarily dependent on the grain sizes and the micro-structural quality of ZnO films.     

Balanced fuzzy particle swarm optimization

In the present study an extension of particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm which is in conformity with actual nature is introduced for solving combinatorial optimization problems. Development of this algorithm is essentially based on balanced fuzzy sets theory. The classical fuzzy sets theory cannot distinguish differences between positive and negative information of membership functions, while in the new method both kinds of information “positive and negative” about membership function are equally important. The balanced fuzzy particle swarm optimization algorithm is used for fundamental optimization problem entitled traveling salesman problem (TSP). For convergence inspecting of new algorithm, method was used for TSP problems. Convergence curves were represented fast convergence in restricted and low iterations for balanced fuzzy particle swarm optimization algorithm (BF-PSO) comparison with fuzzy particle swarm optimization algorithm (F-PSO).