Dust ion acoustic waves in non-thermal Cairns bi-Maxwellian plasma

Using kinetic theory approach, the dispersion relation ω_r and Landau damping rate γ for dust ion acoustic waves are investigated numerically and analytically in an unmagnetized collisionless dusty plasma considering Cairns distribution for electrons and ions in stationary dust particles background. The phase velocity and Landau damping rate are calculated in the limits v_td∥ < v_ti∥ << ω/k << v_te∥ . The electrons and ions non-thermality effects are incorporated via the non-thermality parameter (0 ≤ α < 1) . The real frequency ω_r and Landau damping rate γ of the mode in Cairns bi-Maxwellian distributed plasma are graphically shown to depend on plasma parameters namely non-thermality index α , ion to electron temperature ratio T_i∥/T_e∥ and the dust concentration parameter δ (=1 − ηZ_d) .     

Approximate eigensolution of Laplacian matrices for locally modified graph products

Laplacian matrices and their spectrum are of great importance in algebraic graph theory. There exist efficient formulations for eigensolutions of the Laplacian matrices associated with a special class of graphs called product graphs. In this paper, the problem of determining a few approximate smallest eigenvalues and eigenvectors of large scale product graphs modified through the addition or deletion of some nodes and/or members, is investigated. The eigenproblem associated with a modified graph model is reduced using the set of master eigenvectors and linear approximated slave eigenvectors from the original model. Implicitly restarted Lanczos method is employed to obtain the required eigenpairs of the reduced problem. Examples of large scale models are included to demonstrate the efficiency of the proposed method compared to the direct application of the IRL method.     

Intramolecular hydrogen bond in 3‐imino‐propenylamine isomers: AIM and NBO studies

The molecular structure and intramolecular hydrogen bond energy of 18 conformers of 3‐imino‐propenyl‐amine were investigated at MP2 and B3LYP levels of theory using the standard 6‐311++G** basis set. The atom in molecules or AIM theory of Bader, which is based on the topological properties of the electron density (ρ), was used additionally and the natural bond orbital (NBO) analysis was also carried out. Furthermore calculations for all possible conformations of 3‐imino‐propenyl‐amin in water solution were also carried out at B3LYP/6‐311++G** and MP2/6‐311++G** levels of theory. The calculated geometrical parameters and conformational analyses in gas phase and water solution show that the imine–amine conformers of this compound are more stable than the other conformers. B3LYP method predicts the IMA‐1 as global minimum. This stability is mainly due to the formation of a strong N? H···N intramolecular hydrogen bond, which is assisted by π‐electrons resonance, and this π‐electrons are established by NH2 functional group. Hydrogen bond energies for all conformers of 3‐imino‐propenyl‐amine were obtained from the related rotamers methods. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2010     

Canonical Forms for Symmetric and Regular Structures

Matrices associated with symmetric and regular structures can be arranged into certain block patterns known as Canonical forms. Using such forms, the decomposition of structural matrices into block diagonal forms, is considerably simplified. In this paper the main canonical forms are reviewed; and symmetric/regular structural configurations that can be explained with such forms are investigated. The invariant subspaces are formulated and the closed form solutions for the block-diagonalized stiffness matrices are provided in each case. Utility and robustness of the canonical forms in the analysis of structures exhibiting decomposable matrix patterns are demonstrated by numerous examples. Furthermore, a numerical method is proposed to extend the computational advantages of the matrix canonical forms to other nonconforming regular structures.     

Chemical composition and antibacterial activity of Origanum saccatum P.H. Davis essential oil obtained by solvent-free microwave extraction: comparison with hydrodistillation

The components of the essential oils (EOs) obtained by solvent-free microwave extraction (SFME) and hydrodistillation (HD) from endemic Origanum saccatum P.H. Davis were identified by using GC/MS. The main constituents of both EOs obtained by SFME and HD, respectively, from O. saccatum were p-cymene (72.5 and 70.6%), thymol (9.32 and 8.11%), and carvacrol (7.18 and 6.36%). The EO obtained by SFME contained substantially higher amounts of oxygenated compounds and lower amounts of monoterpenes than did the EO obtained by HD. The antibacterial activities of the EOs obtained by SFME and HD were evaluated with the disc diffusion method by comparison with 10 different bacterial strains. The antibacterial activity of the EO extracted by SFME was found to be more effective than that of the EO extracted by HD against seven of the tested bacteria.     

A new HPLC method for the simultaneous determination of ascorbic acid and aminothiols in human plasma and erythrocytes using electrochemical detection

A new, simple, economical and validated high-performance liquid chromatography linked with electrochemical detector (HPLC-ECD) method has been developed and optimized for different experimental parameters to analyze the most common monothiols and disulfide (cystine, cysteine, homocysteine, methionine, reduced (GSH) and oxidized glutathione (GSSG)) and ascorbic acid present in human plasma and erythrocytes using dopamine as internal standard (IS). Complete separation of all the targets analytes and IS at 35 °C on Discovery HS C18 RP column (250 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) was achieved using 0.05% TFA:methanol (97:3, v/v) as a mobile phase pumped at the rate of 0.6 ml min⁻¹ using electrochemical detector in DC mode at the detector potential of 900 mV. The limits of detection (3 S/N) and limits of quantification (10 S/N) of the studied compounds were evaluated using dilution method. The proposed method was validated according to standard guidelines and optimization of various experimental parameters and chromatographic conditions was carried out. The optimized and validated HPLC-ECD method was successfully applied for the determination of the abovementioned compounds in human plasma and erythrocytes. The method will be quite suitable for the determination of plasma and erythrocyte profile of ascorbic acid and aminothiols in oxidative stress and other basic research studies.     

A robust negative obstacle detection method using seed-growing and dynamic programming for visually-impaired/blind persons

Though a significant amount of work has been done on detecting obstacles, not much attention has been given to the detection of drop offs, e.g., sidewalk curbs, downward stairs, and other hazards. In this paper, we propose algorithms for detecting negative obstacles in an urban setting using stereo vision and two-stage dynamic programming (TSDP) technique. We are developing computer vision algorithms for sensing important terrain features as an aid to blind navigation, which interpret visual information obtained from images collected by cameras mounted on camera legs nearly as high as young person. This paper focuses specifically on a novel computer vision algorithm for detecting negative obstacles (i.e. anything below the level of the ground, such as holes and drop-offs), which are important and ubiquitous features on and near sidewalks and other walkways. The proposed algorithm is compared to other algorithms such as belief propagation and random growing correspondence seeds (GCS). According to the results, the proposed method achieves higher speed, more accurate disparity map and lower RMS errors. The speed of the proposed algorithm is about 28% higher than the random GCS algorithm. We demonstrate experimental results on typical sidewalk scenes to show the effectiveness of the proposed method.     

Highly selective fluoride sensing via chromogenic aggregation of a silyloxy-functionalized tetraphenylethylene (TPE) derivative

A silyloxy-functionalized tetraphenylethylene (TPE) derivative shows a remarkable change in the absorption spectrum on deprotection with fluoride ions. The reaction process is highly selective for fluoride and the resulting charge transfer band results in a bright green solution. A simple selective visual assay of aqueous fluoride ions was also obtained by the impregnation of cellulose strips with the TPE derivative.     

Synthesis and Characterization of Naphthalene‐Based Banana‐Shaped Liquid Crystals for Photoswitching Properties

A series of banana‐shaped monomers containing naphthalene as central units, azobenzene in side arms with terminal alkenes were synthesized and characterized. Polarizing optical microscopy, DSC and X‐ray diffraction measurements reveal that one compound processes a nematic phase while other four compounds exhibit B₆ phase. The absorption spectrum of trans‐azobenzene displays high‐intensity π‐π* transition at 365 and low‐intensity n‐π* transition at 450 nm. These molecules exhibit strong photoisomerisation behaviour in solutions in which trans to cis isomerisation takes 55 seconds whereas reverse process takes about 32 hours. Such a long thermal back relaxation is useful for creation of optical image storage devices.