Optimal Groomings with Grooming Ratios Six and Seven

Grooming uniform all‐to‐all traffic in optical (SONET) rings with grooming ratio C requires the determination of a decomposition of the complete graph into subgraphs each having at most C edges. The drop cost of such a grooming is the total number of vertices of nonzero degree in these subgraphs, and the grooming is optimal when the drop cost is minimum. The determination of optimal C‐groomings has been considered for , and completely solved for . For , it has been shown that the lower bound for the drop cost of an optimal C‐grooming can be attained for almost all orders with 5 exceptions and 308 possible exceptions. For , there are infinitely many unsettled orders; especially the case is far from complete. In this paper, we show that the lower bound for the drop cost of a 6‐grooming can be attained for almost all orders by reducing the 308 possible exceptions to 3, and that the lower bound for the drop cost of a 7‐grooming can be attained for almost all orders with seven exceptions and 16 possible exceptions. Moreover, for the unsettled orders, we give upper bounds for the minimum drop costs.     

Aequorin mutants with increased thermostability

Bioluminescent labels can be especially useful for in vivo and live animal studies due to the negligible bioluminescence background in cells and most animals, and the non-toxicity of bioluminescent reporter systems. Significant thermal stability of bioluminescent labels is essential, however, due to the longitudinal nature and physiological temperature conditions of many bioluminescent-based studies. To improve the thermostability of the bioluminescent protein aequorin, we employed random and rational mutagenesis strategies to create two thermostable double mutants, S32T/E156V and M36I/E146K, and a particularly thermostable quadruple mutant, S32T/E156V/Q168R/L170I. The double aequorin mutants, S32T/E156V and M36I/E146K, retained 4 and 2.75 times more of their initial bioluminescence activity than wild-type aequorin during thermostability studies at 37 °C. Moreover, the quadruple aequorin mutant, S32T/E156V/Q168R/L170I, exhibited more thermostability at a variety of temperatures than either double mutant alone, producing the most thermostable aequorin mutant identified thus far.     

Finite element method for the vibration of cracked beams with varying cross section

Vibration analysis of cracked beams having linearly varying cross-sections both in thickness and width was investigated. A computer program using the finite element method has been written to find the dynamical characteristics (natural frequencies and mode shapes) of the cracked beam. The cracked section in the beam has been modeled by a massless spring whose flexibility depens on the local flexibility induced by the crack. The stiffness of spring has been derived from the linear elastic fracture mechanics theory as the inverse of the compliance matrix calculated using stress intensity factors and strain energy release rate expression. Some examples have been given to explain the proposed method and investigate the effects of the depth and location of cracks on the natural frequencies and mode shapes. The results of current study and those in the literature are compared and good agreements have been found. Consequently it is showed that proposed method is reliable and simple. (© 2015 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Thermal design,analysis, and testing of the first Turkish 3U communication CubeSat in low earth orbit

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - TURKSAT-3USAT is the first Turkish communication 3U CubeSat designed and built by the students of the Space Systems Design and Test Laboratory and...     

The first use of [PdBr2(imidazolidin-2-ylidene)(pyridine)] catalysts in the direct C-H bond arylation of C2-substituted furan and thiophene

Research on Chemical Intermediates - N-Heterocyclic carbene (NHC)-linked PEPPSI-type palladium complexes have recently been used in the direct C-H bond arylation of heteroarenes. However, in most...     

A Complete Solution to Spectrum Problem for Five‐Vertex Graphs with Application to Traffic Grooming in Optical Networks

A G‐design of order n is a decomposition of the complete graph on n vertices into edge‐disjoint subgraphs isomorphic to G. Grooming uniform all‐to‐all traffic in optical ring networks with grooming ratio C requires the determination of graph decompositions of the complete graph on n vertices into subgraphs each having at most C edges. The drop cost of such a grooming is the total number of vertices of nonzero degree in these subgraphs, and the grooming is optimal when the drop cost is minimum. The existence spectrum problem of G‐designs for five‐vertex graphs is a long standing problem posed by Bermond, Huang, Rosa and Sotteau in 1980, which is closely related to traffic groomings in optical networks. Although considerable progress has been made over the past 30 years, the existence problems for such G‐designs and their related traffic groomings in optical networks are far from complete. In this paper, we first give a complete solution to this spectrum problem for five‐vertex graphs by eliminating all the undetermined possible exceptions. Then, we determine almost completely the minimum drop cost of 8‐groomings for all orders n by reducing the 37 possible exceptions to 8. Finally, we show the minimum possible drop cost of 9‐groomings for all orders n is realizable with 14 exceptions and 12 possible exceptions.     

Poly(HEMA-co-NBMI) Monolithic Cryogel Columns for IgG Adsorption

Supermacroporous poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate-co-1,5-naphthalene bismaleimide) [poly(HEMA-co-NBMI)] monolithic cryogel column was prepared by free radical cryo-copolymerization of HEMA with NBMI as a hydrophobic functional comonomer and N,N′-methylene-bisacrylamide as cross-linker directly in a plastic syringe for adsorption of albumin. The monolithic cryogel contained a continuous polymeric matrix which has interconnected pores of 10–100 μm size. Poly(HEMA-co-NBMI) cryogel was characterized by swelling studies, FTIR and scanning electron microscopy. The equilibrium swelling degree of the poly(HEMA-co-NBMI) cryogel was 10.5 g of H₂O/g dry cryogel. Poly(HEMA-co-NBMI) cryogel was used in the adsorption/desorption of IgG from aqueous solutions. The maximum amount of IgG adsorption from aqueous solution in phosphate buffer was 98.20 mg/g polymer at pH 7.0. The nonspecific adsorption of IgG onto plain poly(HEMA) cryogel was very low (2.79 g/g polymer). It was observed that IgG could be repeatedly adsorbed and desorbed with the poly(HEMA-co-NBMI) cryogel without significant loss of adsorption capacity.     

Synthesis of novel tetra-substituted benzimidazole compounds containing certain heterostructures with antioxidant and anti-urease activities

A new series of 5,6-dimethyl-2-phenyl-1H-benzimidazole derivatives was synthesized. The antioxidant activities of the synthesized compounds were determined according to the cupric reducing antioxidant capacity (CUPRAC), ABTS, and DPPH assays. Many of the target compounds showed good antioxidant activity. Among these compounds, it has been determined that the carbothioamide and 1,2,4-triazole derivatives had a very good antioxidant capacity. Also, all compounds were screened for in vitro inhibitory activity against Jack bean urease. Among the synthesized molecules, the starting compound, acetate, and acetohydrazide derivatives (with IC₅₀ values 12.02, 11.40, and 8.04 μg/mL, respectively) had a higher inhibitory effect on urease and exhibited a lower IC₅₀ values than acetohydroxamic acid (IC₅₀: 20.50 μg/mL) and thiourea (IC₅₀: 14.04 μg/mL) as a reference inhibitors.     

Synthesis and Assembly of Zinc Oxide Microcrystals by a Low-Temperature Dissolution–Reprecipitation Process: Lessons Learned About Twin Formation in Heterogeneous Reactions

Cobalt-doped zinc oxide single crystals with the shape of hexagonal platelets were synthesized by thermohydrolysis of zinc acetate, cobalt acetate, and hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) in mixtures of ethanol and water. The mineralization proceeds by a low-temperature dissolution–reprecipitation process from the liquid phase by the formation of basic cobalt zinc salts as intermediates. The crystal shape as well as twin formation of the resulting oxide phase can be influenced by careful choice of the solvent mixture and the amount of doping. An understanding of the course of the reaction was achieved by comprehensive employment of analytical techniques (i.e., SEM, XRD, IR) including an in-depth HRTEM study of precipitates from various reaction stages. In addition, EPR as well as UV/Vis spectroscopic measurements provide information about the insertion of the cobalt dopant into the zincite lattice. The Langmuir–Blodgett (LB) technique is shown to be suitable for depositing coatings of the platelets on glass substrates functionalized with polyelectrolyte multilayers and hence is applied for the formation of monolayers containing domains with ordered tessellation. No major differences are found between deposits on substrates with anionic or cationic surface modification. The adherence to the substrates is sufficient to determine the absolute orientation of the deposited polar single crystals by piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) and Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) studies.     

Characterization and kinetics analysis of the thermal decomposition of the humic substance from hazelnut husk

A humic substance was obtained from hazelnut husk using an alkali extraction. The chemical and morphological structure of the humic matter was characterized via elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectrometry (FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance, Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET) analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and thermogravimetric-FTIR (TG-FTIR). In addition, thermal analysis measurements TG analysis-differential thermogravimetry/differential scanning calorimetry (TGA-DTG/DSC) were performed under dynamic air conditions to better determine the origin, physical and chemical structure, and decomposition process of the humic matter. The Kissinger-Akahira-Sunose (KAS) and Flynn-Wall-Ozawa (FWO) methods were used to calculate the kinetic parameters of the high-temperature decomposition process. It was observed that the activation energy values were almost constant at certain conversion and temperature intervals. In addition, the structure of the humic substance at different temperatures was also investigated via FTIR analysis. It was found that the obtained humic substance had a very stable structure and decomposed at a high temperature. The stability of the humic matter can be a useful tool in the environmental quality research of soil.