Incorporating the threat of terrorist attacks in the design of public service facility networks

In this paper, we consider the design problem of a public service facility network with existing facilities when there is a threat of possible terrorist attacks. The aim of the system planner, who is responsible for the operation of the network, is to open new facilities, relocate existing ones if necessary, and protect some of the facilities to ensure a maximum coverage of the demand that is assumed to be aggregated at customer zones. By doing so, the system planner anticipates that a number of unprotected facilities will be rendered out-of-service by terrorist attacks. It is assumed that the sum of the fixed cost of opening new facilities, the relocation costs, and the protection costs cannot exceed a predetermined budget level. Adopting the approach of gradual (or partial) coverage, we formulate a bilevel programming model where the system planner is the leader and the attacker is the follower. The objective of the former is the maximization of the total service coverage, whereas the latter wants to minimize it. We propose a heuristic solution procedure based on tabu search where the search space consists of the decisions of the system planner, and the corresponding objective value is computed by optimally solving the attacker??s problem using CPLEX. To assess the quality of the solutions produced by the tabu search (TS) heuristic, we also develop an exhaustive enumeration method, which explores all the possible combinations of opening new facilities, relocating existing ones, and protecting them. Since its time complexity is exponential, it can only be used for relatively small instances. Therefore, to be used as a benchmark method, we also implement a hill climbing procedure employed with the same type of moves as the TS heuristic. Besides, we carry out a sensitivity analysis on some of the problem parameters to investigate their effect on the solution characteristics.     

Calculation of Refractive Index Changes from Thermal Lens Fringes using Continuous Wavelet Algorithm

Thermal lens fringes are obtained on the nile-blue/ethanol solution by illuminating it with a He–Ne laser in a Mach–Zehnder interferometer. The refractive index change distribution of these fringes is calculated by using two different continuous wavelet transform (CWT) algorithms. It is concluded that the CWT-phase method works better than the CWT-gradient algorithm for the analysis of thermal lens fringes according to theoretical results.     

Fractional optimal control problem of a distributed system in cylindrical coordinates

In this work, Fractional Optimal Control Problem (FOCP) of a Distributed system is investigated in cylindrical coordinates. Axis-symmetry naturally arises in the problem formulation. The fractional time derivative is described in the Riemann-Liouville (RL) sense. The performance index of a FOCP is considered as a function of state and control variables and system dynamics are given as a Partial Fractional Differential Equation (PFDE). The method of separation of variables is used to find the solution of the problem. Eigenfunctions are used to eliminate the terms containing space parameters and to define the problem in terms of a set of generalized state and control variables. For numerical computations, Grünwald-Letnikov (GL) approach is used. A time-invariant example is considered to demonstrate the effectiveness of the formulation. The comparison of analytical and numerical solutions is given using simulation results and also it can be seen that analytical and numerical results converge each other. In addition, simulation results for different values of order of derivative, time discretizations and eigenfunctions are analyzed.     

The budget constrained r-interdiction median problem with capacity expansion

In this article, we elaborate on a budget constrained extension of the r-interdiction median problem with fortification (RIMF). The objective in the RIMF is to find the optimal allocation of protection resources to a given service system consisting of p facilities so that the disruptive effects of r possible attacks to the system are minimized. The defender of the system needs to fortify q facilities of the present system to offset the worst-case loss of r non-fortified facilities due to an interdiction in which the attacker’s objective is to cause the maximum possible disruption in the service level of the system. The defender-attacker relationship fits a bilevel integer programming (BIP) formulation where the defender and attacker take on the respective roles of the leader and the follower. We adopt this BIP formulation and augment it with a budget constraint instead of a predetermined number of facilities to be fortified. In addition, we also assume that each facility has a flexible service capacity, which can be expanded at a unit cost to accommodate the demand of customers who were serviced by some other interdicted facility before the attack. First, we provide a discrete optimization model for this new facility protection planning scenario with a novel set of closest assignment constraints. Then, to tackle this BIP problem we use an implicit enumeration algorithm performed on a binary tree. For each node representing a different fortification scheme, the attacker’s problem is solved to optimality using Cplex 11. We report computational results obtained on a test bed of 96 randomly generated instances. The article concludes with suggestions for future research.     

Monte Carlo modelling of human body for dose conversion coefficients of 137Cs in soil of the Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey

Absorbed dose conversion coefficients for a human body standing on the soil surface were calculated for (137)Cs in the soil of Eastern Black Sea region of Turkey using the Monte Carlo simulation method. The results were given in nGy?h(-1) per Bq?cm(-2) as a function of depth. Simple numerical integration of this function multiplied with the known specific activity as a function of depth gives the absorbed dose conversion coefficients for any distribution of (137)Cs in soil. Gaussian distribution of (137)Cs in the soil was considered for calculations.     

Kinetic approach for the purification of nucleotides with magnetic separation

The isolation of β‐nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide is of great importance since it is widely used in different scientific and technologic fields such as biofuel cells, sensor technology, and hydrogen production. In order to isolate β‐nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, first 3‐aminophenyboronic acid functionalized magnetic nanoparticles were prepared to serve as a magnetic solid support and subsequently they were used for reversible adsorption/desorption of β‐nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide in a batch fashion. The loading capacity of the 3‐aminophenyboronic acid functionalized nanoparticles for β‐nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide adsorption was 13.0 μmol/g. Adsorption kinetic and isotherm studies showed that the adsorption process followed a pseudo‐second‐order kinetic model and the experimental data can be represented using Langmuir isotherm model. The 3‐aminophenyboronic acid functionalized magnetic nanoparticles were proposed as an alternative support for the β‐nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide purification. The results elucidated the significance of magnetic separation as a fast, relatively simple, and low‐cost technique. Furthermore, the magnetic supports can be reused at least five times for purification processes.     

Electrocatalytic Oxidation of Acyclovir on Poly(p‐Aminobenzene Sulfonic Acid) Film Modified Glassy Carbon Electrode

Acyclovir is an antiviral effective drug active compound. A glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was modified with an electropolymerized film of p‐aminobenzene sulfonic acid (p‐ABSA) in phosphate buffer solution (PBS). The polymer film‐modified electrode was used to electrochemically detect acyclovir. Polymer film showed excellent electrocatalytic activity for the oxidation of acyclovir. The anodic peak potential value of the acyclovir at the poly(p‐ABSA) modified glassy carbon electrode was 950 mV obtained by DPV. A linear calibration curve for DPV analysis was constructed in the acyclovir concentration range 2×10^?7–9×10^?6 mol L^?1. Limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were obtained as 5.57×10^?8 and 1.85×10^?7 mol L^?1 respectively. The proposed method exhibits good recovery and reproducibility.     

A heat transfer problem with exponential memory and the associated thermal stresses

In this study, a heat transfer problem defined by the Caputo–Fabrizio derivative, which is known to behave by the exponential decaying law, is addressed in an axially symmetric cylindrical region. Thus, the fundamental solutions of the heat diffusion process and the associated thermal stresses are aimed to find. For this purpose, Laplace and finite Hankel integral transforms are applied according to the geometry of the region. To obtain the thermal stresses, constitutive relations of the classical thermoelasticity theory are used. The effects of fractional orders on the diffusion process are illustrated graphically using MATLAB.