A Random Shock Model with Mixed Effect,Including Competing Soft and Sudden Failures,and Dependence

A system is considered, which is subject to external and possibly fatal shocks, with dependence between the fatality of a shock and the system age. Apart from these shocks, the system suffers from competing soft and sudden failures, where soft failures refer to the reaching of a given threshold for the degradation level, and sudden failures to accidental failures, characterized by a failure rate. A non-fatal shock increases both degradation level and failure rate of a random amount, with possible dependence between the two increments. The system reliability is calculated by four different methods. Conditions under which the system lifetime is New Better than Used are proposed. The influence of various parameters of the shocks environment on the system lifetime is studied.     

Fixed Points,Continuous Selections,and Existence of Solution of Optimization-Related Problems

We propose a definition of a generalized type of Knaster–Kuratowski–Mazurkiewicz (KKM) mappings, called a weak T-KKM mapping, and a corresponding weak KKM property. A new extension of the Fan–Glicksberg fixed-point theorem is established. Sufficient conditions for the existence of a continuous selection, a fixed point of a composition, and a coincidence point are also provided. Then, we use the obtained results to study the existence of solutions to various optimization-related problems. Discussions and detailed examples are included as well to compare our results with existing ones and to explain their advantages in many situations.     

Variable sampling interval Shewhart control charts for monitoring the multivariate coefficient of variation

In many industrial manufacturing processes, the ratio of the variance to the mean of a quantity of interest is an important characteristic to ensure the quality of the processes. This ratio is called the coefficient of variation (CV). A lot of control charts have been designed for monitoring the CV of univariate quantity in the literature. However, the CV control charts for multivariate quantity have not received much attention yet. In this paper, we investigate a variable sampling interval (VSI) Shewhart control chart for monitoring multivariate CV. The time between two consecutive samples is allowed to vary according to the previous value of the multivariate CV, which will help the chart to detect the process shifts faster. The comparison with the fixed sampling interval Shewhart chart is implemented to highlight the advantage of the VSI method. Finally, an illustrative example is demonstrated on real data.     

New Scalarizing Approach to the Stability Analysis in Parametric Generalized Ky Fan Inequality Problems

This paper gives sufficient conditions for the upper and lower semicontinuities of the solution mapping of a parametric mixed generalized Ky Fan inequality problem. We use a new scalarizing approach quite different from traditional linear scalarization approaches which, in the framework of the stability analysis of solution mappings of equilibrium problems, were useful only for weak vector equilibrium problems and only under some convexity and strict monotonicity assumptions. The main tools of our approach are provided by two generalized versions of the nonlinear scalarization function of Gerstewitz. Our stability results are new and are obtained by a unified technique. An example is given to show that our results can be applied, while some corresponding earlier results cannot.     

Influence of ultrasonication and Fenton oxidation pre-treatment on rheological characteristics of wastewater sludge

The effect of ultrasonication and Fenton oxidation as physico-chemical pre-treatment processes on the change of rheology of wastewater sludge was investigated in this study. Pre-treated and raw sludges displayed non-Newtonian rheological behaviour with shear thinning as well as thixotropic properties for total solids ranging from 10 g/L to 40 g/L. The rheological models, namely, Bingham plastic, Casson law, NCA/CMA Casson, IPC Paste, and power law were also studied to characterize flow of raw and pre-treated sludges. Among all rheological models, the power law was more prominent in describing the rheology of the sludges. Pre-treatment processes resulted in a decrease in pseudoplasticity of sludge due to the decrease in consistency index K varying from 42.4 to 1188, 25.6 to 620.4 and 52.5 to 317.9; and increase in flow behaviour index n changing from 0.5 to 0.35, 0.62 to 0.55 and 0.63 to 0.58, for RS, UlS and FS, respectively at solids concentration 10–40 g/L. The correlation between improvement of biodegradability and dewaterability, decrease in viscosity, and change in particle size as a function of sludge pre-treatment process was also investigated. Fenton oxidation facilitated sludge filterability resulting in capillary suction time values which were approximately 50% of the raw sludges, whereas ultrasonication with high input energy deteriorated the filterability. Biodegradability was also enhanced by the pre-treatment processes and the maximum value was obtained (64%, 77% and 73% for raw, ultrasonicated and Fenton oxidized sludges, respectively) at total solids concentration of 25 g/L. Hence, pre-treatment of wastewater sludge modified the rheological properties so that: (1) the flowability of sludge was improved for transport through the treatment train (via pipes and pumps); (2) the dewaterability of wastewater sludge was enhanced for eventual disposal and; (3) the assimilation of nutrients by microorganisms for further value-addition was increased.     

Existence and Exponential Decay of Solutions for a Wave Equation with Integral Nonlocal Boundary Conditions of Memory Type

In this paper, we consider a wave equation with integral nonlocal boundary conditions of memory type. First, we establish two local existence theorems by using Faedo–Galerkin method and standard arguments of density. Next, we give a su?cient condition to guarantee the global existence and exponential decay of weak solutions. Finally, we present numerical results.     

Theoretical study of the substituent effects on the S-H bond dissociation energy and ionization energy of 3-pyridinethiol: Prediction of novel antioxidant

The S-H bond dissociation enthalpies [BDE(S-H)] of a set of 5-X- and 6-X-3-pyridinethiols (X = F, Cl, CH3, OCH3, NH2, N(CH3)2, CF3, CN, and NO2) have been computed using the density functional theory based (RO)B3LYP procedure with 6-311++G(2df,2p) basis set. The effects of substituents on the BDE(S-H), proton affinity of the pyridinethiol anion [PA(S-)] and ionization energy (IE) are analyzed and their correlations with Hammett's substituent constants are examined. Subsequently, a series of 6-substituted 3-pyridinethiols have been explored to find out their antioxidant potentials. Finally, a number of 3-pyridinethiol based compounds are theoretically proposed as novel antioxidants.     

Use of headspace solid-phase microextraction for the quantification of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) in microbial cells

Biopolymers such as poly(hydroxyalkanoates) (PHAs) have received much attention due to their physico-chemical properties, biodegradability, and biocompatibility that make them good candidates for industrial and medical applications. Produced by some microorganisms PHAs accumulate within the cells of these organisms. The optimization of microbial processes to produce PHAs at a lower cost requires rapid and accurate techniques for quantification of the biopolymer in biomass. The present study describes a method based on solid-phase microextraction (SPME) coupled to gas chromatography (GC) for the determination of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) in Alcaligenes latus cells. First PHB was depolymerized by either methanolic or hydrolytic digestion into methyl 3-hydroxybutyrate (Me-3-HB) or crotonic acid (CA), respectively. The resulting analytes were then subjected to analysis by headspace SPME/GC with flame ionization detection (FID). The two depolymerization/SPME/GC-FID methods were optimized and applied to the analysis of PHB in bacterial biomass harvested from a fermentation process that uses A. latus. Results were compared with those obtained using GC-FID analysis of MeOH/CHCl(3) digested samples. Excellent agreement was found between the three methods but the two SPME-based methods were environmentally friendly and easier to perform.     

Decarboxylative cross-couplings of 2-aminopyrimidine-5-carboxylic acids

Decarboxylative CC cross-couplings of 2-aminopyrimidine-5-carboxylic acids under a Pd/Ag-based catalytic system opens a new platform for the introduction of diverse C5 substituents. The reaction methods proceeded efficiently with a wide range of the acids and the coupling partners of aryl iodides, alkenes, bromoalkynes, and azoles. Considering ready availability of 2-aminopyrimidine-5-carboxylic acid from the oxidative dehydrosulfurative CN cross-coupling of the 3,4-dihydropyrimidin-1H-2-thiones, this reaction method unambiguously pave a shortcut to densely substituted 2-aminopyrimidine derivatives with unprecedented diversity.