Warranty and optimal reliability improvement through product development

For products sold with warranty, the warranty servicing cost can be reduced by improving product reliability through a development process. However, this increases the unit manufacturing cost. Optimal development must achieve a trade-off between these two costs. The outcome of the development process is uncertain and needs to be taken into account in the determination of the optimal development effort. The paper develops a model where this uncertainty is taken into account.     

Enhancement of Laser-induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) Signal Subject to the Magnetic Confinement and Dual Pulses

Optics and Spectroscopy - In this work, a comparative study for the laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) of aluminium (Al) target has been performed by using the two kinds of enhancement...     

Bifurcation of an elliptic vortex ring

Time-dependent vorticity fields of elliptic vortex rings of aspect ratios 2, 3 and 4 were measured by means of hot-wire anemometry. The time evolution of their vorticity fields was analyzed and the processes of vortex ring formation, advection, interaction and decay, and the mechanism of vortex bifurcation are studied. The following crosslinking model is proposed: A thick vortical region composed of many equivalent vortex filaments with distributed cores is initially formed at the orifice and they behave as inviscid filaments. The elliptic ring deforms and the end parts of its major axis get closer. Then, the vortex filaments interact at the touching point and the ring partially bifurcates. Almost simultaneously, turbulent spot appears at this point, and propagates around the ring cross section, thus preventing further bifurcation. And it becomes a turbulent blob. This model is also supported by numerical simulation by a high-order vortex method and the Navier-Stokes solution.     

Interplay between two spin states determines the hydroxylation catalyzed by P450 monooxygenase from Trichoderma brevicompactum

Tri11 (now renamed as tri22) encoded cytochrome P₄₅₀ monooxygenase in Trichoderma brevicompactum catalyzes the C-4 C-H hydroxylation of 12, 13-epoxytrichothec-9-ene (EPT) to produce trichodermol in the biosynthetic pathway of trichodermin/harzianum A. The density functional theory (DFT)-quantum mechanics (QM) approach is applied to elucidate the hydroxylation of EPT by using a model active species of P₄₅₀ (Cpd I). The QM calculations were performed on the active site complex, to find out transition-state structure, intermediate, and product complexes for the two spin states at different potential energy surfaces. The two state reactivity rebound-free product formation resulted from the interplay of two spin states (doublet and quartet).     

Spectrophotometric determination of microamounts of thorium with thorin in the presence of cetylpyridinium chloride as surfactant in perchloric acid

A simple and more sensitive spectrophotometric method is developed for determination of thorium using thorin as a chromogenic reagent in the presence of cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) in perchloric acid. The reaction was instantaneous and complex was found stable for 168 h. A significant bathochromic shift was noted in the presence of CPC. The determination range was enhanced from 25 to 30 μg mL^?1 with molar absorptivity of 2.95 × 104 L mol^?1 cm^?1 at 25 ± 5 °C. Sandell’s sensitivity was calculated to be 6.8 ng cm^?2 at 581 nm. Relative standard deviation was reduced from 4.25 to 2.5. The interference of Ni²⁺, Mn²⁺, Sn⁴⁺, phosphate, EDTA, sulphate and tartrate has been reduced significantly in the presence of surfactant. The validity of the proposed method was tested by determining thorium in Certified Reference Materials.     

Synthesis,crystal structure,DNA interaction and cleavage activities of mononuclear and trinuclear copper(II) complexes

Mono- and trinuclear copper(II) complexes with 2-[1-(2-dimethylamino-ethylamino)-ethyl]-phenol (HL) have been synthesized and structurally characterized. The mononuclear complex [Cu(L)(H₂O)(ONO₂)] (1) crystallizes in monoclinic space group P2₁ /n with a square pyramidal Cu(II) center coordinated by the tridentate Schiff base (L) and a water ligand in the equatorial plane and an oxygen atom from nitrate in the axial position. The trinuclear complex [(CuL)₃(μ₃-OH)](ClO₄)₂·H₂O (2) crystallizes in hexagonal space group P6₃; all three copper atoms are five-coordinate with square pyramidal geometries. The interactions of these complexes with calf-thymus DNA have been investigated using absorption spectrophotometry. The mononuclear complex binds more strongly than the trinuclear complex. The DNA cleavage activity of these complexes has been studied on double-stranded pBR 322 plasmid DNA by gel electrophoresis experiments in the absence and in the presence of added oxidant (H₂O₂). The trinuclear complex cleaves DNA more efficiently than the mononuclear complex in the presence of H₂O₂.     

[Hydroxy(tosyloxy)iodo]benzene in Organic Synthesis: A Facile Synthesis of Furo[3,2-c]coumarins Using α-Tosyloxyketones

Facile synthesis of furo[3,2-c]coumarins (2a–g) via cyclocondensation of 4-hydroxycoumarin and α-tosyloxyketones (1a–g) is described. A plausible mechanism involving C-C bond formation followed by 5-exo-tet cyclization is suggested.