Fluid polling systems

We study N-queues single-server fluid polling systems, where a fluid is continuously flowing into the queues at queue-dependent rates. When visiting and serving a queue, the server reduces the amount of fluid in the queue at a queue-dependent rate. Switching from queue i to queue j requires two random-duration steps: (i) departing queue i, and (ii) reaching queue j. The length of time the server resides in a queue depends on the service regime. We consider three main regimes: Exhaustive, Gated, and Globally-Gated. Two polling procedures are analyzed: (i) cyclic and (ii) probabilistic. Under steady-state, we derive the Laplace–Stieltjes transform (LST), mean, and second moment of the amount of flow at each queue at polling instants, as well as at an arbitrary moment. We further calculate the LST and mean of the “waiting time” of a drop at each queue and derive expressions for the mean total load in the system for the various service regimes. Finally, we explore optimal switching procedures.     

4-[(3-Bromo-4-hydroxy­phenyl)­amino]-6,7-di­methoxyquinazolin-1-ium chloride methanol solvate and 4-­[(3-hydroxy­phenyl)­amino]-6,7-di­methoxy-1-quinazolinium chloride

The title compounds, C₁₆H₁₅BrN₃O₃⁺·Cl⁻·CH₄O (WHI–P154) and C₁₆H₁₆N₃O₃⁺·Cl⁻ (WHI–P180), are potent inhibitors [WHI–P154 with IC₅₀ = 5.6 µM and WHI–P180 with IC₅₀ = 4.0 µM for epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) kinase inhibition] of the EGFR tyrosine kinase as well as Janus Kinase 3. The molecular structures of these compounds are very similar except for the dihedral angle between the anilino and quinazoline moieties which is 1.10 (5)° for WHI–P154, and 45.66 (6) and 25.29 (7)° for the two mol­ecules of WHI–P180 in the asymmetric unit. The nitro­gen at the N3 position is protonated in both structures and participates in hydrogen bonding with the chlorine anions.     

Retrieving seasonally adjusted quarterly growth rates from annual growth rates that are reported quarterly

Most macroeconomic time series are reported on a quarterly basis. However, in many cases, official statistical agencies report annual (or ‘year-on-year’) growth rates rather than the quarterly data themselves. In this paper, we demonstrate how to recover seasonally adjusted quarterly growth rates from annual growth rates that are reported quarterly. As an illustration, we apply the technique to the highly seasonal UK Retail Sales series. Using only the annual growth rates calculated from the underlying data, we find that our procedure generates estimated seasonally adjusted quarterly growth rates that are almost indistinguishable from the ‘true’ seasonally adjusted quarterly growth rates.     

Novel metal complexes containing 6-methylpyridine-2-carboxylic acid as potent α-glucosidase inhibitor: synthesis,crystal structures,DFT calculations,and molecular docking

Molecular Diversity - The World Health Organization (WHO) report shows that diabetes mellitus (DM) will be one of the ten deadly diseases in the near future. The best way to prevent DM is to...     

Copper(II) complexes with pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid from the oxidation of copper(I) iodide

Via an oxidation reaction of Cu(I) iodide with pyridine-2,6-dicarboxylic acid (H₂L) in DMF three copper(II) complexes, [(CH₃)₂NH₂]₂[CuL₂] (1), K₂[CuL₂]?H₂L?H₂O (2) and [Cu(L)(H₂O)]_n (3), were synthesized and characterized. The structures of 1–3 were determined by single crystal X-ray diffraction studies. In-situ DMF decomposition produces dimethylamine base under solvothermal conditions and a proton transfer reaction takes place for the complex formation of 1. 3-D networks are stabilized in 1 and 2 via hydrogen bonds. Complex 3 is a 1-D coordination polymer with Cu-O semi-coordination bonds. Thermal decomposition of the complexes results in the corresponding metal oxides. Also, the electrochemical behavior of 1 was determined to be a metal-centered and diffusion-controlled, one-electron reduction process.     

The effects of gamma irradiation on non-isothermal crystallization kinetics and microhardness of the Li<Subscript>2</Subscript>O–Al<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript>–SiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> glass–ceramic

The effects of gamma irradiation on crystallization kinetics and microhardness properties of the Li₂O–Al₂O₃–SiO₂ (LAS) glass–ceramic sample have been investigated. The glass–ceramic was irradiated to γ-source ⁶⁰Co of 0.7 MGy. The crystallization kinetics of the irradiated and non-irradiated samples were characterized using differential scanning calorimetry. The crystallization kinetics and microhardness properties of the glass–ceramic changed the gamma irradiation, and the high dose of gamma irradiation affects significantly the crystallization kinetics and microhardness properties of the Li₂O–Al₂O₃–SiO₂ glass–ceramic sample.     

Enantioselective synthesis of cyclic, quaternary oxonitriles

Quaternary oxonitriles are stereoselectively generated from the union of five-, six-, and seven-membered 2-chloroalkenecarbonitriles with chiral alcohols via a Claisen rearrangement. The strategy rests on a new conjugate addition-elimination of allylic alkoxides to 2-chlorocycloalkenecarbonitriles to afford substituted 2-alkoxyalkenenitriles. Subsequent thermolysis unmasks a cyclic oxonitrile while selectively forming a new quaternary center with enantiomeric ratios typically greater than 9:1. The overall alkylation strategy addresses the challenge of enantioselectively generating hindered, quaternary centers while simultaneously installing ketone, nitrile, and olefin functionalities.     

Apatite type lanthanum silicate and composite anode half cells

Apatite type rare earth silicates are being extensively studied as electrolyte material for intermediate temperature solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC). In this paper we presents results on synthesis of Al and/or Fe-doped ATLS, the design of compatible anode materials, thermal expansion properties and co-sintering of half-cells from expansion matched materials using the advanced pulsed electric current sintering (PECS) technique. The issues related to the co-sintering of half cells have been addressed successfully by the combined use of nano powders and PECS.     

A discrete artificial bee colony algorithm for the multi-objective flexible job-shop scheduling problem with maintenance activities

This paper presents a novel discrete artificial bee colony (DABC) algorithm for solving the multi-objective flexible job shop scheduling problem with maintenance activities. Performance criteria considered are the maximum completion time so called makespan, the total workload of machines and the workload of the critical machine. Unlike the original ABC algorithm, the proposed DABC algorithm presents a unique solution representation where a food source is represented by two discrete vectors and tabu search (TS) is applied to each food source to generate neighboring food sources for the employed bees, onlooker bees, and scout bees. An efficient initialization scheme is introduced to construct the initial population with a certain level of quality and diversity. A self-adaptive strategy is adopted to enable the DABC algorithm with learning ability for producing neighboring solutions in different promising regions whereas an external Pareto archive set is designed to record the non-dominated solutions found so far. Furthermore, a novel decoding method is also presented to tackle maintenance activities in schedules generated. The proposed DABC algorithm is tested on a set of the well-known benchmark instances from the existing literature. Through a detailed analysis of experimental results, the highly effective and efficient performance of the proposed DABC algorithm is shown against the best performing algorithms from the literature.