Uniqueness of solution of production control problem in a manufacturing system with degenerate demand

This paper studies the production inventory problem of minimizing the expected discounted present value of production cost control in a manufacturing system with degenerate stochastic demand. We establish the existence of a unique solution of the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman (HJB) equation associated with this problem. The optimal control is given by a solution to the corresponding HJB equation.     

Effect of NH4I and I2 concentration on agar gel polymer electrolyte properties for a dye-sensitized solar cell

Gel polymer electrolytes were prepared using agar polymer host, NH₄I, and I₂ salts. The sample of agar paste with 1.0 M of NH₄I and 0.2 μM of I₂ exhibits the highest conductivity and lowest viscosity values at room temperature of (2.64?±?0.19)?×?10^?3?S?cm^?1 and 1.17?±?0.29 Pa?s, respectively. All of the gel polymer electrolytes display Arrhenian behavior, and the optimum agar paste gave the lowest activation energy of 0.25 eV. It also had a good physical appearance compared with the other samples. This gel polymer electrolyte had a good potential and was applicable to a role as electrolyte in ITO-ZnO (N719 dye)/agar paste?+?1.0 M NH₄I?+?0.2 μM I₂/Au-Pd-ITO dye-sensitized solar cell.     

On the fourth and fifth coefficients of strongly starlike functions

For 0 < α ≤ 1, analytic functions f(z) = z + a₂z² + a₃z³ + … in the unit disk U are strongly starlike of order α if ¦arg {zf′ (z)/f(z)}¦ < πα / 2, z ∈ U. We find sharp estimates on the fourth and fifth coefficients of functions in this class.     

On the characteristics of AlGaN films grown on (111) and (001) Si substrates

High Al-content Al_xGa_1−xN films were deposited on (001) and (111) Si substrates at 1000 °C using high temperature AlN buffer layers. Experimental results show that Al_xGa_1−xN films grown on (111) Si substrates exhibit better crystalline quality than that in the films deposited on (001) Si substrates. Cracks were found in the high Al-content Al_xGa_1−xN/(111) Si samples but they were not observed in the Al_xGa_1−xN films grown on (001) Si substrates having the same film thicknesses and Al compositions. Based upon the results of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), it appears that mono-crystalline Al_xGa_1−xN films were achieved on (111) Si substrates while columnar structure was observed in the Al_xGa_1−xN/(001) Si samples. According to the depth profiles of Al_xGa_1−xN/Si samples using secondary ion mass spectroscopic (SIMS) analyses, enhanced Al inter-diffusion in the Al_xGa_1−xN/(001) Si samples was identified. Room temperature (RT) photoluminescence (PL) measurements of the Al_xGa_1−xN (x≦0.10)/(111) Si samples exhibit strong near band edge luminescence. The PL emission linewidth was found to decrease with the decrement of Al-content.     

Electrochemical Studies on Effects of Psychostimulants,Opioids and Alcohol Intake Towards Level of Hydrogen Peroxide in the Brain Striatum

Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) was the main types of many peroxides produced in living mammalian cells that consumed oxygen. In the brain, the main source of H₂O₂ was the superoxide dismutase (SOD)‐catalyzed reaction in mitochondria. However, the level of H₂O₂ would be elevated through administration of control drugs and alcohol by dopamine metabolism of monoamine oxidase. In this study, a H₂O₂ microsensor was used to investigate the level of H₂O₂ in the brain striatum after administration of methamphetamine (MAP), morphine (MrP) or ethanol (Eth). The placement of microsensor in the brain was done at coordinates A/P 1.1 from bregma, M/L+2.6 and D/V‐1.5. A working potential of +0.05 V vs. Ag/AgCl was applied. The H₂O₂ concentration was measured direct from the current generated by its catalytic reaction at the electro active surface of the electrode. A significant increase of H₂O₂ level was observed after 7 successive injections of the controlled drugs or alcohol. The initial measurement of H₂O₂ is essential as excess dosage of H₂O₂ during treatment will contribute to the formation of neurotoxin oxygenated radicals. The H₂O₂ was the precursor of O_2? and OH radicals. Thus, this study provided a mean to monitor H₂O₂ level in the brain.     

The super-efficiency procedure for outlier identification,not for ranking efficient units

In this paper, we conduct simulation experiments to evaluate the performance of two alternative uses of the super-efficiency procedure in Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The first is for outlier identification and the second is for ranking efficient units. We find that the ranking procedure does not perform satisfactorily. In fact, the correlations between the true efficiency and the estimated super-efficiency are negative for the subset of efficient observations, and the conventional DEA model performs as well as the super-efficiency DEA model when all observations are considered. However, when data are contaminated with outliers, the use of the super-efficiency model to identify and remove outliers results in more accurate efficiency estimates than those obtained from the conventional DEA estimation model.     

Oxidative coupling of methane for the production of ethylene over Li-Ni/MgO catalys

Oxidative coupling of methane for the production of ethylene was studied over Li-Ni/MgO catalyst in a fixed bed reactor. The influences of important reaction parameters such as temperature (T), methane/oxygen ratio (CH₄/O₂) in feed and space velocity of reactants (V/m_cat) were studied over the conversion of methane, yields of ethylene and ethane and selectivity of ethylene formation. The reaction conditions were varied as 650 < T < 850^oC, 0.83 x 10^-6 < V/m_cat < 2.92 x 10^-6 m³/g s and 1 < CH₄/O₂ ratio < 8.     

Twisted Semigroup Crossed Products and Twisted Toeplitz Algebras of Ordered Groups

Let г^＋ be the positive cone of a totally ordered abelian group г, and σa cocycle in г. We study the twisted crossed products by actions of г＋ as endomorphisms of C^＊-algebras, and use this to generalize the theorem of Ji.     

Dependence of viscosity of polystyrene solutions on molecular weight and concentration

Viscosities of solutions of polystyrene in toluene were measured for concentrations up to 400 kg m^?3 at 298 K. Polymers of molecular weights ranging from 8.7 × 10³ to 2.4 × 10⁶ were used. It is observed that viscosity of the polymer solution increases with increasing concentration and molecular weight; the rate of increase is greater at higher values of the two parameters. A master curve for the system is constructed by using the experimental data for viscosity, concentration and molecular weight of the polymer. Regions of various polymer interactions in solution are identified.