Robustness in deterministic multi-objective linear programming with respect to the relative interior and angle deviation

This paper deals with the robustness issue in deterministic multi-objective linear programming from two new standpoints. It is shown that a robustness notion recently reported in the literature is equivalent to strict efficiency. Corresponding to an efficient solution, a new quantity, robustness order (RO) is defined with respect to the interiority order of the cost matrix in the binding cone. A linear programming problem is provided to calculate the RO of a given efficient solution. The second part of the paper is devoted to investigating the robustness with respect to the eligible angle deviation of the cost matrix in the binding cone. Theoretical results are given to obtain the maximum eligible angle deviation. Finally, the relationship between two above-mentioned robustness standpoints is established. To have a better geometrical view, we prove the results for single-objective LP problems at first, and then we extend them to the multi-objective case. In addition to the theoretical results, some clarifying examples are given.     

Polymer-dispersed liquid crystal composites for bio-applications: thermotropic,surface and optical properties

Polymer-dispersed liquid crystal (PDLC) systems based on polysulfone as carrying matrix and 4-cyano-4?-pentylbiphenyl (5CB) liquid crystal (LC) were obtained as thin transparent films. The PDLC films were prepared by solvent- and thermally induced phase separation methods, with various compositions in the two components. Information on the phase separation was obtained by polarised light optical microscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and scanning electron microscopy. The PDLC composites show well-defined droplets of submicrometric size, around 650 nm for a medium content of LC and around 250 nm for a low one. The droplets show a radial configuration and a homeotropic alignment of the LC molecules within. By contact angle measurement and surface free energy calculations, it was established that self-assembling of aliphatic units of the two composite components, at droplet interface, is the driving force of the homeotropic alignment. Moreover, these data indicated the potential biocompatibility of the studied composites. The photophysical behaviour shows a better light emission of the PDLCs containing bigger droplets.     

Anisotropic sound and shock waves in dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate

We study the propagation of anisotropic sound and shock waves in dipolar Bose-Einstein condensate in three dimensions (3D) as well as in quasi-two (2D, disk shape) and quasi-one (1D, cigar shape) dimensions using the mean-field approach. In 3D, the propagation of sound and shock waves are distinct in directions parallel and perpendicular to dipole axis with the appearance of instability above a critical value corresponding to attraction. Similar instability appears in 1D and not in 2D. The numerical anisotropic Mach angle agrees with theoretical prediction. The numerical sound velocity in all cases agrees with that calculated from Bogoliubov theory. A movie of the anisotropic wave propagation in a dipolar condensate is made available as supplementary material.     

Addendum to “Spatiotemporal evolution in a (2+1) -dimensional chemotaxis model” [Physica A 391 (2012) 107–112]

After our article, Physica A 391 (2012) 107–112, had been published online, T. Hillen told us about a theorem by Osaki, relevant for our numerical simulations.     

Surface modification of polyamide 12 angioplasty balloons by photochemical reaction with an aromatic azide

Polyamide 12 (PA12) is used in a variety of applications when low moisture absorption, good dimensional stability, and toughness are required. Polyamide 12 is one of the polymers most frequently employed to fabricate angioplasty balloon catheters; however, its high hydrophobicity and chemical inertness require the application of coatings to make its surface more hydrophilic and biocompatible. In this work, an alternative method, based on the photochemical reaction of PA12 with a hydrophilic aromatic azide, was developed. Static and dynamic contact angle measurements evidenced that the surface modification process was able to improve PA12 wettability and that the effects were retained even after 12 months from surface treatment. Polyamide 12 modification resulted in an increase of its surface free energy, as evaluated by the van Oss, Good, and Chaudhury method. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy confirmed the presence of the aromatic azide on PA12 surface. Finally, compliance tests showed that the modification process did not reduce the mechanical performance of balloons.     

A combined approach of Kullback–Leibler divergence and background subtraction for moving object detection in thermal video

In this work, a robust method for moving object detection in thermal video frames has been proposed by including Kullback–Leibler divergence (KLD) based threshold and background subtraction (BGS) technique. A trimmed-mean based background model has been developed that is capable enough to reduce noise or dynamic component of the background. This work assumed that each pixel has normally distributed. The KLD has computed between background pixel and a current pixel with the help of Gaussian mixture model. The proposed threshold is useful enough to classify the state of each pixel. The post-processing step uses morphological tool for edge linking, and then the flood-fill algorithm has applied for hole-filling, and finally the silhouette of targeted object has generated. The proposed methods run faster and have validated over various real-time based problematic thermal video sequences. In the experimental results, the average value of F₁-score, area under the curve, the percentage of correct classification, Matthew’s correlation coefficient show higher values whereas total error and percentage of the wrong classification show minimum values. Moreover, the proposed-1 method achieved higher accuracy and execution speed with minimum false alarm rate that has been compared with proposed-2 as well as considered peer methods in the real-time thermal video.     

Polarized SERS Controlled by Anisotropic Growth on Ordered Curvature Substrate

Colloidal lithography is an efficient and low-cost method to prepare an ordered nanostructure array with new shapes and properties. In this study, square-shaped and cone-shaped Au nanostructures were obtained by 70° angle deposition onto polystyrene bead array with the diameter of 500 nm when a space of 120 nm is created between the neighbor beads by plasma etching. The gaps between the units decrease when the Au deposition time increases, which leads to the polarized enhanced local field, in agreement with the surface-enhanced Raman scattering spectra (SERS) observations and finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) simulations. When the Au deposition time increased to 5 min, 5 nm gaps form between the neighbor units, which gave an enhancement factor of 5 × 10⁹. The SERS chip was decorated for the detection of the liver cancer cell marker Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) with the detection limit down to 5 pg/mL.     

反导火力单元空间杀伤区内拦截概率研究

拦截概率是评价反导作战效能的重要指标,对交战前任务规划至关重要。选取某一拦截弹建立其在空间的可达集区域,针对中段反导逆轨拦截情况,确立其在空间中的杀伤区。针对杀伤区内任一点可能为拦截点的情况,对某一来袭导弹的弹道轨迹,选取可拦截弧段上的理论拦截点,通过在选取不同高度上的理论拦截点上,调整拦截弹的发射位置,从而得到拦截点在杀伤区内不同高度,不同距离以及在不同的交汇角时对拦截概率的影响。为反导作战的阵地部署研究和交战策略提供了一定的参考。     

Liquid crystalline properties of 4‐hexyloxybenzylidene‐4′‐alkyloxyanilines

The liquid‐crystalline polymorphism of the homologous series of 4‐hexyloxybenzylidene‐4′‐alkyloxyanilines is investigated. Basing on the polarization microscopy (POM, TOA), the DSC calorimetry and miscibility studies the following mesophases were detected: nematic, smectic A, smectic C and smectic I. The phase diagrams of the compounds of these series with 4‐hexyloxybenylidene‐4′‐pentylaniline (as the standard of mesophases) show induction of the smectic F mesophases. Their dependence on the alkyl chain length and mole fraction is shown.