Copper(II) removal from aqueous solutions by fly ash

The removal of Cu(II) by adsorption on fly ash has been found to be concentration, pH and temperature dependent. The kinetics of adsorption indicates the process to be diffusion controlled. The Langmuir constants have been calculated at different temperatures, and the adsorption has been found to be endothermic (ΔH = 15.652 kcal mol^?1). The maximum removal is observed at pH 8.0, and variation in adsorption with pH has been explained on the basis of surface ionisation and complexation.     

A new method for approximation of physiological signals

A new robust method for the approximation of physiological signals is proposed. The noise must satisfy only one condition: that the probabilities for positive and negative values are equal. The authors' results illustrate that the proposed method provides a more accurate approximation of signals than either the least square error or the least absolute deviation method in cases that include unknown noise density     

Assessing declarative memory in schizophrenia using Wisconsin Card Sorting Test stimuli: the Paired Associate Recognition Test

The Paired Associate Recognition Test (PART) was developed to measure declarative memory using Wisconsin Card Sorting Test (WCST) stimuli, so that both tasks could be administered during functional neuroimaging to differentiate memory and executive function, and associated frontal and temporal lobe activation in schizophrenia. The current study was designed to compare PART and WCST performance in schizophrenic patients and to examine effects of medication and symptomatology. The PART, WCST, and standard declarative memory tasks were administered to 30 chronic schizophrenic patients and 30 matched healthy control subjects. Supporting task validity was the finding that patients were equally impaired on the PART and the WCST. Neuroleptics did not appear to affect performance. The effect of anticholinergic medication correlated negatively with WCST performance in a small subsample. Severity of schizophrenia-specific symptoms measured at intake on the Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale correlated negatively with performance on the WCST. These results support the application of the PART and WCST in future functional neuroimaging studies.     

Enhancement of the luminescence yield of Er3+ ions at λ=1.54μmm in ZBLAN glass additionally doped with Eu3+ and Tb3+ and pumped in the range λ=0.975 μm

In fluorozirconate glasses the luminescence yield of Er ₂ ³⁺ ions on the ⁴ I _13/2–⁴ I _15/2 lasing transition was increased more than tenfold by additional doping with Yb³⁺ and Tb³⁺ ions. Pis’ma Zh. Tekh. Fiz. 24, 81–85 (May 12, 1998)     

Effect of Molecular Additives on the Ignition of Methane–Air Mixtures

Combustion, Explosion, and Shock Waves - The ignition of methane–air mixtures with additives of ClF5, ClF3, OF2, and H2O2 (additive content in the mixtures  $$\le$$ 1%) is studied by...     

Development of a framework for truss-braced wing conceptual MDO

The paper describes the development of a multidisciplinary design optimization framework for conceptual design of truss-braced wing configurations. This unconventional configuration requires specialized analysis tools supported by a modular and flexible framework to accommodate different configurations. While the previous framework developed at Virginia Tech was a monolithic Fortran-77 code, the need for more flexibility for complex truss-braced wing configurations was addressed by the development of this new framework, which is based on Phoenix Integration ModelCenter^TM environment. The framework uses updated structural and aerodynamic design modules that enable a more general geometry definition. The new framework, thus, provides a foundation for future design concepts, especially multi-member truss-braced wing configurations. The fuel saving potential of these truss-braced wing configurations is presented by comparing different truss designs with gradually increased level of complexity.     

Scheduling a maintenance activity and due-window assignment on a single machine

We study a single machine scheduling and due-window assignment problem. In addition to the traditional decisions regarding sequencing the jobs and scheduling the due-window, we allow an option for performing a maintenance activity. This activity requires a fixed time interval during which the machine is turned off and no production is performed. On the other hand, after the maintenance time, the machine becomes more efficient, as reflected in the new shortened job processing times. The objective is to schedule the jobs, the due-window and the maintenance activity, so as to minimize the total cost consisting of earliness, tardiness, and due-window starting time and size. We introduce an efficient (polynomial time) solution for this problem.     

Regularizing Flows over Lie Groups

In this paper we discuss regularization of images that take their value in matrix Lie groups. We describe an image as a section in a principal bundle which is a fibre bundle where the fiber (the feature space) is a Lie group. Via the scalar product on the Lie algebra, we define a bi-invariant metric on the Lie-group manifold. Thus, the fiber becomes a Riemannian manifold with respect to this metric. The induced metric from the principal bundle to the image manifold is obtained by means of the bi-invariant metric. A functional over the space of sections, i.e., the image manifolds, is defined. The resulting equations of motion generate a flow which evolves the sections in the spatial-Lie-group manifold. We suggest two different approaches to treat this functional and the corresponding PDEs. In the first approach we derive a set of coupled PDEs for the local coordinates of the Lie-group manifold. In the second approach a coordinate-free framework is proposed where the PDE is defined directly with respect to the Lie-group elements. This is a parameterization-free method. The differences between these two methods are discussed. We exemplify this framework on the well-known orientation diffusion problem, namely, the unit-circle S ¹ which is identified with the group of rotations in two dimensions, SO(2). Regularization of the group of rotations in 3D and 4D, SO(3) and SO(4), respectively, is demonstrated as well.