A meshless method to the numerical solution of an inverse reaction–diffusion–convection problem

In this paper, the determination of the source term in a reaction–diffusion convection problem is investigated. First with suitable transformations, the problem is reduced, then a new meshless method based on the use of the heat polynomials as basis functions is proposed to solve the inverse problem. Due to the ill-posed inverse problem, the Tikhonov regularization method with a generalized cross-validation criterion is employed to obtain a numerical stable solution. Finally, some numerical examples are presented to show the accuracy and effectiveness of the algorithm.     

A modified particle swarm optimization for economic dispatch with non-smooth cost functions

This paper presents a new approach to economic dispatch (ED) problems with non-smooth cost functions using a particle swarm optimization (PSO) technique. The practical ED problems have non-smooth cost functions with equality and inequality constraints, which makes the problem of finding the global optimum difficult when using any mathematical approaches. Since, standard PSO may converge at the early stage, in this paper, a modified PSO (MPSO) mechanism is suggested to deal with the equality and inequality constraints in the ED problems. To validate the results obtained by MPSO, standard particle swarm optimization (PSO) and guaranteed convergence particle swarm optimization (GCPSO) are applied for comparison. Also, the results obtained by MPSO, PSO and GCPSO are compared with the previous approaches reported in the literature. The results show that the MPSO produces optimal or nearly optimal solutions for the study systems.     

Star-shaped polylactic acid-based triazine dendrimers: the catalyst type and time factors influence on polylactic acid molecular weight

Nowadays, extensive environmental problems due to the use of synthetic polymers have provoked efforts for their replacement with biopolymers as the most important research priorities. Polylactic acid (PLA) is one of the well-known biodegradable biopolymers. In this work, for the first time, PLA was modified with hydrophilic triazine-based dendrimers to obtain PLA with improved hydrophilic properties. In this regard, at first, dl-lactic acid (DLLA) was polymerized through the melt polycondensation to obtain poly-dl-lactic acid (PDLLA). The effects of reaction time and catalyst types on the molecular weight of the PDLLA were investigated. Also, the thermal behavior of PDLLAs with different molecular weights was evaluated using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) technique. The obtained results from the DSC analysis showed that the PDLLA with higher molecular weight has a higher glass transition temperature (T_g) and melting point (T_m). In the following, various generations (G) of the triazine-based dendrimers were synthesized. To increase the hydrophilicity of the prepared PDLLA, chemical modification of PDLLA with the different generations of triazine-based dendrimer (G₁, G_1.5 and G₂) was performed. Due to the modification of PDLLA with dendrimers, the number of functional groups and hydrophilicity of PDLLA increased. Based on the obtained results, it is expected that the prepared systems could be a good and promising candidate for the production of biocompatible plastics with more hydrolytic degradation ability.

     

Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids and Modulation of Cholesterol Homeostasis in THP-1 Macrophage-Derived Foam Cells

Transformation of macrophages to foam cells is determined by the rates of cholesterol uptake and efflux. This study uses a real time RT-PCR technique to investigate the role of conjugated linoleic acid (CLA), α-linolenic acid (ALA) and eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) in the regulation of the ATP-binding cassette A1 (ABCA1) and liver X receptor α (LXR) genes, which are involved in cholesterol homeostasis. Accordingly, these fatty acids significantly reduced the total, free and esterified cholesterols within the foam cells. While the expression of the ABCA1 and LXRα genes was increased in the presence of the pharmacological LXRα ligand, T0901317, their mRNA expression was not significantly affected by CLA, ALA and EPA. These results suggest that although polyunsaturated fatty acids have an effect on cholesterol homeostasis, they cannot change the expression of the ABCA1 and LXRα genes. Alternatively, several other genes and proteins may be involved.     

A comparison of the performance of some extreme learning machine empirical models for predicting daily horizontal diffuse solar radiation in a region of southern Iran

This study uses the empirical models of extreme learning machine (ELM) method to predict daily horizontal diffuse solar radiation (HDSR). As a possibility for modification, the recent hybrid ELM methods such as complex ELM (C-ELM), self-adaptive evolutionary ELM (SaE-ELM), and online sequential ELM (OS-ELM) have been developed for the prediction of the daily HDSR. The empirical model of ELM predicts the HDSR using clearness index as the sole predictor. For this aim, two types of correlations are evaluated: (1) the diffuse fraction-clearness index and (2) the diffuse coefficient-clearness index. The measured diffuse and global solar radiation data sets of southern Iranian cities (Yazd, Shiraz, Bandar Abbas, Bushehr, and Zahedan) are utilized to evaluate the models. The precision of the C-ELM, SaE-ELM, OS-ELM, and ELM models is evaluated for different regions on the basis of five statistical performance evaluation parameters. The results confirm that the performance of hybrid ELM is pretty accurate and trustworthy. Fully complex ELM exhibits the best performance among these hybrid methods, having values of 0.87 and 0.30 for R² and RMSE measures, respectively, in the testing phase. Therefore, it is able to be recognized as an appropriate tool for daily solar radiation forecasting issues.     

An improved pseudospectral meshless radial point interpolation (PSMRPI) method for 3D wave equation with variable coefficients

In this paper, a pseudospectral meshless radial point interpolation (PSMRPI) technique is applied to the three-dimensional wave equation with variable coefficients subject to given appropriate initial and Dirichlet boundary conditions. The present method is a kind of combination of meshless methods and spectral collocation techniques. The point interpolation method along with the radial basis functions is used to construct the shape functions as the basis functions in the frame of the spectral collocation methods. These basis functions will have Kronecker delta function property, as well as unitary possession. In the proposed method, operational matrices of higher order derivatives are constructed and then applied. The merit of this innovative method is that, it does not require any kind of integration locally or globally over sub-domains, as it is essential in meshless methods based on Galerkin weak forms, such as element-free Galerkin and meshless local Petrov–Galerkin methods. Therefore, computational cost of PSMRPI method is low. Further, it is proved that the procedure is stable with respect to the time variable over some conditions on the 3D wave model, and the convergence of the technique is revealed. These latest claims are also shown in the numerical examples, which demonstrate that PSMRPI provides excellent rate of convergence.

     

Sol–gel synthesis of silicon carbide on silicon pyramids: a promising candidate for supercapacitor electrodes

In this study, Si porous pyramids nanostructures were synthesized by the metal-assisted chemical etching technique. Different KOH concentrations were used to develop high surface area Si porous pyramids for application as supercapacitor electrodes. Field-emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) studies showed that 5% KOH solution will lead to high surface area Si pyramids with a specific capacitance of 90.3 F/cm². Silicon carbide (SiC) thin film was coated on Si pyramids (SiC@Si) using a facile sol–gel method followed by a carbothermal reduction process. Tetraethylorthosilicate and sugar were used as carbon sources. X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and FE-SEM analysis were used to characterize the developed SiC@Si samples. The developed SiC@ Si electrode exhibited a high specific capacitance of 135.5 F/cm² at a scan rate of 10 mV/s (in 1 M NaOH electrolyte). The supercapacitor capability of this SiC@Si structure is significantly higher than classical materials. Because of its facile, controllable and efficient synthesis technique, this novel SiC@Si can be considered a very promising candidate for power sources applications.