Vibration control of tall buildings

Objectionable vibrations have been experienced in modern tall buildings. To alleviate the vibrations one may increase the structural stiffness and damping or use a passive control device such as a ‘tuned mass damper’. The drawback of the above mentioned methods is the greatly increased cost. An alternative approach is to use active control devices providing control forces based on the feed back control theory. This paper presents a systematic approach of first reducing a multistorey structure to a simpler equivalent system. Then a pole placement method is developed to obtain the conrol forces. A successive approximation method is used to reduce the responses to permissible magnitudes. An example is presented to demonstrate the feasibility of the method.     

Analysis of spatially distributed FU-FB S-ALOHA in fading channels using TUA

The tagged user analysis (TUA) is a generic approximate method developed to analyze random access protocols for finite-user finite-buffer systems that avoids complexities of Markovian analysis by using available queueing results. In this paper, TUA method is extended to the analysis of finite buffer S-ALOHA operating over flat fading radio channels when the user population is spatially distributed. The expressions for system performance indices are derived. It is shown that for moderate number of active users, the simulation and analytical results have a close fit.     

Synthesis of Molybdenum Oxide Nanohybrids as Efficient Catalysts in Oxidation of Alcohols

Novel layered materials based on molybdenum oxide have been synthesized using three amino-carboxylate ligands; terephetalic acid, p-aminobezoic acid and diaminobenzene. On the basis of X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetry, and infrared results, the insertion of organic ligands into the interlayer space of molybdenum oxide has been proposed. Moreover, the influence of organic guests on the oxide structure and also their catalytic performance are discussed. Furthermore, fabrication of the nanostructured molybdenum oxide is achieved by calcinations of these hybrid materials at 600 °C. Somewhat oriented nanoplatelets are viewed with different catalytic activity.     

Numerical study of n-heptane/benzene separation by thermal diffusion column

In this article,numerical simulations are performed to investigate the performance of the thermal diffusion column for the separation of n-heptane/benzene mixture.The present work tried to optimize column by analyzing significant parameters such as feed flow rate,temperature and cut.In order to obtain the hydrodynamic and temperature and mass distribution inside thermal diffusion column,computational fluid dynamic(CFD) method is applied to solve the Navier-Stocks equations.Numerical simulations are conducted to study the main parameters in both stationary and time-dependent conditions.By using the separation work unit as a function of cut,the optimal cut for maximum SWU occurs within a limited range of 0.47-0.5 for feed rate between 0.5 and 4 g min-1.Our findings reveal that the optimum feed rate in the range of optimum cut is about 1 g min~(-1).In transient study,results show that the best cut for reaching to steady-state condition is θ=0.5.     

Cube-octameric silsesquioxane (POSS)-capped magnetic iron oxide nanoparticles for the efficient removal of methylene blue

Octavinyl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSS) was polymerized on the surface of Fe3O4 nanoparticles (NPs) and then the NPs were functionalized with carboxylic acid groups using thiol-ene click reactions with thioglycolic acid.The as-prepared Fe3O4@POSS-COOH magnetic hybrid NPs had mesoporous structures with an average particle diameter of 15 nm and a relatively high specific surface area of 447 m^2· g^-1.Experimental results showed that 4 mg of Fe3O4@POSS-COOH NPs efficiently adsorbed and removed methylene blue from water at 5 min.This is due to the presence of both carboxylic acid and pendant vinyl groups on the Fe3O4@POSS-COOH NPs.These NPs could be easily withdrawn from water within a few seconds under moderate magnetic field and showed high stability in acid and alkaline aqueous mediums.     

Mechanical characterization of graphene oxide reinforced epoxy at different strain rates

Strain rate has significant effect on mechanical behavior of the thermoset polymers. The rate sensitivity is more complicated for thermoset nanocomposites, which compose of two quite different types of materials. Nanofiller‐reinforced epoxy resin is widely used in the industry. In the present work, epoxy resin is reinforced by 0.05 to 0.7 wt% nanographene oxide (GO). The strain rate sensitivity of the fabricated nanocomposites is investigated through compressive test carried out at the strain rates of 0.001–1,900 s^?1. The stress–strain curves of the nanocomposites indicated considerable difference between the low‐strain and high‐strain‐rate responses of the specimens. The results showed that the compressive strength of the nanocomposites was improved by more than 100% at high strain rates with respect to the low strain rates. Also, the addition of nano‐GO had influence on compressive strength enhancement but not as significant as the effect of strain rate. It was observed that the effect of GO was less important for higher strain rates. The experimental compressive strength and modulus of elasticity of the nanocomposites were casted in empirical relations for low and high strain rates for various filler weight percentages. Scanning electron microscopy was also used to examine the quality of GO dispersion. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 59:1636–1647 2019. © 2019 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Statistical modeling of global geogenic arsenic contamination in groundwater

Contamination of groundwaters with geogenic arsenic poses a major health risk to millions of people. Although the main geochemical mechanisms of arsenic mobilization are well understood, the worldwide scale of affected regions is still unknown. In this study we used a large database of measured arsenic concentration in groundwaters (around 20,000 data points) from around the world as well as digital maps of physical characteristics such as soil, geology, climate, and elevation to model probability maps of global arsenic contamination. A novel rule-based statistical procedure was used to combine the physical data and expert knowledge to delineate two process regions for arsenic mobilization: "reducing" and "high-pH/ oxidizing". Arsenic concentrations were modeled in each region using regression analysis and adaptive neuro-fuzzy inferencing followed by Latin hypercube sampling for uncertainty propagation to produce probability maps. The derived global arsenic models could benefit from more accurate geologic information and aquifer chemical/physical information. Using some proxy surface information, however, the models explained 77% of arsenic variation in reducing regions and 68% of arsenic variation in high-pH/oxidizing regions. The probability maps based on the above models correspond well with the known contaminated regions around the world and delineate new untested areas that have a high probability of arsenic contamination. Notable among these regions are South East and North West of China in Asia, Central Australia, New Zealand, Northern Afghanistan, and Northern Mali and Zambia in Africa.     

Pyridine-functionalized mesoporous silica as an adsorbent material for the determination of nickel and lead in vegetables grown in close proximity by electrothermal atomic adsorption spectroscopy

A new, sensitive, and low cost solid-phase extraction method using pyridine-functionalized MCM-48 mesoporous silica for the extraction, pre-concentration, and electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometric determination of nickel and lead in food samples at ng mL⁻¹ levels is described herein. The levels of nickel and lead in different types of vegetables grow in Shiraz–Iran and Rafsanjan–Iran were determined by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry. The use of two standard reference materials and also comparing the results to a standard reference procedure ensured the accuracy of this method. Factors, such as flow rate of extraction, and the type, pH, concentration, and volume of eluent, were appraised. The effect of various ions on recovery was also investigated. Detection limits of 0.11 and 0.14 ng mL⁻¹ were obtained for lead and nickel, respectively.     

Identification of Proteins Modulated in the Date Palm Stem Infested with Red Palm Weevil (Rhynchophorus ferrugineus Oliv.) Using Two Dimensional Differential Gel Electrophoresis and Mass Spectrometry

A state of the art proteomic methodology using Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization-Time of Flight (MALDI TOF) has been employed to characterize peptides modulated in the date palm stem subsequent to infestation with red palm weevil (RPW). Our analyses revealed 32 differentially expressed peptides associated with RPW infestation in date palm stem. To identify RPW infestation associated peptides (I), artificially wounded plants (W) were used as additional control beside uninfested plants, a conventional control (C). A constant unique pattern of differential expression in infested (I), wounded (W) stem samples compared to control (C) was observed. The upregulated proteins showed relative fold intensity in order of I > W and downregulated spots trend as W > I, a quite interesting pattern. This study also reveals that artificially wounding of date palm stem affects almost the same proteins as infestation; however, relative intensity is quite lower than in infested samples both in up and downregulated spots. All 32 differentially expressed spots were subjected to MALDI-TOF analysis for their identification and we were able to match 21 proteins in the already existing databases. Relatively significant modulated expression pattern of a number of peptides in infested plants predicts the possibility of developing a quick and reliable molecular methodology for detecting plants infested with date palm.     

Physical Analysis of Silver Thin Films Deposited by Electron Beam Technique

Protection of Metals and Physical Chemistry of Surfaces - The effect of annealing temperature on the properties of silver thin films has been investigated. Ag thin films have been deposited on...