Simulating sympathetic detonation using the hydrodynamic models and constitutive equations

A Sympathetic detonation (SD) is a detonation of an explosive charge by a nearby explosion. Most of times it is unintended while the impact of blast fragments or strong shock waves from the initiating donor explosive is the cause of SD. We investigate the SD of a cylindrical explosive charge (64 % RDX, 20 % Al, 16 % HTPB) contained in a steel casing. The constitutive relations for high explosive are obtained from a thermo-chemical code that provides the size effect data without the rate stick data typically used for building the rate law and equation of state. A full size SD test of eight pallet-packaged artillery shells is performed that provides the pressure data while the hydrodynamic model with proper constitutive relations for reactive materials and the fragmentation model for steel casing is conducted to replicate the experimental findings. The work presents a novel effort to accurately model and reproduce the sympathetic detonation event with a reduced experimental effort.     

Disruption of Membrane Integrity as a Molecular Initiating Event Determines the Toxicity of Polyhexamethylene Guanidine Phosphate Depending on the Routes of Exposure

Polyhexamethylene guanidine phosphate (PHMG-P), a cationic biocide, is widely used in household products due to its strong bactericidal activity and low toxicity. However, it causes fatal lung damage when inhaled. In this study, we investigated why PHMG-P causes fatal lung injury when inhaled, and demonstrated that the disruption of membrane integrity through ionic interaction—a molecular initiating event of PHMG-P—determines toxicity. Mice were injected intravenously with 0.9 or 7.2 mg/kg PHMG-P (IV group), or instilled intratracheally with 0.9 mg/kg PHMG-P (ITI group); they were euthanatized at 4 h and on days 1 and 7 after treatment. Increased total BAL cell count and proinflammatory cytokine production, along with fibrotic changes in the lungs, were detected in the ITI group only. Levels of hepatic enzymes and hepatic serum amyloid A mRNA expression were markedly upregulated in the 7.2 mg/kg IV and ITI groups at 4 h or day 1 after treatment, but returned to baseline. No pathological findings were detected in the heart, liver, or kidneys. To simulate the IV injection, A549, THP-1, and HepG2 cells were treated with PHMG-P in cell culture media supplemented with different serum concentrations. Increased serum concentration was associated with an increase in cell viability. These results support the idea that direct contact between PHMG-P and cell membranes is necessary for PHMG-induced toxicity.     

Binary blends of metallocene polyethylene with conventional polyolefins: Rheological and morphological properties

The rheology and morphology of four sets of binary blends of polyethylene synthesized with metallocene catalysis (metallocene polyethylene: MCPE) with polyolefins prepared using Ziegler‐Natta catalysts have been investigated. The blend systems are MCPE with high density polyethylene (MCPE‐HDPE), polypropylene (MCPE‐PP), poly(propylene‐co‐ethylene) (MCPE‐CoPP), and poly(propylene‐co‐ethylene‐co‐1‐butylene) (MCPE‐TerPP). Cole‐Cole plots [storage melt viscosity (η′) versus loss melt viscosity (η″)], plots of the dynamic storage modulus (G′) versus the dynamic loss modulus (G″), and plots of the log melt viscosity (η*, η′, and η″) versus blend compositions were constructed. The morphology of the blends after microtoming and etching was studied. The phase morphology of MCPE‐HDPE appeared homogeneous, whereas the other three blends were heterogeneous. Rheological and morphological investigations indicated that the MCPE‐HDPE blend was miscible, but the other three blends were immiscible in the melt as well as in the solid state. These observations can be rationalized in terms of the similarity of the chemical structures of the polyolefins.     

Vanadium oxide supported γ-alumina with bimodal porous structure for intra-particle diffusion enhancement in styrene oxidation reaction

Porous γ-alumina with well arranged secondary mesopores has been contrived using nanosized templating units. The pore size of templated mesopores is precisely controlled as the pore shrinkage is insignificant. The primary pore diameter is ca. 4 nm and the secondary pore diameter is ca. 50 nm. The porous material was characterized using N₂ adsorption/desorption, TEM, XRD and FT-IR. γ-alumina with bimodal pore size distribution shows improved intra-particle diffusion compared to γ-alumina with unimodal pore size distribution in a simple dye adsorption test. γ-alumina with different porous structures were then impregnated with vanadium oxide for catalytic effect comparison. It was perceived that secondary pores improve the styrene oxidation rate after the conversion of styrene reaches 30%.     

The influence of filler on the emission properties and rheology of carbon nanotube paste

CNT paste consists of organic solution, inorganic binder and filler. Organic solution contains organic resins and solvent including surfactants which finely disperse CNTs. Filler affects surface morphology, electron emission property, viscosity, and rheological characteristics of CNT paste. We used different fillers such as silver and alumina in CNT paste for special function. The emission properties of CNT paste with silver are similar to those of CNT paste with alumina if filler portion is the same. From the scanning electron microscope (SEM) different morphologies of CNTs was observed depending on the type of filler. CNT paste which showed good emission property had vertically well-aligned CNTs on the surface after surface treatment using adhesive tape. We measured viscosity and rheological properties with rheometer RS600 from HAAKE. Emission property of CNT paste was evaluated in vacuum chamber of 10^{− 6} Torr with pulse generator and duty was 1/500.     

Effects of Sesame Oil Addition to Soybean Oil During Frying on the Lipid Oxidative Stability and Antioxidants Contents of the Fried Products During Storage in the Dark

ABSTRACT: Effects of sesame oil addition to soybean oil during frying on the lipid oxidative stability and antioxidants contents of fried products during storage in the dark were studied. Flour dough pieces (2 cm × 2 cm × 0.1 cm) were fried at 160 °C for 1 min in sesame oil-added soybean oil. Concentrations of sesame oil in the frying oil were 0%, 10%, and 20% by volume. Fried products were put into a glass bottle, and the bottles were tightly sealed and stored at 60 °C in the dark for 18 d. Lipid oxidation of fried products was determined by fatty acid composition changes and conjugated dienoic acid (CDA) and p -anisidine (PA) values. Tocopherols and lignan compounds in the fried products were determined by high-performance liquid chromatography. Relative content of linolenic acid decreased, and CDA and PA values increased during storage of the fried products in the dark. Fatty acid composition change and CDA and PA values during storage were lower in the products fried in sesame oil-added soybean oil than in the products fried in soybean oil without sesame oil. The results clearly showed that addition of roasted sesame oil to soybean oil at 10% and 20% during frying decreased the lipid oxidation of fried products during storage in the dark for 18 d by extension of induction period and decrease in decomposition of oxidized lipids. Fried products contained 134 to 267 ppm tocopherols and 0 to 148 ppm lignans before storage; however, their contents decreased during storage in the dark. Lignan compounds were more stable than tocopherols, and the rate of tocopherols degradation was lower in the products fried in sesame oil-added soybean oil than in the products fried in soybean oil without sesame oil, which could be because of protection of tocopherols from degradation by lignan compounds.     

Development of a microbial time-temperature integrator system using lactic acid bacteria

A microbial time-temperature integrator (TTI) system was developed using lactic acid bacteria (Weissella koreensis) obtained from baechukimchi. Activation energy (Ea), which represents the temperature dependence of the TTI response, was calculated using the Arrhenius equation. Ea values for the color change (ΔE value), maximum specific growth rate (μ_max), and pH change of the TTI measured under different isothermal conditions (5, 10, 15 and 20°C) were 99.88, 95.91, and 93.38 kJ/mol, respectively. According to the time taken to reach the TTI endpoint by the initial inoculum level of W. koreensis (6.2, 5.5, 4.5, and 3.4 log CFU/mL), a negative correlation was observed in 63.5, 101.8, 115.1 and 166.6 h. In addition, initial bacterial counts decreased significantly up to almost 4% at 20°C in 3 months when W. koreensis viability was measured at the freezing point of the microbial TTI system (20 and ?80°C) for 1 week, 1 month, 2 months, and 3 months. However, viability was about 95% at 80°C. This microbial TTI system would be useful to monitor the quality of food with similar Ea values during storage or distribution.     

Hierarchical spatial relation based on a contiguity graph

Autonomous agents traversing a natural space need to be knowledgeable of its space configuration. The existing space models in geographic information systems and robotics, however, deal with only the topological relations among numerous types of spatial relations. We aim to develop an enhanced space model that elaborates the spatial relations with respect to their relevant physical relations. Specifically, the spatial relations in a space configuration are further characterized with the gravitation as a potential factor to affect the space configuration. The resulting space model is capable of capturing an extended set of spatial relations over existing models such as a four‐intersection model. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Int Syst 20: 867–892, 2005.     

Mapping the dynamics of knowledge base of innovations of R&;D in Bangladesh: triple helix perspective

Triple helix (TH) collaborations involving university, industry and government provide a networked infrastructure for shaping the dynamic fluxes of knowledge base of innovations locally and these fluxes remain emergent within the domains. This study maps these emergence dynamics of the knowledge base of innovations of Research & Development (R&D) by exploring the longitudinal trend of systemness within the networked research relations in Bangladesh on the TH model. The bibliometric data of publications collected from the Science Citation Index (SCI), the social sciences and the arts and humanities for analysis of science indicators and the patent data collected from the US Patent Office to analyze the patent success ratio as a measure of innovation within TH domains. The findings show that the network dynamics have varied considerably according to the R&D policies of the government. The collaboration patterns of co-authorship relations in the SCI publications prominently increased, with some variation, from 1996 to 2006. Nevertheless, inter-institutional collaboration negatively influenced by the national science and technology (S&T) research policies in the last 5 years due to their evaluation criteria. Finally, the findings reveal that the R&D system of Bangladesh is still undergoing a process of institutionalizing S&T and has failed to boost its research capacity for building the knowledge base of innovations by neglecting the network effects of TH dynamics.     

Queue-based local scheduling and global coordination for real-time operation control in a container terminal

To maximize the productivity of a container terminal, the operations of various types of equipments should be optimized and synchronized in real time. However, use of optimization techniques such as mathematical programming or search-based meta-heuristics becomes difficult when given a large-scaled problem due to their high computational cost. Addressing this problem, the queue-based local scheduling and global coordination method proposed in this paper stands as a viable alternative. The method consists of the following steps. First, separate schedules are locally generated for each equipment type using a queue-based dispatching heuristic which pays attention to the queue lengths of the quay cranes (QCs) under service. Next, the schedules are executed via a simulation and a notable QC delay is identified. Based on the analysis on the causes of this delay, some compromising adjustments are made to the priorities of relevant jobs. Then, the localized scheduling followed by the adjustment is repeated until the termination condition is met. Adopting simple heuristics in the local scheduling phase, the overall process easily meets the real-time constraint, yet producing an integrated schedule with a better global perspective than the myopic heuristic-only approach.