Natural convection from a semi-infinite flat plate inclined at a small angle to the horizontal in a saturated porous medium

Summary The free convection boundary layer on a semi-infinite heated flat plate which is inclined at a small angle to the horizontal in a saturated porous medium is considered. When the plate is inclined upwards, series solutions, one valid near the leading edge and the other valid at large distances from it, are obtained. Sufficient terms in the leading edge solution are taken so that the two asymptotic solutions may be joined. When the plate is inclined downwards the series solution valid near the leading edge is again obtained and sufficient terms are again employed to investigate the nature of the boundary layer separation. There is no evidence of a singularity at the separation point and a mathematical explanation of the behaviour at separation is presented.With 10 Figures     

Response spectrum analysis of piping systems with elastic-plastic gap supports

A new seismic support device and its application in piping systems is described. The device, E-BAR (patented), can be cost effectively used for snubber replacement programs, mitigation of hydraulic transients, pipe whip and as a thermal stop. The device has pre-set gaps to allow free thermal movement. During a seismic or other dynamic load event, if the pipe movement exceeds the gap dimension, the device acts as an elastic or elastic-plastic restraint. The device also has a unique design feature for not exceeding the restraint force beyond a specified limit design value. To analyze piping systems with gap supports having elastic-plastic characteristics, modal analysis procedures for both response spectrum and time history methods are developed. The comparison of responses obtained from the procedures with nonlinear time history analysis and test results available in the literature shows excellent correlation. A pilot program conducted for snubber replacement with E-BARs demonstrates that the limit force feature of E-BAR makes them very attractive for snubber replacement. This is because a particular E-BAR with a specified limit design force can be selected, such that, the E-BAR replacing the snubber does not require any modifications be made to the existing support steel and hardware.     

Resistive and magnetic properties of Y1−x Zr x Ba2Cu3O7−δ and Y1−2x Zr x Eu x Ba2Cu3O7−δ superconductive compounds

The results of X-rays, electrical resistivities and magnetic studies performed on Y_−x Zr _x Ba₂Cu₃O_t7−δ and Y_1−2x Zr _x Eu _x Ba₂Cu₃O_7−δ superconducting compounds, in the temperature range 4.2–500 K and external fields up to 50 kOe are reported. The presence of zirconium decreases the superconducting transition temperatures,T _c. BelowT _c, the hysteresis loops narrow when the zirconium content increases. From the magnetization curves, the critical current densities were determined. A time dependence of the magnetizations of logarithmic form was found. The flux-pinning energy was estimated to beU ≃0.03 eV. Above the transition temperatures, Y_−x Zr _x Ba₂Cu₃O_t7−δ samples show a Pauli-type paramagnetism, while Y_1−2x Zr _x Eu _x Ba₂Cu₃O_7−δ compounds have, in addition, temperature-dependent contributions to the magnetic susceptibilities. The effective europium moments are ∼3.40 μ_B suggesting that the ion is in (+3) valence state.     

Non-darcy natural convection from a heated vertical plate in saturated porous media with mass transfer

The nonsimilar and self-similar flows for the steady natural convection over a vertical heated surface in a saturated porous medium with mass transfer using non-Darcy model have been studied under boundary layer approximations. The differential equations governing both the nonsimilar and self-similar flows have been solved numerically using an implicit finite-difference scheme developed by Keller. The results indicate that both heat transfer and velocity field are appreciably affected by the modified Grashof number and mass transfer except that the effect of the modified Grashof number on the heat transfer for large suction is very small. It is found that the maximum velocity occurs at the wall and it increases as the modified Grashof number or injection increases.     

Viscous dissipation and MHD hybrid nanofluid flow towards an exponentially stretching/shrinking surface

Neural Computing and Applications - The impact of viscous dissipation in hybrid nanofluid plays a prominent role in industrial applications, for instance, in polymer processing flows and...     

OpenCOPI: middleware integration for Ubiquitous Computing

In this paper, we present OpenCOPI (Open COntext Platform Integration), a Service-Oriented Architecture-based middleware platform that supports the integration of services provided by distinct sources, ranging from services offered by simple systems to more complex services provided by context-provision middleware. OpenCOPI offers selection and composition mechanisms to, respectively, select and compose services provided by different sources, considering applications of both Quality of Service and Quality of Context requirements. It also offers an adaptation mechanism that enables to adapt the application execution due to service failures, service quality fluctuation and user mobility. OpenCOPI allows the definition of applications in a higher abstraction level by the specification of a semantic workflow that contains abstract activities. This paper illustrates the use of OpenCOPI in an application from the Gas & Oil Industry and it also shows the evaluation of the main mechanisms of OpenCOPI: the service selection, composition, adaptation and workflow execution.     

Studies regarding simulation process to static loading of the structures obtained from polylactic acid, 3D printed

Being a relatively new process, additive manufacturing needs many studies to be able to produce parts with the required properties. The aim of the paper is to establish whether, based on the physical and mechanical properties determined by tensile testing and by applying finite element analysis (FEA), viable results can be obtained regarding the behavior of the 3D printed structures at the different, static loading. The application of FEA for the tensile testing of 3D specimens led to the results close to those obtained by the tests. The values of the results obtained by simulation are higher by up to 7.2% compared with those recorded by tests. The simulation was applied both for the printed specimens from a single material and from two materials (multi-material). Regardless of the materials used in printing and the simulation method, the results of applying FEA are close to those recorded by testing.     

P-glycoprotein inhibitors: synthesis and in vitro evaluation of a preactivated thiomer

Abstract

The aim of this study was to synthesize the preactivated thiomer poly(acrylic acid)-cyteine-2-mercaptonicotinic acid (PAA-Cys-2MNA) and to evaluate its P-glycoprotein (P-gp) inhibitory properties. The thiomer (PAA-Cys) was synthesized by covalent immobilization of thiol groups on poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) with a molecular mass of 250?kDa followed by immobilization of 2-mercaptonicotinic acid (2MNA) to thiol groups via disulfide bond formation resulting in PAA-Cys-2MNA. P-gp inhibitory effect of this preactivated thiomer was evaluated on Caco-2 cells. Transports of rhodamine 123 at 37?°C with and without verapamil and at 4?°C were performed to evaluate P-gp function of cells. In total, 1571.81?±?156.18?µmol thiol groups were immobilized per gram of polymer that were in the next step by 99.88% preactivated. The enhancement ratios of P_app calculated from the ratio between P_app of rhodamine 123 in the presence of P-gp inhibitors and P_app of rhodamine 123 alone were 2.36, 2.09, and 1.84-fold in the presence of PAA-Cys-2MNA, PAA-Cys, and PAA, respectively. Because of its pronounced P-gp inhibitory effect, PAA-Cys-2MNA could be considered as promising macromolecular P-gp inhibitor for various drug delivery systems.