Symmetric positive solutions of fourth order integral BVP for an increasing homeomorphism and homomorphism with sign-changing nonlinearity on time scales

In this paper, we consider the eigenvalue problems for fourth order integral boundary value problems on time scales for an increasing homeomorphism and homomorphism with sign changing nonlinearities. By using a fixed point index theorem, we give the existence of eigenvalue intervals in which there exist one symmetric positive solution to the problem. An example is also given to demonstrate the main results.     

A hybrid discrete particle swarm optimization for vehicle routing problem with simultaneous pickup and delivery

Vehicle routing problem (VRP) is an important and well-known combinatorial optimization problem encountered in many transport logistics and distribution systems. The VRP has several variants depending on tasks performed and on some restrictions, such as time windows, multiple vehicles, backhauls, simultaneous delivery and pick-up, etc. In this paper, we consider vehicle routing problem with simultaneous pickup and delivery (VRPSPD). The VRPSPD deals with optimally integrating goods distribution and collection when there are no precedence restrictions on the order in which the operations must be performed. Since the VRPSPD is an NP-hard problem, we present a heuristic solution approach based on particle swarm optimization (PSO) in which a local search is performed by variable neighborhood descent algorithm (VND). Moreover, it implements an annealing-like strategy to preserve the swarm diversity. The effectiveness of the proposed PSO is investigated by an experiment conducted on benchmark problem instances available in the literature. The computational results indicate that the proposed algorithm competes with the heuristic approaches in the literature and improves several best known solutions.     

Microbiological and compositional status of Turkish white cheese

Results of the chemical and microbiological examination of 38 Turkish white cheese samples are presented. On average, the cheese was characterized by a high moisture and salt content, 58.18 and 3.56%, respectively, and a pH of 4.68. Significant variation was found in these compositional factors, indicating the extreme diversity of manufacturing practices. Microbiological analysis revealed the presence of high numbers of coliforms, faecal coliforms and Escherichia coli, extremely high numbers of faecal streptococci, and a low level and incidence of Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella and Clostridium perfringens were not isolated from the samples. There was no correlation between the levels of coliforms, faecal coliforms, E. coli and enterococci, suggesting that the enterococci count in Turkish white cheese may not be a good indicator of sanitary practices.     

Evaluation of ISSR markers for genetic diversity analysis in Anatolian water buffaloes

BACKGROUND: The utilisation of molecular markers has increased in molecular research recently. Inter‐simple sequence repeat (ISSR) markers allow the analysis of genomes without preliminary sequence information, since random primers are used. The purpose of the present study was to evaluate ISSR markers for assessing the genetic diversity of indigenous Anatolian Water Buffaloes reared in Afyon, Konya and Sivas provinces of Turkey, with a view to conservation of the gene resources. RESULTS: The 11 ISSR primers chosen for the analysis revealed a total of 110 bands, of which 76 (69.09%) were polymorphic. Also, genetic similarity, polymorphic information content (PIC), resolving power (R_p) and mean resolving power (R_p ), heterozygosity (H) and Shannon index (I) were calculated as 0.9479–0.9562, 0.35 ± 0.20, 2.73, 0.27, 0.18 ± 0.07 and 0.28 ± 0.11, respectively. CONCLUSION: The ISSR markers were found to be promising for assessing the genetic diversity in buffalo populations. Potential genetic parameters such as PIC, R_p, R_p , H and I were effectively used in this study. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Conducting carbon/polymer composites as a catalyst support for proton exchange membrane fuel cells

Carbon/poly(3,4‐ethylene dioxythiophene) (C/PEDOT) composites are synthesized by in situ chemical oxidative polymerization of EDOT monomer on carbon black in order to decrease carbon corrosion that occurred in carbon‐supported catalysts used in proton exchange membrane fuel cell. The effects of different dopants including polystyrene sulfonic acid, p‐toluenesulfonic acid and camphorsulfonic acid with the addition of ethylene glycol or dimethyl sulfoxide on the properties of the composites are investigated. The synthesized composites are characterized by X‐ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, surface area analysis and scanning electron microscope. Electrical conductivity is determined by using the four‐point probe technique. Electrochemical oxidation characteristics of the synthesized C/PEDOT composites are investigated by cyclic voltammetry by applying 1.2 V for 24 h. The composite prepared at 25 °C with p‐toluenesulfonic acid and ethylene glycol shows the best carbon corrosion resistance. Platinum‐supported catalyst by using this composite was prepared using microwave irradiation technique, and it was seen that the prepared catalyst did not significantly lose its hydrogen oxidation and oxygen reduction reaction activities after electrochemical oxidation. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Four‐band electromagnetic energy harvesting with a dual‐layer metamaterial structure

A four‐band metamaterial harvester for harvesting 0.9 GHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.6 GHz, and 5.8 GHz signals is proposed by a dual‐layer structure. 0.9 GHz and 1.8 GHz bands are harvested by the resistors in front layer, whereas harvesting of 2.6 GHz is achieved by the resistors in second layer. All resistors in front and back layer contribute to harvesting at 5.8 GHz. Numerical calculations are verified by two different full‐wave electromagnetic solvers based on finite‐integration and finite‐element techniques. Power dissipation ratios at 0.9 GHz, 1.8 GHz, 2.6 GHz and 5.8 GHz frequencies concentrated at the resistors are found as 82.3%, 82.8%, 74.6%, and 83.6%, respectively, by the finite‐integration‐based solver. Besides, the finite‐element method‐based solver results in harvesting efficiencies of 79.6%, 93.4%, 73.7%, and 93.8%. The efficiency of the harvester is investigated for different oblique incidences. The proposed metamaterial harvester can be a good candidate for multi‐band absorption and harvesting applications.     

Spatial assessment of site suitability for solar desalination plants: a case study of the coastal regions of Turkey

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - Many countries, especially in arid and semiarid regions, suffer from water scarcity because of the decline in the existing freshwater reserves by...     

Removal of phosphate by using copper‐loaded poly(N‐vinylimidazole) hydrogels as polymeric ligand exchanger

Polymeric ligand exchangers (PLE) are generally composed of a crosslinked hosting resin that can firmly hold a transition metal ion which can act as terminal functional groups. In this study, poly(N‐vinylimidazole) (PVIm) hydrogels were synthesized by free radical polymerization/crosslinking of N‐vinylimidazole in aqueous solution. Swelling behavior of PVIm hydrogels was investigated and the gel with minimum amount of crosslinking agent, hence showing maximum swelling was selected as the optimum gel system for further studies. To prepare the corresponding PLE for the removal of phosphate, PVIm hydrogels were loaded with Cu(II) ions. Copper loading capacity of PLE was determined to be 5 mmol of Cu(II)/g of dry gel. For removal of phosphate, adsorption experiments were performed in batch mode at different pH (3–9) and phosphate concentrations. It was found that phosphate adsorption capacity did not change significantly within this pH range. The effect of initial concentration of phosphate on the adsorption behavior of PLE was determined for 10 different phosphate concentrations (0.1–1000 mg/L) at pH 7. NaCl solution was used for regeneration of phosphate adsorbed Cu(II) loaded PVIm hydrogels with 100% regeneration efficiency. The new PLE showed high affinity for phosphate; the highest uptake was found to be 218 mg/g dry PLE from 1000 mg/L phosphate solution. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2011     

Synthesis and physical gels of pH- and thermo-responsive tertiary amine methacrylate based ABA triblock copolymers and drug release studies

A series of novel pH-responsive ABA triblock copolymer gelators have been synthesized by using poly[2-(diisopropylamino)ethyl methacrylate] (PDPA) as the A block and poly[2-(dimethylamino)ethyl methacrylate] (PDMA) as the B block via group transfer polymerization. While the PDPA-b-PDMA-b-PDPA triblock copolymers are molecularly soluble in acidic aqueous media due to protonation of all tertiary amine groups, they formed either gels by the chain-end hydrophobic interactions with relatively high polymer concentration (10 wt%) or near monodisperse “flower” micelles with low polymer concentration at neutral and basic aqueous solutions. The hydrophobic model drug release was studied in a sustained manner from the gels at pH 7.4 by varying the polymer concentration, the polymer molecular weight and the temperature of the medium. Preliminary studies indicate that both slow, sustained release and fast, triggered release of a model hydrophobic drug, dipyridamole, can be achieved by tuning the solution pH, polymer concentration, polymer molecular weight and temperature of the gel.