A Numerical Study of Fluid Flow and Heat Transfer around a Square Cylinder at Incidence using Unstructured Grids

A numerical investigation of flow and heat transfer around a square cylinder at incidence (α = 0° ? 45°) is presented for a range of Reynolds numbers ( Re = 60 ? 150). A finite-volume code suitable for unstructured grids has been developed to simulate the flow. The unstructured grid has been generated using the Delaunay triangulation algorithm. A modified pressure-velocity correction scheme with semi-explicit time-stepping is implemented to solve the Navier-Stokes equations. Collocated grid arrangement has been used for the dependent variables. Convective terms have been discretized using a second order upwind least squares scheme. The formation of Karman vortex street has been captured and the Strouhal number associated with the wake has been determined. The dependence of Strouhal number, force coefficients (drag and lift), moment coefficient and average Nusselt number on Reynolds number, and angle of incidence for a fixed blockage ratio has been reported and analyzed.     

Benefits of retailer–supplier partnership initiatives under time-varying demand: a comparative analytical study

This paper aims to help supply chain managers to determine the value of retailer–supplier partnership initiatives beyond information sharing (IS) according to their specific business environment under time-varying demand conditions. For this purpose, we use integer linear programming models to quantify the benefits that can be accrued by a retailer, a supplier and system as a whole from shift in inventory ownership and shift in decision-making power with that of IS. The results of a detailed numerical study pertaining to static time horizon reveal that the shift in inventory ownership provides system-wide cost benefits in specific settings. Particularly, when it induces the retailer to order larger quantities and the supplier also prefers such orders due to significantly high setup and shipment costs. We observe that the relative benefits of shift in decision-making power are always higher than the shift in inventory ownership under all the conditions. The value of the shift in decision-making power is greater than IS particularly when the variability of underlying demand is low and time-dependent variation in production cost is high. However, when the shipment cost is negligible and order issuing efficiency of the supplier is low, the cost benefits of shift in decision-making power beyond IS are not significant.     

Thermal Properties of La1−x A x CoO3 (A = Ca and Ba)

The thermal properties of La_1?x A _x CoO₃ (A = Ca, Ba and 0.0≤x≤0.3) for temperature (1 K≤T≤300 K) have been investigated using the Modified Rigid ion model (MRIM) with pair wise interionic interaction potential. The temperature dependent (1 K≤T≤300 K) variation of specific heat and thermal expansion for La_1?x A _x CoO₃ (A = Ca, Ba and 0.0≤x≤0.3) has presented proper interpretation of the experimental data. Also the effect of lattice distortions on the thermal properties of these perovskite cobaltates has been studied by an atomistic approach. In addition, the results on the cohesive energy (?), molecular force constant (f), Reststrahlen frequency (υ), Debye temperature (θ _D ) and Gruneisen parameter (γ) are also discussed.     

Data mining for recognizing patterns in foodborne disease outbreaks

This paper introduces a new methodology for discovering patterns in foodborne disease outbreaks using a data-driven approach. Specifically, our approach uses three data mining methods, namely attribute selection, decision tree learning, and association rule discovery, to extract previously unknown and meaningful patterns that connect specific types of foodborne diseases outbreaks with associated foods vehicles and consumption locations. We use this approach to study the four most common disease causing etiologies in the Center for Disease Control (CDC) database of foodborne disease outbreaks in the year 2006, namely Salmonella enteritidis, Salmonella typhimurium, Escherichia coli, and Norovirus. The analysis reveals numerous patterns of how each of these outbreaks types relates to specific foods and locations. The discovery of such patterns in foodborne disease outbreak data can be very useful is determination and implementation of suitable intervention techniques. In particular, if the associations between different food types and consumption locations are known then custom intervention techniques including specific training methods can be designed to train individuals in hygienic food handling, preparation, and consumption practices.     

Study of Structural and Electrical Properties of Conventional Furnace and Microwave-Sintered BaZr0.10Ti0.90O3 Ceramics

Structural, dielectric, piezoelectric, and ferroelectric properties of Zirconium-doped barium titanate (BaZr_0.10Ti_0.90O₃) ceramics prepared by microwave (MWS) and conventional (CS) sintering process are compared. X-ray diffraction and Raman spectroscopy indicate clearly the structural changes and confirm the effective diffusion of zirconium with the MWS technique to form BZT. Scanning electron microscopy reveals a fine grain, and a dense microstructure in the MWS ceramics processed under 4 h of cycle time (including heating, cooling, and holding time) in comparison with CS requiring 22 h. At room temperature the microwave sintered samples exhibit improved electrical properties exhibiting higher resistivity, higher dielectric constant, a lower dielectric loss, and a reduced dependence on frequency. Impedance and electric modulus spectroscopy analysis in the frequency range (40 Hz–1 MHz) and high-temperature range (573–873 K) suggests two relaxation processes attributed to bulk and grain boundary effects in the impedance plots for the both MWS and CS ceramics. The microwave-sintered BZT ceramics are found to be more attractive for room temperature device applications with improved properties, however, at higher temperatures they tend to degrade in comparison with the CS ceramics.     

Structural and electrical properties of Gd3+ ion substituted CoGdxFe(2-x)O4 nano-ferrites

Nano particles of CoGdxFe(2-x)O4, with x = 0.0, 0.1, 0.3, 0.5 have been prepared by chemical co-precipitation method. The as synthesized particles are annealed at 300 degrees C for two hours to improve crystallinity. The X-ray diffraction patterns reveal the single cobalt ferrite phase formation and the average crystallite size decreases to 7 nm in the Gd3+ ion doped sample (with x = 0.5) compared to 27 nm in case of un-doped cobalt ferrite sample. The electrical properties for the different compositions of Gd3+ ion substituted cobalt ferrite material were studied in the frequency range 100 Hz to 10 MHz at room temperature using WK impedance analyzer. It is found that the electrical conductivity of the samples increases with increasing Gd3+ ion concentration. The results of our investigations reveal a strong dependence of material properties on Gd3+ ion doping.     

Antibacterial activities of polyethylene glycol, tween 80 and sodium dodecyl sulphate coated silver nanoparticles in normal and multi-drug resistant bacteria

Antibacterial activity of silver nanoparticles coated with different functionalizing agents i.e., polyethylene glycol, tween 80 and sodium dodecyl sulphate were evaluated on both normal and multi-drug resistant strains of bacteria. Under the same reaction conditions, these functionalizing agents were added separately to coat silver nanoparticles. Among these, polyethylene glycol coated nanoparticles were most effective in killing all the bacterial strains which includes Escherichia coli DH5a, Bacillus subtilis, Micrococcus luteus, Staphylococcus aureus and multi-drug resistant clinical isolates of Shigella spp. (flexneri, boydii, sohnea) and Vibrio cholerae. The minimum inhibitory concentration of polyethylene glycol coated silver nanoparticles was also less compared to the other two sets of nanoparticles. Consistence with that polyethylene glycol coated nanoparticles produced more intracellular reactive oxygen species in bacteria. Moreover, when human cell lines MCF7 and Chang Liver were incubated in presence of these nanoparticles for 18 h with same concentrations as used for bacteria, no toxicity was observed. But significant increase in cell killing was observed with longer incubation time. Thus our present investigation implicates the potential therapeutic use of silver nanoparticles as antibacterial agent particularly the polyethylene glycol coated one.     

Depth matters: cells grown on nano-porous anodic alumina respond to pore depth

Recent experiments have shown unambiguously that living cells respond to the nano-topography of surfaces they grow on-specifically, the fate of stem cells grown on nano-porous titania or alumina have been shown to be decided by the pore size. However, most experiments have focused on pore size or pitch. Here we show that in addition to pore size and pitch, the depth of the pores has a profound effect on cell morphology and the arrangement of the actin cytoskeleton.     

Influence of duty cycle on the microstructure and microhardness of pulse electrodeposited Ni–CeO2 nanocomposite coating

The Ni–CeO₂ nanocomposite coatings have been synthesized by pulse electrodeposition technique with different duty cycles (6, 9 and 17%) from a Watts-type electrolyte containing nano-sized CeO₂ particles. The XRD results show that the (2 0 0) orientation is dominant over (1 1 1) orientation in the Ni–CeO₂ nanocomposite coatings prepared with 6 and 17% duty cycles, while the opposite is true for the sample prepared with 9% duty cycle. The maximum amount of CeO₂ (10 wt%) incorporation in the coating occurs at 9% duty cycle. The crystallite size changes from micrometer to nanometer as the duty cycle changes from 6 to 9%. The hardness increases as the duty cycle increases from 6 to 17%. However, a coating with optimum smoothness and small number of microcracks is obtained at 9% duty cycle.     

Black tea leaf extract derived Ag nanoparticle-PVA composite film: Structural and dielectric properties

Biosynthesized metal (Ag) nanoparticles have been used to prepare high dielectric polymer composite film of technological importance. Different amounts of the tea leaf extract (E) (mother leaker prepared by soaking 2 g tea leaf in 100 ml boiled water for 3 min) were used to synthesize silver nanoparticles from 10⁻³ M AgNO₃ solution. Such a resultant solution containing Ag nanoparticles was mixed with 20 ml PVA solution (5 g PVA in 100 ml water) was used to make anhydrous Ag/PVA composite film where spherical silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) of average diameter 10 nm are well dispersed in the composite. The Ag particle size in the composite was found to enhance with the increase of E content in PVA. XRD, SEM, TEM, FT-IR, UV–vis, TGA and DSC studies are made to characterize the nanoparticles. Detailed frequency and E concentration dependent electrical and dielectric properties of the nanocomposites have been made showing low loss (∼0.14) and high dielectric property of these films. Maximum value of dielectric permittivity (∼900 which is almost 170 times higher than that of pure PVA ∼ 5.2) have been observed for 15 ml E-AgNPs/PVA nanocomposite film at 1 kHz and room temperature. Present study establishes the importance of the biosynthesized metal nanoparticles for industrial applications as in capacitors.