Synthesis of Cellulose-graft-Polychloromethylstyrene-graft-Polyacrylonitrile Terpolymer/Organoclay Bionanocomposite by Metal Catalyzed Living Radical Polymerization and Solvent Blending Method

A bionanocomposite of grafted cellulose and organo-modified clay was synthesized through solution intercalation method. For this purpose, chloromethylstyrene was grafted onto cellulose using acryloylchloride and the subsequent free radical polymerization. The synthesized cellulose-graft-polychloromethylstyrene was used as an atom transfer radical polymerization macroinitiator of acrylonitrile in the presence of CuCl/2,2′-bipyridine catalyst system, to prepare the cellulose-graft-polychloromethylstyrene-graft-polyacrylonitrile terpolymer. For preparing the modified clay, Na-montmorillonite was mixed with hexadecyl trimethyl ammonium chloride salt. Finally, cellulose-graft-polychloromethylstyrene-graft-polyacrylonitrile/organoclay bionanocomposite was prepared in CCl₄ by solution intercalation method.     

A Miniaturized Preconcentration Method Based on Dispersive Liquid–Liquid Microextraction for the Spectrophotometric Determination of Aziridine in Food Simulants

In this work a simple, rapid and sensitive method using dispersive liquid–liquid microextraction (DLLME) combined with UV–Vis spectrophotometry has been developed for the preconcentration and determination of trace amounts of aziridine in food simulants. The method is based on derivatization of aziridine with Folin's reagent (1,2-naphthoquione-4-sulphonic acid) and extraction of color product using DLLME technique. Some important parameters, such as reaction conditions, and type and volume of extraction solvent and disperser solvent were studied and optimized. Under optimum conditions, a linear calibration curve in the range of 2.0–350 ng mL^?1 of aziridine was obtained. Detection limit based on 3S_b was 1.0 ng mL^?1, and the relative standard deviation for 50 ng mL^?1 of aziridine was 2.49c (n?=?7). The proposed method was applied for the determination of aziridine in food simulants.     

Simultaneous determination of ultra trace amounts of lead and cadmium in food samples by adsorptive stripping voltammetry

A selective and sensitive method for simultaneous determination of lead and cadmium by adsorptive differential pulse cathodic stripping voltammetry is presented. The method is based on adsorptive accumulation of the complexes of Pb (II) and Cd (II) ions with 2-mercaptobenzothiazole onto hanging mercury drop electrode (HMDE), followed by the reduction of the adsorbed species by differential pulse cathodic stripping voltammetry. Optimal conditions were obtained at pH 8.0, 2-mercaptobenzothiazole concentration of 1.0 × 10⁻⁴ M, the accumulation potential of −0.4 V (vs. Ag/AgCl), the accumulation time of 160 s, and the scan rate of 100 mV/s. Under optimised conditions, linear calibration curves were established for the concentration of Pb (II) and Cd (II) in the range of 0.5–70 and 0.2–30 ng/ml, respectively, with detection limit of 0.017 ng/ml for Pb (II) and 0.01 ng/ml for Cd (II). The procedure was successfully applied to the simultaneous determination of both ions in food samples (rice, soya and sugar).     

Solving fractional pantograph delay differential equations via fractional-order Boubaker polynomials

In the current study, we introduce fractional-order Boubaker polynomials related to the Boubaker polynomials to achieve the numerical result for pantograph differential equations of fractional order in any arbitrary interval. The features of these polynomials are exploited to construct the new fractional integration and pantograph operational matrices. Then these matrices and least square approximation method are used to reorganize the problem to a nonlinear equations system which can be resolved by means of the Newton’s iterative method. The brief discussion about errors of the used estimations is deliberated and, finally, some examples are included to demonstrate the validity and applicability of our method.

     

Effects of nonuniform incident velocity on a dynamic wind turbine airfoil

For further insight into the performance of a horizontal axis wind turbine blade section under yaw loads, a 2D numerical simulation of a pitching S809 airfoil under dynamic stall with an unsteady incident velocity is presented. The streamwise incident velocity and pitch angle of incidence oscillated with the same frequency but with a range of phase differences, ? π ≤ Φ ≤ π. Changing Φ caused variation of the results, which can be highlighted as significantly augmented and dramatically damped dynamic stall loads, both increasing and decreasing trends for vortex growth time during Φ increase, a shifted location of the maximum loads and a change in the order of the vortex pair circulation in each cycle. The results showed strong dependency on the velocity and acceleration of the freestream during dynamic stall, which categorized the results in four individual subdomains with different behaviors. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An intranuclear cascade model for inelastic scattering and breakup reactions involving deuterons and alpha particles

The intranuclear cascade model is extended to cluster-induced (deuteron and alpha particle) nuclear reactions involving inelastic scattering and breakup reactions. The proposed model explains the projectile breakup process by describing the projectile cluster as a superposition of several states. The incident cluster and the produced cluster are assumed to be collections of independent particles and may undergo nuclear interaction through nucleon–nucleon interaction with the target nucleus. Trajectory deflections for the projectile and ejecta are incorporated in the model to account for angular distributions. Calculations with the proposed model followed by the generalized evaporation model are performed for validation by comparing with experimental double-differential cross-section spectra produced by bombarding an ²⁷Al target separately with 80-MeV and 99.6-MeV deuterons and 140-MeV alpha particles. The calculation results show good agreement with experimental spectra.     

Neuropharmacokinetic evaluation of lactoferrin-treated indinavir-loaded nanoemulsions: remarkable brain delivery enhancement

Objective: Indinavir (IDV), an antiretroviral protease inhibitor used in treatment of HIV infection, has limited entry into brain due to efflux by the P-glycoprotein presented in blood–brain barrier. The aim of present study was to develop lactoferrin-treated nanoemulsion containing indinavir (Lf-IDV-NEs) for delivery to brain.

Methods: Indinavir-loaded nanoemulsions (IDV-NEs) were prepared by high-speed homogenization method, and then lactoferrin was coupled to IDV-NEs by water soluble EDC method.

Results: The hydrodynamic diameters, polydispersity index, and zeta potential of IDV-NEs were 112?±?3.5?nm, 0.20?±?0.02, and ?33.2?±?2.6?mV, respectively. From in vivo studies in animal model of rats, the AUC_0–4?h of brain concentration–time profile of IDV-NEs and Lf-IDV-NEs were 1.6 and 4.1 times higher than free drug, respectively. The brain uptake clearance of IDV-NEs and Lf-IDV-NEs were, interestingly, 393- and 420-times higher than the free drug.

Conclusions: It can be concluded that applying both lactoferrin-treated and non-treated nanoemulsions clearly leads to significant brain penetration enhancement of indinavir, an effect which is more pronounced in the case of Lf-IDV-NEs with the higher drug residence time in brain.     

Application of a H‐Point Standard Addition Method for Simultaneous Spectrophotometric Determination of Chlorate and Bromate Impurities in Military Grade Ammonium Perchlorate

A H‐point standard addition method (HPSAM) was applied to simultaneously determinate chlorate and bromate in ammonium perchlorate. The method is based on the difference between their reaction rates with chloride in acidic media whereby methyl orange is used as spectrophotometric indicator. The reaction can be monitored spectrophotometrically by measuring the decrease in the absorbance of methyl orange at 507 nm in the time range 50–250 s after initiation of the reaction with 1 s intervals. The results showed that chlorate and bromate can be determined simultaneously in the range 50–1000 and 50–2000 ng mL⁻¹, respectively. The proposed method was applied to determinate chlorate and bromate impurities in military grade ammonium perchlorate. In addition, excellent agreement between this proposed method and standard methods was observed.     

Application of the Grasshopper Optimization Algorithm (GOA) to the Optimal Operation of Hydropower Reservoir Systems Under Climate Change

Hydropower is a low-carbon energy source, which may be adversely impacted by climate change. This work applies the Grasshopper Optimization Algorithm (GOA) to optimize hydropower multi-reservoir systems. Performance of GOA is compared with that of particle swarm optimization (PSO). GOA is applied to hydropower, three-reservoir system (Seymareh, Sazbon, and Karkheh), located in the Karkheh basin (Iran) for baseline period 1976–2005 and two future periods (2040–2069) and (2070–2099) under greenhouse gases pathway scenarios RCP2.6, RCP4.5, and RCP8.5. GOA minimizes the shortage of hydropower energy generation. Results from GOA optimization of Seymareh reservoir show that average objective function in baseline is 85 and minimum value of average objective function in 2040–2069 would be under RCP2.6 (equal to 0.278). Optimization of Seymareh-reservoir based on PSO shows that average value of objective function in baseline is less (that is, better) than value obtained with GOA (10.953). Optimization results for two-reservoir system (Sazbon and Karkheh) based on GOA optimization show that objective function in baseline is 5.44 times corresponding value obtained with PSO, standard deviation is 2.3 times that calculated with PSO, and run-time is 1.5 times PSO’s. Concerning three-reservoir systems it was determined that objective function based on PSO had the best value (the lowest energy deficit), especially in future. GOA converges close to the best objective function, especially in future-periods optimization, and convergence to solutions is more stable than PSO’s. A comparison of performance of GOA and PSO indicates PSO converges faster to optimal solution, and produces better objective function than GOA.