Are Propositional Attitudes Mental States?

Minds and Machines - I present an argument that propositional attitudes are not mental states. In a nutshell, the argument is that if propositional attitudes are mental states, then only minded...     

Optimum design of laminated composite plates to maximize buckling load using MFD method

This paper presents optimal design of simply supported laminated composite plates subject to given in-plane static loads for which the critical failure mode is buckling. The objective function is to maximize the buckling load capacity of laminated plates and the fiber orientation is considered as design variable. The first-order shear deformation theory is used for the finite element analysis. In this paper, the effects of bending–twisting coupling are also included for the buckling optimization. The modified feasible direction method is used as an optimization method. Also, computer programs are coded in MATLAB and Golden Section method is adapted in this program for the optimal design of laminated plates for maximum buckling load. The effect of width-to-thickness ratio, aspect ratio, number of layers, material anisotropy, load ratios (N_y/N_x), uncertainties in material properties and functionally graded materials on the results is investigated and compared.     

Preparation of N‐doped graphene powders by cyclic voltammetry and a potential application of them: Anode materials of Li‐ion batteries

Nowadays, doped graphenes are attracting much interest in the field of Li‐ion batteries since it shows higher specific capacity than widely used graphite. However, synthesis methods of doped graphenes have secondary processes that requires much energy. In this study, in situ synthesis of N‐doped graphene powders by using of cyclic voltammetric method from starting a graphite rod in nitric acid solution has been discussed for the first time in the literature. The N‐including functional groups such as nitro groups, pyrrolic N, and pyridinic N have been selectively prepared as changing scanned potential ranges in cyclic voltammetry. The electrochemical performance as anode material in Li‐ion batteries has also been covered within this study. N‐doped graphene powders have been characterized by electrochemical, spectroscopic, and microscopic methods. According to the X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Raman results, N‐doped graphene powders have approximately 16 to 18 graphene rings in their main structure. The electrochemical analysis of graphene powders synthesized at different potential ranges showed that the highest capacity was obtained 438 mAh/g after 10 cycles by using current density of 50 mA/g at N‐GP4. Furthermore, the sample having higher defect size shows better specific capacity. However, the more stable structure due to oxygen content and less defect size improves the rate capabilities, and thus, the results obtained at high current density indicated that the remaining capacity of N‐GP1 was higher than the others.     

Standardization problem of author affiliations in citation indexes

Academic effectiveness of universities is measured with the number of publications and citations. However, accessing all the publications of a university reveals a challenge related to the mistakes and standardization problems in citation indexes. The main aim of this study is to seek a solution for the unstandardized addresses and publication loss of universities with regard to this problem. To achieve this, all Turkey-addressed publications published between 1928 and 2009 were analyzed and evaluated deeply. The results show that the main mistakes are based on character or spelling, indexing and translation errors. Mentioned errors effect international visibility of universities negatively, make bibliometric studies based on affiliations unreliable and reveal incorrect university rankings. To inhibit these negative effects, an algorithm was created with finite state technique by using Nooj Transducer. Frequently used 47 different affiliation variations for Hacettepe University apart from “Hacettepe Univ” and “Univ Hacettepe” were determined by the help of finite state grammar graphs. In conclusion, this study presents some reasons of the inconsistencies for university rankings. It is suggested that, mistakes and standardization issues should be considered by librarians, authors, editors, policy makers and managers to be able to solve these problems.     

Martensitic phase transformations in Ni–Ti-based shape memory alloys: The Landau theory

We present a simple Landau free energy functional for cubic-to-orthorhombic and cubic-to-monoclinic martensitic phase transformations. The functional is derived following group–subgroup relations between different martensitic phases – tetragonal, trigonal, orthorhombic and monoclinic – in order to fully capture the symmetry properties of the free energy of the austenite and martensite phases. The derived free energy functional is fitted to the elastic and thermodynamic properties of NiTi and NiTiCu shape memory alloys which exhibit cubic-to-monoclinic and cubic-to-orthorhombic martensitic phase transformations, respectively.     

Synthesis of hydroxyapatite crystals using carboxymethyl inulin for use as a delivery of ibuprofen

In the present study biodegradable, environmentally friendly polysaccharide-based polycarboxylate, carboxymethyl inulin (CMI), was used to produce hydroxyapatite (HAP) particles by wet chemical synthesis under controlled temperature, pH, and atmospheric conditions. The morphology and microstructure of the HAP nanoparticles were investigated by XRD, SEM, DTA–TGA and FTIR. CMI affects morphology, surface area, dimension and particle size distribution of the crystals. The reduction in size is greater in the direction of the c-axis. The increase in the polymer concentration to 7.5 g/L resulted in the mixture of nanoparticles with particle sizes of less than 100 nm. The SEM micrograph shows the formation of well-crystallized, agglomerated small particles of HAP. X-ray analysis has shown that the resulting particles have high thermal stability.The obtained crystals were used to produce tablets by direct compression of HAP. The influence of sample's CMI concentration on drug release profiles was investigated by using ibuprofen (C₁₃H₁₈O₂) as a model drug. The model was used to determine the effective diffusion coefficient of the drug from the tablets. A good agreement between experimental data and model predictions was obtained as calculated in the present work. The values of the diffusion coefficients range from 1.62 × 10^? 7 to 4.72 × 10^? 7 m² h^? 1.     

Characterization of nanocrystalline Ni–Cu thin films electrodeposited onto ITO coated glass substrates: effect of pretreatment current density

In this work, Ni–Cu films were grown onto indium tin oxide coated glass substrates without and with galvanostatic pretreatment process at different current densities. In all cases, Ni–Cu films were electrodeposited at a constant deposition potential of ?1,800 mV versus saturated calomel electrode. After that, the surface morphology and structural properties of electrodeposited Ni–Cu films in dependence of pretreatment current density were studied. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that all films have face-centered cubic structure and consist of segregated two Ni-rich and Cu-rich phases regardless of pretreatment current density. The compositional analysis carried out by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy revealed that all films contain almost 90 wt% Ni and 10 wt% Cu. The average crystallite size decreased with decreasing pretreatment current density towards more negative values without inducing significant changes in the composition of the films. It was found that the preferred orientation of all films is in the [111] direction regardless of pretreatment current density. The effect of galvanostatic pretreatment process on the surface morphology investigated using a scanning electron microscopy and an atomic force microcopy were also discussed by means of obtained results.     

Quinoxaline derivatives as long wavelength photosensitizers in photoinitiated cationic polymerization of diaryliodonium salts

The present paper is focused on visible light initiated cationic polymerizations. Photoinitiated polymerization of representative vinyl ether and oxirane monomers using two quinoxaline derivatives; namely (2-(2,3-dihydrobenzo [b][1,4]dioxin-6-yl)-3-(2,3-dihydrobenzo[b]-[1,4]dioxin-7-yl)-5-(2,3-dihydrothieno[3,4-b][1,4]dioxin-5-yl)-8-(2,3-dihydrothieno[3,4-b][1,4]dioxin-7yl) quinoxaline) (DBQEd) and 2,3,5,8-tetra(thiophen-2-yl)quinoxaline (TTQ) are studied. Novel dyes based on the quinoxaline skeleton are employed as efficient photosensitizers in cationic photopolymerizations. Polymerizations were initiated at room temperature upon irradiation with long-wavelength UV and visible lights in the presence of diphenyliodonium hexafluorophosphate (Ph₂I⁺PF₆^?). The progress of the polymerizations was monitored by optical pyrometry (OP). Solar irradiation is also employed to carry out the cationic polymerization of a diepoxide monomer in the presence of air.     

Microstructural and morphological characterizations of nanocrystalline Ni–Cu–Fe thin films electrodeposited from electrolytes with different Fe ion concentrations

In the current study, ternary Ni–Cu–Fe thin films have been grown from the electrolytes with different Fe ion concentrations onto indium tin oxide coated glass substrates by galvanostatic electrodeposition at ambient temperature. The microstructural, compositional, and morphological properties have been characterized with respect to Fe ion concentration using X-ray diffraction (XRD), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). EDX results indicated that the Fe content within the films increased and Ni and Cu contents decreased as the Fe ion concentration in the electrolyte was increased. From the XRD analysis, it was observed that the films have two separate, Cu-rich and Ni-rich phases. It was also observed that the phase separation becomes weaker with increasing Fe ion concentration. All of the films have face-centered cubic structure and [111] preferred crystallographic orientation. The texture degree of the Ni-rich (111) phase increased with the Fe ion concentration. SEM and AFM measurements revealed that the surface morphology is considerably affected by the Fe ion concentration. The size of the grains formed on the film surface and the surface roughness decreased as the Fe ion concentration within the electrolyte increased.