On optimum advertising pulsing decisions in a non-stationary market

Using empirical findings available in the literature, sales behavior in response to advertising pulsing policy has been modeled mathematically in a non-stationary market. The paper discusses in detail optimum advertising pulsing policy.This policy has been compared with an alternative policy commonly used in practice. The results of the research indicate the possibility of achieving substantial savings in the advertising budget and/or increase in sales revenues of a firm when implementing advertising pulsing policy.     

SIMULATION OF FLUX DECLINE DUE TO PARTICULATE FOULING IN ULTRAFILTRATION

The flux decline in thin-channel and tubular ultrafiltration (UF) modules due to fouling by dilute suspensions is presented for a wide range of operating conditions. The dynamics of fouling is simplified by viewing the particle deposition on the membrane surface at discrete time as a steady state event and formulating the problem as an infinite series of successive events. Only inertial effects are considered and it is assumed that for a dilute system, particle-particle interactions and forces of interaction between particles and membrane walls are insignificant. Further, at such low concentration, the motion of fluid and particle may be taken independent of each other. The equations of motion for the particles are solved by Fourthorder Runge-Kutta method, where the fluid flow is obtained from the finite difference solution of Navier-Stokes equation. The present theoretical calculations of flux decline due to particulate fouling at typical UF operating conditions indicate that the inertial effects are important and under positive wall permeation flux conditions, particles are encouraged to migrate to the membrane walls.     

Filtration of aerosol particles by cylindrical fibers within a parallel and staggered array

The World Health Organization (WHO) in 2013 reported that more than seven million unexpected losses every year are credited to air contamination. Because of incredible adaptability and expense viability of fibrous filters, they are broadly used for removing particulates from gasses. The influence of appropriate parameters, e.g., the fiber arrangement, solid volume fraction (SVF or α), fluid flow face velocity (mean inlet velocity), and filter thickness (I _x ), on pressure drop and deposition efficiency are researched. Furthermore, to study the effects of variation of the laminar flow regime and fiber’s cross-sectional shape on the deposition of particles, only a single square fiber has been placed in a channel. By means of finite volume method (FVM), the 2-D motion of 100–1000 nm particles was investigated numerically. The Lagrangian method has been employed and the Saffman’s lift, Drag, and Brownian forces have been considered to affect this motion. Contribution of increasing the Reynolds number to filtration performance increased with smaller fine aerosols to a level of 59.72 %. However, for over 500 nm, the Re = 100 has more efficient results up to 26.97 %. Remarkably, the single square fiber in Re = 200 regime performs similarly to the optimum choice of multi-fibrous filters. It was portrayed the parallel circular multi-fibrous filter with a ratio of horizontal-to-vertical distances between fibers, l/h = 1.143; α = 0.687, I _x  = 116.572, and h/d _f  = 1.0 is the most efficient filter’s structure. The increase in the ratio of vertical distances between fibers-to-fiber’s diameter (h/d _f ) and decrease in SVF or α, results in a drastically decrement of the filtration performance of both parallel and staggered structures. The obtained results have been validated with previous research findings.     

Slow release of levofloxacin conjugated on silica nanoparticles from poly(ɛ-caprolactone) nanofibers

Composite levofloxacin (LVF)/nanofibers have been fabricated through electrospinning. Slow release was achieved by covalently binding LVF to mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) through a cleavable thioester bond and then blending the MSN into poly(?-caprolactone) (PCL) nanofibers. Conjugated LVF–MSN was characterized by FTIR, DSC, TGA, and solid-state C¹³ NMR. The structure of composite nanofibers was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Drug release profiles showed that burst release was decreased from 59% in the uniform PCL/LVF electrospun mats to 20% in the PCL/conjugated LVF–MSN mats after 1 day in phosphate buffer at 37°C, and gradual release in the latter was observed over the next 13 days. This slow release is due to the cleavable bond between LVF and MSN that can be hydrolyzed over a time and results in slow release of LVF. The results indicate that confining drug-conjugated MSN into nanofibers are effective ways to slow down the burst release of the drug.     

Constitutive modeling for intercalated PMMA/clay nanocomposite foams

A constitutive model for tensile behavior of PMMA/clay nanocomposite foams was developed in this study. The elastic modulus of the nanocomposites is affected by the form of clays embedded in the polymer matrix. The reinforcing effect by intercalation of the clays and the detrimental effect by clay agglomeration were considered for the determination of the elastic modulus of the nanocomposites. A viscoelastic model was adapted for the tensile behavior of the material. The developed constitutive equation is expressed in terms of clay morphology and material properties. The aspect ratio of clays and the expansion of clay layer spacing in the intercalated clay clusters were proved to play a vital role in the reinforcing mechanism. For the verification of the constitutive model, Poly(methyl‐methacrylate) (PMMA)/clay nanocomposite foams were manufactured by batch process method and their uniaxial tensile test results were compared with theoretical predictions. Compared with the experimental results, the proposed constitutive equation showed agreement with the experimental test results. POLYM. ENG. SCI. 46:1787–1796, 2006. © 2006 Society of Plastics Engineers.     

Constitutive modeling for mechanical behavior of PMMA microcellular foams

Constitutive equations for nonlinear tensile behavior of PMMA foams were studied. Five viscoelastic models composed of elastic and viscous components were accounted for the modeling of the constitutive equations. The developed constitutive equations are expressed in terms of material properties and foam properties such as strain, strain rate, elastic modulus, relative density of foam, and relaxation time constant. It was found that the stress-strain behaviors by Generalized Maxwell model, Three Element model and Burgers model could be described by the constitutive equation obtained from the Maxwell model. For the verification of the constitutive model, poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) microcellular foams were manufactured using batch process method, and then uniaxial tensile tests were performed. The stress-strain curves by experiment were compared with the theoretical results by the constitutive equation. It was demonstrated that nonlinear tensile stress-strain behaviors of PMMA foams were well described by the constitutive equation.