Silver indium sulfide (AgInS2) nanoparticles were synthesized by microwave method. These nanopartricles were characterized by FT-IR, XRD, DRS, SEM and TEM techniques. The band gap energy of 1.96 eV was determined by UV-Vis diffuse reflection spectrum (DRS). The photocatalytic activity was studied by photodegradation reaction of 2,4-dichlorophenol (2,4-DCP) under visible light irradiation. The influence of initial concentration, initial solution pH on the degradation percentage of 2,4-DCP and also, the kinetics of photodegradation were investigated. The removal efficiency up to 95% proved the superior capability of AgInS2 (AIS) nanoparticles for water purification.

Nowadays, customer is believed to be the most precious asset for any organization and building a long term relationship between firms and customers plays essential role for the success of organizations. This paper presents an empirical investigation to study the relationship between after-sales service quality and customer satisfaction in a firm named Setareh Nik Aria Yadak whose primary responsibility is to provide after-sales services for public transportation. The study selects a sample of 252 out of 730 customers in 2015 who received their services from this firm. The survey designs a questionnaire in Likert scale, which consists of four items of quality, responsiveness, speed and cost of services. Cronbach alpha is calculated as 0.79, which validates the quality of the survey. Using Spearman correlation test, the study has detected a positive and meaningful relationships between four components of after-sales services and customer satisfaction.

This paper presents a strategic multi segment, multi period and multi-product supply chain management to meet reliable networks for handling disruptions strike. We present a mixed-integer programming model whose objective is to minimize the expected cost composed of probability and cost of occurrence in each scenario. The proposed model of this paper considers time value of money for each operation and transportation cost. We attempt to minimize expected costs by considering the levels of inventory, back-ordering, the available machine capacity and labor levels for each source, transportation capacity at each transshipment node and available warehouse space at each destination. The problem is generalized by taking into account backup supplier with reserved capacity and backup transshipment node that, which satisfies demands at higher price without disruption facility. We use a priority-based genetic algorithms encoding to solve the proposed problem under multi period and multi product conditions. The performance of the proposed model is examined using some instances.

In this research, the flow stress of dual layer austenitic-martensitic functionally graded steels (FGSs) under hot deformation loading has been modelled considering the Zener-Hollomon constitutive equations as a function of temperature and strain rate. Functionally graded austenitic-martensitic steels consist of austenite (?) and martensite (M) phases placed on each other in different configurations and produced via Electro Slag Remelting (ESR). The boundary layers properties are obtained by experimental investigation on single phase materials. Finally, the theoretical model is compared with the experimental results measured in the temperature range 1000-1200 °C and strain rate 0.01-1 s-1 and a good agreement is found.

During the past few years, many people have used point of sales for purchasing goods and services. Point of sales tends to provide a reliable method for making purchases in stores. Implementation of point of sales may reduce depreciation cost of automated telling machines and helps banks increase their productivities. Therefore, for bank managers, it is important to provide high quality services. This paper presents an empirical investigation to measure quality service using SERVQUAL scale. The study first extracts six factors including Trust, Responsiveness, Reliability, Empathy, Tangibles and getting insight for future development through the implementation of structural equation modeling. Next, it has implemented structural equation modeling and realizes that all components had positive impacts on customer satisfaction.

A green and efficient method for the preparation of 5-aryl-4-hydroxy-2-methyl-1H-pyrrole-3-carboxylic acid esters and 6-aryl-3-methylpyridazine-4-carboxylic acid esters via three-component reaction of arylglyoxal hydrates with B-dicarbonyl compounds in the presence of ammonium acetate and hydrazine hydrate using water as solvent under ultrasonic irradiation was reported. The reactions proceeded rapidly and afforded the corresponding pyrroles and pyridazines in good to high yields in very short reaction time.

During the past few years, many people have been interested in purchasing goods and services via point of sales (POS). They have also wished to pay their bills, withdraw cash or transfer funds using automated telling machines (ATMs). These two facilities help banks’ customers carry less amount of cash and do their daily banking activities any time even when the banks are closed. This paper presents an empirical investigation to measure the relative efficiency of nearly 600 POS and ATM units associated with Bank Melli Iran located in city of Tehran, Iran. Using data envelopment analysis, the study has disclosed that only small portions of POS and ATM are working efficiently.

Development of knowledge of cardiovascular diseases and treatments strongly depends on understanding of hemodynamic measurements. Hemodynamic parameters, therefore, have been investigated using simulation-based methods. A two-dimensional model was applied for seven healthy subjects with echo-Doppler at rest. Echocardiography imaging was also utilized to gain the geometry of the aortic valve. Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) model was carried out, coupling an Arbitrary Lagrangian-Eulerian mesh. Pressure loads were used as boundary conditions on the valve’s ventricular and aortic sides. Pressure loads used were the calculated brachial pressures plus differences between brachial, central and left ventricular pressures. The FSI model predicted the velocity integration, stroke volume and cardiac output over a range of heart rates while rest. Numerical results generally had a difference of 5.4 to 15.87% with Doppler results. Linear correlations between numerical and clinical approaches have been applied. This makes possible predictions achieved from the FSI model to be gained which are highly accurate (e.g. correlation factor r = 0.995, 0.990 and 0.990 for velocity integration, stroke volume and cardiac output, respectively). The obtained numerical results showed that numerical methods can be combined with clinical measurements to provide good estimates of patient specific hemodynamics for different subjects.

Kinetic studies were made of the reactions between triphenylphosphine 1 and dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates 2, in the presence of NH-acids, such as benzotriazole, 5-methylbenzotriazole or 5-chlorobenzotriazole 3 (as a protic/nucleophilic reagent). To determine the kinetic parameters of the reactions, they were monitored by UV spectrophotometry. Useful information was obtained from studies of the effect of solvent, structure of reactants (dialkyl acetylenedicarboxylates and NH-acids) and also concentration of reactants on the reaction rates. First and third steps (k2, k3) of all reactions were recognized as a rate determining and fast steps, respectively. Proposed mechanism was confirmed on the basis of experimental data.

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is the wireless non-contact implementation of radio-frequency electromagnetic fields to transfer necessary data to identify and to track tags attached to objects, automatically. RFID has been successfully used for supply chain management (SCM) problems in order to reduce errors associated with inventory. This paper uses RFID technique in five different scenarios of labeling, errors in stolen parts, waste, wrong replacement and delivery. The study uses simulation technique based on Enterprise Dynamics to analyze three parts in an auto industry. The study considers different criteria including inventory error estimation, profitability, profitability, customer satisfaction and SCM performance. The preliminary results indicate that the proposed method is capable of optimizing most objectives, significantly.