Potent New Heterogeneous Asymmetric Catalysts

A set of new, air‐stable, Rh^I‐based heterogeneous asymmetric hydrogenation catalysts have been synthesised, characterised, and tested. Individual members of this new family all exhibit good enantioselectivity.     

Organometallic alkane CH activation

The title topic is reviewed with emphasis on catalysis and on recent advances. Alkane σ complexes, Shilov chemistry and oxidative addition routes are covered. Attention is also given to σ bond metathesis, surface-bound organometallics and CH activation involving carbene complexes. Closely related reactions of non-alkane substrates such as the Murai reaction are also discussed.     

Synthesis and antibody conjugation of magnetic nanoparticles with improved specific power absorption rates for alternating magnetic field cancer therapy

Bionized nanoferrite (BNF) particles with high specific power absorption rates were synthesized in the size range of 20–100 nm by high-pressure homogenization for targeted cancer therapy with alternating magnetic fields. Several strategies were used to conjugate antibodies to the BNF particles. These strategies were compared using an immunoassay to find optimal conditions to reach a high immunoreactivity of the final antibody–particle conjugate.     

Diffraction in a cylindrically orthotropic elastic solid containing a stress free crack

A cylindrically orthotropic elastic solid is excited by a point impulsive body force. The solid contains a semi-infinite stress free crack. The resulting anti-plane wave motion problem has been solved in the form of a finite series representing the incident and reflected pulses plus an integral representing the diffraction pulse. The series part of the solution has been previously treated. In the present investigation the diffraction integral is integrated when λ (which measures the anisotropy of the solid) is an odd integer number. The diffraction integral is also integrated when λ is half an odd integer, for the special case in which the source lies in the plane of the crack and parallel to the crack edge. The displacement jump across the circular diffraction wave front is given for unrestricted (positive) values of λ.     

Bodies of constant width in arbitrary dimension

We give a number of characterizations of bodies of constant width in arbitrary dimension. As an application, we describe a way to construct a body of constant width in dimension n, one of its (n – 1)‐dimensional projection being given. We give a number of examples, like a four‐dimensional body of constant width whose 3D‐projection is the classical Meissner's body. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Macrodefect-Free Materials: Modification of Interfaces in Cement Composites by Polymer Grafting

MDF materials are chemically bonded ceramic materials free of the macrodefects typical of hydraulic cement-based materials. MDF materials arising through reactions of sulfo-aluminate-ferrite belitic (SAFB) clinkers and/or Portland cements (PC) with two types of water-soluble polymer (hydroxy-propylmethyl cellulose {HPMC}, polyphosphate glass {poly-P}) are discussed. Mixes of low energy SAFB clinkers with Portland cement, HPMC and, especially poly-P comprise promising cross-linked compositions additional to the better known MDF materials formed from high alumina cement with polyvinylalcohol/acetate. The principles of co-ordination of P and C atoms (of the polymer) with Al and Fe atoms (originating from the cement) are highlighted from spectroscopic information on next-nearest-neighbour interactions, along with the effects of second co-ordination spheres. Polymers modify the interface through functional bonding/grafting of polymer chains onto the surfaces of cement grains. Both the cross-linked atomic structure and the interface coincide well with the model of functional polymers and represent a new type of atomic-level structure in polymer-modified cements. Interpretation is based on previous magnetic resonance and thermal analysis studies. The compactness of Al(Fe)-O-P cross-links reduces transport through the interfaces, increasing the interfacial interactions and resisting the unfavourable uptake of moisture and carbonation.     

A parallel inexact newton method for stochastic programs with recourse

A parallel inexact Newton method with a line search is proposed for two-stage quadratic stochastic programs with recourse. A lattice rule is used for the numerical evaluation of multi-dimensional integrals, and a parallel iterative method is used to solve the quadratic programming subproblems. Although the objective only has a locally Lipschitz gradient, global convergence and local superlinear convergence of the method are established. Furthermore, the method provides an error estimate which does not require much extra computation. The performance of the method is illustrated on a CM5 parallel computer.This work was supported by the Australian Research Council and the numerical experiments were done on the Sydney Regional Centre for Parallel Computing CM5.