Diene complexes of early transition metals: ideas and progresses at Osaka University

Historical perspectives for the chemistry of diene complexes of early transition metals developed at Osaka University in the period after 1970s were reviewed briefly and personally. Preparative chemistry of this field commenced from the magnesium-diene 1:1 compounds and quickly extended to almost all the early transition metals. By the studies operated together with other researchers, unique features of these diene complexes, especially their bonding and structure, selective reactions, and catalysis performances are described.     

扫描力显微术在高聚物薄膜玻璃化转变研究中的应用

简述了高聚物薄膜玻璃化转变的复杂性，并结合文章作者的的一些研究结果介绍了扫描力显微术(SFM)在研究高聚物玻璃化转变中的一些方法，包括观察高聚物薄膜形貌的变化，测量其摩擦力、粘附力和弹性模量等物理量的变化，最后指出SFM是研究高聚物薄膜玻璃化转变的有力工具。     

Stationary Intensity Distribution of Single-Mode Laser Driven by Additive and Multiplicative Colored Noises with Colored Cross-Correlation

Applying the approximate Fokker-Planck equation we derived, we obtain the analytic expression of thestationary laser intensity distribution Pst(Ⅰ) by studying the single-mode laser cubic model subject to colored cross-correlation additive and multiplicative noise, each of which is colored. Based on it, we discuss the effects on the stationarylaser intensity distribution Pst(Ⅰ) by cross-correlation between noises and “color“ of noises (non-Markovian effect) whenthe laser system is above the threshold. In detail, we analyze two cases: One is that the three correlation-times (i.e.the self-correlation and cross-correlation times of the additive and multiplicative noise) are chosen to be the same value(τ1 = τ2 = τ3 = τ). For this case, the effect of noise cross-correlation is investigated emphatically, and we detect thatonly when λ≠ 0 can the noise-induced transition occur in the Pst(Ⅰ) curve, and only when τ≠ 0 and λ≠ 0, can the“reentrant noise-induced transition“ occur. The other case is that the three correlation times are not the same value,τ1 ≠τ2 ≠τ3. For this case, we find that the noise-induced transition occurring in the Pst (Ⅰ) curve is entirely differentwhen the values of τ1, τ2, and τ3 are changed respectively. In particular, when τ2 (self-correlation time of additivenoise) is changing, the ratio of the two maximums of the Pst(Ⅰ) curve R exhibits an interesting phenomenon, “reentrantnoise-induced transition“, which demonstrates the effect of noise “color“ (non-Markovian effect).     

Influence of relaxation effects on probabilities of the 2s2p35S2－2s22p2 3P1，2 intercombination transitions in NII

Transition probabilities of the 2s2p^3 {}^5S_2－2s^22p^2 {}^3P_{1,2} intercombination transitions in NII have been calculated by using a large-scale multiconfiguration Dirac－Fock method. In the calculation the most important effects of relativity, correlation, and relaxation are considered. From the calculated transition probabilities, the lifetime of the 2s2p^3 {}^5S_2 metastable state is derived. The result is in excellent agreement with the latest experimental result. In the meantime the influence of anomalously strong relaxation effects on probabilities of the 2s2p^3 {}^5S_2－2s^22p^2 {}^3P_{1,2} lines in NII have been found.     

An “Instrumental Approach” to Study the Integration of a Computer Tool Into Mathematics Teaching: the Case of Spreadsheets

This article reports on research focused on the integration of a specific computer tool, the spreadsheet, into mathematics teaching. After presenting some important results obtained by research in this area, we revisit these in the light of an instrumental approach, which we perceive as essential to analyse the construction of mathematical meanings in spreadsheet environments and to understand better the questions of technological integration. Then, these theoretical elements are used in order to design an exploratory experiment with grade 7 pupils and analyse its results.     

Determination of the rheological behavior of epoxy–amine thermosets by dynamic mechanical analysis: Isothermal methods versus nonisothermal methods

The reticulation process of an epoxy resin using an amine as a cure agent was studied at different temperatures and concentrations of the cure agent with dynamic mechanical thermal analysis. The study was performed under both isothermal and nonisothermal conditions, and a temperature–time–transformation diagram was obtained. The measurements from the two modes gave similar results, although the nonisothermal mode required fewer experiments. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 41: 1965–1977, 2003     

Thiol–norbornene materials: Approaches to develop high Tg thiol–ene polymers

The ability to prepare high T_g low shrinkage thiol–ene materials is attractive for applications such as coatings and dental restoratives. However, thiol and nonacrylated vinyl materials typically consist of a flexible backbone, limiting the utility of these polymers. Hence, it is of importance to synthesize and investigate thiol and vinyl materials of varying backbone chemistry and stiffness. Here, we investigate the effect of backbone chemistry and functionality of norbornene resins on polymerization kinetics and glass transition temperature (T_g) for several thiol–norbornene materials. Results indicate that T_gs as high as 94 °C are achievable in thiol–norbornene resins of appropriately controlled chemistry. Furthermore, both the backbone chemistry and the norbornene moiety are important factors in the development of high T_g materials. In particular, as much as a 70 °C increase in T_g was observed in a norbornene–thiol specimen when compared with a sample prepared using allyl ether monomer of analogous backbone chemistry. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 5686–5696, 2007     

The unsatisfiability threshold revisited

The problem of determining the unsatisfiability threshold for random 3-SAT formulas consists in determining the clause to variable ratio that marks the experimentally observed abrupt change from almost surely satisfiable formulas to almost surely unsatisfiable. Up to now, there have been rigorously established increasingly better lower and upper bounds to the actual threshold value. In this paper, we consider the problem of bounding the threshold value from above using methods that, we believe, are of interest on their own right. More specifically, we show how the method of local maximum satisfying truth assignments can be combined with results for the occupancy problem in schemes of random allocation of balls into bins in order to achieve an upper bound for the unsatisfiability threshold less than 4.571. In order to obtain this value, we establish a bound on the q-binomial coefficients (a generalization of the binomial coefficients). No such bound was previously known, despite the extensive literature on q-binomial coefficients. Finally, to prove our result we had to establish certain relations among the conditional probabilities of an event in various probabilistic models for random formulas. It turned out that these relations were considerably harder to prove than the corresponding ones for unconditional probabilities, which were previously known.