Supply network planning in the forest supply chain with bucking decisions anticipation

We consider a two-echelon timber supply chain in which the first echelon consists of several stands to be harvested and the second echelon consists of mills to be supplied with logs of different length. This problem aims at minimizing harvesting and transportation costs for one production period, while satisfying demand expressed as a mix of volumes of specific log types. Harvesting cost, which includes felling, bucking and hauling to roadside, depends upon the number of log type to be produced and sorted. Each stand to be harvested is modeled individually with a limited number of trees of various classes of diameter and total length, which affects the productivity factors of the bucking patterns to be used. To take these characteristics into account, we propose heuristics based on columns generation to solve the supply network problem at the forest level with an anticipation of bucking operations at the stand level.     

Mathematics teacher education advanced methods: an example in dynamic geometry

We present a research work about an innovative national teacher training program in France: the Pairform@nce program, designed to sustain ICT integration. We study here training for secondary school teachers, whose objective is to foster the development of an inquiry-based approach in the teaching of mathematics, using investigative potentialities of dynamic geometry environments. We adopt the theoretical background of the documentational approach to didactics. We focus on the interactions between teachers and resources: teachers’ professional knowledge influences these interactions, which at the same time yield knowledge evolutions, a twofold process that we conceptualise as a documentational genesis. We followed in particular the work of a team of trainees; drawing on the data collected, we analyse their professional development, related with the training. We observe intertwined evolutions and stabilities, consistent with ongoing geneses.     

Scale effects on strength of geomaterials, case study: Coal

Scale effects on the strength of coal are studied using a discrete element model. The key point of the model is its capability to discriminate between the “strictly sample size” effect and the “Discrete Fracture Network (DFN) density” effect on the mechanical response. Simulations of true triaxial compression tests are carried out to identify their respective roles. The possible bias due to the discretization size distribution of the discrete element model is investigated in detail by considering low-resolution configurations. The model is shown to be capable of quantitatively reproducing the dependency of the maximum strength on the size of the sample. This relationship mainly relies on the DFN density. For all given sizes, as long as the DFN density remains constant with a uniform distribution or if discontinuities are absent in the considered medium, the maximum strength of the material remains constant.     

Algebraic density functionals

A systematic strategy for the calculation of density functionals (DFs) consists in coding informations about the density and the energy into polynomials of the degrees of freedom of wave functions. DFs and Kohn-Sham potentials (KSPs) are then obtained by standard elimination procedures of such degrees of freedom between the polynomials. Numerical examples illustrate the formalism.     

Titanium‐Catalyzed Hydroalumination of Conjugated Dienes: Access to Fulvene‐Derived Allylaluminium Reagents and Their Diastereoselective Reactions with Carbonyl Compounds

The described titanium‐catalyzed hydroalumination of conjugated dienes opens up a new way to allylaluminium reagents. The reaction is carried out by using diisobutylaluminium hydride (DIBAL‐H) and a catalytic amount of [Cp₂TiCl₂] (Cp=cyclopentadienyl). When applied to mono‐ and disubstitued pentafulvenes, this reaction proceeds in a highly endocyclic manner. The formed allylaluminium compounds react regio‐ and stereoselectively with both aldehydes and ketones to afford homoallylic alcohols that are suitable synthons for functionalized cyclopentanones. An extension of this methodology to simple dienes was also investigated. In the proposed mechanism, the initially formed bimetallic species (Ti/Al) are involved in the two possible catalytic cycles with a direct hydroalumination or/and a hydrotitanation followed by a titanium to aluminium transmetallation.     

On the regularization of singular <Emphasis Type="Italic">c</Emphasis>-optimal designs

We consider the design of c-optimal experiments for the estimation of a scalar function h(θ) of the parameters θ in a nonlinear regression model. A c-optimal design ξ* may be singular, and we derive conditions ensuring the asymptotic normality of the Least-Squares estimator of h(θ) for a singular design over a finite space. As illustrated by an example, the singular designs for which asymptotic normality holds typically depend on the unknown true value of θ, which makes singular c-optimal designs of no practical use in nonlinear situations. Some simple alternatives are then suggested for constructing nonsingular designs that approach a c-optimal design under some conditions.     

Lyapunov functions for a dengue disease transmission model

In this paper, we study a model for the dynamics of dengue fever when only one type of virus is present. For this model, Lyapunov functions are used to show that when the basic reproduction ratio is less than or equal to one, the disease-free equilibrium is globally asymptotically stable, and when it is greater than one there is an endemic equilibrium which is also globally asymptotically stable.     

Speciation of Rare‐Earth Metal Complexes in Ionic Liquids: A Multiple‐Technique Approach

The dissolution process of metal complexes in ionic liquids was investigated by a multiple‐technique approach to reveal the solvate species of the metal in solution. The task‐specific ionic liquid betainium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([Hbet][Tf₂N]) is able to dissolve stoichiometric amounts of the oxides of the rare‐earth elements. The crystal structures of the compounds [Eu₂(bet)₈(H₂O)₄][Tf₂N]₆, [Eu₂(bet)₈(H₂O)₂][Tf₂N]₆?2H₂O, and [Y₂(bet)₆(H₂O)₄][Tf₂N]₆ were found to consist of dimers. These rare‐earth complexes are well soluble in the ionic liquids [Hbet][Tf₂N] and [C₄mim][Tf₂N] (C₄mim=1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium). The speciation of the metal complexes after dissolution in these ionic liquids was investigated by luminescence spectroscopy, ¹H, ¹³C, and ⁸⁹Y NMR spectroscopy, and by the synchrotron techniques EXAFS (extended X‐ray absorption fine structure) and HEXS (high‐energy X‐ray scattering). The combination of these complementary analytical techniques reveals that the cationic dimers decompose into monomers after dissolution of the complexes in the ionic liquids. Deeper insight into the solution processes of metal compounds is desirable for applications of ionic liquids in the field of electrochemistry, catalysis, and materials chemistry.     

Regularity of the solution for a final value problem for the Rayleigh‐Stokes equation

In this paper, we deal with the backward problem of determining initial condition for Rayleigh‐Stokes where the data are given at a fixed time. The problem has many applications in some non‐Newtonian fluids. We give some regularity properties of the solution to backward problem.