Doing Something about the Future

This paper is concerned with the need for more interdisciplinary, systems oriented, research directed towards major problems encountered by decision makers in industry and government; a need which is more difficult to meet in the face of traditional methods of organising knowledge and research. It emphasises the need to acknowledge the true complexity of the problems and the interactive nature of any effective research procedure. As an illustration, both of the need and the problems involved in meeting it, the development of a new program of research into problems of Management and Technology at the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis, which is supported by seventeen nations of all political complexions, is analysed. The implication is that we can do something about the future, but we must be prepared to do.     

A Cutting Planes Algorithm for the <Emphasis Type="Italic">m</Emphasis>-Salesmen Problem

The existence of reliable and flexible FORTRAN programs for integer linear programming has recently enabled the development of very efficient algorithms for the travelling salesman problem. The main characteristic of these algorithms is the relaxation of most of the constraints of the problem during its solution. The same approach can be used for the solution of the m-salesmen problem in which m salesmen starting from the same city must visit only once n cities at minimum cost. The number of salesmen can be fixed in advance or allowed to vary, upper and lower bounds set on the number of salesmen and even fixed costs associated with the salesmen. The results obtained so far are very encouraging. Problems of up to 100 cities have been solved optimally for the m-travelling salesmen case and other more complex problems are currently under study.     

Electric field gradient at the Hf site and the phase transition in HfV2

The electric quadrupole interaction at the Hf site in the cubic HfV₂ compound, which shows lattice instability when cooled below 120 K, has been studied using the 482 keV (5/2⁺) state in¹⁸¹Ta. The time differential perturbed angular correlation (TDPAC) studies involving (133+136)-482 keV - cascade at room temperature show that only a fraction of¹⁸¹Ta nuclei see a cubic symmetry while the remaining experience a weak, randomly oriented, electric quadrupole interaction described by a Gaussian frequency distribution with _Q=6.1±1.0 Mrad/sec and the relative width =0.5. There is a dramatic change in TDPAC pattern indicating a phase transition when the compound is cooled down to 77 K. At this temperature the quadrupole interaction frequency is found to be _Q=40.6±3.0 Mrad/sec with =0.35. The experimentally observed EFG both at the Hf and the V sites are compared to the theoretical estimates based on point charge model.     

Teaching Operational Research Technique

Good technique, i.e. competence in carrying out operational research, is as vital for the practitioner to acquire as competence in the traditional ‘techniques’. It is suggested that universities should teach students how to conduct simple projects prior to alerting them to more sophisticated methodological issues.As an aid to this task, the traditional five or six parts of an operational research project are broken down and extended into 39 steps, and regrouped into three phases. Also, five skills are identified as being conceptually essential to "good" operational research, which students can develop through tackling suitable case studies.     

Interaction of potassium hexacyanoferrate (II) with histidine

L-histidine substitutes cyano groups of K₄Fe (CN)₆ at pH 7·0 on irradiation with ultraviolet light. The reaction follows first order kinetics with reference to K₄Fe(CN)₆ and zero order with reference to histidine. The kinetic data shows the primary process to be aquation of Fe(CN) ₆ ^4? while the final product is formed through a rapid dark reaction of histidine with Fe(CN)₄ (H₂O) ₂ ^2? to give the product K₂Fe(CN)₂(histidine)₂. The final product has been subjected to chemical and infrared spectral analysis.     

Biosensors designed for environmental and food quality control based on screen-printed graphite electrodes with different configurations

Graphite electrodes fabricated by screen-printing have been used as amperometric detectors in biosensors based on NAD(+)-dependent dehydrogenases, tyrosinase, or genetically modified acetylcholinesterases. The mono-enzyme sensors have been optimized as disposable or reusable devices for detection of a variety of substrates important in the food industry ( D-lactic acid, L-lactic acid, acetaldehyde) or in environmental pollution control (phenols and dithiocarbamate, carbamate and organophosphorus pesticides). The sensors were prepared in four configurations differing in enzyme confinement, enzyme immobilization and location of the immobilization agent in the biosensor assembly. Tests on real samples have been performed with the biosensors; D-lactic acid and acetaldehyde have been detected in wine and phenols in air.     

Quantum chemical study on the abstraction reaction of alkylidenegermylene with oxirane and thiirane

The mechanisms of theion reaction of alkylidenegermylene with oxirane and thiirane have been characterized detail in using density functional theory, as well as ab initio method, including geometry optimization and vibrational analysis for the involved stationary points on the potential energy surface. Energies were calculated by CCSD(T)/6-311G(d)//B3LYP/6-311G(d,p) method for the involved conformations. The results show that the reaction pathways for both reactions consist of two ways: (1) the reactants can yield bent products (P1; P4) by syn-isomers; (2) the reactants can also yield three-membered products (P2; P5) by anti-isomers, which then further react with oxirane and thiirane to form the ultimate products (P3-1, P3-2; P6). Furthermore, a comparison with alkylidenecarbene, oxirane, and thiirane was done.     

Complexing processes in M(II)-dithiomalonamide-diacetyl triple systems (M= Ni,Cu) in ethanol solution and in a metal(II)hexacyanoferrate(II) gelatin-immobilized matrix materials

The complexing processes in the M ^II -dithiomalonamide-diacetyl triple system (M=Ni, Cu) occuring in the nickel(II)- and copper(II)hexacyanoferrate(II) gelatin-immobilized matrix in contact with aqueous alkaline solutions (pH~12) containing dithiomalonamide and diacetyl at room temperature, and between MCl₂, dithiomalonamide and diacetyl in EtOH solutions upon heating to$80°C, have been studied. In the Ni ^II -dithiomalonamide-diacetyl system, template synthesis occurs in EtOH solution but does not occur in the gelatin-immobilized matrix, whereas in the Cu ^II -dithiomalonamide-diacetyl system, template synthesis occurs in the gelatin-immobilized matrix but not in EtOH solution. Dithiomalonamide and diacetyl are the ligand synthons in the processes indicated.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">In vitro</Emphasis> inhibitory effect of polyoxometalates on human tumor cells

H₇[NiV₁₃O₃₈] was synthesized from K₇[NiV₁₃O₃₈] using an ion exchange method. Then Pr₂H[NiV₁₃O₃₈] was obtained by double decomposition of H₇[NiV₁₃O₃₈] with Pr₂(CO₃)₃. The actual amount of praseodymium measured by elemental analysis coincides with the designed amount of praseodymium in Pr₂H[NiV₁₃O₃₈]. The i.r. spectra suggested that the [NiV₁₃O₃₈]^7– anion did not collapse after the ion exchange and double decomposition. The ⁵¹V n.m.r. spectrum of Pr₂H[NiV₁₃O₃₈] showed four peaks and their ratio of the relative intensity was 4:4:4:1. This result agrees with the chemical environment of V atoms in the [NiV₁₃O₃₈]^7– anion. In vitro antitumor activities of polyoxometalates on several human tumor cells have been investigated using the MTT method. Pr₂H[NiV₁₃O₃₈] is the most effective polyoxometalate tested in this study for inhibiting KB cell. Pr₂H[NiV₁₃O₃₈] also showed remarkable inhibitory effect on some other tumor cells: HCT, Bel, B₁₆, BCAP and ESCL cells. These results indicate that Pr₂H[NiV₁₃O₃₈] is a potent broad spectrum antitumor agent. The structure type of polyoxometalates greatly influences their antitumor activity: the order of structure type for inhibiting KB cell is: [NiV₁₃O₃₈]^7–>[Mo₇O₂₄]^6–>Anderson structure Keggin structure Dawson structure. Moreover, the nature of the polyatom in the polyoxometalates also greatly influences their antitumor activity: the polyatom order for inhibiting KB cell is: V>Mo W. On the other hand, the nature of the counter cation and the heteroatom in the polyoxometalates exerted a relatively small influence on the inhibitory effect against the KB cell, although the praseodymium salt of [NiV₁₃O₃₈]^7– showed a higher antitumor activity than its potassium salt.     

Investigation of the Electrochemical Reduction of Benzophenone in Aprotic Solvents Using the Method of Cyclic Voltammetry

The reduction of benzophenone (Bzph) in 3-pentanone (PEN), acetone (ACE), N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMA), N,N-dimethylformamide (DMF), tetrahydrofuran (THF), acetonitrile (ACN) and dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) with n-tetrabutylammonium hexafluorophosphate (TBAPF₆) as background electrolyte was studied using the technique of cyclic voltammetry at the temperature of 263.15 K. The half-wave potentials (E _1/2) were extracted. The reduction of Bzph occurs in two successive one-electron steps to produce first the free radical anion Bzph⁻ and then the dianion Bzph²⁻. The results indicated that the radical anion Bzph⁻ is reoxidized to Bzph in all investigated solvent media whereas the dianion Bzph²⁻ is reoxidized to Bzph⁻ only in THF. The heterogeneous electron-transfer rate constants (k _s ) were evaluated by employing the electrochemical rate equation proposed by Nicholson. The rate of electron transfer for the Bzph/Bzph⁻ couple was found to be relatively slow in all investigated solvent media. Consequently, the electron-transfer processes can be recognized as quasi-reversible. The diffusion coefficients (D) of Bzph in the investigated solvent media have been calculated using the modified Randles-Sevcik equation. The effect of the physical and chemical properties of the solvent medium on the electrochemical behavior of Bzph has been examined.