Collaborative distributed decision making for large scale disaster relief operations: Drawing analogies from robust natural systems

One of the most ignored, but urgent and vital challenges confronting society today is the vulnerability of urban areas to extreme events. Current organization of response systems, predominantly based on a command and control model, limits their effectiveness and efficiency. Particularly, in decision‐making processes where a large number of actors may be involved. In this article, a new distributed collaborative decision‐making model is proposed to overcome command and control limitations encountered in stressful, hostile, chaotic, and large‐scale settings. This model was derived by borrowing concepts from the collective decision making of honeybees foraging, a successful process in solving complex tasks within complex settings. The model introduced in this article was evaluated through differential equations, i.e., continuous analysis, and difference equations, i.e., discrete analysis. The most important result found is that the best available option in any large‐scale decision‐making problem can be configured as an attractor, in a distributed and timely manner. We suggest that the proposed model has the potential to facilitate decision‐making processes in large‐scale settings. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 11:28–38, 2005     

Estimating the largest singular values of large sparse matrices via modified moments

We describe a procedure for determining a few of the largest singular values of a large sparse matrix. The method by Golub and Kent which uses the method of modified moments for estimating the eigenvalues of operators used in iterative methods for the solution of linear systems of equations is appropriately modified in order to generate a sequence of bidiagonal matrices whose singular values approximate those of the original sparse matrix. A simple Lanczos recursion is proposed for determining the corresponding left and right singular vectors. The potential asynchronous computation of the bidiagonal matrices using modified moments with the iterations of an adapted Chebyshev semi-iterative (CSI) method is an attractive feature for parallel computers. Comparisons in efficiency and accuracy with an appropriate Lanczos algorithm (with selective re-orthogonalization) are presented on large sparse (rectangular) matrices arising from applications such as information retrieval and seismic reflection tomography. This procedure is essentially motivated by the theory of moments and Gauss quadrature.This author's work was supported by the National Science Foundation under grants NSF CCR-8717492 and CCR-910000N (NCSA), the U.S. Department of Energy under grant DOE DE-FG02-85ER25001, and the Air Force Office of Scientific Research under grant AFOSR-90-0044 while at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Center for Supercomputing Research and Development.This author's work was supported by the U.S. Army Research Office under grant DAAL03-90-G-0105, and the National Science Foundation under grant NSF DCR-8412314.     

Scaling by Binormalization

We present an iterative algorithm (BIN) for scaling all the rows and columns of a real symmetric matrix to unit 2-norm. We study the theoretical convergence properties and its relation to optimal conditioning. Numerical experiments show that BIN requires 2–4 matrix–vector multiplications to obtain an adequate scaling, and in many cases significantly reduces the condition number, more than other scaling algorithms. We present generalizations to complex, nonsymmetric and rectangular matrices.     

Two-step photoionization of Na2: dependence on alignment

Laser light is used for two-step photoionization of Na₂. the first step depends on the moleculer orientation, the second step doesnot. This yields a method for the analysis of molecular alignment.     

Hydrogen‐bonded supramolecule of N,N′‐bis(4‐pyridylmethyl)oxalamide and a zigzag chain structure of catena‐poly[[[dichloridocobalt(II)]‐μ‐N,N′‐bis(4‐pyridylmethyl)oxalamide‐κ2N4:N4′] hemihydrate]

N,N′‐Bis(4‐pyridylmethyl)oxalamide, C₁₄H₁₄N₄O₂, exists as a dimer which is extended into a two‐dimensional network with other dimers through pyridine–amide hydrogen bonds. The crystal structure of the title coordination polymer, {[CoCl₂(C₁₄H₁₄N₄O₂)]·0.5H₂O}_n, features a one‐dimensional zigzag chain, in which the cobalt ion sits at a twofold symmetry position and adopts a tetrahedral geometry, and the bridging ligand lies on an inversion center and connects to Co^II ions in a bis‐monodentate mode. Furthermore, two interwoven chains create a cavity of ca 8.6 × 8.6 Å, which produces a three‐dimensional channel. Water molecules are held in the channel by hydrogen bonds.     

Substituent control of hydrogen bonding in palladium(II)-pyrazole complexes

Inter- and intramolecular hydrogen bonding of an N-H group in pyrazole complexes was studied using ligands with two different groups at pyrazole C-3 and C-5. At C-5, groups such as methyl, i-propyl, phenyl, or tert-butyl were present. At C-3, side chains L-CH(2)- and L-CH(2)CH(2)- (L = thioether or phosphine) ensured formation of chelates to a cis-dichloropalladium(II) fragment through side-chain atom L and the pyrazole nitrogen closest to the side chain. The significance of the ligands is that by placing a ligating side chain on a ring carbon (C-3), rather than on a ring nitrogen, the ring nitrogen not bound to the metal and its attached proton are available for hydrogen bonding. As desired, seven chelate complexes examined by X-ray diffraction all showed intramolecular hydrogen bonding between the pyrazole N-H and a chloride ligand in the cis position. In addition, however, intermolecular hydrogen bonding could be controlled by the substituent at C-5: complexes with either a methyl at C-5 or no substituent there showed significant intermolecular hydrogen bonding interactions, which were completely avoided by placing a tert-butyl group at C-5. The acidity of two complexes in acetonitrile solutions was estimated to be closer to that of pyridinium ion than those of imidazolium or triethylammonium ions.     

A note on the kernel of a locally nilpotent derivation

This note concerns locally nilpotent derivations of the polynomial ring . It is shown that if annihilates a polynomial in two variables, then annihilates a variable.

     

Sensitivity in Supramolecular Architectures of Polyaromatic Salts Containing Two Singly‐Pimerized Bipyridines

Three novel supramolecular arrays of zigzag polyaromatic salts are reported. Both the conformation and disposition of the dications are subjected to various noncovalent interactions. Thus, the presence or absence of the π‐π interacting enclathrated molecules, the efficient packing and the involved hydrogen bonding interactions of anions, as well as the increased hydrophobic property of the dications themselves exert influence.     

Confirmation of phenylbutazone residues in bovine kidney by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry

A confirmatory method is described for phenylbutazone (PB) residues in bovine kidney tissue. Ground kidney tissue is diluted with water, and the mixture is made basic with 25% ammonium hydroxide in water; the lipids are extracted with ethyl and petroleum ethers. The ether layer is discarded, and the tissue is acidified with 6N HCl. PB residues are extracted with tetrahydrofuranhexane (1 + 4). The extract is passed through a silica solid-phase extraction column, and the eluate is evaporated to dryness. The residue is dissolved in acidified acetonitrile-water-acetic acid (50 + 49.4 + 0.6). A single quadrupole mass spectrometer coupled to a liquid chromatograph with an electrospray interface is used to confirm the identity of the PB residues in the kidney extract. Negative-ion detection with selected-ion monitoring of 4 ions is used. Sets of control and fortified-control kidney tissues (at 50, 100, and 200 ppb PB) and several kidney tissue field samples were analyzed for method validation. The method was tested further during the course of a survey to determine the incidence of PB residues in bovine kidney samples obtained from slaughterhouses across the country. In addition, the method was tested for use with an ion-trap mass spectrometer coupled to a liquid chromatograph, which allowed confirmation of PB at lower levels (5-10 ppb) in kidney tissue.     

Luminescent properties of PP and LDPE films and rods doped with the Eu(III)‐La(III) complex

The work is devoted to luminescent properties of trivalent lanthanide complexes dispersed in thermoplastic host matrices. Polyethylene films and polypropylene‐rods, both doped with these complexes, were manufactured using an extrusion technique. Two kinds of dopants were used: Eu(III)‐thenoyltrifluoroacetone‐1,10‐phenanthroline complex (1) and Eu(III)‐La(III)‐1,10‐phenanthroline complex (2). Absorption, excitation, emission spectra and lifetime of luminescence were studied. The impact of the polymer matrix on the emission spectra was investigated. Emission spectra of the films were studied at room and helium temperatures. Time‐of‐flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF‐SIMS) surface mapping showed that in the Eu(III)‐La(III) complex europium forms islands (clusters) with a dimension of 1 µm, whereas lanthanum was dispersed more uniformly in the polymer matrix. Dependence of emission intensity on the excitation was determined. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.