Lower Bounds from State Space Relaxations for Concave Cost Network Flow Problems

In this paper we obtain Lower Bounds (LBs) to concave cost network flow problems. The LBs are derived from state space relaxations of a dynamic programming formulation, which involve the use of non-injective mapping functions guaranteing a reduction on the cardinality of the state space. The general state space relaxation procedure is extended to address problems involving transitions that go across several stages, as is the case of network flow problems. Applications for these LBs include: estimation of the quality of heuristic solutions; local search methods that use information of the LB solution structure to find initial solutions to restart the search (Fontes et al., 2003, Networks, 41, 221–228); and branch-and-bound (BB) methods having as a bounding procedure a modified version of the LB algorithm developed here, (see Fontes et al., 2005a). These LBs are iteratively improved by penalizing, in a Lagrangian fashion, customers not exactly satisfied or by performing state space modifications. Both the penalties and the state space are updated by using the subgradient method. Additional constraints are developed to improve further the LBs by reducing the searchable space. The computational results provided show that very good bounds can be obtained for concave cost network flow problems, particularly for fixed-charge problems.     

Synthesis of enantiopure β-amino amides via a practical reductive amination of the corresponding β-keto amides

A convenient and efficient reductive amination for the preparation of chiral β-amino amides is developed utilizing microwave heating. A variety of chiral β-keto amides react with ammonium acetate and sodium cyanoborohydride to afford the desired functionalized amines in good yields. This improved procedure takes advantage of microwave heating to significantly accelerate the reaction and offers a convenient and effective method to access some interesting molecules containing primary amine functionalities.     

Optimal Control of an Evolution Problem Involving Time-Dependent Maximal Monotone Operators

Journal of Optimization Theory and Applications - We consider a control problem in a finite-dimensional setting, which consists in finding a minimizer for a standard functional defined by way of...     

Scatter Search and Genetic Algorithms for MAX-SAT Problems

In this paper, both scatter search (SS) and genetic algorithms (GAs) are studied for the NP-Hard optimization variant of the satisfiability problem, namely MAX-SAT. First, we investigate a new selection strategy based on both fitness and diversity to choose individuals to participate in the reproduction phase of a genetic algorithm. The resulting algorithm is enhanced in two ways leading to two genetic algorithm variants: the first one uses a uniform crossover. The second one uses a specific crossover operator (to MAX-SAT). The crossover operator is combined with an improved stochastic local search (SLS). The crossover operator is used to identify promising regions while the stochastic local search performs an intensified search of solutions around these regions. Secondly, we propose a scatter search variant for MAX-SAT. Both the SS and the GAs implementations share the solution selection strategy, the improved SLS method and the combination operator. Experiments on several instances from MAX-SAT libraries are performed to show and compare the effectiveness of our approaches. The computational experiments show that both (SS) and (GAs) with a stochastic local search (SLS) improvement technique outperform a classical genetic algorithm (without SLS). The two metaheuristics are able of balancing search diversification and intensification which leads to good results. In general, the specific genetic algorithm with a (SLS) improvement technique and a specific combination method provides competitive results and finds solutions of a higher quality than a scatter search.     

Théorèmes d'existence pour des inclusions différentielles du second ordre

We prove several existence theorems for second order differential inclusions of the form $\text{x}\text{?}\text{(t)∈K(x(t))}$, $\text{x}\text{?}\text{(t)∈?N(K(x(t));}\text{x}\text{?}\text{(t))+F(t,}\text{x}\text{?}\text{(t)),}$ when K and F are set-valued mappings taking nonconvex and convex values, respectively, in a Hilbert space H. To cite this article: M. Bounkhel, D. Laouir-Azzam, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 336 (2003).     

Highly hydrophilic surfaces from polyglycidol grafts with dual antifouling and specific protein recognition properties

Homopolymer grafts from α-tert-butoxy-ω-vinylbenzyl-polyglycidol (PGL) were prepared on gold and stainless steel (SS) substrates modified by 4-benzoyl-phenyl (BP) moieties derived from the electroreduction of the parent salt 4-benzoyl benzene diazonium tetrafluoroborate. The grafted BP aryl groups efficiently served to surface-initiate photopolymerization (SIPP) of PGL. In similar conditions, SIPP of hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) permitted the production of PHEMA grafts as model surfaces. Water contact angles were found to be 66°, 15°, and 0° for SS-BP, SS-PHEMA, and SS-PPGL, respectively. The spontaneous spreading of water drops on SS-PPGL was invariably observed with 1.5 μL water drops. PPGL thus appears as a superhydrophilic polymer. Resistance to nonspecific adsorption of proteins of PPGL and PHEMA grafts on gold was evaluated by surface plasmon resonance (SPR) using antibovine serum albumin (anti-BSA). The results conclusively show that PPGL-grafts exhibit enhanced resistance to anti-BSA adsorption compared to the well-known hydrophilic PHEMA. PPGL grafts were further modified with BSA through the carbonyldiimidazole activation of the OH groups providing immunosensing surfaces. The so-prepared PPGL-grafted BSA hybrids specifically interacted with anti-BSA in PBS as compared to antimyoglobin. It is clear that the superhydrophilic character of PPGL grafts opens new avenues for biomedical applications where surfaces with dual functionality, namely, specific protein grafting together with resistance to biofouling, are required.     

Thermodynamic Study of the Solid-Liquid Equilibria in the Systems MIPO3-Pr(PO3)3 (MI=Na,Rb, Cs OR Ag)

A previously established equation of a stoichiometric phase liquidus curve was applied to determination of the phase diagrams of the systems M^IPO₃-Pr(PO₃)₃ (with M^I=Na, Rb, Cs or Ag). The temperature, enthalpy and entropy of fusion were calculated for each solid phase with the exception of silver polyphosphate, the crystallization field of which was very limited. The enthalpy of fusion of the polyphosphate Pr(PO₃)₃ was determined from the DTA curve. The melting enthalpy of Pr(PO₃)₃ calculated from the different binary systems was approximately equal to the measured value. The calculated temperatures and compositions were in good agreement with those determined experimentally. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A nonconvex quadratic optimization approach to the maximum edge weight clique problem

The maximum edge weight clique (MEWC) problem, defined on a simple edge-weighted graph, is to find a subset of vertices inducing a complete subgraph with the maximum total sum of edge weights. We propose a quadratic optimization formulation for the MEWC problem and study characteristics of this formulation in terms of local and global optimality. We establish the correspondence between local maxima of the proposed formulation and maximal cliques of the underlying graph, implying that the characteristic vector of a MEWC in the graph is a global optimizer of the continuous problem. In addition, we present an exact algorithm to solve the MEWC problem. The algorithm is a combinatorial branch-and-bound procedure that takes advantage of a new upper bound as well as an efficient construction heuristic based on the proposed quadratic formulation. Results of computational experiments on some benchmark instances are also presented.     

Space charge packets in polyethylene nano-scales under dc applied voltages

In this paper, we are interested in space charge packet phenomenon generated at submicron scales in insulating polyethylene materials that have not been extensively investigated in all previous theoretical modeling and experimental works. Indeed, a bipolar charge transport model is proposed to simulate space charge dynamics in nano-scale polyethylene material under dc high electric field. For these scales, our results show space charge packet appearance which induces new dynamics that are marked on injected and conduction current oscillations. In addition, our results also show the establishment of post breakdown phenomena that are indicated by an external current abrupt increase without saturation.     

Characterization of polylactic acid green composites and its biodegradation in a bacterial environment

The growing interest in the preservation of our environment is pushing for solutions to develop less impacting materials. Thus, the development of biocomposites and is recyclable and compostable end-of-life resources seem an interesting alternative. In this study, the characterization of Polylactic acid (PLA) reinforced with treated and untreated Olive husk flour (OHF) were investigated. More then, their biodegradation with a Bacillus sp. has been evaluated. The main results show that the bacteria degraded both the PLA and the composite. This degradation was confirmed by the release of reducing sugars as well as increasing weight loss of PLA matrix and composites.