Scheduling with a due-window for acceptable lead-times

Due-dates are often determined during sales negotiations in two stages: (i) in the pre-sale stage, the customer provides a time interval (due-window) of his acceptable due-dates, (ii) in the second stage, the parties agree on the delivery penalties. Thus, the contract reflects penalties of both parts of the sales negotiations: earliness/tardiness penalties of the due-dates (as a function of the deviation from the agreed upon due-window), and earliness/tardiness penalties of the actual delivery times (as a function of the deviation from the due-dates). We model this setting of a two-stage negotiation on a single machine, and reduce the problem to a well-known setting of minimizing the weighted earliness/tardiness with a given (fixed) due-window. We adopt (and correct) a pseudo-polynomial dynamic programming algorithm for this NP-hard problem. The algorithm is extended to a setting of parallel identical machines, verifying that this case remains NP-hard in the ordinary sense. Moreover, an efficient greedy heuristic and a tight lower bound are introduced and tested. Extremely small optimality gaps are obtained in our numerical tests.     

Design, synthesis, and properties of neoglycolipids based on ethylene glycoles conjugated with lactose as components of targeted delivery systems of biologically active compounds

Synthesis has been developed of a series of new aliphatic lactose derivatives as components of liposomal targeted delivery systems distinguished by the length and the number of aliphatic chains and also by the length of the spacer fragment. The structure of compounds synthesized has been established by means of 1H NMR spectroscopy.     

Analysis of porous structure of furfurol-based active carbons with application of the density functional theory

Isotherms of nitrogen low-temperature adsorption on active FAS carbons and coconut-shell carbons were studied by the method of the density functional nonlocal theory. Distribution curves of micropore volumes in their width were obtained.m dodecyl sulfate in the presence of hydrogen peroxide under the action of UV light was studied.     

Slicing and Dicing the Genome: A Statistical Physics Approach to Population Genetics

The inference of past demographic parameters from current genetic polymorphism is a fundamental problem in population genetics. The standard techniques utilize a reconstruction of the gene-genealogy, a cumbersome process that may be applied only to small numbers of sequences. We present a method that compares the total number of haplotypes (distinct sequences) with the model prediction. By chopping the DNA sequence into pieces we condense the immense information hidden in sequence space into a function for the number of haplotypes versus subsequence size. The details of this curve are robust to statistical fluctuations and are seen to reflect the process parameters. This procedure allows for a clear visualization of the quality of the fit and, crucially, the numerical complexity grows only linearly with the number of sequences. Our procedure is tested against both simulated data as well as empirical mtDNA data from China and provides excellent fits in both cases.     

Synthesis of neoglycolipids based on D-lactose

A synthesis was performed of amphiphilic D-lactose derivatives differing by the length and number of aliphatic chains. The compounds may be applied to the carbohydrate modification of phosphatidylcholine liposomes.     

Adsorption of hydrogen on nanoporous carbon adsorbents

Four samples of active carbons with specific micropore volumes of 0.4—1.33 cm³g^-1 at 77 K and pressures up to 5 MPa were used to study hydrogen adsorption. The highest amount of of hydrogen adsorbed on these active carbons at the boiling point 20.38 K and pressure 0.101 MPa was calculated by methods derived from the theory of volumetric filling of micropores (TVFM). The adsorbent FAS-1-05 prepared by the liquid-phase polymerization of furfurol was shown to have the highest adsorption capacity. The amounts of hydrogen adsorbed on FAS-1-05 at temperatures 77, 196, and 300 K and pressures 7 and 20 MPa were calculated using the TVFM methods with allowance for linearity of the isosters. The results were compared with the experimental values obtained at 77 K and pressure below 5.1 MPa and at 293 K and pressures up to 16.1 MPa. The highest amounts of hydrogen adsorbed (6.2 wt.% for the adsorbent FAS-1-05) were obtained under pressures below 5.1 MPa and at 77 K.     

Synthesis of silver nanoparticles with polystyrylcarboxylate ligands

Silver nanoparticles stabilized by polystyrylmonocaboxylate ligands with varied chain lengths are synthesized via the low-temperature reduction of silver polystyrylmonocaboxylate with triethylamine. Silver nanoparticles have small dimensions, narrow size distributions, high stability, and ability to redisperse in nonpolar solvents. The kinetic features of the reaction are studied via high-performance liquid chromatography; UV, visible and IR spectroscopy; and transmission electron microscopy. It is shown that the reduction of silver occurs in the cores of reverse micelle species organized by diphilic macromolecules of silver polystyrylmonocarboxylates.     

Methane adsorption on microporous carbon adsorbent with wide pore size distribution

Methane adsorption on a microporous carbon adsorbent with a bimodal pore size distribution is studied at temperatures of 303–333 K at pressures up to 30 MPa. The total micropore volume of the adsorbent, as determined by the Dubinin method, is as large as 1.02 cm³/g. Maximum values of methane adsorption of ≈18 mmol/g are attained at a temperature of 303 K and a pressure of 30 MPa. Methane adsorption isosteres are plotted based on experimental data, and adsorption equilibria at low temperatures are calculated using the linearity of the plots. Experimental isotherms of methane adsorption are compared with the isotherms calculated by the Dubinin–Nikolaev equation with variations in parameters E and n. Temperature dependences of these parameters are determined. Specific characteristics of methane adsorption accumulation are calculated.     

Anomalous increase in the unipolarity of doped lithium niobate crystals in the temperature range 300–400 K

The lithium niobate single crystals doped with B, Zn, and Gd at a content of 0.002–0.44 wt % have been grown. Their domain structure, static and dynamic piezoelectric properties, dielectric properties, and conductivity are investigated over a wide range of frequencies. The dielectric dispersion associated with the Debye-type relaxation process and considerable anomalies in ?′₂₂(T) and conductivity are revealed in the temperature range ～300–400 K. At these temperatures, the piezoelectric modulus d ₃₃ of the initial polydomain crystals LiNbO₃: Gd jumpwise increases up to the values close to those for the undoped single-domain crystal. This increase is accompanied by a substantial change in the etch patterns due to the domain structure of the crystal. The nature of the anomalies observed in LiNbO₃ in the above temperature range is discussed.