Expert Rule Versus Majority Rule Under Partial Information, II

The main purpose of this paper is clarifying the connection between some characteristics of a deciding body and the probability of its making correct decisions. In our model a group of decision makers is required to select one of two alternatives. We assume the probabilities of the decision makers being correct are independent random variables distributed according to the same given distribution rule. This distribution belongs to a general family, containing the uniform distribution as a particular case. We investigate the behavior of the probability of the expert rule being optimal, as well as that of the majority rule, both as functions of the distribution parameter and the group size. The main result is that for any value of the distribution parameter the expert rule is far more likely to be optimal than the majority rule, especially as the deciding body becomes larger.     

Kinetics and mechanism of bromination of cyclic acetals with 1,4-dioxane dibromide

It is shown that the reactivities of cyclic formals in the case of bromination with dioxane dibromide increase in the order 1,3-dioxepane > 1,3-dioxalane 1,3-dioxane, which is explained not only by steric factors but also by the ease of cleavage of the C₄-O₃ bond of the dioxacyclane ring. The bromination of cyclic acetals takes place through prior enolization of the cyclic acetal with subsequent electrophilic addition of bromine to the double bond.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 2, pp. 176–179, February, 1981.     

Homolytic alkylation of quinaldine and quinoxaline with 18-crown-6

Homolytic alkylation of protonated quinoxaline with 18-crown-6, initiated by the system pivalic acid-iron(II) sulfate at 20–25C, gives (quinoxalin-2-yl)-18-crown-6 in 85% yield. Under analogous conditions, the reaction with quinoline affords two isomers: (quinolin-4-yl)-18-crown-6 and (quinolin-2-yl)-18-crown-6, in yields of 20 and 30% respectively.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 1, pp. 75–76, January, 1988.     

Cobalt complex with immobilized porphyrin in hydrazine oxidation

Porphyrin immobilized on silica and its complex with cobalt have been prepared and identified. Oxidation kinetics is described by the Michaelis-Menten equation.

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Growth and optical properties of filamentary GaN nanocrystals grown on a hybrid SiC/Si(111) substrate by molecular beam epitaxy

The potential to grow filamentary GaN nanocrystals by molecular beam epitaxy on a silicon substrate with a nanosized buffer layer of silicon carbide has been demonstrated. Morphological and optical properties of the obtained system have been studied. It has been shown that the intensity of the photoluminescence spectrum peak of such structures is higher than that of the best filamentary GaN nanocrystals without the buffer silicon carbide layer by a factor of more than two.     

Novel trialkylsilyl(germyl)-substituted thienyl- and furylbenzimidazoles and their N-substituted derivatives – synthesis,structure and cytotoxic activity

The reaction of 1,2-phenylenediamine with a variety of silicon- or germanium-containing 2-furaldehydes or 2-thienylcarbaldehydes in DMFA gave the corresponding benzimidazole derivatives in moderate yields (36–49%) in the presence of sodium hydrogen sulfite. As a result, a new series of silyl, germyl substituted hetarylbenzimidazoles were synthesized and their in vitro cytotoxicity was studied. The quaternisation of N-substituted benzimidazoles by heating with various alkyl, allyl and propargyl chlorides and bromides leads to the formation of benzimidazolinium salts. Potential cytotoxic activity of synthesized new benzimidazoles and benzimidazolinium salts was tested in vitro on two monolayer tumour cell lines: MG-22A (mouse hepatoma), HT-1080 (human fibrosarcoma) and normal mouse fibroblasts (NIH 3T3) and compared with corresponding benzimidazoles.     

Magnetoresistive properties of nanostructured magnetic metals,manganites, and magnetic semiconductors

We consider methods for controlling magnetoresistive parameters of magnetic metal superlattices, manganites, and magnetic semiconductors. By reducing the thickness of ferromagnetic layers in superlattices (e.g., Fe layers in Fe/Cr superlattices), it is possible to form superparamagnetic clustered–layered nanostructures with a magnetoresistance weakly depending on the direction of the external magnetic field, which is very important for applications of such type of materials. Producing Mn vacancies and additionally annealing lanthanum manganites in the oxygen atmosphere, it is possible to increase their magnetoresistance by more than four orders of magnitude. By changing the thickness of p–n junction in the structure of ferromagnetic semiconductors, their magnetoresistance can be increased by 2–3 orders of magnitude.     

Thermal processes in the systems with Li-battery cathode materials and LiPF6 -based organic solutions

Thermodynamic instability of positive electrodes (cathodes) in Li-ion batteries in humid air and battery solutions results in capacity fading and batteries degradation, especially at elevated temperatures. In this work, we studied thermal interactions between cathode materials Li₂MnO₃, xLi₂MnO₃ ^.(1???x)Li(MnNiCo)O₂,LiNi_0.33Mn_0.33Co_0.33O₂, LiNi_0.4Mn_0.4Co_0.2O₂, LiNi_0.8Co_0.15Al_0.05O₂ LiMn_1.5Ni_0.5O₄, LiMn(or Fe)PO₄, and battery solutions containing ethylene carbonate (EC) or propylene carbonate (PC), dimethyl carbonate (DMC) or ethylmethyl carbonate (EMC) and LiPF₆ salt in the temperature range of 40–400 °C. It was found that these materials are stable chemically and well performing in LiPF₆-based solutions up to 60 °C. The thermal decomposition of the electrolyte solutions starts >180 °C. The macro-structural transformations of cathode materials upon exothermic reactions were studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray difraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies have shown that the exothermic reactions in the temperature range of 60–140 °C lead to partial decomposition of both the cathode material and electrolyte solution. The systems thus formed consisted of partially decomposed solutions and partially chemically delithiated cathode materials covered by reactions products. Thermal reactions terminate and this system reaches equilibrium at about 120 °C. It remains stable up to the beginning of the solution decomposition at about 180 °C. The increased content of surface Li₂CO₃ is found to significantly affect the thermal processes at high temperature range due to extensive exothermic decomposition at low temperatures.     

Synthesis and Cytotoxic Activity of 1‐{3‐[1‐(5‐Organylsilylfuran‐2‐yl)silinan‐1‐yl]propyl}amines and Some Trimethylgermyl Analogues

New highly cytotoxic 1‐{3‐[1‐(5‐organylsilyl‐furan‐2‐yl)silinan‐1‐yl]propyl}amines and some trimethylgermyl analogues (IC₅₀ 1–7 μg mL^?1) have been synthesized by a hydrosilylation reaction of aliphatic and heterocyclic N‐allylamines in the presence of Speier’s catalyst. The effects of the silacycle, the element‐organic substituent in position 5 of the furan ring, and the structure of the amine on the cytotoxicity of the new compounds have been studied.