Isothermal crystallization kinetics of poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate)/layered double hydroxide nanocomposites

Poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate) (PHB)/layered double hydroxides (LDHs) nanocomposites were prepared by mixing PHB and poly(ethylene glycol) phosphonates (PEOPAs)‐modified LDH (PMLDH) in chloroform solution. Both X‐ray diffraction data and TEM micrographs of PHB/PMLDH nanocomposites indicate that the PMLDHs are randomly dispersed and exfoliated into the PHB matrix. In this study, the effect of PMLDH on the isothermal crystallization behavior of PHB was investigated using a differential scanning calorimeter (DSC) and polarized optical microscopy. Isothermal crystallization results of PHB/PMLDH nanocomposites show that the addition of 2 wt % PMLDH into PHB induced more heterogeneous nucleation in the crystallization significantly increasing the crystallization rate and reducing their activation energy. By adding more PMLDH into the PHB probably causes more steric hindrance of the diffusion of PHB, reducing the transportation ability of polymer chains during crystallization, thus increasing the activation energy. The correlation among crystallization kinetics, melting behavior and crystalline structure of PHB/PMLDH nanocomposites can also be discussed. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 3337–3347, 2006     

提前还贷及其隐含期权的分析

可提前还款的定期贷款是隐含着期权的利率衍生物，本文建立CIR利率模型下可提前还款的定期贷款的数学模型，通过离散偏微分方程，建立了模型的计算方法，讨论了随机利率对提前还贷的影响．     

Constructions of External Difference Families and Disjoint Difference Families

External difference families (EDFs) are a type of new combinatorial designs originated from cryptography. In this paper, some earlier ideas of recursive and cyclotomic constructions of combinatorial designs are extended, and a number of classes of EDFs and disjoint difference families are presented. A link between a subclass of EDFs and a special type of (almost) difference sets is set up.     

Measuring length of business cycles across countries using a new non‐stationary unit‐root cyclical approach

This article examines the length of the cycles in the gross domestic product (GDP) real per capita series of 15 countries by means of new statistical techniques based on unit root cycles. We propose tests for unit root cycles at each of the frequencies of the process. Using this approach, we are able to approximate the number of periods per cycle. The results show that the cycles have a periodicity of approximately six years when the disturbances are white noise. However, if we permit autocorrelation, they may also occur at smaller intervals of time. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

An implicit method for linear ill‐posed problems with perturbed operators

An implicit iterative method is applied to solving linear ill‐posed problems with perturbed operators. It is proved that the optimal convergence rate can be obtained after choosing suitable number of iterations. A generalized Morozov's discrepancy principle is proposed for the problems, and then the optimal convergence rate can also be obtained by an a posteriori strategy. The convergence results show that the algorithm is a robust regularization method. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Almost global existence for Hamiltonian semilinear Klein‐Gordon equations with small Cauchy data on Zoll manifolds

This paper is devoted to the proof of almost global existence results for Klein‐Gordon equations on Zoll manifolds (e.g., spheres of arbitrary dimension) with Hamiltonian nonlinearities, when the Cauchy data are smooth and small. The proof relies on Birkhoff normal form methods and on the specific distribution of eigenvalues of the Laplacian perturbed by a potential on Zoll manifolds. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

A note on model diagnostics in longitudinal data analysis

Longitudinal study has become one of the most commonly adopted designs in medical research. The generalized estimating equations (GEE) method and/or mixed effects models are employed very often in causal inferences. The related model diagnostic procedures are not yet fully formalized, and perhaps never will be. The potential causes of major problems are the high variety of the dependence within subjects and/or the number of repeated measurements. A single testing procedure, e.g., run test, is not possible to resolve all model diagnostics problems in longitudinal data analysis. Multiple quantitative indexes for model diagnostics are needed to take into account this variety. We propose eight testing procedures for randomness accompanied with some conventional and/or non-conventional plots to remedy model diagnostics in longitudinal data analysis. The proposed issue in this paper is well illustrated with four clinical studies in Taiwan.