A Model for Advanced Reservations for Intercity Visual Conferencing Services

In this paper we describe a model for systems in which the customers usually reserve the required facilities in advance. The model has been developed for a communication network which provides visual conferencing services. We concentrate upon a network with a single pair of cities. Each customer calls the reservation office and specifies the desired day, starting time and holding time for his conference. A scheduler either satisfies the customer's request or offers him up to two alternatives which he may or may not accept. Various performance indices of the system, such as the proportion of lost customers, the proportion of rescheduled customers and the facilities' occupancy rate, are derived. Numerical examples and applications are discussed.     

Relaxation-based algorithms for minimax optimization problems with resource allocation applications

We consider minimax optimization problems where each term in the objective function is a continuous, strictly decreasing function of a single variable and the constraints are linear. We develop relaxation-based algorithms to solve such problems. At each iteration, a relaxed minimax problem is solved, providing either an optimal solution or a better lower bound. We develop a general methodology for such relaxation schemes for the minimax optimization problem. The feasibility tests and formulation of subsequent relaxed problems can be done by using Phase I of the Simplex method and the Farkas multipliers provided by the final Simplex tableau when the corresponding problem is infeasible. Such relaxation-based algorithms are particularly attractive when the minimax optimization problem exhibits additional structure. We explore special structures for which the relaxed problem is formulated as a minimax problem with knapsack type constraints; efficient algorithms exist to solve such problems. The relaxation schemes are also adapted to solve certain resource allocation problems with substitutable resources. There, instead of Phase I of the Simplex method, a max-flow algorithm is used to test feasibility and formulate new relaxed problems.Corresponding author.Work was partially done while visiting AT&T Bell Laboratories.     

Complexes of palladium,platinum and rhodium with 2,2′-biquinoline and 2-(2′-pyridyl)quinoline

Summary The reactions of 2,2-biquinoline(biq) with M(PhCN)₂X₂ (M=Pd; X=Cl or Br; M=Pt, X=Cl, Br or I), K₂PtCl₄ and RhCl₃·3H₂O and of 2-(2-pyridyl)quinoline (pq) with K₂PtCl₄ and RhCl₃·3H₂O have been investigated. The isolated complexescis-[Pd(biq)X₂] (X=Cl or Br),cis-[Pt(biq)Cl₂],cis-[Pt(biq)Cl₂]·H₂O,trans-[Pt(biq)₂Br₂]·5H₂O, [Pt₃(biq)₂I₆],mer-[Rh(biq)Cl₃-(H₂O)] andmer-[Rh(pq)Cl₃(H₂O)] have been characterized by elemental analyses, conductivity measurements, i.r., electronic, and¹H n.m.r. spectra. The reaction of pq with K₂PtCl₄ in 1M H₂SO₄ gave the salt 2-(2-pyridyl) quinolinium tetrachloroplatinate(II) pentahydrate, (pqH)₂[PtCl₄]·5H₂O; when the reaction was carried out in aqueous acetone,cis-[Pt(pq)Cl₂] was obtained. A new method for the synthesis ofcis-[Rh(biq)₂X₂]X (X=Cl or Br) is described; both compounds have been further characterized by¹H n.m.r.     

Designing tridentate ligands for ruthenium(II) complexes with prolonged room temperature luminescence lifetimes

Coordination complexes have been used extensively as the photoactive component of artificial photosynthetic devices. While polynuclear arrays increase the probability of light absorption, the incorporation of the stereogenic Ru(2,2'-bipyridine)(3)(2+) motif gives rise to diastereomeric mixtures whereas the achiral Ru(2,2':6',2"-terpyridine)(2)(2+) motif creates stereopure polynuclear complexes. Thus, polynuclear arrays composed of ruthenium(II) complexes of tridentate ligands are the targets of choice for light-harvesting devices. As Ru(II) complexes of tridentate ligands have short excited state lifetimes at room temperature (r. t.), considerable effort has been focused on trying to increase their r. t. luminescence lifetime for practical applications. This tutorial review will report on the sophisticated synthetic strategies currently in use to enhance the room temperature photophysical properties of Ru(II) complexes of tridentate ligands.     

Gold(I) Formamidinate Clusters: The Structure, Luminescence, and Electrochemistry of the Tetranuclear, Base-Free [Au4(ArNC(H)NAr)4]

The structures of the tetragold(I) formamidinate cluster complexes, [Au₄(ArNC(H)NAr)₄], Ar=C₆H₄-4-OMe (1), C₆H₃-3,5-Cl (2), C₆H₄-4-Me (3), have been characterized by x-ray crystallography. The range of AuAu distances is 2.8–3.0 Å. The angles at AuAuAu are acute and obtuse 70 and 109°, 88 and 91°, and 63 and 116° in 1, 2, and 3, respectively. The four gold atoms are located at the corner of a rhomboid with the formamidinate ligands bridged above and below the near plane of the four Au(I) atoms. The tetranuclear gold(I) complexes show a bright blue-green luminescence under UV light, with an emission at 490 nm and a weak emission at 530 nm in the solid state, at room temp and 77 K. The oxidation of the formamidinate cluster, 1, has been studied electrochemically in 0.1 M Bu₄NPF₆/CH₂Cl₂ at a Pt working electrode with different scan rates. Three waves were obtained, 0.75, 0.95, and 1.09V vs. Ag/AgCl at a scan rate of 500 mV/s, the three waves are reversible. The potentials are independent of the scan rate in the range 50 mV/s to 3 V/s. The current at the third wave is larger than those at the first two.     

Performance improvement of a PGNAA setup due to change in moderator design: A Monte Carlo study

Effect of neutron source-moderator geometry has been studied on the performance of a thermal neutron capture-based prompt gamma neutron activation analysis (PGNAA) setup. In the study prompt gamma-ray and thermal neutron yield was calculated for various positions of the neutron source inside 3–10 cm long high density polyethylene moderators. The study has been carried out for a Portland cement sample using Monte Carlo calculations. The maximum yields of the thermal neutrons and prompt gamma-rays have been observed for a neutron source at a distance of 1 cm from the sample. The maximum yield of the 1.94 and 6.42 MeV prompt gamma-ray from a Portland cement sample has been observed for moderators having length equal to or greater than 7 cm. The yield of both gamma rays is 2.57 times higher than the previously reported value for a PGNAA setup with the source placed outside a 5 cm thick moderator. The higher yield of gamma rays will result in higher sensitivity of the PGNAA setup.     

Prolonged luminescence lifetimes of Ru(ii) complexes via the multichromophore approach: the excited-state storage element can be on a ligand not involved in the MLCT emitting state

A novel series of ruthenium terpyridine complexes with bichromophoric units separated by more than 1 nm display an extraordinary enhancement of their luminescence lifetimes when compared to the parent Ru(tpy)2(2+) chromophore (tpy = 2,2':6',2"-terpyridine).     

A strategy for improving the room-temperature luminescence properties of Ru(II) complexes with tridentate ligands

Several ruthenium(II) complexes with new tridentate polypyridine ligands have been prepared, and their photophysical properties have been studied. The new tridentate ligands are tpy-modified systems (tpy = 2,2':6',2' '-terpyridine) in which aromatic substituents designed to be coplanar with the tpy moiety are introduced, with the aim of enhancing delocalization in the acceptor ligand of the potentially luminescent metal-to-ligand charge-transfer (MLCT) state and increasing the MLCT-MC energy gap (MC = metal-centered excited state). Indeed, the Ru(II) complexes obtained with this new family of tridentate ligands exhibit long-lived luminescence at room temperature (up to 200 ns). The enhanced luminescence properties of these complexes support this design strategy and are superior to those of the model Ru(tpy)22+ compound and compare favorably with those of the best Ru(II) complexes with tridentate ligands reported so far.     

Mechanistic Features of the TiO2 Heterogeneous Photocatalysis of Arsenic and Uranyl Nitrate in Aqueous Suspensions Studied by the Stopped‐Flow Technique

The dynamics of the transfer of electrons stored in TiO₂ nanoparticles to As^III, As^V, and uranyl nitrate in water was investigated by using the stopped‐flow technique. Suspensions of TiO₂ nanoparticles with stored trapped electrons (e_trap^?) were mixed with solutions of acceptor species to evaluate the reactivity by following the temporal evolution of e_trap^? by the decrease in the absorbance at λ=600 nm. The results indicate that As^V and As^III cannot be reduced by e_trap^? under the reaction conditions. In addition, it was observed that the presence of As^V and As^III strongly modified the reaction rate between O₂ and e_trap^?: an increase in the rate was observed if As^V was present and a decrease in the rate was observed in the presence of As^III. In contrast with the As system, U^VI was observed to react easily with e_trap^? and U^IV formation was observed spectroscopically at λ=650 nm. The possible competence of U^VI and NO₃^? for their reduction by e_trap^? was analyzed. The inhibition of the U^VI photocatalytic reduction by O₂ could be attributed to the fast oxidation of U^V and/or U^IV.     

Design and application of molecularly imprinted electrochemical sensor for the new generation antidiabetic drug saxagliptin

Saxagliptin (Saxa) belongs to a new generation of antidiabetic pharmaceutical compounds used in combination with healthy diet and exercise to lower blood glucose levels in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In this work, we report for the first time a molecularly imprinted polymer (MIP) based electrochemical sensor for the determination of Saxa. Computational calculations were performed, based on which five MIPs were synthesized using Saxa as a template, itaconic acid as a monomer, crosslinked with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate and Di methyl sulfoxide (DMSO) as a porogen with different ratios. Non-covalent interaction (NCI) analysis has been also conducted, and the obtained isosurface analysis was used for graphical visualization of NCI that could occur in real space as well as for the discrimination between hydrogen bond interaction, Van Der Waals attraction and spatial repulsion. The optimized polymer was incorporated as a modifier for designing an electrochemical sensor comprising MIP and Multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MwCNT) within carbon paste electrode (CPE). The operational variables including incubation time, pH, scan rate, and accumulation time were optimized. The sensor showed linearity over the concentration range (1 × 10⁻⁹–1 × 10⁻¹⁵ M) with low limit of detection (LOD) 8 × 10⁻¹⁶ and 2 × 10⁻¹⁶ M on using DPV and EIS, respectively. The sensor was successfully applied for pharmaceutical formulations, urine, and human serum samples with recovery range between 97.45–100.64 %.