Plant location and procurement planning in knockdown production systems

We consider an integrated problem of plant location and capacity planning for components procurement in knockdown production systems. The problem is that of determining the schedule of opening components manufacturing plants, plans for acquisition of capacities in opened components manufacturing plants, and plans for components procurement in final assembly plants with the objective of minimizing the sum of fixed costs for opening plants, acquisition and operation costs of facilities, and delivery and subcontracting costs of components. The problem is formulated as a mixed integer linear program and solved by a two-stage solution procedure. In the solution procedure, the problem is decomposed into two tractable subproblems and these subproblems are solved sequentially. In the first stage, a dynamic plant location problem is solved using a cut and branch algorithm based on Gomory cuts, while a multiperiod capacity planning problem is solved in the second stage by a heuristic algorithm that uses a cut and branch algorithm and a variable reduction scheme. The solution procedure is tested on problems of a practical size and results show that the procedure gives reasonably good solutions.     

Microwave-assisted synthesis and photoluminescence of MMoO4 (M=Ca,Ba) particles via a metathetic reaction

MMoO₄ (M=Ca, Ba) particles were synthesized by a metathetic reaction in ethylene glycol assisted by cyclic microwave irradiation followed by further heat-treatment. The MMoO₄ (M=Ca, Ba) particles were well crystallized after heat-treatment at 400–600 °C for 3 h. The microstructures exhibited fine morphologies with sizes of 0.5–1 μm and 1.5–2 μm for the CaMoO₄ and BaMoO₄ particles, respectively. The synthesized MMoO₄ (M=Ca, Ba) particles were characterized by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The optical properties were examined by photoluminescence emission and Raman spectroscopy.     

In-Solution Derivatization and Headspace Gas Chromatography–Mass Spectrometry for 56 Carbonyl Compounds in Tobacco Heating Products,Traditional Tobacco Products and Flavoring Capsules

Chromatographia - Optimal derivatization conditions were established for the simultaneous determination of 12 aliphatic saturated aldehydes, 8 aliphatic saturated ketones, 4 cyclic ketones, 3...     

Molecular Recognition in Self‐Assembled Integrated Circuits: Getting Smaller while under Control

Available in small print : Block copolymer lithography has great potential for reducing the size and fabrication time of integrated circuits. Hydrogen‐bonding‐mediated molecular recognition in self‐assembly processes can be used to produce highly ordered square arrays of block copolymers on the surface of a silicon substrate (see picture).

     

The effects of cis–trans configuration of cyclohexane multi-carboxylic acids on colloidal forces in dispersions: steric, hydrophobic and bridging

The effects of cis- and trans-1,2-, trans-1,4-cyclohexanedicarboxylic acid, 95% cis-1,3,5-cyclohexane tricarboxylic acid and cis-1,2,3,4,5,6-cyclohexanehexacarboxylic acid on the yield stress–pH behaviour of concentrated ZrO₂ dispersions are reported. Adsorbed cis-1,2,3,4,5,6-cyclohexanehexacarboxylic acid imparts predominantly steric interactions. It forms a steric barrier keeping the interacting particles apart. Adsorbed cis- and trans-1,2 increase the maximum yield stress and this was attributed to a hydrophobic force resulting from the part of the cyclohexane ring sticking out into the solution which is devoid of charged or hydrophilic group. Adsorbed trans-1,4 increases the maximum yield stress by at least threefold and its configuration favours strong bridging interaction with an adjacent particle. Predominantly, cis-1,3,5 also increases the maximum yield stress but only by 60% at the same additive concentration. This was attributed to a smaller degree of bridging.     

Dielectric force and relative motion between two spherical particles in electrophoresis

When two particles close to each other are in electrophoretic motion, each particle is under the influence of the nonuniform electric field generated by the other particle. Two particles may attract or repel each other due to the dielectric force, depending on their positions in the nonuniform electric field. In this work, the dielectric interaction and the subsequent relative motion of the two arbitrarily oriented spherical particles are analyzed. The dielectric force is obtained by integrating the Maxwell stress. The result is valid for arbitrary orientations of the particles under the thin electrical-double-layer assumption. The magnitude of the dielectric force is compared to the so-called inertia-induced force, which shows that the dielectric force is normally much greater than the inertia-induced force. The relative velocity of particles is determined by the force balance between the dielectric force and the Stokes drag. The regions of attraction and repulsion are defined. It is shown that a pair of particles eventually aligns parallel to the externally applied electric field, except in the case where the two particles are initially oriented perpendicular to the electric field. A closed-form analytical solution is obtained for the particle trajectory by using the approximate expression for the dielectric force valid for not-too-closely located particles.     

Self-assembled monolayers on Pt(111): molecular packing structure and strain effects observed by scanning tunneling microscopy

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) of octanethiol and benzeneethanethiol were deposited on clean Pt(111) surfaces in ultrahigh vacuum (UHV). Highly resolved images of these SAMs produced by an in situ scanning tunneling microscope (STM) showed that both systems organize into a super-structure mosaic of domains of locally ordered, closely packed molecules. Analysis of the STM images indicated a (square root 3 x square root 3)R30 degrees unit cell for the octanethiol SAMs and a 4(square root 3 x square root 3)R30 degrees periodicity based on 2 x 2 basic molecular packing for the benzeneethanethiol SAMs under the coverage conditions investigated. SAMs on Pt(111) exhibited differences in molecular packing and a lower density of disordered regions than SAMs on Au(111). Electron transport measurements were performed using scanning tunneling spectroscopy. Benzeneethanethiol/Pt(111) junctions exhibited a higher conductance than octanethiol/Pt(111) junctions.     

Self-induced 1-D molecular chain growth of thiophene on Ge(100)

The adsorption of thiophene on Ge(100) has been studied using scanning tunneling microscopy (STM), high-resolution core-level photoemission spectroscopy (HRPES), and density functional theory (DFT) calculations. Until now, thiophene is known to react with the Ge(100) dimer through a [4 + 2] cycloaddition reaction at room temperature, similar to the case of thiophene on Si(100). However, we found that thiophene has two adsorption geometries on Ge(100) at room temperature, such as a kinetically favorable Ge-S dative bonding configuration and a thermodynamically stable [4 + 2] cycloaddition adduct. Moreover, our STM results show that under 0.25 ML thiophene molecules preferentially produce one-dimensional molecular chain structures on Ge(100) via the Ge-S dative bonding configuration.     

A manganese-ferritin nanocomposite as an ultrasensitive T2 contrast agent

T(2) contrast is gaining importance in high field strength MRI. We report a strategy for developing a T(2) contrast agent from paramagnetic metal ions synthesized within an engineered protein cage. The manganese-ferritin nanocomposite showed high T(2) relaxivity indicating its potential as an ultrasensitive T(2) contrast agent.     

Stress induced half-metallicity in surface defected germanium nanowires

Germanium nanowires (GeNWs) with single, double, quadruple and octuple surface dangling bonds (SDBs) are investigated using density-functional-theory calculations. We show that single SDB defected GeNWs remain semiconducting as their non-defected form while double or multiple SDB defects result in either semiconducting or metallic GeNWs, depending on the defect's locations on the surface. More importantly, we show that the electronic properties of surface defected GeNWs can also be fine-tuned by applying tensile and compressive strains. Upon the right loading, the surface defected GeNWs become half-metallic. In addition, we determine that the surface defected GeNWs can be classified into three classes: (1) GeNWs with zero magnetic moment, which are either metallic or semiconducting; (2) GeNWs with net magnetic moments equal to the number of SDBs, which are semiconducting with distinct spin-up and spin-down configurations; and (3) GeNWs with net magnetic moments significantly lower than the number of SDBs. We also find that only the defected GeNWs that fall under (3) are potentially half-metallic. Our results predict that half-metallic GeNWs can be obtained via engineering of the surface defects and the structures without the presence of impurity dopants.