Risk in Inventory Models: The Case of the Newsboy Problem — Optimality Conditions

A recent article in this journal employs the capital-asset pricing model for the analysis of the newsboy problem and shows how the covariance risk affects the optimal inventory policy. The purpose of this paper is to sharpen the optimality conditions given by the article and hence to provide a simple method for finding the solution. Under reasonable assumptions, this paper shows that the optimal ordering policy can be described by a single equation, regardless of the sign of the covariance term.     

Deposition of osmium and ruthenium thin films from organometallic cluster precursors

Single‐source organometallic precursors based on a number of homometallic clusters as well as heterometallic cluster RuOs₃(CO)₁₃(µ‐H)₂ have been used for the chemical vapor deposition of osmium films and osmium–ruthenium alloy films, respectively. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Reduced Overlap Population Analysis for Triosmium Clusters

The use of reduced overlap population (ROP) analysis from EHMO calculations as a means to gauge the presence of metal–metal bonds in triosmium clusters is examined. A number of triosmium clusters containing bridging ligands have been used as test cases, including the bis-ethoxy bridged cluster Os₃(μ-OEt)₂(CO)₁₀, 1b, and some of its group 15 derivatives Os₃(μ-OEt)₂(CO)₉(EPh₃), 2. These latter clusters are newly synthesized and have been characterized completely, including by single-crystal X-ray crystallographic studies. In honour of Professor Dieter Fenske on his 65th birthday.     

Automated hollow fiber-protected dynamic liquid-phase microextraction of pesticides for gas chromatography-mass spectrometric analysis

Dynamic liquid-phase microextraction (LPME) controlled by a programmable syringe pump was evaluated for extracting pesticides in water prior to GC-MS analysis. A conventional microsyringe with a 1.3-cm length of hollow fiber attached to its needle was connected to a syringe pump to perform the extraction. The microsyringe was used as both the microextraction device as well as the sample introduction device for GC-MS analysis. The attached hollow fiber served as the "holder" and protector" of 3 microl of organic solvent. The solvent was repeatedly withdrawn into and discharged from the hollow fiber by the syringe pump. Pesticides were extracted from 4-ml water samples into the organic solvent impregnated in the hollow fiber. The effects of organic solvents, plunger movement pattern, agitation and extraction time were investigated. Good repeatabilities of extraction performance were obtained, with the RSD values ranging from 3.0% (alachlor) to 9.8% (4-chlorophenol) for the 14 pesticides; most RSD values were under 5.0%. The method provided a 490-fold preconcentration of the target pesticides. The limits of detection were in the range of 0.01-5.1 microg/l (S/N = 3) in the GC-MS selected ion monitoring mode. In addition, sample clean-up was achieved during LPME because of the selectivity of the hollow fiber, which prevented undesirable large molecules from being extracted. A slurry sample (mixture of 40 mg soil/ml of water) containing seven pesticides was extracted using this method which also gave good linearity and precision (most RSDs <7.0%, n = 3).     

Synthesis and excited-state photodynamics of a chlorin-bacteriochlorin dyad--through-space versus through-bond energy transfer in tetrapyrrole arrays.

Understanding energy transfer among hydroporphyrins is of fundamental interest and essential for a wide variety of photochemical applications. Toward this goal, a synthetic free base ethynylphenylchlorin has been coupled with a synthetic free base bromobacteriochlorin to give a phenylethyne-linked chlorin-bacteriochlorin dyad (FbC-pe-FbB). The chlorin and bacteriochlorin are each stable toward adventitious oxidation because of the presence of a geminal dimethyl group in each reduced pyrrole ring. A combination of static and transient optical spectroscopic studies indicate that excitation into the Qy band of the chlorin constituent (675 nm) of FbC-pe-FbB in toluene results in rapid energy transfer to the bacteriochlorin constituent with a rate of approximately (5 ps)(-1) and efficiency of >99%. The excited bacteriochlorin resulting from the energy-transfer process in FbC-pe-FbB has essentially the same fluorescence characteristics as an isolated monomeric reference compound, namely a narrow (12 nm fwhm) fluorescence emission band at 760 nm and a long-lived (5.4 ns) Qy excited state that exhibits a significant fluorescence quantum yield (Phif=0.19). F?rster calculations are consistent with energy transfer in FbC-pe-FbB occurring predominantly by a through-space mechanism. The energy-transfer characteristics of FbC-pe-FbB are compared with those previously obtained for analogous phenylethyne-linked dyads consisting of two porphyrins or two oxochlorins. The comparisons among the sets of dyads are facilitated by density functional theory calculations that elucidate the molecular-orbital characteristics of the energy donor and acceptor constituents. The electron-density distributions in the frontier molecular orbitals provide insights into the through-bond electronic interactions that can also contribute to the energy-transfer process in the different types of dyads.     

Integrated Hollow Mesoporous Silica Nanoparticles for Target Drug/siRNA Co‐Delivery

A hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticle (HMSNP) based drug/siRNA co‐delivery system was designed and fabricated, aiming at overcoming multidrug resistance (MDR) in cancer cells for targeted cancer therapy. The as‐prepared HMSNPs have perpendicular nanochannels connecting to the internal hollow cores, thereby facilitating drug loading and release. The extra volume of the hollow core enhances the drug loading capacity by two folds as compared with conventional mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSNPs). Folic acid conjugated polyethyleneimine (PEI‐FA) was coated on the HMSNP surfaces under neutral conditions through electrostatic interactions between the partially charged amino groups of PEI‐FA and the phosphate groups on the HMSNP surfaces, blocking the mesopores and preventing the loaded drugs from leakage. Folic acid acts as the targeting ligand that enables the co‐delivery system to selectively bind with and enter into the target cancer cells. PEI‐FA‐coated HMSNPs show enhanced siRNA binding capability on account of electrostatic interactions between the amino groups of PEI‐FA and siRNA, as compared with that of MSNPs. The electrostatic interactions provide the feasibility of pH‐controlled release. In vitro pH‐responsive drug/siRNA co‐delivery experiments were conducted on HeLa cell lines with high folic acid receptor expression and MCF‐7 cell lines with low folic acid receptor expression for comparison, showing effective target delivery to the HeLa cells through folic acid receptor meditated cellular endocytosis. The pH‐responsive intracellular drug/siRNA release greatly minimizes the prerelease and possible side effects of the delivery system. By simultaneously delivering both doxorubicin (Dox) and siRNA against the Bcl‐2 protein into the HeLa cells, the expression of the anti‐apoptotic protein Bcl‐2 was successfully suppressed, leading to an enhanced therapeutic efficacy. Thus, the present multifunctional nanoparticles show promising potentials for controlled and targeted drug and gene co‐delivery in cancer treatment.     

The dipolar route to naphtho[2,1‐c]isoxazoles from the baylis‐hillman adducts of 2‐alkynylbenzaldehydes

A new synthesis of 4‐carbomethoxynaphtho[2,1‐c]isoxazoles 4a‐d from methyl 3‐(alkynylphenyl)‐2‐nitromethyl‐2‐propenoates 2a‐d by the intramolecular nitrile oxide cycloaddition is described. The latter are readily obtained from 2‐alkynylbenzaldehydes through the Baylis‐Hillman adduct acetates 1a‐d followed by nucleophilic substitution of nitrite anion.     

Application of diaza-18-crown-6-capped beta-cyclodextrin bonded silica particles as chiral stationary phases for ultrahigh pressure capillary liquid chromatography

Two bonded chiral stationary phases (CSPs), 8-aminoquinoline-2-ylmethyl- and 8-aminoquinoline-7-ylmethyl-diaza-18-crown-6-capped [3-(2-O-beta-cyclodextrin)-2-hydroxypropoxy]propylsilyl silica particles (non-porous, 1.5 microm), have been prepared and evaluated using capillary liquid chromatography at high pressures (> or = 8000 p.s.i.). High column efficiency (up to 400 000 plates m(-1)) was achieved for chiral separations. These CSPs with two recognition sites, i.e. substituted-diaza-18-crown-6 and beta-cyclodextrin combined with high chromatographic efficiency provide good resolution of a variety of enantiomers and positional isomers in relatively short times under reversed-phase conditions. After inclusion of a Ni (II) ion from the mobile phase, the positively charged crown ether-capped beta-cyclodextrin facilitates specific static, dipolar, and host-guest complexation interactions with solutes.     

Core-modified, meso-alkylidenyl porphyrins and their expanded analogues: a new family of nonplanar porphyrinoids

New core-modified, meso-alkylidenyl porphyrinoids bearing multiple exocyclic double bonds were synthesized and characterized. The synthesis was accomplished using a typical "3 + 1"-type condensation approach. Stable exocyclic tautomers bearing double bonds at the meso positions, as well the corresponding endocyclic tautomers, were isolated in the case of both thiabenziporphyrin and thiapyriporphyrin products prepared in the course of this study. On the other hand, only the exocyclic tautomer was isolated in the case of the congeneric oxapyriporphyrin and oxabenziporphyrin. Expanded analogues of the exocyclic forms of oxabenziporphyrin and thiabenziporphyrin were also isolated as minor products. A single-crystal X-ray diffraction analysis of the expanded thiabenziporphyrin (20) revealed that all four pyrrole rings displayed an inverted geometry, presumably reflecting the strong hydrogen-bonding extant between the pyrrole N-H proton and the carbonyl group of the malonate moiety in the solid state. On the other hand, the expanded oxabenziporphyrin (14) was found to possess a severely distorted geometry with only one pyrrole ring being inverted. Careful analysis of the structure revealed that the solid-state geometry of the expanded macrocycles correlates well with the internal angle defined by the 2- and 5 substituents and the centers of the furan (14) or thiophene (20) subunits.