Addendum to “examples of semiperfect rings”

We fill a gap in [4], and provide a rigorous example of a local ringR whose Jacobson radical is locally nilpotent, butM ₂(R) is not strongly π-regular. The online version of the original article can be found at The work of the first author was partially supported by the DGICYT (Spain), through the grant PB92-0586, and by the Comissionat per Universitats i Recerca de la Generalitat de Catalunya.     

Necessary conditions and duality for inexact nonlinear semi-infinite programming problems

First order necessary conditions and duality results for general inexact nonlinear programming problems formulated in nonreflexive spaces are obtained. The Dubovitskii–Milyutin approach is the main tool used. Particular cases of linear and convex programs are also analyzed and some comments about a comparison of the obtained results with those existing in the literature are given.     

Mimicking catalase and catecholase enzymes by copper(II)-containing complexes

An imidazolate-bridged copper(II)-zinc(II) complex (Cu(II)-diethylenetriamino-μ-imidazolato-Zn(II)-tris(2-aminoethyl)amine perchlorate (denoted as “Cu,Zn complex”) and a simple copper(II) complex (Cu(II)-tris(2-aminoethyl) amine chloride (“Cu-tren”) were prepared and immobilised on silica gel (by hydrogen or covalent bonds) and montmorillonite (by ion exchange). The immobilised substances were characterised by FT-IR spectroscopy and their thermal characteristics were also studied. The obtained materials were tested in two probe reactions: catalytic oxidation of 3,5-di-tert-butyl catechol (DTBC) (catecholase activity) and the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide (catalase activity). It was found that the catecholase activity of the Cu,Zn complex increased considerably upon immobilization on silica gel via hydrogen bonds and intercalation by ion exchange among the layers of montmorillonite. The imidazolate-bridged copper(II)-zinc(II) complex and its immobilised versions were inactive in hydrogen peroxide decomposition. The Cu(II)-tris(2-aminoethyl)amine chloride complex displayed good catalase activity; however, immobilisation could not improve it.     

Low noise optical receiver with multi-octave bandwidth

Optical and Quantum Electronics - A new approach for the design and construction of low noise broadband optical receivers is presented utilizing distributed amplification based on hybrid integrated...     

One-pot synthesis of an ionic half-sandwich complex of neodymium. Application to isoprene polymerisation catalysis

The reaction of one equivalent of Nd(BH₄)₃(THF)₃ with an half equivalent of dialkylmagnesium in the presence of a stoichiometric amount of pentamethylcyclopentadiene cleanly affords a new kind of half-sandwich of neodymium that is stable toward comproportionation. This strategy can be advantageously applied to generate in situ catalysts allowing the controlled polymerisation of isoprene.     

Allocation of jobs and identical resources with two pooling centers

We examine the resource allocation problem of partitioning identical servers into two parallel pooling centers, and simultaneously assigning job types to pooling centers. Each job type has a distinct Poisson arrival rate and a distinct holding cost per unit time. Each pooling center becomes a queueing system with an exponential service time distribution. The goal is to minimize the total holding cost. The problem is shown to be polynomial if a job type can be divided between the pooling centers, and NP-hard if dividing job types is not possible. When there are two servers and jobs cannot be divided, we demonstrate that the two pooling center configuration is rarely optimal. A heuristic which checks the single pooling center has an upper bound on the relative error of 4/3. The heuristic is extended for the multiple server problem, where relative error is bounded above by the number of servers.      

Minicolumn field sampling--preconcentration of trace zinc from seawater and its laboratory detection by flow injection flame atomic absorption spectrometry.

A simple field sampling-preconcentration method for zinc determination in seawater is described. Seawater was collected in situ by pumping it through a minicolumn packed with a chelating resin (Chelite P) connected to a field flow preconcentration system (FFPS). These packed minicolumns retain the dissolved zinc, and once are loaded with the analyte, they are returned to the laboratory where they are sequentially inserted into a flow injection system for on-line zinc elution with diluted hydrochloric acid and flame atomic absorption spectrometric detection. A factorial design has been used to optimize the FFPS and the flow injection elution process. The proposed method has a linear calibration range from 0.07 to at least 9.4 microg L(-1) of zinc, with a detection limit of 0.02 microg L(-1) and a throughput of 26 samples h(-1). Validation was carried out against certified reference water samples. This procedure has been successfully applied to the determination of Zn in seawater samples from Galicia (Spain).