Loading aircraft for military operations

In this paper, we describe an aircraft loading problem submitted by the French military agency (DGA) as part of a more general military airlift planning problem. It can be viewed as a kind of bi-dimensional bin-packing problem, with heterogeneous bins and several additional constraints. We introduce two-phase methods for solving this NP-hard problem. The first phase consists in building good initial solutions, thanks to two fast algorithms: a list-based heuristic and a loading pattern generation method. Both algorithms call a constraint-based subroutine, able to determine quickly if the items already loaded can be reshuffled to accommodate a new object. The second phase improves these preliminary solutions using local search techniques. Results obtained on real data sets are presented.     

Living/controlled radical copolymerization of N‐substituted maleimides with styrene in 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate and anisole

The atom transfer radical copolymerization of N‐substituted maleimides such as N‐phenylmaleimide (PhMI), N‐cyclohexylmaleimide (ChMI), and N‐butylmaleimide (NBMI) with styrene initiated with dendritic polyarylether 2‐bromoisobutyrates in an ionic liquid, 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([bmim][PF₆]), at room temperature and anisole at 110 °C was investigated. The dendritic‐linear block copolymers obtained in ionic liquid possessed well‐defined molecular weight and low polydispersity (1.05 < M_w/M_n < 1.32) and could be used as a macroinitiator for chain‐extension polymerization, suggesting the living nature of the reaction system. The ionic liquids containing catalyst could be recycled in the atom transfer radical polymerization systems without further treatment. Compared with polymerization conducted in anisole, the polymerization in ionic liquid had a stronger tendency for alternation. The tendency for alternation decreased in the order PhMI > NBMI > ChMI in [bmim][PF₆] and PhMI > ChMI > NBMI in anisole. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 2156–2165, 2003     

New insights on amorphous silicon-nitride microcavities

All amorphous silicon-nitride planar optical microcavities operating in the visible range have been grown by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition. The luminescence intensity of the N-rich silicon-nitride layer from a microcavity with 6 period distributed Bragg reflectors (DBRs) is two order of magnitude higher than that of the luminescent layer without the cavity. Moreover, a strong directionality of the microcavities emission can be observed. Such results can be ascribed to the anisotropic optical density of states induced in the Fabry–Perot structure. The quality factors of the resonators are strictly correlated to the number of periods of the DBRs.     

Initial oxidation kinetics of copper (1 1 0) film investigated by in situ UHV-TEM

Previous studies of the initial stage of oxidation on clean single crystal of Cu(1 0 0) have been extended to the case of the Cu(1 1 0) surface. The dynamic observation of the nucleation and growth of Cu oxide by means of in situ ultra high vacuum transmission electron microscopy (UHV-TEM) shows a highly enhanced oxidation rate on Cu(1 1 0) surface as compared to Cu(1 0 0). The kinetic data on the nucleation and growth of the three-dimensional oxide islands agree well with our heteroepitaxial model of surface diffusion of oxygen.     

Magnetic-Zenith Effect

We develop a theory of the magnetic-zenith effect (MZE) observed upon the ionosphere modification by powerful radio waves. The dependences of MZE on main parameters, such as the magnetic-field inclination angle, pump-wave frequency and power, and angular width of HF beam are obtained. The optimal elevation angle of pump-wave beam is predicted. __________ Translated from Izvestiya Vysshikh Uchebnykh Zavedenii, Radiofizika, Vol. 48, No. 9, pp. 772–787, September 2005.     

Decay of neutron-rich Ga isotopes near N = 50 at PARRNe

The PARRNe facility has been used to produce neutron-rich isotopes ^83,84Gaby the ISOL method. Their decay has been studied, and β-γ coincidence and γ-γ coincidence data were collected as a function of time. The first two excited levels in ⁸³Ge and the first excited level in ⁸⁴Ge have been measured for the first time.     

Amplitude des oscillations d'ondes solitaires généralisées

Various physical systems of dispersive waves admit solutions in the form of generalized solitary waves. Such waves result from the resonance between a long localized wave and short periodic oscillations. Many estimates (rigorous and numerical) have been given for the amplitude of the ripples in the tail of the generalized solitary wave when its central part has a sech² shape. This Note provides estimates (not yet rigorous) for the ripple amplitude when the central part is flat and wide. To cite this article: C. Fochesato, F. Dias, C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris, Ser. I 337 (2003).     

Synthesis and Crystal Structure of the Hydrogen Polyphosphide Bis(Tetraphenylphosphonium) hydrogenheptaphosphide‐ammonia(1/3) (PPh4)2HP7 · 3NH3

(PPh₄)₂HP₇ · 3NH₃ was prepared by the reaction of K₃P₇ with a proton‐charged ion exchange resin in the presence of (PPh₄)Br in liquid ammonia, and characterized by low temperature X‐ray structure analysis. The thermally very unstable compound contains the hydrogenheptaphosphide anion HPequation/tex2gif-stack-1.gif, the nortricyclane‐like cage of which is slightly distorted by the attachment of the hydrogen atom.