Adaptive linear combination of heuristic orderings in constructing examination timetables

In this paper, we investigate adaptive linear combinations of graph coloring heuristics with a heuristic modifier to address the examination timetabling problem. We invoke a normalisation strategy for each parameter in order to generalise the specific problem data. Two graph coloring heuristics were used in this study (largest degree and saturation degree). A score for the difficulty of assigning each examination was obtained from an adaptive linear combination of these two heuristics and examinations in the list were ordered based on this value. The examinations with the score value representing the higher difficulty were chosen for scheduling based on two strategies. We tested for single and multiple heuristics with and without a heuristic modifier with different combinations of weight values for each parameter on the Toronto and ITC2007 benchmark data sets. We observed that the combination of multiple heuristics with a heuristic modifier offers an effective way to obtain good solution quality. Experimental results demonstrate that our approach delivers promising results. We conclude that this adaptive linear combination of heuristics is a highly effective method and simple to implement.     

A novel approach for the determination of paracetamol based on the reduction of N-acetyl-p-benzoquinoneimine formed on the electrochemically treated pencil graphite electrode

A novel approach was proposed for the simple and rapid electrochemical determination of paracetamol (PC) in the presence of uric acid in body fluids. The voltammetric determination of PC is based on the electrochemical reduction of N-acetyl-p-benzoquinoneimine formed simultaneously on the electrochemically treated pencil graphite (ETPG) electrode during the measurement. ETPG electrodes were prepared by the potential cycling between −0.3 V and +2.0 V in 0.1 M H₃PO₄ solution. The electrochemical performance of the ETPG electrode was evaluated by adsorptive transfer stripping differential pulse voltammetry (ATSDPV). The resulting sensor showed good performance for the determination of PC in human blood serum samples with a linear range of 0.05–2.5 μM and a highly reproducible response (RSD of 3.1%). The calculated detection limit was 2.5 nM (S/N = 3). The proposed method does not require any sample pretreatment, prevents the interference of uric acid and allows the determination of PC directly in blood serum samples.     

Dose rates and seasonal variations of 238U, 232Th, 226Ra 40K and 137Cs radionuclides in soils along Thrace, Turkey

Concentrations of ²³⁸U, ²³²Th, ²²⁶Ra, ⁴⁰K and ¹³⁷Cs are measured in collected soil samples from various locations in the Thrace region of Turkey. The activity concentrations range from 12.82 to 101.75 Bq kg^?1 d.w. (dry weight) for ²³⁸U, from 5.16 to 73.34 Bq kg^?1 d.w. for ²³²Th, from 185.54 to 5399 Bq kg^?1 d.w. for ⁴⁰K and from 11.42 to 90.73 Bq kg^?1 d.w. for ²²⁶Ra. In addition to naturally occurring radionuclides, ¹³⁷Cs activity concentration is determined between 3.05 and 46.78 Bq kg^?1 d.w. for soil samples. Determination of the radiological hazard is achieved through calculations of the external terrestrial gamma dose rate in air (nGy h^?1) and annual effective dose rate (mSv year^?1) and the results are compared with the similar works in different countries.     

Energies and Landé factors for some excited levels in Lu I (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Z</Emphasis> = 71)

We have calculated relativistic energies and Landé factors for 5d6s ², 5d ²6s, 6s6p ², 6s ²7s, 5d ³, 5d6s7s, 6s ²6p, 5d6s6p, 5d ²6p and 6s ²7p excited levels outside the core [Xe]4f ¹⁴ in neutral lutetium (Lu I, Z = 71). These calculations are based on the multiconfiguration Hartree-Fock (MCHF) method, within the framework of the Breit-Pauli relativistic corrections. Moreover, the results obtained have been compared with other works.     

Interfacial Behavior of Cysteine between Mild Steel and Sulfuric Acid as Corrosion Inhibitor

Interfacial behavior of cysteine (Cys) between mild steel and sulfuric acid solution as a corrosion inhibitor has been studied with electrochemical AC (alternating current) and DC (direct current) techniques at (25.0±0.1) °C. The AC impedance results were evaluated using equivalent circuits in which a constant phase element (CPE) has been replaced with double layer capacitance (C_dl) to represent the frequency distribution of experimental data. Changes in impedance parameters (charge transfer resistance and double layer capacitance) indicated that cysteine molecules acted by accumulating at the metal/solution interface. The fractional coverage of the metal surface () was determined using AC impedance results and it was found that the adsorption of cysteine on the mild steel surface followed a Langmuir isotherm model with a standard free energy of adsorption (ΔG⁰_ads) of −35.1 kJ·mol⁻¹.To clarify the type of interaction between mild steel surface and cysteine molecules with a molecular orbital approach, electronic properties, such as, the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy, the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) energy, and the frontier molecular orbital coefficients have been calculated. Energy gaps for the interaction of mild steel surface and cysteine molecules (E_{LUMO Fe}−E_{HOMO Cys} and E_{LUMO Cys}−E_{HOMO Fe}) were used to determine whether cysteine molecules acted as electron donors or electron acceptors when they interacted with the mild steel surface. The local reactivity was evaluated through the condensed Fukui indices. Theoretical calculations were carried out using the density functional theory (DFT) at B3LYP level with the 6-311++G(d,p) basis set for all atoms by Gaussian 03W program.     

Interactive outranking approaches for multicriteria decision-making problems with imprecise information

PROMETHEE is a powerful method, which can solve many multiple criteria decision making (MCDM) problems. It involves sophisticated preference modelling techniques but requires too much a priori precise information about parameter values (such as criterion weights and thresholds). In this paper, we consider a MCDM problem where alternatives are evaluated on several conflicting criteria, and the criterion weights and/or thresholds are imprecise or unknown to the decision maker (DM). We build robust outranking relations among the alternatives in order to help the DM to rank the alternatives and select the best alternative. We propose interactive approaches based on PROMETHEE method. We develop a decision aid tool called INTOUR, which implements the developed approaches.     

An Alternative Approach to Elliptical Motion

Elliptical rotation is the motion of a point on an ellipse through some angle about a vector. The purpose of this paper is to examine the generation of elliptical rotations and to interpret the motion of a point on an ellipsoid using elliptic inner product and elliptic vector product. To generate an elliptical rotation matrix, first we define an elliptical ortogonal matrix and an elliptical skew symmetric matrix using the associated inner product. Then we use elliptic versions of the famous Rodrigues, Cayley, and Householder methods to construct an elliptical rotation matrix. Finally, we define elliptic quaternions and generate an elliptical rotation matrix using those quaternions. Each method is proven and is provided with several numerical examples.     

Vapochromic behavior of polycarbonate films doped with a luminescent molecular rotor

We report on vapochromic films suitable for detecting volatile organic compounds (VOCs), based on polycarbonate (PC) doped with 4‐(triphenylamino)phthalonitrile (TPAP), a fluorescent molecular rotor sensitive to solvent polarity and viscosity. PC films of variable thickness (from 20 up to 80 µm) and containing small amounts of TPAP (0.05 wt%) were prepared and exposed to a saturated atmosphere of different VOCs. TPAP/PC films showed a gradual decrease and red‐shift of the emission during the exposure to solvents with high polarity index and favorable interaction with the polymer matrix such as THF, CHCl₃, and acetonitrile. In the case of the most interacting solvents (THF and CHCl₃), TPAP/PC films also showed a fluorescence increase at longer exposure times, as a consequence of an irreversible, solvent‐induced crystallization process of the polymeric matrix. The vapochromism of TPAP/PC films is rationalized on the basis of alterations of the rotor intramolecular motion upon solvent uptake by PC and polarity effects of the microenvironment. Interestingly, the fluorescence response of the TPAP/PC films shows a non‐trivial, tuneable dependence on film thickness during the second solvent‐exposure stage. The latter effect is attributed to a variable extent of the crystallization process occurring in the PC films. This observation promptly suggests, in turn, an effective procedure to modulate the spectroscopic response in such functionalized polymeric materials through the precise control of the film thickness. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Synthesis,structural, and spectral studies of <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>,<Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>′-bis- (5-methylsalicylidene)-2,2′-diamino-4-4′-di-(trifloromethyl)-diphenyl disulfide

A new disulfide compound N,N′-bis-(5-methylsalicylidene)-2,2′-diamino-4-4′-di-(trifloromethyl)-diphenyl disulfide (C₃₀H₂₂F₆N₂O₂S₂) was prepared and characterized by ¹H-NMR, IR, mass spectroscopy, and single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Spectroscopic assignments and the crystallographic results indicate the predominance of the phenol-imine tautomeric form. [For example, N=C double bonds 1.274(9)Å and 1.275(9)Å, two very close hydrogen peaks to the atomic positions of O atoms in difference Fourier map and two strong intramolecular hydrogen bonds (O–H\(\cdots\)N) with O\(\cdots\)N distances of 2.611(10) and 2. 613(8) Åstrongly indicate that this tautomeric form is preferred]. The strong effect of the para CF₃ groups in the molecular and crystallographic arrangement was attributed to the electronegativity of the CF₃ groups.     

On nadir points of multiobjective integer programming problems

In this study, we consider the nadir points of multiobjective integer programming problems. We introduce new properties that restrict the possible locations of the nondominated points necessary for computing the nadir points. Based on these properties, we reduce the search space and propose an exact algorithm for finding the nadir point of multiobjective integer programming problems. We present an illustrative example on a three objective knapsack problem. We conduct computational experiments and compare the performances of two recent algorithms and the proposed algorithm.