The <Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">K</Emphasis>-Connection Location Problem in a Plane

This paper determines the optimal location of K connections in the plane, where a connection links pairs of existing facilities. Both uncapacitated and capacitated versions of the problem are considered. Discretization results for general polyhedral gauges and other properties are established. Two heuristic algorithms are developed for each case using the concept of a shortest path flow set coupled with a sequential location and allocation approach. Computational results show that the algorithms are efficient and accurate.     

Synthesis and characterization of pure and ZrO2-doped nanocrystalline CuO-NiO system

The physicochemical, surface and catalytic properties of pure and doped 0.25CuO-NiO solids prepared by sol-gel method were investigated. The dopant concentration was 2, 4 and 6 mol% ZrO₂. The solids investigated were calcined at 400 and 600 °C. The techniques employed were XRD, EDX, TEM, surface excess oxygen, nitrogen adsorption at −196 °C and catalytic oxidation of CO by O₂ using both static and flow methods. The results revealed that the investigated system dissolved 4 mol% ZrO₂ by heating at 400 °C. This process was accompanied by a significant increase in the S_BET and V_p with subsequent decrease in the (r) values of the doped adsorbent. ZrO₂-doping of the system investigated followed by calcination at 400 and 600 °C led to a considerable increase in its catalytic activity in CO oxidation by O₂ using static and flow methods. The doping process was not accompanied by any change in the activation energy of the catalyzed reaction.     

Bivariate inverse gaussian distribution

Summary A bivariate inverse Gaussian (IG) density function is constructed. Relations of the bivariate IG distribution to the normal and χ² distributions are established. The corresponding bivariate random walk (RW) density function is obtained. The properties and behaviour of bivariate IG distribution are studied for large parametric values. Moment estimates of the five parameters are given and applications are pointed out. A generalization to the multivariate IG distribution is proposed.     

Solid–solid interactions between ferric and cobalt oxides as influenced by Al2O3-doping

The solid–solid interactions between pure and alumina-doped cobalt and ferric oxides have been investigated using DTA, IR and XRD techniques. Equimolar proportions of basic cobalt carbonate and ferric oxide and different amounts of aluminum nitrate were added as dopant substrate. The amounts of dopant were 0.75, 1.5, 3.0 and 4.5 mol% Al₂O₃.

The results obtained revealed that solid–solid interaction between Fe₂O₃ and Co₃O₄ takes place at temperatures starting from 700°C to produce cobalt ferrite. The degree of propagation of this reaction increases progressively as a function of precalcination temperature and Al₂O₃-doping of the reacting solids. However, the heating of pure mixed solids at 1000°C for 6 h. was not sufficient to effect the complete conversion of the reacting solids into CoFe₂O₄, while the addition of a small amount of Al₂O₃ (1.5 mol%) to ferric/cobalt mixed solids followed by precalcination at 1000°C for 6 h conducted the complete conversion of the reacting solids into cobalt ferrite. The heat treatment of pure and the 0.75 mol%-doped solids at 900 and 1000°C effected the disappearance of most of IR transmission bands of the free oxides with subsequent appearance of new bands characteristic for the CoFe₂O₄ structure. An increase in the amount of Al₂O₃ added from 1.5–4.5 mol% to the mixed solids precalcined at 1000°C led to the disappearance of all bands of free oxides and appearance of all bands of cobalt ferrite. The promotion effect of Al₂O₃ in cobalt ferrite formation was attributed to an effective increase in the mobility of the various reacting cations. The activation energy of formation (ΔE) of CoFe₂O₄ phase was determined for pure and doped solids. The computed values of ΔE were, respectively, 99.6, 87.8, 71.9, 64.7 and 48.7 kJ mol⁻¹ for the pure solid and those treated with 0.75, 1.5, 3 and 4.5 mol% Al₂O₃.     

Impact of the clay organic modifier on the morphology of polymer–clay nanocomposites prepared by in situ free‐radical polymerization in emulsion

Poly(styrene‐co‐butyl acrylate) copolymers were prepared by free‐radical random copolymerization of styrene and butyl acrylate in emulsion in the presence of 10% of surface‐modified sodium montmorillonite (Na‐MMT). The objective of this work was to evaluate the impact of the clay organic modifier in terms of its chemical structure, its degree of interaction within the clay galleries surface, and its ability to copolymerize with monomers, on the morphology and properties of the final nanocomposite prepared. Na‐MMT was modified using different organic modifiers, namely: sodium 1‐allyloxy‐2‐hydroxypropyl (Cops), 2‐acrylamido‐2‐methyl‐1‐propanesulfonic acid (AMPS), N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPA), and sodium 11‐methacryloyloxy‐undecan‐1‐yl sulfate (MET), respectively. The morphology and properties of the nanocomposites obtained were found to be dependant on the clay organic modifier. X‐ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy indicated that, nanocomposites at 10% clay loading with Cops‐, NIPA‐, and MET‐modified clays, yielded intercalated to partially exfoliated structures, whereas AMPS‐modified clay gave a nanocomposite with a fully exfoliated structure. All polymer–clay nanocomposites were found to be more thermally stable than neat poly(S‐co‐BA) as were determined by TGA. However, nanocomposites with intercalated structures exhibited greater thermal stability relative to fully exfoliated ones. Furthermore, nanocomposites with exfoliated structures exhibited higher storage moduli (G^I) than partially exfoliated once, whereas intercalated structure showed the lowest G^I values. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 46: 3619–3628, 2008     

Gas-phase nazarov cyclization of protonated 2-methoxy and 2-hydroxychalcone: An example of intramolecular proton-transport catalysis

Upon CA, ESI generated [M + H]⁺ ions of chalcone (benzalacetophenone) and 3-phenyl-indanone both undergo losses of H₂O, CO, and the elements of benzene. CA of the [M + H]⁺ ions of 2-methoxy and 2-hydroxychalcone, however, prompts instead a dominant loss of ketene. In addition, CA of the [M + H]⁺ ions of 2-methoxy-β-methylchalcone produces an analogous loss of methylketene instead. Furthermore, the [M + D]⁺ ion of 2-methoxychalcone upon CA eliminates only unlabeled ketene, and the resultant product, the [M + D − ketene]⁺ ion, yields only the benzyl-d ₁ cation upon CA. We propose that the 2-methoxy and 2-hydroxy (ortho) substituents facilitate a Nazarov cyclization to the corresponding protonated 3-aryl-indanones by mediating a critical proton transfer. The resultant protonated indanones then undergo a second proton transport catalysis facilitated by the same ortho substituents producing intermediates that eliminate ketene to yield 2-methoxy- or 2-hydroxyphenyl-phenyl-methylcarbocations, respectively. The basicity of the ortho substituent is important; for example, replacement of the ortho function with a chloro substituent does not provide an efficient catalyst for the proton transports. The Nazarov cyclization must compete with an alternate cyclization, driven by the protonated carbonyl group of the chalcone that results in losses of H₂O and CO. The assisted proton transfer mediated by the ortho substituent shifts the competition in favor of the Nazarov cyclization. The proposed mechanisms for cyclization and fragmentation are supported by high-mass resolving power data, tandem mass spectra, deuterium labeling, and molecular orbital calculations.     

Nitration of aromatic compounds by nitric acid supported on zeolite

Translated from Izvestiya Akademii Nauk SSSR, Seriya Khimicheskaya, No. 8, pp. 1933–1934, August, 1989.     

Opportunistic supply chain formation from qualified partners for a new market demand

This paper addresses the problem of short-term supply chain design using the idle capacities of qualified partners in order to seize a new market opportunity. The new market opportunity is characterized by a deterministic forecast over a planning horizon. The production–distribution process is assumed to be organized in stages or echelons, and each echelon may have several qualified partners willing to participate. Partners within the echelon may differ in idle production capacity, operational cost, storage cost, etc, and we assume that idle capacity may be different from one period to another period. The objective is to design a supply chain by selecting one partner from each echelon to meet the forecasted demand without backlog and best possible production and logistics costs over the given planning horizon. The overall problem is formulated as a large mixed integer linear programming problem. We develop a decomposition-based solution approach that is capable of overcoming the complexity and dimensionality associated with the problem. Numerical results are presented to support the effectiveness of this approach.