Comments concerning the HPLC separation of acrolein from other C3 carbonyl compounds as 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazones: A proposal for improvement

The separation of the toxicologically important aldehyde acrolein from other carbonyl compounds by high performance liquid chromatography after derivatization to 2,4-dinitrophenylhydrazones is critically discussed on the basis of a selection of published methods. A method is proposed whereby the compounds acrolein, acetone, and propanal may be reproducibly separated to baseline by a reversed phase HPLC procedure employing a ternary mixture of methanol, water, and acetonitrile as mobile phase.     

Trace norm estimates for products of integral operators and diffusion semigroups

We give trace norm estimates for products of integral operators and for diffusion semigroups. These are applied to differences of heat semigroups. A natural example of an integral operator with finite trace which is not trace class is given.     

A Network Simulation of High-congestion Road-traffic Flows in Cities with Marine Container Terminals

Port cities where marine cargo terminals are located are generally near urban areas characterized by high-congestion road traffic. Changes in cargo traffic volumes into a marine terminal, or in the surrounding traffic arteries, which carry this traffic, can significantly affect the terminal's operations. Conversely, activity at the terminal can have an impact on the traffic levels and congestion for a considerable distance from the terminal. This paper demonstrates a methodology useful for studying the impact of road traffic flows on marine container terminals located in highly congested areas. This model was developed at the request of the Virginia Center for World Trade and was used to answer three planning questions in the port of Hampton Roads, Virginia, USA-what would be the impact of: opening a new section of interstate highway, a projected doubling of container traffic at one terminal, and a daily unit train in the vicinity of another terminal. The problem was made more challenging by limited data-collection funds. None the less, the model was deemed valid by a panel of traffic experts and officials from several major state and private agencies involved in marine traffic management. The model results were subsequently a factor in two major decisions related to terminal management.     

Strong asymptotics in Lagrange interpolation with equidistant nodes

In this paper we prove three conjectures of Revers on Lagrange interpolation for f_λ(t)=|t|^λ,λ>0, at equidistant nodes. In particular, we describe the rate of divergence of the Lagrange interpolants L_N( f_λ,t) for 0<|t|<1, and discuss their convergence at t=0. We also establish an asymptotic relation for max_|t|1| |t|^λ−L_N( f_λ,t)|. The proofs are based on strong asymptotics for |t|^λ−L_N( f_λ,t), 0|t|<1.     

Avoider-Enforcer games

Let p and q be positive integers and let H be any hypergraph. In a (p,q,H) Avoider-Enforcer game two players, called Avoider and Enforcer, take turns selecting previously unclaimed vertices of H. Avoider selects p vertices per move and Enforcer selects q vertices per move. Avoider loses if he claims all the vertices of some hyperedge of H; otherwise Enforcer loses. We prove a sufficient condition for Avoider to win the (p,q,H) game. We then use this condition to show that Enforcer can win the (1,q) perfect matching game on K2n for every q?cn/logn for an appropriate constant c, and the (1,q) Hamilton cycle game on Kn for every q?cnloglogloglogn/lognlogloglogn for an appropriate constant c. We also determine exactly those values of q for which Enforcer can win the (1,q) connectivity game on Kn. This result is quite surprising as it substantially differs from its Maker-Breaker analog. Our method extends easily to improve a result of Lu [X. Lu, A note on biased and non-biased games, Discrete Appl. Math. 60 (1995) 285-291], regarding forcing an opponent to pack many pairwise edge disjoint spanning trees in his graph.     

Bases,spanning sets,and the axiom of choice

Two theorems are proved: First that the statement “there exists a field F such that for every vector space over F, every generating set contains a basis” implies the axiom of choice. This generalizes theorems of Halpern, Blass, and Keremedis. Secondly, we prove that the assertion that every vector space over ?₂ has a basis implies that every well‐ordered collection of two‐element sets has a choice function. (© 2007 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

A Modified Szilard Engine: Measurement, Information, and Maxwell's Demon

Using an isolated measurement process, we calculate the effect measurement has on entropy for the multi-cylinder Szilard engine. We find that the system of cylinders possesses an entropy associated with cylinder total energy states, and that it records information transferred at measurement. Contrary to other's results, we find that the apparatus loses entropy due to measurement. The Second Law of Thermodynamics may be preserved if Maxwell's demon gains entropy moving the engine partition.