Airline efficiency differences between Europe and the US: Implications for the pace of EC integration and domestic regulation

In this paper we examine the performance of the eight largest European and the eight largest American airlines during the period 1976–1986. During this period the American industry was deregulated and the European industry's competitive posture was significantly liberalized. Two alternative methodologies for identifying productive efficiency are used - a parametric one using statistical estimation and a nonparametric one using linear programming. We find that were European carriers under deregulation to be as productively efficient as their American counterparts, the European industry would save approximately $4 billion per year (in 1986 dollars).     

Local-Entire Cyclic Cocycles for Graded Quantum Field Nets

In a recent paper we studied general properties of super-KMS functionals on graded quantum dynamical systems coming from graded translation-covariant quantum field nets over ${\mathbb{R}}$ , and we carried out a detailed analysis of these objects on certain models of superconformal nets. In the present article, we show that these locally bounded functionals give rise to local-entire cyclic cocycles (generalized JLO cocycles) which are homotopy-invariant for a suitable class of perturbations of the dynamical system. Thus we can associate meaningful noncommutative geometric invariants to those graded quantum dynamical systems.     

A combined 14N/27Al nuclear magnetic resonance and powder X-ray diffraction study of impurity phases in beta-sialon ceramics

Beta-sialons are ceramic phases occurring in the SiO(2)-Si(3)N(4)-AlN-Al(2)O(3) system. A series of samples with differing compositions has been investigated by magic-angle spinning nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffraction (XRD). Although the constituent nitrogen nuclei occupy positions of low symmetry in the beta-sialon structure, 14N NMR spectra could be recorded for the samples examined. The origin of the 14N signal could be traced to the presence of an aluminium nitride (AlN) impurity phase with the help of 27Al NMR and XRD results. Similarly, the existence of Al(2)O(3) grains could be readily detected for a number of samples. Thus, the combination of 14N and 27Al NMR is shown to be an especially effective tool in identifying and characterizing impurity phases in sialon ceramics, complementing the results obtained from standard XRD analysis.     

Climbing Mount Scalable: Physical Resource Requirements for a Scalable Quantum Computer

The primary resource for quantum computation is Hilbert-space dimension. Whereas Hilbert space itself is an abstract construction, the number of dimensions available to a system is a physical quantity that requires physical resources. Avoiding a demand for an exponential amount of these resources places a fundamental constraint on the systems that are suitable for scalable quantum computation. To be scalable, the effective number of degrees of freedom in the computer must grow nearly linearly with the number of qubits in an equivalent qubit-based quantum computer.     

Rapid method to determine 89/90Sr in steel samples

The sorption and diffusion behavior of cesium was studied to support the interpretation of the ongoing in-situ experiments in the Olkiluoto test site. The distribution coefficients of cesium in the Olkiluoto pegmatitic granite, veined gneiss and their main minerals were obtained by batch sorption experiments and the diffusion of cesium was studied in rock cubes. The results were modelled with PHREEQC and Comsol Multiphysics. The distribution coefficients of cesium were largest in biotite and veined gneiss. The effective diffusion coefficients of cesium from the diffusion model were 3 × 10⁻¹³ m² s⁻¹ for veined gneiss and 4 × 10⁻¹³ m² s⁻¹ for pegmatitic granite.

     

采用金属有机骨架材料M(HBTC)(4,4'-bipy)·3DMF(M=Ni,Co,Zn)催化CO_2与环氧丙烷的环加成反应（英文）

采用溶剂热法合成了三种M(HBTC)(4,4’-bipy)·3DMF(M=Ni,Co,Zn,HBTC=1,3,5-均苯三甲酸,4,4’-bipy=4,4′-联吡啶)结构的支柱层金属有机骨架材料(MOFs).首次采用溶剂热和微波法合成了Zn(HBTC)(4,4’-bipy)·3DMF,并采用多种物理化学方法对其进行了表征.M(HBTC)(4,4’-bipy)·3DMF中包含有M2+离子的蜂窝网格层和BTC单元,BTC单元与4,4’-联吡啶柱进一步交联形成三维多孔骨架材料.在采用烷基铵卤化物作为助催化剂和无溶剂的条件下,所有MOFs材料均对催化固定CO_2与环氧化合物环加成制备环状碳酸酯反应表现出非常好的协同催化性能,其催化活性高低顺序为:ZnCoNi,这可通过酸-碱双功能特性进行解释.采用微波法合成的Zn(HBTC)(4,4’-bipy)·3DMF材料表现出与常规催化剂相似的物理化学性质和催化性能.考察了不同制备参数的影响和材料的重复使用性能,并提出了该反应的可能机理     

Ba6(MN4)N2–x (M = MoVI/TaV), a Subvalent Nitridometalate with Perovskite‐like Crystal Structure

The subvalent nitridometalate Ba₆[(Mo_1–xTa_x)N₄]N_0.86 was prepared from mixtures of Mo powder with Ba, Na, and Ba₂N at 600 °C in Ta ampoules. It crystallizes in space group Cmcm with a = 11.672(3), b = 10.177(2) and c = 10.8729(19) Å. Its crystal structure exhibits an orthorhombically distorted Perovskite topology with [Ba₆N] building units forming the ReO₃‐type lattice via common vertices, and the nitridometalate anions occupying half of the available distorted cuboctahedral interstices. [MN₄] anions show statistically mixed occupancy of M by Mo^VI and Ta^V. They show no notable deviation from nitridometalate anions in known ionic nitridomolybdates and ‐tantalates, and the metrics of the [Ba₆N] octahedra correspond to those found in similar subvalent compounds. The nitrogen atom position centering the [Ba₆N] octahedra is underoccupied. Band structure calculations corroborate the subvalent character of the compound and the two individual anionic structural building units.     

Hydrodehalogenation of Aryl Halides through Direct Electrolysis

A catalyst- and metal-free electrochemical hydrodehalogenation of aryl halides is disclosed. Our reaction by a flexible protocol is operated in an undivided cell equipped with an inexpensive graphite rod anode and cathode. Trialkylamines nBu₃N/Et₃N behave as effective reductants and hydrogen atom donors for this electrochemical reductive reaction. Various aryl and heteroaryl bromides worked effectively. The typically less reactive aryl chlorides and fluorides can also be smoothly converted. The utility of our method is demonstrated by detoxification of harmful pesticides and hydrodebromination of a dibrominated biphenyl (analogues of flame-retardants) in gram scale.     

Chemical modification of poly(lactic acid) induced by thermal decomposition of N‐acetoxy‐phthalimide during extrusion

Chemical modification of poly(lactic acid) (PLA) with N‐acetoxy‐phthalimide (NAPI) was performed in the melt by reactive extrusion, without using any peroxide initiator. The aminyl and nitroxide radicals produced from the NAPI thermal degradation, were, respectively, used (a) to create PLA macroradicals, and (b) to functionalize the PLA samples through nitroxide radical coupling. Depending on the extrusion temperature and the initial NAPI concentration, grafting rates up to 0.24 mol % were measured, modifying the PLA optical properties. This study represents an original new way of modification of PLA without the use of conventional peroxide initiators. Indeed, the undesirable side reactions (PLA branching or crosslinking) usually observed when using peroxides to initiate the radical grafting of PLA were avoided when using NAPI. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2019 , 57, 120–129