Charge transfer interactions and nonlinear optical properties of push–pull chromophore benzaldehyde phenylhydrazone: A vibrational approach

FT Raman and IR spectra of the crystallized nonlinear optic (NLO) molecule, benzaldehyde phenylhydrazone (BPH) have been recorded and analyzed. The equilibrium geometry, bonding features and harmonic vibrational frequencies of BPH have been investigated with the help of B3LYP density functional theory (DFT) method. The assignments of the vibrational spectra have been carried out with the help of normal coordinate analysis (NCA) following the scaled quantum mechanical force field methodology (SQMFF). From the optimized geometry, the decrease in C–N bond length indicates the electron delocalization over the region of the molecule. The vibrational analysis confirm the charge transfer interaction between the phenyl rings through CN–N skeleton.     

An inorganic-organic diblock copolymer photoresist for direct mesoporous SiCN ceramic patterns via photolithography

A high resolution negative-tone-type of inorganic-organic diblock copolymer photoresist was synthesized as a novel precursor for simple and direct fabrication of SiCN ceramic mesoporous patterns with ordered nanoscale pores by using a "top-down" photolithographic technique and the subsequent sacrificial processes of a "bottom-up" self-assembled nanostructure.     

Self-assembly of chromotropic acid – a plausible explanation for monodisperse oligomer formation

The sodium salt of 4,5-dihydroxy-2,7-naphthalene disulphonic acid (chromotropic acid, DCA) self-assembles in aqueous media above its critical aggregate concentration (above 11 mM) to form organized aggregates as confirmed by conductometric, pH-metric and densitometric techniques. The molecular size of the aggregate was determined from gel filtration chromatographic studies. The molecular weight obtained in the postaggregate concentration region (100 mM) is about 1,660. The molecular weight of the aggregate indicates that four molecules of DCA constitute the aggregate. The results suggest that aggregate formation at high concentrations could explain the monodisperse spontaneous oligomerization in phenolic compounds.     

Mixed n-step MIR inequalities: Facets for the n-mixing set

Günlük and Pochet [O. Günlük, Y. Pochet, Mixing mixed integer inequalities. Mathematical Programming 90 (2001) 429–457] proposed a procedure to mix mixed integer rounding (MIR) inequalities. The mixed MIR inequalities define the convex hull of the mixing set $\{(y^1,\dots ,y^m,v)\in {\mathbb{Z}}^m\times {\mathbb{R}}_{+}:{\alpha }_1{y}^i+v\ge {\beta }_i,i=1,\dots ,m\}$ and can also be used to generate valid inequalities for general as well as several special mixed integer programs (MIPs). In another direction, Kianfar and Fathi [K. Kianfar, Y. Fathi, Generalized mixed integer rounding inequalities: facets for infinite group polyhedra. Mathematical Programming 120 (2009) 313–346] introduced the $n$-step MIR inequalities for the mixed integer knapsack set through a generalization of MIR. In this paper, we generalize the mixing procedure to the $n$-step MIR inequalities and introduce the mixed $n$-step MIR inequalities. We prove that these inequalities define facets for a generalization of the mixing set with $n$ integer variables in each row (which we refer to as the $n$-mixing set), i.e. $\{(y^1,\dots ,y^m,v)\in {(\mathbb{Z}\times {\mathbb{Z}}_{+}^{n?1})}^m\times {\mathbb{R}}_{+}:{\sum }_{j=1}^n{\alpha }_j{y}_j^i+v\ge {\beta }_i,i=1,\dots ,m\}$. The mixed MIR inequalities are simply the special case of $n=1$. We also show that mixed $n$-step MIR can generate valid inequalities based on multiple constraints for general MIPs. Moreover, we introduce generalizations of the capacitated lot-sizing and facility location problems, which we refer to as the multi-module problems, and show that mixed $n$-step MIR can be used to generate valid inequalities for these generalizations. Our computational results on small MIPLIB instances as well as a set of multi-module lot-sizing instances justify the effectiveness of the mixed $n$-step MIR inequalities.     

Medical applications of infrared thermography: A review

Abnormal body temperature is a natural indicator of illness. Infrared thermography (IRT) is a fast, passive, non-contact and non-invasive alternative to conventional clinical thermometers for monitoring body temperature. Besides, IRT can also map body surface temperature remotely. Last five decades witnessed a steady increase in the utility of thermal imaging cameras to obtain correlations between the thermal physiology and skin temperature. IRT has been successfully used in diagnosis of breast cancer, diabetes neuropathy and peripheral vascular disorders. It has also been used to detect problems associated with gynecology, kidney transplantation, dermatology, heart, neonatal physiology, fever screening and brain imaging. With the advent of modern infrared cameras, data acquisition and processing techniques, it is now possible to have real time high resolution thermographic images, which is likely to surge further research in this field. The present efforts are focused on automatic analysis of temperature distribution of regions of interest and their statistical analysis for detection of abnormalities. This critical review focuses on advances in the area of medical IRT. The basics of IRT, essential theoretical background, the procedures adopted for various measurements and applications of IRT in various medical fields are discussed in this review. Besides background information is provided for beginners for better understanding of the subject.