Structure and properties of the mesophase of syndiotactic polystyrene—III. Selective sorption of the mesophase of syndiotactic polystyrene

Syndiotactic polystyrene (sPS) has various crystalline forms such as α, β, γ, and δ forms, and a mesophase depending on the preparation method. In this study, we focused on the mesophase with the molecular cavity of sPS, which is obtained by step‐wise extraction of the guest molecules from the sPS δ form. To prepare the mesophase containing different shapes and sizes of the cavity, two kinds of the sPS δ form membrane cast from either toluene or chloroform solution were first prepared and then the guest molecules were removed by a step‐wise extraction method using acetone and methanol. We could succeed in the preparation of two kinds of mesophase with different shapes and sizes of the molecular cavity. Either toluene or chloroform vapor sorption to the sPS mesophase membranes was examined at 25 °C. Sorption analysis indicates that the mesophase with large molecular cavities can mainly sorb large molecules; on the other hand, the mesophase with small cavities can sorb only the small molecules, and is unable to sorb a large amount of large molecule because the cavity was too small to sorb the large molecules. Therefore, the sPS mesophase membrane has sorption selectivity based on the size of the molecular cavity. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 238–245, 2004     

Crystal structure of the 4-chromanone derivative.

The title compound was extracted from a natural product and its structure was characterized by an X-ray diffraction method. It crystallizes in the tetragonal space group P41 with cell parameters a = 15.832(10)A, c = 11.622(10)A, Z = 4; the final residual factor is R1 = 0.0769. The structure has both intra and intermolecular hydrogen bonds.     

Preparation and characterization of finely dispersed drugs. 5. Ethyl 3,5-di(acetylamino)-2,4,6-triiodobenzoate

Controlled precipitation of the diagnostic imaging agent ethyl 3,5-di(acetylamino)-2,4,6-triiodobenzoate has been used to produce fine particles of various sizes, morphologies, and degrees of crystallinity, which depended on experimental conditions. In addition, two distinct polymorphic forms of the drug have been fully characterized by single crystal X-ray diffraction studies, and evidence for a third polymorph was also observed. Some of the so prepared dry particles were coated with a thin layer of silica.     

New heuristics for over-constrained flight to gate assignments

We consider the over-constrained Airport Gate Assignment Problem where the number of flights exceed the number of gates available, and where the objectives are to minimize the number of ungated flights and the total walking distances. The problem is formulated as a binary quadratic programming problem. We design a greedy algorithm and use a Tabu Search meta-heuristic to solve the problem. The greedy algorithm minimizes ungated flights while we devise a new neighbourhood search technique, the Interval Exchange Move, which allows us flexibility in seeking good solutions, especially when flight schedules are dense in time. Experiments conducted give good results.     

A flexible and generic approach to dynamic modelling of supply chains

In this paper, we present a new modelling approach for realistic supply chain simulation. The model provides an experimental environment for informed comparison between different supply chain policies. A basic simulation model for a generic node, from which a supply chain network can be built, has been developed using an object-oriented approach. This generic model allows the incorporation of the information and physical systems and decision-making policies used by each node. The object-oriented approach gives the flexibility in specifying the supply chain configuration and operation decisions, and policies. Stochastic simulations are achieved by applying Latin Supercube Sampling to the uncertain variables in descending order of importance, which reduces the number of simulations required. We also present a case study to show that the model is applicable to a real-life situation for dynamic stochastic studies.     

On the Essential Self-Adjointness of Wick Powers of Relativistic Fields and of Fields Unitary Equivalent to Random Fields

The essential self-adjointness on a natural domain of the sharp-time Wick powers of the relativistic free field in two space-time dimension is proven. Other results on Wick powers are reviewed and discussed.