Stability control of the electrooptic effect with new maleimide copolymers containing photoreactive tricyanopyrrolidene‐based chromophores

New photocrosslinkable maleimide copolymers have been synthesized by the attachment of a tricyanopyrrolidene‐based chromophore. The 2‐(3‐cyano‐4‐(2‐{4‐[hexyl‐(6‐hydroxy‐hexyl)‐amino]‐phenyl}‐vinyl)‐5‐oxo‐1‐{4‐[4‐(3‐oxo‐3‐phenyl‐propenyl)‐ phenoxy]‐butyl}‐1,5‐dihydro‐pyrrol‐2‐ylidene)‐malononitrile chromophore exhibits nonlinear optical activity and contains a chalcone moiety that is sensitive to UV light (λ = 330–360 nm) for crosslink formation. The maleimide monomers have also been functionalized with chalcone moieties. The resultant copolymers exhibit great processability, and one of them shows a maximum electrooptic coefficient of 90 pm/V at 1300 nm. We could control the thermal stability of the electrooptic coefficient with the newly synthesized photoreactive copolymers successfully. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 531–542, 2007     

Modeling of radiative heat transfer in an axisymmetric cylindrical enclosure with participating medium

Radiative heat transfer in an axisymmetric enclosure with absorbing, emitting, and scattering medium is studied here by using the different methods such as MDOM, FVM, and MFVM with emphasis on the treatment of angular derivative term, which appears in curvilinear coordinates due to angular redistribution. After final discretization equation for MFVM is introduced by using the step scheme and directional weights, the present approach is validated by applying it to three different benchmarking problems with absorbing, emitting, and scattering medium. All of the results presented here support its accuracy as well as moderate efficiency. Finally, the present approaches are applied to a truncated cone-shaped enclosure as a body-fitted geometry case.     

Cellulose dimethylphenylcarbamate-bonded carbon-clad zirconia for chiral separation in high performance liquid chromatography.

Porous zirconia particles are very robust material and have received considerable attention as a stationary phase support for HPLC. We prepared cellulose dimethylphenylcarbamate-bonded carbon-clad zirconia (CDMPCCZ) as a chiral stationary phase (CSP) for separation of enantiomers of a set of 14 racemic compounds in normal phase (NP) and reversed-phase (RP) liquid chromatography. Retention and enantioselectivity on CDMPCCZ were compared to those on CDMPC-coated zirconia (CDMPCZ) to see how the change in immobilization method of the chiral selector affects the retention and chiral selectivity. In NPLC, retention was longer and the number of resolved racemates was smaller on CDMPCCZ than on CDMPCZ. However, chiral selectivity factors for some resolved racemates were better on CDMPCCZ than on CDMPCZ. The longer retention on CDMPCCZ is likely due to strong, non-chiral discriminating interactions with the carbon layer on CDMPCZ. In RPLC only two racemates were resolved on CDMPCCZ, but retention times were shorter than, and resolutions were comparable to, those in NPLC, indicating a potential for improving chromatographic performance of the CDMPCCZ column in RPLC with optimized column preparation and separation conditions.     

Temperature effect on deposition rate of silicon nitride films

Temperature effects on deposition rate of silicon nitride films were characterized by building a neural network prediction model. The silicon nitride films were deposited by using a plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition system and process parameter effects were systematically characterized by 2⁶⁻¹ fractional factorial experiment. The process parameters involved include a radio frequency power, pressure, temperature, SiH₄, N₂, and NH₃ flow rates. The prediction performance of generalized regression neural network was drastically improved by optimizing multi-valued training factors using a genetic algorithm. Several 3D plots were generated to investigate parameter effects at various temperatures. Predicted variations were experimentally validated. The temperature effect on the deposition rate was a complex function of parameters but N₂ flow rate. Larger decreases in the deposition rate with the temperature were only noticed at lower SiH₄ (or higher NH₃) flow rates. Typical effects of SiH₄ or NH₃ flow rate were only observed at higher or lower temperatures. A comparison with the refractive index model facilitated a selective choice of either SiH₄ or NH₃ for process optimization.     

An efficient construction of period-2 bulbs in the cubic Mandelbrot set with parametric boundaries

A parametric boundary equation is established for the principal period-2 bulb in the cubic Mandelbrot set. Using its geometry, an efficient escape-time algorithm which reduces the construction time for the period-2 bulbs in the cubic Mandelbrot set is introduced and the implementation graphic results display the fascinating fractal beauty     

Non-Euler–Lagrangian Pareto-optimality Conditions for Dynamic Multiple Criterion Decision Problems

In this paper the problem of verifying the Pareto-optimality of a given solution to a dynamic multiple-criterion decision (DMCD) problem is investigated. For this purpose, some new conditions are derived for Pareto-optimality of DMCD problems. In the literature, Pareto-optimality is characterized by means of Euler-Lagrangian differential equations. There exist problems in production and inventory control to which these conditions cannot be applied directly (Song 1997). Thus, it is necessary to explore new conditions for Pareto-optimality of DMCD problems. With some mild assumptions on the objective functionals, we develop necessary and/or sufficient conditions for Pareto-optimality in the sprit of optimization theory. Both linear and non-linear cases are considered.     

Reintroduced solids increase inhibitor levels in a pretreated corn stover hydrolysate

Following detoxification of the liquid hydrolysate produced in a corn stover pretreatment process, inhibitor levels are seen to increase with the re-addition of solids for the ensuing hydrolysis and fermentation processes. The solids that were separated from the slurry before detoxification of the liquor contain approx 60% (w/w) moisture, and contamination occurs owing to the diffusion of inhibitors from the moisture entrained in the porous structure of the corn stover solids into the bulk fluid. This evidence suggests the need for additional separation and detoxification steps to purge residual inhibitors entrained in the moisture in the solids. An overliming process to remove furans from the hydrolysate failed to reduce total organic acids concentration, so acids were removed by treatment with an activated carbon powder. Smaller carbon doses proved more efficient in removing organic acids in terms of grams of acid removed per gram of carbon powder. Sugar adsorption by the activated carbon powder was minimal.     

Enhanced ferromagnetic properties of diluted Fe doped ZnO with hydrogen treatment

The single-phase diluted magnetic Fe-ion (5%) doped ZnO powders were prepared by solid-state reaction method. The powders were annealed in Ar or Ar/H₂(5%) atmosphere at 1200 °C. The crystal structure, electric and magnetic properties for the Zn_0.95Fe_0.05O powders have been studied with X-ray diffraction (XRD) vibrating sample magnetometer, resistance and Hall measurement. All the peaks for the XRD pattern of samples belong to the hexagonal (P6₃mc) lattice of ZnO, and no indication of a secondary phase. The lattice parameters for the Zn_0.95Fe_0.05O with an annealing in Ar/H₂(5%) atmosphere were a₀=3.256 Å and c₀=5.206 Å at room temperature. The hysteresis curve for the Zn_0.95Fe_0.05O at room temperature was enhanced ferromagnetic behaviour with an annealing in Ar/H₂(5%) atmosphere. We give an explanation for enhanced ferromagnetic behaviour with H₂ treatment by electric properties.     

FMS scheduling based on timed Petri Net model and reactive graph search

This paper presents a new scheduling method for manufacturing system based on the Timed Petri Net model and a reactive fast graph search algorithm. The following two typical problems are addressed in this paper. (1) Minimization of the maximum completion time. (2) Minimization of the total tardiness. As for the problem (1), a new search algorithm which combines the RTA^∗ and a rule-based supervisor is proposed. As for problem (2), the original Petri Net model is converted to its reverse model and the algorithm developed for the problem (1) is applied, regarding the due date as the starting time in the reverse model. Some numerical experiments are carried out to demonstrate usefulness of our algorithm.