A Genetic Algorithm for Solving a Capacitated p-Median Problem

Facility-location problems have several applications, such as telecommunications, industrial transportation and distribution. One of the most well-known facility-location problems is the p-median problem. This work addresses an application of the capacitated p-median problem to a real-world problem. We propose a genetic algorithm (GA) to solve the capacitated p-median problem. The proposed GA uses not only conventional genetic operators, but also a new heuristic “hypermutation” operator suggested in this work. The proposed GA is compared with a tabu search algorithm.     

Effect of maltodextrins on the surface activity of small-molecule surfactants

We report on the effect of commercially important polysaccharides (maltodextrins with variable dextrose equivalent (Paselli SA-2, MD-6 and MD-10) on the surface activity at the air–water interface of small-molecule surfactants (sms), possessing different hydrophobic–lipophilic balance ((SSL (Na⁺), the main component is a sodium salt of stearol–lactoyl lactic acid, and PGE (080), polyglycerol ester of C18 fatty acid), and widely used in food products. A marked change of the surface activity of sms was found in the presence of maltodextrins by tensiometry. The combined data of laser multiangle light scattering and mixing calorimetry have suggested that this result is governed by specific complex formation between maltodextrins and sms in aqueous medium. Measurements have been made of the molar mass, the second virial coefficient and the enthalpy of intermolecular interactions in aqueous solutions. The implication of a degree of polymerization of maltodextrins in this phenomenon was shown. The interrelation between the molecular parameters of the formed complexes and their surface activity at the air–water interface has been revealed and discussed.     

A priori estimates for quasilinear degenerate parabolic equations

We prove some maximum and gradient estimates for classical solutions to a wide class of quasilinear degenerate parabolic equations, including first order ones. The proof is elementary and exploits the smallness of the domain in the time direction.

     

Internal standardization for the determination of cadmium,cobalt, chromium and manganese in saline produced water from petroleum industry by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry after cloud point extraction

In the present paper a procedure is proposed for the determination of traces of Cd, Co, Mn and Cr in petroleum industry produced water by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry. The procedure is based on cloud point extraction of these metals, as their dithizonate complexes, into the surfactant-rich phase of octylphenoxypolyethoxyethanol surfactant (Triton X-114). Extractions were carried out in solutions with salinities between 10‰ and 70‰. Since residual salinity in the surfactant-rich phase caused differences in its transport to the plasma, yttrium was used as an internal standard to correct for this effect. The simultaneous metal extraction procedure was optimized by response surface methodology using a Doehlert design and desirability function. Enhancement factors of 21, 21, 9 and 19, along with limits of quantification of 0.093, 0.20, 0.73 and 1.2 μg L^− 1, and precision expressed as relative standard deviation (n = 8, 20.0 μg L^− 1) of 5.8, 1.2, 1.7 and 5.7% were obtained for Cd, Co, Mn and Cr, respectively. The accuracy was evaluated by spike recovery tests on the high salinity water samples with salinity of 40 and 63‰.     

HAC estimation and strong linearity testing in weak ARMA models

In the framework of ARMA models, we consider testing the reliability of the standard asymptotic covariance matrix (ACM) of the least-squares estimator. The standard formula for this ACM is derived under the assumption that the errors are independent and identically distributed, and is in general invalid when the errors are only uncorrelated. The test statistic is based on the difference between a conventional estimator of the ACM of the least-squares estimator of the ARMA coefficients and its robust HAC-type version. The asymptotic distribution of the HAC estimator is established under the null hypothesis of independence, and under a large class of alternatives. The asymptotic distribution of the proposed statistic is shown to be a standard χ² under the null, and a noncentral χ² under the alternatives. The choice of the HAC estimator is discussed through asymptotic power comparisons. The finite sample properties of the test are analyzed via Monte Carlo simulation.     

Division and <Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>-th root theorems for <Emphasis Type="Italic">Q</Emphasis>-manifolds

We prove that a locally compact ANR-space X is a Q-manifold if and only if it has the Disjoint Disk Property (DDP), all points of X are homological Z _∞-points and X has the countable-dimensional approximation property (cd-AP), which means that each map f: K → X of a compact polyhedron can be approximated by a map with the countable-dimensional image. As an application we prove that a space X with DDP and cd-AP is a Q-manifold if some finite power of X is a Q-manifold. If some finite power of a space X with cd-AP is a Q-manifold, then X ² and X × [0, 1] are Q-manifolds as well. We construct a countable family χ of spaces with DDP and cd-AP such that no space X ∈ χ is homeomorphic to the Hilbert cube Q whereas the product X × Y of any different spaces X, Y ∈ χ is homeomorphic to Q. We also show that no uncountable family χ with such properties exists. This work was supported by the Slovenian-Ukrainian (Grant No. SLO-UKR 04-06/07)     

Operator–valued Fourier multiplier theorems on Besov spaces

We investigate analytical properties of a measure geometric Laplacian which is given as the second derivative w.r.t. two atomless finite Borel measures μ and ν with compact supports supp μ ? supp ν on the real line. This class of operators includes a generalization of the well‐known Sturm‐Liouville operator as well as of the measure geometric Laplacian given by . We obtain for this differential operator under both Dirichlet and Neumann boundary conditions similar properties as known in the classical Lebesgue case for the euclidean Laplacian like Gauß‐Green‐formula, inversion formula, compactness of the resolvent and its kernel representation w.r.t. the corresponding Green function. Finally we prove nuclearity of the resolvent and give two representations of its trace.     

Vapor-liquid equilibrium data at 25°C for six binary systems containing methyl acetate or methanol,with dichloromethane,chloroform, or 1,2-trans-dichloroethylene

Isothermal vapor-liquid equilibrium (VLE) data, at 25° C were determined by a saturation method for each of the six methanol or methyl acetate binary systems with dichloromethane, chloroform, and 1,2-trans-dichloroethylene. The experimental data satisfy the Redlich-Kister consistency test, and were correlated with five Gibbs free energy models. All the binary mixtures of methanol with the chlorinated compounds exhibit strong positive deviations from ideality while the mixtures of methyl acetate with the chlorinated compounds present negative deviations from ideal behavior.Communicated at the Festsymposium celebrating Dr. Henry V. Kehiaian's 60^th birthday, Clermont-Ferrand, France, 17–18 May 1990.