Prüfer and Morita Hulls of FCP Extensions

We examine in this paper some properties of Morita and Prüfer hulls of FCP and FIP extensions of rings. Dichotomy phenomena appear in the case of a quasi-local base ring. In the general case, we define relative supports that allow us to introduce the concept of direct factorization of an extension and to characterize these hulls.     

A column generation algorithm for tactical timber transportation planning

We present a tactical wood flow model that appears in the context of the Canadian forestry industry, and describe the implementation of a decision support system created for use by an industrial partner. In this problem, mill demands and harvested volumes of a heterogeneous set of log types are given over a multi-period planning horizon. Wood can be stored at the forest roadside before delivery at a financial cost. Rather than solve this as a network linear programme on the basis of out-and-back deliveries, we choose to model this problem as a generalization of a log-truck scheduling problem. By routing and scheduling the trucks in the resolution, this allows us to both anticipate potential backhaul opportunities for cost and fuel savings, and also minimize queuing times at log-loaders, management of which is a major concern in the industry. We model this problem as a mixed integer linear programme and solve it via column generation. The methodology is tested on several case studies.     

On the elucidation of the mechanism of Vinca alkaloid fluorination in superacidic medium

Detailed investigations on one of the key steps of the superacidic fluorination of Vinca alkaloids that is the origin of C20' activation are reported. While two different pathways can be envisioned for the emergence of the transient secondary carbocationic intermediate, isotopic labeling experiments unambiguously revealed the involvement of a 1,2-hydride shift mechanism.     

Carleman estimates for stratified media

We consider anisotropic elliptic and parabolic operators in a bounded stratified media in Rn characterized by discontinuities of the coefficients in one direction. The surfaces of discontinuities cross the boundary of the domain. We prove Carleman estimates for these operators with an arbitrary observation region.     

Smart heterostructures for tailoring the optical properties of photochromic hybrid organic-inorganic polyoxometalates

A new concept of photoresponsive composites has been elaborated by intimately connecting a Photochromic Phase (PP), (H(2)DABCO)(2)(HDMA)(0.5)Na(0.75)(H(3)O)(0.75)[Mo(8)O(27)]·3H(2)O (1), with a second hybrid organic-inorganic molybdate material, (H(2)DABCO)(HDABCO)[Fe(OH)(6)Mo(6)O(18)]·4H(2)O (2) acting as an Oxidation Catalytic Phase (OCP) toward the former once photoexcited. The association of both the PP and the OCP in the composite drastically improves the bleaching process of the PP alone because of efficient electronic transfers through the OCP-PP interface without affecting significantly its photoinduced color change characteristic. Two OCP-PP composites with different PP weight percents have been obtained by associating 1 with 2. The optical properties of these composites before and after UV irradiation have been investigated by Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy, and the strong impact of the OCP on the fading kinetics of the PP has been clearly highlighted.     

Fat crystals and water-in-oil emulsion stability

Products such as cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and crude oil often exist as water-in-oil (W/O) emulsions during their processing or in final form. In many cases, their dispersed aqueous phase is encased in a crystal network and/or by interfacially-adsorbed (‘Pickering’) particles [paraffins, triacylglycerols, polymers, etc.] that promote emulsion kinetic stability by hindering droplet–droplet contact, coalescence and macroscopic phase separation. In processed foods, important questions remain regarding whether a continuous phase fat crystal network or Pickering crystal provides better stabilization. This review explores the following factors related to crystal-stabilized W/O emulsions: i) the key properties dictating fat crystal spatial distribution (at the interface or in the continuous phase); ii) how temperature and freeze–thaw emulsion destabilization are intimately linked with fat crystal spatial distribution, and; iii) why oil-soluble surfactant interactions with the continuous oil phase influence fat crystal wettability and emulsifier efficacy. It is shown that these parameters strongly govern W/O emulsion formation and stability.     

A column generation approach for location-routing problems with pickup and delivery

In this paper we formulate an integer programming model for the Location and Routing Problem with Pickup and Delivery. We propose a column generation scheme and implement, for the subproblem, a label-setting algorithm for the shortest path with pickup and delivery and time windows problem. We also propose a set of heuristics to speed up this process. To validate the model, we implement the column generation scheme and test it on different instances developed in this paper. We also provide an analysis of how the costs of opening depots and the fixed cost of routes affect the optimal solution.     

An effective non-Archimedean anti-degeneracy/cycling linear programming method especially for data envelopment analysis and like models

A non-Archimedean effective anti-degeneracy/cycling method for linear programming models, especially Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), processing networks and advertising media mix models is herein developed. It has given a tenfold speed increase plus elimination of cycling difficulties over conventional Marsden or Kennington/Ali LP software modules in a 1000 LP DEA application.