Normal generation of line bundles of high degrees on smooth algebraic curves

We give necessary and sufficient conditions for non-special line bundles of degree2g — 2 and 2g — 3 being not normally generated. We also provide criteria for special line bundles of degreed > 2g — 6 being normally generated. This work was done under JSPS-KOSEF joint research program 1997. The first named author was partially supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, the Ministry of Education, #10440051. The second named author was partially supported by BSRI(1998-015-D00023) and SNU(99-5-l-031). During the period when this paper was prepared for publication, the second named author was enjoying the hospitality of ICTP. The third named author was partially supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research, the Ministry of Education, #09640043.     

A subproblem-centric model and approach to the nurse scheduling problem

The number of hospitals in Japan exceeds 10,000, and every month nurses are scheduled to shifts in about 30,000 units in total. There is serious demand for automating this scheduling task. In this paper, we introduce a mathematical programming formulation of the nurse scheduling problem in Japan, and develop a meta-heuristic approach to solve the problem. This scheduling problem is a hard combinatorial problem due to tight constraints involving such factors as the skill level of a team, the need to balance workload among nurses, and the consideration of nurses' preferences, even though the number of the nurses to be scheduled is not large, at between 20 and 40. The performance of our approach is demonstrated by the successful solution of data taken from actual scheduling problems. The proposed model and approach can be adapted for the majority of hospitals in Japan, as well as for some hospitals in other countries, and is likely applicable to many other scheduling problems in the fields of business and logistics. Key words.nurse scheduling – block-angular problem – subproblem – integer programming – relaxation – tabu search – branch-and-boundMathematics Subject Classification (1991):20E28, 20G40, 20C20     

The Number of Columns (1,<Emphasis Type="Italic">k</Emphasis>−2,1) in the Intersection Array of a Distance-Regular Graph

In this paper we consider the number t of columns (1,k–2,1) in the intersection array of a distance-regular graph. We prove that t is at most one if k58.     

An abrupt spin transition based on short S...S contacts in a novel Fe(II) complex whose ligand contains a 1,3-dithiole ring

The first preparation of an Fe(II) spin-crossover complex including a 1,3-dithiole ligand is reported. Crystal analyses of both the low- and the high-temperature phases reveal that short S...S contacts play a key role in an abrupt spin transition.     

Psoralen-conjugated oligonucleotide with hairpin structure as a novel photo-sensitive antisense molecule

Hairpin type psoralen-cojugated oligonucleotides cross-linked with RNA when they hybridized with a perfectly complementary RNA.     

Luminescence study of tetravalent uranium in aqueous solution

The luminescence spectrum of U4+ in aqueous solution was observed in the UV-Vis region with the lifetime < 20 ns at room temperature by excitation light corresponding to the 5f-5f electronic transition. All the luminescence peaks were assigned to individual electronic transitions.     

Polarographic study on poly alpha-L-glutamic acid-Cd2+,Co2+ complexes in the helix-coil pH region

Interactions between poly alpha- L-glutamic acid (PGA) and metal ions Cd(2+), Co(2+) were studied by direct current polarography. The diffusion currents of these ions decreased sharply in the presence of PGA in the pH region from 5.0 through neutral. A corresponding increase in the helix content of the PGA-metal ion complex was revealed by CD measurements on the same solutions. Helix contents determined by polarography were in good agreement with those by CD in the neutral pH region. On the contrary, the decrease of current in lower acidic pH regions was independent of helix formation and suggested that metal ions coordinate to sporadically-dissociated carboxylate groups to cause aggregation of the intra and/or inter polymer chains. The diffusion current of the ions, therefore, is a parameter sensitive to the conformational changes of PGA from acidic through neutral pH region.     

Variety of Special Linear Systems on k-Sheeted Coverings

Irreducibility of W¹ _d (X) for d g - (k - 2) [(h + 3)/2] - h+ 1, where X is a curve of genus g which admits an odd prime degree k map onto a general curve C of genus h > 0 is proved. Also, the existence of a component of W¹ _d(X) with expected dimension on a general k-sheeted covering X over a curve C is shown.