Doing Something about the Future

This paper is concerned with the need for more interdisciplinary, systems oriented, research directed towards major problems encountered by decision makers in industry and government; a need which is more difficult to meet in the face of traditional methods of organising knowledge and research. It emphasises the need to acknowledge the true complexity of the problems and the interactive nature of any effective research procedure. As an illustration, both of the need and the problems involved in meeting it, the development of a new program of research into problems of Management and Technology at the International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis, which is supported by seventeen nations of all political complexions, is analysed. The implication is that we can do something about the future, but we must be prepared to do.     

Teaching Operational Research Technique

Good technique, i.e. competence in carrying out operational research, is as vital for the practitioner to acquire as competence in the traditional ‘techniques’. It is suggested that universities should teach students how to conduct simple projects prior to alerting them to more sophisticated methodological issues.As an aid to this task, the traditional five or six parts of an operational research project are broken down and extended into 39 steps, and regrouped into three phases. Also, five skills are identified as being conceptually essential to "good" operational research, which students can develop through tackling suitable case studies.     

A central limit theorem for age- and density-dependent population processes

Consider a population consisting of one type of individual living in a fixed region with area A. In [8], we constructed a stochastic population model in which the death rate is affected by the age of the individual and the birth rate is affected by the population density P_A(t), i.e., the population size divided by the area A of the given region. In [8], we proposed a continuous deterministic model which in general is a nonlinear Volterra type integral equation and proved that under appropriate conditions the sequence P_A(t) would converge to the solution P(t) of our integral equation in the sense that

$\text{lim}\text{→∞}\text{P}\text{sup}\text{0?s?t}\text{|P}{}_{\mathrm{A}}\text{(s) ? P(s)|>ε}\text{=0}\text{for every}\text{ε > 0}$

.In this paper, we obtain a “central limit theorem” for the random element √A(P_A(t)?P(t)). We prove that under appropriate conditions √A(P_A(t)?P(t)) will converge to a Gaussian process. (See Theorem 3.4 for the explicit formula of this Gaussian process.)     

A study of the polarographic behaviour of meso-tetra(4-trimethylammoniumphenyl)porphine and its copper and magnesium complexes and its analytical applications

The investigation of the electrochemical reduction and the adsorption of meso-tetra(4-trimethylammoniumphenyl)porphine (T(4-TMAP)P) at a mercury electrode in alkaline solution shows that the overall reduction involves three two-electron steps, of which the first step is reversible and the latter two are irreversible. In addition, T(4-TMAP)P and its metal complexes of Cu(II) and Mg(II) can be strongly adsorbed on the surface of a mercury electrode. The adsorption phenomena have been utilized as a preconcentration step for the determination of trace amounts of the two ions by single sweep polarography. For copper, the detection limit is 1 × 10^–8 mol dm^–3, for magnesium, 1 × 10^–7 mol dm^–3, the latter being limited by the reagent blank. The proposed method was applied to the determination of Cu and Mg in various types of samples (chemicals, hair and liver tissues) with satisfactory results.     

盐类对4-氯-4′-羟基二苯砜钾盐真空熔融聚合的影响

聚苯砜醚是一种综合性能比较好、可在180℃长期使用的热塑性工程塑料,在国内外受到一定的重视。我们与武汉化工原料厂协作,对4-氯-4′-羟基二苯砜钾盐真空熔融缩聚合成聚苯砜醚的途径进行过一些探索,得到了较好的结果。但是,在实践中发现,由于这一反应速度快,放出的热量大而集中,在真空中聚合热不易导出,随着单体用量     

Reactions of hydrazoic acid on TiO2 nanoparticles: an experimental and computational study

This article reports the results of a computational and experimental study on the reaction of hydrazoic acid, HN3, adsorbed on 15-20 nm TiO2 particle films. Experimentally, FTIR spectra of HN3(a) have been measured by varying HN3 dosage, UV irradiation time and surface annealing temperature. Three sharp peaks, related to v(a)(NNN) of HN3(a) and N3(a) with different configurations in the 2000-2200 cm(-1) region, and a broad band absorption, related to associated and isolated HN(a) and HO(a) adsorptions in the 3000-3800 cm(-1) region, have been detected. Computationally, molecular structures, vibrational frequencies and adsorption energies of possible adsorbates including HN3 and its derivatives, N3, N2, NH, and H, have been predicted by first-principles calculations based on the density functional theory (DFT) and the pseudopotential method. On the basis of the experimental and computational results, the peak appeared at 2075 cm(-1), which increases at a faster rate with HN3 exposure time, is attributed to a stable adsorbate, N3-Ti(a), with the predicted adsorption energy, E(ads) = 13 kcal/mol. The peak at 2118 cm(-1), which survives at the highest surface temperature in the heating experiment, is attributable to the most stable adsorbate, Ti-N2N(H)-O(a) with E(ads) = 36 kcal/mol. The peak at 2170 cm(-1), which vanishes most readily in all of the aforementioned experiments, is related to less stable molecular adsorbates, end-on HN3-Ti(a) with E(ads) = 5 kcal/mol and side-on HN(N2)-Ti(a) with E(ads) = 8 kcal/mol. A potential energy diagram for the formation of various absorbates with their transition states has been established for the HN3/TiO2 system. On the basis of the predicted desorption energies, the four most stable products of the HN3 reaction on TiO2 are H-O(a), 118 kcal/mol; HN-O(a), 85 kcal/mol; Ti-N2N(H)-O(a), 36 kcal/mol; and N3-O(a), 19 kcal/mol.     

Determination of buprenorphine by high-performance liquid chromatography with fluorescence detection: application to human and rabbit pharmacokinetic studies.

A rapid, sensitive, precise and accurate high-performance liquid chromatographic assay with fluorescence detection was developed for the determination of buprenorphine in human, rabbit, pig and dog plasma. It is comprised of only a one-step extraction procedure with hexane-isoamyl alcohol at pH 9.25 and reversed-phase chromatography on a muPorasil column. The recoveries of buprenorphine and nalbuphine (internal standard) were greater than 90%. Calibration graphs were linear over the concentration range 3-300 ng/ml with a coefficient of variation, both within-day and between-day, of less than 9% at any level. The limit of detection was 1.0 ng/ml of plasma based on a signal-to-noise ratio of 3. Eight other clinically used narcotics were investigated to check for potential interferences and their analytical conditions. The possible decomposed compounds of buprenorphine were also checked for the specificity of this assay. The method has been successfully applied to the stability and pharmacokinetic studies of buprenorphine. Buprenorphine in plasma did not decompose significantly at -20 degrees C for four weeks. Pharmacokinetic application in six rabbits and a surgical patient revealed that buprenorphine followed a linear three-compartment model with two distribution phases. The two distribution and elimination half-lives and the clearance of buprenorphine were 1.32, 24.8 and 230 min and 224 ml/min in human plasma, and 0.94, 12.5 and 232 min and 30 ml/min in rabbit plasma.     

Rational design of an “all-in-one” phototheranostic

We report here porphodilactol derivatives and their corresponding metal complexes. These systems show promise as “all-in-one” phototheranostics and are predicated on a design strategy that involves controlling the relationship between intersystem crossing (ISC) and photothermal conversion efficiency following photoexcitation. The requisite balance was achieved by tuning the aromaticity of these porphyrinoid derivatives and forming complexes with one of two lanthanide cations, namely Gd³⁺ and Lu³⁺. The net result led to a metalloporphodilactol system, Gd-trans-2, with seemingly optimal ISC efficiency, photothermal conversion efficiency and fluorescence properties, as well as good chemical stability. Encapsulation of Gd-trans-2 within mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) allowed its evaluation for tumour diagnosis and therapy. It was found to be effective as an “all-in-one” phototheranostic that allowed for NIR fluorescence/photoacoustic dual-modal imaging while providing an excellent combined PTT/PDT therapeutic efficacy in vitro and in vivo in 4T1-tumour-bearing mice.

We report here porphodilactol derivatives and their corresponding metal complexes as “all-in-one” phototheranostics by controlling the relationship between intersystem crossing (ISC) and photothermal conversion efficiency following photoexcitation.     

Application of Functionalized Ag Nanoparticles for the Determination of Proteins at Nanogram Levels Using the Resonance Light Scattering Method

A novel method for the determination of proteins in aqueous solutions has been developed based on the enhancement of resonance light scattering (RLS) of Ag nanoparticles in the presence of proteins. Factors including acidity of the media, concentration of Ag hydrosol, reaction time, temperature, and interference of non-protein substances were investigated. Under the optimal conditions, with the enhanced RLS signals at 452nm, the linear ranges of calibration curves were 0–0.8µgmL^–1 for bovine serum albumin (BSA), 0–1.2µgmL^–1 for human serum albumin (HSA), and 0–2.5µgmL^–1 for human -IgG (-IgG), respectively. The detection limits were 1.3ngmL^–1 for BSA, 10ngmL^–1 for HAS, and 5.7ngmL^–1 for -IgG.This method has been applied to the analysis of synthetic samples and real human serum samples, and the results were in good agreement with those reported by the hospital, indicating that the method presented here is not only sensitive and simple, but also reliable and suitable for practical applications.     

Synthesis and biodistribution of 99mTcN(PDTC)2as a potential brain imaging agent

The preparation of the bis(N-propyl dithiocarbamato) nitrido technetium-99m complex ^99mTcN(PDTC)₂ (PDTC: N-propyl dithiocarbamato) was carried out as a freeze-dried formulation, through a simple procedure involving the initial of ^99mTcO_4- with succinic dihydrazide in the presence of stannous chloride as reducing agent and propylenediamine tetraacetic acid (PDTA) as complexant, followed by the addition of the ligand sodium salt of N-propyl dithiocarbamate to afford the final product. The radiochemical purity of the complex was over 90%, as measured by thin layer chromatography. No decomposition of the complex at room temperature was observed over a period of 12 hours. Its partition coefficient indicated that it was a good lipophilic complex. Biodistribution in mice showed that the complex accumulated in the brain with high uptake. The brain uptake (ID%/g) was 5.07 and the brain/blood ratio 1.34 at 5-minute post-injection. This suggested a potential usefulness of the complex as a brain perfusion imaging agent. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.