An Integrated Plant Design and Scheduling Problem in the Food Industry

An integrated plant design and scheduling problem in the food industry is discussed, and a solution is proposed. This involves the use of two models. The first model is an integer programming model that deals with long-term decisions. The second model deals with decisions that have to be made instantly.     

New exact results for the effective electric, elastic, piezoelectric and other properties of composite ellipsoid assemblages

In this paper we present a unified treatment of composite ellipsoid assemblages in the setting of uncoupled phenomena like conductivity and elasticity and coupled phenomena like thermoelectricity and piezomagnetoelectricity. The building block of this microgeometry is a confocal ellipsoidal particle consisting of a (possibly void) core and a coating. All space is filled up with such units which have different sizes but possess the same aspect ratios. The confocal ellipsoids may have the same orientation in space or may be randomly oriented. The resulting microgeometry simulates two-phase composites in which the reinforcing components are short fibers or elongated particles. Our main interest is in obtaining information of an exact nature on the effective moduli of this microgeometry whose effective tensor symmetry structure depends on the packing mode of the coated ellipsoids. This information will sometimes be complete like the full effective thermoelectric tensor of an assemblage which contains aligned ellipsoids in which the coating is isotropic and the core is arbitrarily anisotropic. In the majority of the cases however the maximum achievable exact information will be only partial and will appear in the form of certain exact relations between the effective moduli of the microgeometry. These exact relations are obtained from exact solutions for the fields in the microstructure for a certain set of loading conditions. In all the considered cases an isotropic coating can be combined with a fully arbitrary core. This covers the most important physical case of anisotropic fibers in an isotropic matrix. Allowing anisotropy in the coating requires the fulfillment of certain constraint conditions between its moduli. Even though in this case the presence of such constraint conditions may render the anisotropic coating material hypothetical, the value of the derived solutions remains since they still provide benchmark comparisons for approximate and numerical treatments. The remarkable feature of the general analysis which covers all treated uncoupled and coupled phenomena is that it is developed solely on the basis of potential solutions of the conduction problem in the same microgeometry.     

Soft Neutral Elastic Inhomogeneities with Membrane-type Interface Conditions

A foreign body, called an “inhomogeneity,” when introduced in a host solid disturbs the stress field which is present in it. One can explore the possibility of modifying the contact mechanism between the inhomogeneity and the host body so as to leave the stress field in the host solid undisturbed. If such a procedure succeeds, then the inhomogeneity is called “neutral.” Modification of the contact mechanism between the inhomogeneity and the host solid can be achieved, for example, by a suitably designed thick or thin interphase between them. When the interphase is thin, it can be represented by an “imperfect interface” model. In the present study we consider “soft” inhomogeneities which are more compliant than the host body. A “membrane-type interface” which models a thin and stiff interphase is used in rendering such inhomogeneities neutral. Illustrative examples are constructed for cylindrical neutral inhomogeneities of elliptical cross section under a triaxial loading, and for spheroidal inhomogeneities subjected to an axisymmetric loading.      

Photometrische Bestimmung des Mangans mit Dithiocarbaminaten

Zusammenfassung Kleine Mengen Margan können durch Extraktion der innerkomplexen Mangan(III)-dithiocarbaminate mit Chloroform und nachfolgende Photometrierung der braunvioletten Extrakte schnell und genau bestimmt werden. Nur wenige Elemente stören. Sie können vorher durch Extraktion rasch und quantitativ abgetrennt werden.     

Solving the Combined Zoning and Location Problem for Several Emergency Units

This paper discusses methods for the solution of the combined zoning and location problem for several emergency units. This is a stochastic optimization problem. The stochastic aspects include ordered preference of servers. A constraint of equal workload for the servers is also dealt with. Non-linear programming techniques are adapted for its solution.     

A continuum model for fiber reinforced materials with debonding

A continuum theory for a fiber-reinforced material with debonding between the constituents is presented. The debonding phenomenon is simulated by imposing the continuity of the normal displacements at the fiber-matrix interfaces while allowing free tangential slip there. The derived theory is of the lowest order and is obtained by using a first order expansion in the displacements in the fiber and matrix phases. The theory is applied to investigate the effect of debonding on the propagation of waves in a boron/epoxy fiber reinforced material. It is shown that an additional mode of propagation is obtained as compared with the usual case of perfect bonding     

Procedure of test to compare the tail indices

We propose a test procedure which compares the extreme value indices of two samples with heavy tail distributions. On a theoretical point of view, we adopt the minimax nonparametric point of view. We exhibit the separating rate between the null hypothesis and the alternative of our procedure. Next, we present a data driven test methodology and we evaluate its performance thanks to an extensive simulation study. As a practical real-life application, we compare the risk behaviors of a panel of different financial data.     

Convenient and easy access to 2-hydroxycyclopent-2-enones from acylcyanohydrins

A convenient access to 2-hydroxycyclopentenones was designed from acylcyanohydrins, by using titanacyclopropane complexes as nucleophilic partners and an intramolecular aldol condensation in basic conditions. The development of a one-pot procedure allows a step- and atom-economic process, and the use of Grignard reagents other than ethylmagnesium bromide provided valuable 3,4-disubstituted 2-hydroxycyclopentenones. The utility of the hydroxy group was illustrated by further functionalization of the α-position using palladium-mediated cross-coupling reactions.