A Linear Bound On The Diameter Of The Transportation Polytope*

We prove that the combinatorial diameter of the skeleton of the polytope of feasible solutions of any m×n transportation problem is at most 8(m+n−2). * Research for this paper was done while the second and third author were visiting the Isaac Newton Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Cambridge, U.K. All authors were supported by the TMR Network DONET of the European Community ERB TMRXCT98-0202. † Research partially funded by the Dutch BSIK/BRICKS project.     

Synthesis and Photoinitiated Cationic Polymerization of Epoxidized Castor Oil and Its Derivatives

ABSTRACT

In this communication we describe the synthesis of epoxidized castor oil (ECO) as an interesting and inexpensive biorenewable monomer by an efficient and low cost epoxidation process. Also described are studies of the photoinitiated cationic polymerization of ECO using diaryliodonium salt photoinitiators. The influence of the structure and the concentration of the photoinitiator on the polymerization are reported. The ability of photosensitizers to accelerate the photopolymerization was also studied. Studies comparing the photopolymerization behavior of ECO with other commercially available epoxidized linseed and soybean oils and with other types of synthetic epoxy monomers were conducted. The excellent reactivity of ECO can be ascribed to the presence of both epoxy and hydroxyl groups in the molecule which permits this material to polymerize mainly by an activated monomer mechanism.

     

Synthesis,XRD, spectral (IR,UV–Vis,NMR) characterization and quantum chemical exploration of benzoimidazole‐based hydrazones: A synergistic experimental‐computational analysis

Present study advocates the joint experimental and computational studies of two potent benzoimidazole‐based hydrazones with chemical formula C₂₃H₁₈F₂N₄O ( 5a ) and C₂₅H₂₂FN₅O₃ ( 5b ). Both 5a and 5b were synthesized and resolved into their crystal structures using SC‐XRD for the assessment of bond lengths, bond angles, unit cells and space groups. The structures of 5a and 5b were chemically characterized using infrared (FT‐IR), UV–Visible, nuclear magnetic resonance (¹H‐NMR and ¹³C‐NMR), EIMS and elemental analysis. DFT at M06‐2X/6‐31G(d,p) level of theory was performed to get optimized structures and countercheck the experimental findings. Overall, DFT findings show excellent concurrence with the experimental data which confirms the purity of both compounds. FMO, NBO analysis, MEP surfaces and nonlinear optical (NLO) properties were explored at same level of theory. UV–Vis analysis at TDDFT/M06‐2X/6‐31G(d,p) level of theory showed that 5b is red shifted with λ_max 331.69 nm as compared to 5a with λ_max 240.25 nm. Global reactivity parameters were estimated using energy of FMOs indicated the greater harness value than the softness values of 5a and 5b . NBO analysis confirmed that the presence of non‐covalent interactions, hydrogen bonding and hyper conjugative interactions are pivotal cause for the existence of 5a and 5b in the solid‐state. NLO results of 5a and 5b were observed better than standard molecule recommended the NLO activity of said molecules for optoelectronic applications.     

Automatic Debye–Scherrer elliptical ring extraction via a computer vision approach

The accurate calibration of powder diffraction data acquired from area detectors using calibration standards is a crucial step in the data reduction process to attain high‐quality one‐dimensional patterns. A novel algorithm has been developed for extracting Debye–Scherrer rings automatically using an approach based on computer vision and pattern recognition techniques. The presented technique requires no human intervention and, unlike previous approaches, makes no restrictive assumptions on the diffraction setup and/or rings. It can detect complete rings as well as portions of them, and works on several types of diffraction images with various degrees of ring graininess, textured diffraction patterns and detector tilt with respect to the incoming beam.     

Synthesis of silica nanoparticles doped with [Ru(bpy)3]2+ and decorated with silver nanoclusters for the ratiometric photoluminescent determination and intracellular imaging of Cu(II) ions

Microchimica Acta - A sensitive and selective luminescent nanoprobe (referred to as DEPN) is designed for the determination of Cu(II) ions. DEPN shows two emission peaks, one at 602 nm and...     

Ion population fraction calculations using improved screened hydrogenic model with l-splitting

Ion population fraction(IPF) calculations are very important to understand the radiative spectrum emitted from the hot dense matter. IPF calculations require detailed knowledge of all the ions and correlation interactions between the electrons of an ion which are present in a plasma environment. The average atom models, e.g., screened hydrogenic model with l-splitting(SHML), now have the capabilities for such calculations and are becoming more popular for in line plasma calculations. In our previous work [Ali A, Shabbir Naz G, Shahzad M S, Kouser R, Rehman A and Nasim M H 2018 High Energy Density Phys. 26 48], we have improved the continuum lowering model and included the exchange and correlation effects in SHML. This study presents the calculation of IPF using classical theory of fluctuation for our improved screened hydrogenic model with l-splitting(I-SHML) under local thermodynamic equilibrium conditions for iron and aluminum plasma over a wide range of densities and temperatures. We have compared our results with other models and have found a very good agreement among them.     

Effects of hall current and heat transfer on MHD flow of a Burgers’ fluid due to a pull of eccentric rotating disks

The effect of Hall current and heat transfer on the magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) flow of an electrically conducting, incompressible Burgers’ fluid between two infinite disks rotating about non-coaxial axes perpendicular to the disks is studied. The flow is due to a pull with constant velocities of eccentric rotating infinite disks and an external uniform magnetic field normal to the disks is applied. Exact solutions are obtained for the governing momentum and energy equations. The effects of Hartmann number M, Prandtl number Pr, Eckert number Ec and Hall parameter η are studied.