Synthesis,characterization, and micellization of an epoxy‐based amphiphilic diblock copolymer of ϵ‐caprolactone and glycidyl methacrylate by enzymatic ring‐opening polymerization and atom transfer radical polymerization

Amphiphilic diblock copolymer polycaprolactone‐block‐poly(glycidyl methacrylate) (PCL‐b‐PGMA) was synthesized via enzymatic ring‐opening polymerization (eROP) and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). Methanol first initiated eROP of ?‐caprolactone (?‐CL) in the presence of biocatalyst Novozyme‐435 under anhydrous conditions. The resulting monohydroxyl‐terminated polycaprolactone (PCL–OH) was subsequently converted to a bromine‐ended macroinitiator (PCL–Br) for ATRP by esterification with α‐bromopropionyl bromide. PCL‐b‐PGMA diblock copolymers were synthesized in a subsequent ATRP of glycidyl methacrylate (GMA). A kinetic analysis of ATRP indicated a living/controlled radical process. The macromolecular structures were characterized for PCL–OH, PCL–Br, and the block copolymers by means of nuclear magnetic resonance, gel permeation chromatography, and infrared spectroscopy. Differential scanning calorimetry and wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction analyses indicated that the copolymer composition (?‐CL/GMA) had a great influence on the thermal properties. The well‐defined, amphiphilic diblock copolymer PCL‐b‐PGMA self‐assembled into nanoscale micelles in aqueous solutions, as investigated by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 5037–5049, 2007     

Sensitive monitoring of humic acid in various aquatic environments with acidic cerium chemiluminescence detection.

In this research, a simple, sensitive chemiluminescence (CL) method for the determination of humic acid (HA) in water samples was first developed based on the redox reaction between humic acid and cerium(IV) in the acidic condition. Different with the former redox CL reaction which occurred in alkaline solution, no enhancers were needed and neither precipitation nor a second contamination would occur in the present CL system. Comparing with other spectrometric methods, we find that the proposed analysis system had better applicability and accuracy. Under the optimal experiment conditions, the CL peak height was linear with the concentration of HA in the range of 0.03 to 10.0 microg mL(-1). The detection limit is 0.01 microg mL(-1) (S/N = 3), and the relative standard deviation was 2.3% for 0.5 microg mL(-1) HA solution with eleven repeated measurements. The present CL method was successfully applied to the determination of HA in tap water, spring water and river water samples with good recovery from 90.0 to 110.0%. A possible CL mechanism was proposed based on the results of UV and fluorescence spectrometry and the CL spectrum of HA. It was speculated that the semi-quinone radicals in the excited state were the emitters.     

A Network Simulation of High-congestion Road-traffic Flows in Cities with Marine Container Terminals

Port cities where marine cargo terminals are located are generally near urban areas characterized by high-congestion road traffic. Changes in cargo traffic volumes into a marine terminal, or in the surrounding traffic arteries, which carry this traffic, can significantly affect the terminal's operations. Conversely, activity at the terminal can have an impact on the traffic levels and congestion for a considerable distance from the terminal. This paper demonstrates a methodology useful for studying the impact of road traffic flows on marine container terminals located in highly congested areas. This model was developed at the request of the Virginia Center for World Trade and was used to answer three planning questions in the port of Hampton Roads, Virginia, USA-what would be the impact of: opening a new section of interstate highway, a projected doubling of container traffic at one terminal, and a daily unit train in the vicinity of another terminal. The problem was made more challenging by limited data-collection funds. None the less, the model was deemed valid by a panel of traffic experts and officials from several major state and private agencies involved in marine traffic management. The model results were subsequently a factor in two major decisions related to terminal management.     

Flips and the Hilbert scheme over an exterior algebra

We study the tangent space at a monomial point M in the Hilbert scheme that parameterizes all ideals with the same Hilbert function as M over an exterior algebra.     

Wild tiles in ℝ<Superscript>3</Superscript> with spherical boundaries

Wildly embedded tiles in ℝ³ with spherical boundary are discussed. The construction of the topologically complicated, crumpled cube tiles is reviewed. We construct an infinite family of wildly embedded, cellular tiles with Fox-Artin-type wild points. Finally, a condition on the set of wild points on a cellular tile is given to show that certain wild cells cannot be tiles. Several observations are recorded for further investigations. __________ Translated from Fundamentalnaya i Prikladnaya Matematika, Vol. 11, No. 4, pp. 203–211, 2005.     

Relations among eigenvalues of Sturm-Liouville problems with different types of leading coefficient functions

For any Sturm-Liouville problem with a separable boundary condition and whose leading coefficient function changes sign (exactly once), we first give a geometric characterization of its eigenvalues λn using the eigenvalues of some corresponding problems with a definite leading coefficient function. Consequences of this characterization include simple proofs of the existence of the λn's, their Prüfer angle characterization, and a way for determining their indices from the zeros of their eigenfunctions. Then, interlacing relations among the λn's and the eigenvalues of the corresponding problems are obtained. Using these relations, a simple proof of asymptotic formulas for the λn's is given.     

一类Lagrangian对偶问题的零对偶间隙性质及其最优路径的收敛性

针对一般的非线性规划问题,利用某些Lagrange型函数给出了一类Lagrangian对偶问题的一般模型,并证明它与原问题之间存在零对偶间隙．针对具体的一类增广La- grangian对偶问题以及几类由非线性卷积函数构成的Lagrangian对偶问题,详细讨论了零对偶间隙的存在性．进一步,讨论了在最优路径存在的前提下,最优路径的收敛性质．     

Lipschitz classes on local fields

The Lipschitz class Lipαon a local field K is defined in this note,and the equivalent relationship between the Lipschitz class Lipαand the Holder type space C~α(K)is proved.Then,those important characteristics on the Euclidean space R~n and the local field K are compared,so that one may interpret the essential differences between the analyses on R~n and K.Finally,the Cantor type fractal functionθ(x)is showed in the Lipschitz class Lip(m,K),m＜(ln 2/ln 3).     

Solvothermal Synthesis of Molybdenum Disulfide Hollow Spheres Modified by Cyanex 301 in Water–Ethanol Medium

Hollow spherical molybdenum disulfide has been successfully synthesized via a solvothermal method using Cyanex 301 as sulfur source and modification agent. The hollow spheres are characterized by transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Energy-Dispersive X-ray analysis. The influences of reaction conditions are also discussed while a mechanism is proposed to explain the formation of the peculiar morphology.     

Positive Schatten(-Herz) Class Toeplitz Operators on the Half-space

On the harmonic Bergman space of the half-space, we give characterizations for an arbitrary positive Toeplitz operator to be a Schatten (or Schatten-Herz) class operator in terms of averaging functions and Berezin transforms. Examples are provided to show that various results are sharp. This research was supported by KOSEF(R01-2003-000-10243-0).