Extracting embedded generalized networks from linear programming problems

If a linear program (LP) possesses a large generalized network (GN) submatrix, this structure can be exploited to decrease solution time. The problems of finding maximum sets of GN constraints and finding maximum embedded GN submatrices are shown to be NP-complete, indicating that reliable, efficient solution of these problems is difficult. Therefore, efficient heuristic algorithms are developed for identifying such structure and are tested on a selection of twenty-three real-world problems. The best of four algorithms for identifying GN constraint sets finds a set which is maximum in twelve cases and averages 99.1% of maximum. On average, the GN constraints identified comprise more than 62.3% of the total constraints in these problems. The algorithm for identifying embedded GN submatrices finds submatrices whose sizes, rows plus columns, average 96.8% of an LP upper bound. Over 91.3% of the total constraint matrix was identified as a GN submatrix in these problems, on average.The act of being wise is the act of knowing what to overlook.William James (ca. 1890)     

基于加压毛细管电色谱-激光诱导荧光联用技术研究离子强度对维生素B_2光解反应的影响

基于加压毛细管电色谱-激光诱导荧光检测法建立了分析维生素B2及其荧光性光解产物的方法,并用于研究维生素B2在水溶液和磷酸盐缓冲液中的光解反应速率与离子强度之间的关系。发现在C18毛细管色谱柱,流动相为含0.1%(v/v)三氟乙酸的乙腈水溶液,梯度洗脱,激发波长为488 nm,发射波长为520 nm的条件下,维生素B2及多种荧光性光解产物均得到很好的分离和检测,维生素B2的定量限为5×10-8mol/L。在此基础上研究了维生素B2的光降解反应受光照时间和离子强度等的影响。发现离子强度对维生素B2溶液的光解反应有显著影响,离子强度越大,光解速度越快。并进一步通过动力学计算得到维生素B2在水溶液和磷酸盐缓冲液中光解反应的表观速率常数。该研究为维生素B2的光稳定研究提供了一种高效分离和检测的方法,并为维生素B2的保存及临床使用提供了参考。     

A Dimer of Hydrogen Cyanide Stabilized by a Lewis Acid

A highly labile dimer of hydrogen cyanide, HCN???HCN, was extracted from liquid HCN by adduct formation with the bulky Lewis acid B(C₆F₅)₃, affording HCN???HCN?B(C₆F₅)₃, which was fully characterized. The influence of the solvent (HCN, CH₂Cl₂, and aromatic hydrocarbons) on the crystallization process was studied, revealing dimer formation when using HCN or CH₂Cl₂ as solvent, whereas aromatic hydrocarbons led to the formation of monomeric arene??HCN?B(C₆F₅)₃ adducts, additionally stabilized by η⁶‐coordination of the aromatic ring system similar to well‐known half‐sandwich complexes.     

Visible Light Mediated Aryl Migration by Homolytic C−N Cleavage of Aryl Amines

The photocatalytic preparation of aminoalkylated heteroarenes from haloalkylamides via a 1,4‐aryl migration from nitrogen to carbon, conceptually analogous to a radical Smiles rearrangement, is reported. This method enables the substitution of amino groups in heteroaromatic compounds with aminoalkyl motifs under mild, iridium(III)‐mediated photoredox conditions. It provides rapid access to thienoazepinone, a pharmacophore present in multiple drug candidates for potential treatment of different conditions, including inflammation and psychotic disorders.     

Comparing Branched versus Straight-chained Monoamide Extractants for Actinide Recovery

Separations of used nuclear fuel at the engineered scale have generally been completed using the Plutonium Uranium Redox Extraction (PUREX) process. The PUREX process uses tributyl phosphate (TBP) as an extractant to recover uranium and plutonium. While the TBP extractant has proven effective at recovering U and Pu at the engineered scale, TBP is potentially vulnerable to third phase formation and TBP degradation products (monobutyl and dibutyl phosphoric acids) which can complicate recovery of extracted metals from the organic phase. An alternative class of extractants, monoamides, has been considered for applications in thorium and uranium fuel cycles. When compared to TBP, monoamides tend to have higher separation factors for U or Pu from fission products, structural materials, and Th. This review summarizes the literature that explores actinide separations using monoamides by assessing the physiochemical properties between a broader library of branched and straight-chain monoamides than considered in previous reviews. An emphasis is placed on fine-tuning the selectivity of branched monoamides.     

On nonlinear stability of general undercompressive viscous shock waves

We study the nonlinear stability of general undercompressive viscous shock waves. Previously, the authors showed stability in a special case when the shock phase shift can be determined a priori from the total mass of the perturbation, using new pointwise methods. By examining time invariants associated with the linearized equations, we can now overcome a new difficulty in the general case, namely, nonlinear movement of the shock. We introduce a coordinate transformation suitable to treat this new aspect, and demonstrate our method by analyzing a model system of generic type. We obtain sharp pointwise bounds andL ^p behavior of the solution for allp, 1p.     

A non-affine network model for polymer melts

In this paper, a network model of polymer melts is proposed in which network junction points move non-affinely. In this non-affine motion, junction points follow particle paths as seen by an observer rotating at the fluid element's net rigid-rotation rate. The speed at which junction points move is reduced as the network segments near their maximum extensions. In order to maintain a frame invariant model, it is necessary that the vorticity be decomposed into two portions, such that, = _R + _D . The deformational vorticity, _D , arises from shear deformation and is frame invariant while the rigid vorticity, _R , is frame dependent. A constitutive equation based on this finitely extensible network strand (FENS) motion is developed. The model illustrates how rotations that cause changes in the relative orientation of a fluid element with its surroundings can be incorporated into a constitutive equation using the deformational vorticity. The FENS model predicts a shear-thinning viscosity, and the Trouton viscosity predicted by the model is finite for all elongation rates. Finally, stochastic simulation results are presented to justify a mathematical approximation used in deriving the constitutive equation.     

Database diversity assessment: New ideas, concepts, and tools

We present some new ideas for characterizing and comparing largechemical databases. The comparison of the contents of large databases is nottrivial since it implies pairwise comparison of hundreds of thousands ofcompounds. We have developed methods for categorizing compounds into groupsor series based on their ring-system content, using precalculatedstructure-based hashcodes. Two large databases can then be compared bysimply comparing their hashcode tables. Furthermore, the number of distinctring-system combinations can be used as an indicator of database diversity.We also present an indepen- dent technique for diversity assessment calledthe saturation diversity approach. This method is based on picking as manymutually dissimilar compounds as possible from a database or a subsetthereof. We show that both methods yield similar results. Since the twomethods measure very different properties, this probably says more about theproperties of the databases studied than about the methods.     

Conformational changes in a photosensory LOV domain monitored by time-resolved NMR spectroscopy

Phototropins are light-activated kinases from plants that utilize light-oxygen-voltage (LOV) domains as blue light photosensors. Illumination of these domains leads to the formation of a covalent linkage between the protein and an internally bound flavin chromophore, destabilizing the surrounding protein and displacing an alpha-helix from its surface. Here we use a combination of spectroscopic tools to monitor the kinetic processes that spontaneously occur in the dark as the protein returns to the noncovalent ground state. Using time-resolved two-dimensional (2D) NMR methods, we measured the rate of this process at over 100 independent sites throughout the protein, establishing that regeneration of the dark state occurs cooperatively within a 1.6-fold range of observed rates. These data agree with other spectroscopic measurements of the kinetics of protein/FMN bond cleavage and global conformational changes, consistent with these processes experiencing a common rate-limiting step. Arrhenius analyses of the temperature dependence of these rates suggest that the transition state visited during this regeneration has higher energy than the denatured form of this protein domain despite the fact that there is no global unfolding of the domain during this process.     

The heterogeneity of the glycosylation of alpha-1-acid glycoprotein between the sera and synovial fluid in rheumatoid arthritis

Alpha-1-acid glycoprotein (AGP) is a plasma glycoprotein produced by the liver that undergoes increased production and altered glycosylation in several physiological and pathological conditions including rheumatoid arthritis. To date, although present in the synovial fluid of rheumatoid arthritis patients, there has been no evidence for the separate extra-hepatic production of AGP. This study indicates that there could be a localized production of AGP in rheumatoid synovial fluid by demonstrating that the glycosylation patterns of AGP differed between the serum and synovial fluid in the same rheumatoid patient. Serum AGP was largely composed of fucosylated tri- and tetra-antennary oligosaccharide chains while the synovial fluid contained mainly bi-antennary chains that were fucosylated to a lesser extent. This structural heterogeneity of glycosylation resulted in functional diversity; serum but not synovial AGP is able to inhibit binding to the cell adhesion molecule E-selectin through expression of antigen sialyl Lewis X.