A new decomposition approach for the single machine total tardiness scheduling problem

This paper deals with the single machine total tardiness problem. From Emmons’ basic dominance conditions a new partition theorem is derived which generalises Lawler’s decomposition rule and leads to a new double decomposition procedure. This procedure is embedded into a branch and bound method which applies a new lower bound based on due dates reassignment. The branch and bound method is tested on problems with size up to 150 jobs.     

Wormlike micelles mediated by polyelectrolyte

Aqueous solutions of the anionic surfactant potassium oleate (K-oleate) were studied using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS), steady-state rheology, and cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM). The micellar structural changes induced by the addition of potassium chloride (KCl) and sodium polystyrenesulfonate (PSS) of different molecular weights were investigated. Upon addition of KCl, a transition from spherical to wormlike micelles was detected from the SANS data and confirmed by the cryo-TEM pictures. The rheological measurements revealed a strong dependence of the low-shear viscosity on the concentration of salt: a broad maximum in the viscosity curve was observed upon addition of KCl, characteristic of the growth of micelles into long worms, followed by branching. The addition of PSS to salt-free solutions of K-oleate had a significant effect on the scattering patterns, revealing partial growth of the spherical micelles into rodlike micelles. In contrast, in the presence of high salt concentrations, addition of PSS to solutions of wormlike micelles did not bring any noticeable modifications in the scattering. However, in the same salt conditions, a clear effect was observed on the low shear viscosity upon addition of PSS, which was found to depend significantly on molecular weight. This suggests a novel way of impacting the viscosity of solutions of wormlike micelles.     

QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS OF INTRACELLULAR BEHAVIOUR OF PORPHYRINS

Abstract Fluorometric analysis performed on L 1210 cells after treatment with Photofrin indicated that the interactions with cellular structures induce a significant modification of the equilibria among the different porphyrin species. This modification turned out to be dependent on the uptake and release processes. Thus, a comparative analysis of the dynamic aspects of the drug accumulation process was performed on cells treated with hematoporphyrin, Photofrin and Photofrin II. The results obtained were interpreted taking into account the different chemical composition of the drugs employed. The porphyrin species mainly released seem to be the monomeric ones and 'unfolded oligomers'. The release process results in further modifications of the aggregation and/or configu-rational state of intracellular porphyrins due to altered internal equilibrium.     

Existence results for forced nonlinear periodic BVPs at resonance

Sunto In questo lavoro si presentano alcuni risultati riguardanti l'esistenza di soluzioni p-periodiche per sistemi di equazioni differenziali non lineari in risonanza, del tipo x+ Dx + + Ag(t, x)=h(t), ove D ed A sono matrici m×m, con D di tipo diagonale, h è un termine forzante p-periodico e g è un campo vettoriale, non necessariamente limitato. In particolare, viene esteso ai sistemi, in ipotesi più generali, un classico teorema dovuto a Lazer e Leach. Le dimostrazioni sono basate sull'uso del grado topologico (teorema di continuazione di Mawhin).     

Third-Order Phase Transition: Random Matrices and Screened Coulomb Gas with Hard Walls

Journal of Statistical Physics - Consider the free energy of a d-dimensional gas in canonical equilibrium under pairwise repulsive interaction and global confinement, in presence of a volume...     

Numerical simulation of bubble and droplet deformation by a level set approach with surface tension in three dimensions

In this paper we present a three‐dimensional Navier–Stokes solver for incompressible two‐phase flow problems with surface tension and apply the proposed scheme to the simulation of bubble and droplet deformation. One of the main concerns of this study is the impact of surface tension and its discretization on the overall convergence behavior and conservation properties. Our approach employs a standard finite difference/finite volume discretization on uniform Cartesian staggered grids and uses Chorin's projection approach. The free surface between the two fluid phases is tracked with a level set (LS) technique. Here, the interface conditions are implicitly incorporated into the momentum equations by the continuum surface force method. Surface tension is evaluated using a smoothed delta function and a third‐order interpolation. The problem of mass conservation for the two phases is treated by a reinitialization of the LS function employing a regularized signum function and a global fixed point iteration. All convective terms are discretized by a WENO scheme of fifth order. Altogether, our approach exhibits a second‐order convergence away from the free surface. The discretization of surface tension requires a smoothing scheme near the free surface, which leads to a first‐order convergence in the smoothing region. We discuss the details of the proposed numerical scheme and present the results of several numerical experiments concerning mass conservation, convergence of curvature, and the application of our solver to the simulation of two rising bubble problems, one with small and one with large jumps in material parameters, and the simulation of a droplet deformation due to a shear flow in three space dimensions. Furthermore, we compare our three‐dimensional results with those of quasi‐two‐dimensional and two‐dimensional simulations. This comparison clearly shows the need for full three‐dimensional simulations of droplet and bubble deformation to capture the correct physical behavior. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The analytical resolution of parallel first‐ and second‐order reaction mechanisms

Given the species A₁ and A₂, the competition among the three different elementary processes (1) (2) (3) is frequently found in thermal and photochemical reaction systems. In the present paper, an analytical resolution of the system (1)–(3), performed under plausible contour conditions, namely, finite initial molar concentrations for both reactants, [A₂]₀ and [A₁]₀, and nonzero reaction rate coefficients k₁, k₂, and k₃, leads to the equation [A₁] = ((δ[A₂]^γ ? [A₂])/β) ? α, where α = k₁/2k₃, γ = β + 1 = 2k₃/k₂, and δ = ([A₂]₀ + β[A₁]₀ + β α))/[A₂]₀^γ. The comparison with a numerical integration employing the fourth‐order Runge–Kutta algorithm for the well‐known case of the oxidation of organic compounds by ferrate ion is performed. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Chem Kinet 42: 562–566, 2010     

Conductivities and transport properties of gelled electrolytes with and without an ionic liquid for Li and Li-ion batteries

Conductivity and transport properties have been determined for gelled polymer electrolytes of three compositions: a base PVdF-polymer gel with organic carbonate solvents as plasticizers and LiN(SO(2)C(2)F(5))(2) electrolyte, a second polymer electrolyte with 5 mass % 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bisperfluoroethylsulfonyl imide (EMI-BETI) added to the base polymer electrolyte, and a third PVdF polymer electrolyte using only EMI-BETI as the plasticizer. Conductivities were studied over the temperature range +25 to -40 degrees C, and for all three gels, the temperature dependence of the conductivities was found to follow the VTF equation, which is consistent with the free volume model for ion transport. For the gel containing 5 mass % EMI-BETI, transport numbers were determined from +50 to -20 degrees C and were found to decrease as the temperature decreased. Although there are no theoretical models to treat and interpret the temperature dependence of transport numbers, we found that a modified VTF equation resulted in an excellent fit to the temperature dependence of the transport number, which is another confirmation of a free volume model for transport in these gelled polymer electrolytes.     

The proficiency testing programme for trace elements of the CORILA project

Harmonised quality schemes are being implemented in the framework of the thematic area Organization and Dissemination of Data of the Consorzio per la Gestione del Centro di Coordinamento delle Attività di Ricerca Inerenti il Sistema Lagunare di Venezia (Consortium for the Management of the Coordination Centre of Research Activities on the Venice Lagoon System, CORILA). Over the last 2 years, two proficiency tests were completed at the time of writing (while a third one is still in progress) to assess the capabilities of the analytical laboratories involved in the determination of trace elements in environmental inorganic matrices from the Lagoon of Venice.Both interlaboratorial trials were based on the determination of As, Cd, Cr, Cu, Fe, Hg, Pb and Zn in aqueous acidic, matrix-enriched solutions at concentrations within the ranges generally found in marine water and in sediment after chemical digestion, respectively. The proficiency of participants was assessed on the basis of the z score criterion (|z|≤2, acceptable results; 2<|z|<3, questionable results; |z|≥3, unacceptable results). In the two trials, the relevant percentages for the laboratories scoring |z|≤2 and |z|<3 were 61% and 71% and 65% and 77%, respectively. These first two proficiency tests, on the one hand, clearly pointed to the benefits the laboratories had from their participation in these exercises, and on the other hand, provided sound evidence of the need for further trials based on real environmental matrices.     

Correction to: Numerical evaluation of entropy generation in isolated airfoils and Wells turbines

Meccanica - In the original publication of the article, Eqs. (26)–(28) are incorrect due to a missing ρ symbol, inadvertently omitted when reporting the equations in the article.