Aircraft and crew scheduling for fractional ownership programs

Fractional aircraft ownership programs, where individuals or corporations own a fraction of an aircraft, have revolutionized the corporate aviation industry. Fractional management companies (FMC) manage all aspects of aircraft operations enabling the owners to enjoy the benefits of private aviation without the associated responsibilities. We describe here the development of a scheduling decision support tool for a leading FMC. We present mathematical models, exact and heuristic solution methods. Our computational results using real and randomly generated data indicate that these models are quite effective in finding optimal or near-optimal solutions. The first phase of the implementation of one of these models at the FMC led to a significant improvement in effective utilization of the aircraft, reduction of costs due to reduced empty moves, and hence increased profits.     

Algebraic properties of separated power series

We study the commutative algebra of rings of separated power series over a ring E and that of their extensions: rings of separated (and more specifically convergent) power series from a field K with a separated E-analytic structure. Both of these collections of rings already play an important role in the model theory of non-Archimedean valued fields and we establish their algebraic properties. This will make a study of the analytic geometry over such fields through the classical methods of algebraic geometry possible.     

Novel phthalocyanines with naphthalenic substituents

Phthalocyanines with four naphthyl-malonic ester groups on the periphery were synthesized by cyclotetramerization of 4-(1,1-dicarbethoxy-2-(1-naphthyl)-ethyl)-phthalonitrile. The new compounds were characterized by spectroscopic methods. The electronic spectra exhibit intense π–π* transitions from the naphthyl moiety together with the characteristic Q and B bands of the phthalocyanine core. The electrochemical properties of the 2,9,17,23-tetra-(1,1-(dicarbethoxy)-2-(1-naphthyl)-ethyl) phthalocyaninato copper(II) complex were studied by cyclic voltammetry.     

Stationary State Entanglement of Two Atoms Inside an Optical Cavity under Noise

In this paper, the entanglement properties of a system of two atoms inside an optical cavity in a stochastic interaction with field are studied by the Jaynes-Cummings Model. The phase telegraph noise is considered as a noise term and an exact solution to the model is obtained. The solution reveals the resulting decoherence effects of the noise on the entanglement properties of the system. It shows that under the noise the individual atoms do not entangle with the cavity field. However, a strong atom-atom entanglement is observed in a stationary state. It is seen that a relatively strong noise is cooperative in the construction of the steady state atom-atom entanglement.     

On Riesz spaces with b-property and strongly order bounded operators

A Riesz space E is said to have the b-property if each subset that is order bounded in the bidual remains to be order bounded in E. Properties of a Riesz space with the b-property, the relationship between the b-property and various classes of operators are studied.     

Synthesis,spectroscopy, electrochemistry and in situ spectroelectrochemistry of partly halogenated coumarin phthalonitrile and corresponding metal-free,cobalt and zinc phthalocyanines

In this study, the preparation of novel 7-hydroxy-3-(2-chloro-4-fluorophenyl)coumarin (1), the ligand, 7-(3,4-dicyanophenoxy)-3-(2-chloro-4-fluorophenyl)coumarin (2), metal-free phthalocyanine 3 and metallophthalocyanine complexes 4 and 5 (MPcs, M = Co, Zn), β-substituted with 7-oxo-3-(2-chloro-4-fluorophenyl)coumarin functional group was achieved. By the reaction of 7-hydroxy-3-(2-chloro-4-fluorophenyl)coumarin (1) with 1,2-dicyano-4-nitrobenzen in dry DMF as the solvent in the presence of K₂CO₃ as the base, the 7-(3,4-dicyanophenoxy)-3-(2-chloro-4-fluorophenyl)coumarin (2) was synthesized. Compound 2 reacted with Co(CH₃COO)₂·4H₂O in 2-N,N-dimethylaminoethanol to furnish a novel coumarin containing cobalt(II) phthalocyanine 4. The cyclotetramerization of 2 with Zn(CH₃COO)₂·2H₂O in 2-N,N-dimethylaminoethanol gave the novel coumarin containing Zn(II)phthalocyanine 5; while tetramerization without any metal salts in 2-N,N-dimethylaminoethanol gave the metal-free phthalocyanine 3. The structures of obtained compounds were confirmed by elemental analysis, UV–Vis, IR, MALDI-TOF mass and ¹H NMR spectra. The cyclic and differential pulse voltammetry, and in situ spectroelectrochemistry of 7-oxo-3-(2-chloro-4-fuorophenyl)coumarin substituted phthalocyanines 3, 4 and 5 allowed us to identify metal- and phthalocyanine ring-based redox processes of the complexes.     

A novel ditopic ring-expanded N-heterocyclic carbene ligand-assisted Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction in aqueous media

A series of seven-membered ditopic ring-expanded N-heterocyclic carbene (dre-NHC) precursors, bearing sterically demanding and electron-rich aryl groups, were synthesised in moderate yields via the reaction of 1,2,4,5-tetrakis(bromomethyl)benzene with the corresponding N,N′-diarylformamidines in the presence of K₂CO₃ in acetonitrile under an air atmosphere. All new compounds were characterised by HRMS, NMR spectroscopy, and microanalysis, as well as X-ray crystallography for compound 1c. The development of an efficient catalytic system for the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction of aryl chlorides with various boronic acids was also investigated using the in situ generated dre-NHC ligands.     

Investigation of the structural properties of annealed CdIn2Te4/CdS thin film solar cells produced by the electron-beam evaporation (e-beam) technique

Thin film CdIn₂Te₄/CdS solar cells were deposited onto the ITO-coated glass substrate by electron beam evaporation (e-beam) technique, and the the effect of annealing on their structural properties is studied. The annealing was performed under nitrogen atmosphere for 1 h. The manufactured solar cells were studied by X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDAX) analysis. Crystallite size (D), inter-planer distance (d) and lattice constant (a) values were calculated for the thin film solar cell from XRD data. Annealed samples display well defined XRD patterns with three diffraction peaks. We observed increased peak intensity in the annealed films. EDAX analysis showed that only CdIn₂Te₄ is present in absorber layer and CdS is found in the window layer, but no impurity atoms are present the structure. It is observed that surface roughness of the annealed films incresed, according to SEM images. The I–V characteristics show that the current is increased for annealed thin films solar cells.