Collaborative distributed decision making for large scale disaster relief operations: Drawing analogies from robust natural systems

One of the most ignored, but urgent and vital challenges confronting society today is the vulnerability of urban areas to extreme events. Current organization of response systems, predominantly based on a command and control model, limits their effectiveness and efficiency. Particularly, in decision‐making processes where a large number of actors may be involved. In this article, a new distributed collaborative decision‐making model is proposed to overcome command and control limitations encountered in stressful, hostile, chaotic, and large‐scale settings. This model was derived by borrowing concepts from the collective decision making of honeybees foraging, a successful process in solving complex tasks within complex settings. The model introduced in this article was evaluated through differential equations, i.e., continuous analysis, and difference equations, i.e., discrete analysis. The most important result found is that the best available option in any large‐scale decision‐making problem can be configured as an attractor, in a distributed and timely manner. We suggest that the proposed model has the potential to facilitate decision‐making processes in large‐scale settings. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 11:28–38, 2005     

FAST ACCURATE PREDICTION OF BLANK SHAPE IN SHEET METAL FORMING

By using the Finite Element Inverse Approach based on the Hill quadratic anisotrop-ically yield criterion and the quadrilateral element, a fast analyzing software-FASTAMP for the sheet metal forming is developed. The blank shapes of three typical stampings are simulated and compared with numerical results given by the AUTOFORM software and experimental results, respectively. The comparison shows that the FASTAMP can predict blank shape and strain distribution of the stamping more precisely and quickly than those given by the traditional methods and the AUTOFORM.     

Performance of various activators in ethylene polymerization based on an iron(II) catalyst system

Ethylisobutylaluminoxane (EBAO) and its analogues were synthesized by a reaction between an triethylaluminum (Et₃Al)/triisobutylaluminum (i‐Bu₃Al) mixture and 4‐fluorobenzeneboronic acid, phenylboronic acid, or n‐butaneboronic acid and subsequent hydrolysis with water. They were used as cocatalysts in ethylene polymerization catalyzed by an iron complex {[(ArN?C(Me))₂C₅H₃N]FeCl₂, where Ar is 2,6‐diisopropylphenyl}. Polyethylene with a high molecular weight and a narrow molecular weight distribution was prepared with modified EBAOs, and the performance of the iron complex at high polymerization temperatures was greatly improved. The activators for the iron complex also affected the polymerization activity and the molecular weight of the resultant polyethylene. It was suggested that the stereo and electronic effects of the substitute groups of aluminoxane contributed to the improved performance of the new activators. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 1093–1099, 2004     

Metallo‐supramolecular block copolymer micelles: Improved preparation and characterization

Micelles prepared from amphiphilic block copolymers in which a poly(styrene) segment is connected to a poly(ethylene oxide) block via a bis‐(2,2′:6′,2″‐terpyridine‐ruthenium) complex have been intensely studied. In most cases, the micelle populations were found to be strongly heterogeneous in size because of massive micelle/micelle aggregation. In the study reported in this article we tried to improve the homogeneity of the micelle population. The variant preparation procedure developed, which is described here, was used to prepare two “protomer”‐type micelles: PS₂₀‐[Ru]‐PEO₇₀ and PS₂₀‐[Ru]‐PEO₃₇₅. The dropwise addition of water to a solution of the compounds in dimethylformamide was replaced by the controlled addition of water by a syringe pump. The resulting micelles were characterized by sedimentation velocity and sedimentation equilibrium analyses in an analytical ultracentrifuge and by transmission electron microscopy of negatively stained samples. Sedimentation analysis showed virtually unimodal size distributions, in contrast to the findings on micelles prepared previously. PS₂₀‐[Ru]‐PEO₇₀ micelles were found to have an average molar mass of 318,000 g/mol (corresponding to 53 protomers per micelle, which is distinctly less than after micelle preparation by the standard method) and an average hydrodynamic diameter (d_h) of 18 nm. For PS₂₀‐[Ru]‐PEO₃₇₅ micelles, the corresponding values were M = 603,000 g/mol (31 protomers per micelle) and d_h = 34 nm. The latter particles were found to be identical to the “equilibrium” micelles prepared in pure water. Both micelle types had a very narrow molar mass distribution but a much broader distribution of s values and thus of hydrodynamic diameters. This indicates a conformational heterogeneity that is stable on the time scale of sedimentation velocity analysis. The findings from electron microscopy were in disagreement with those from the sedimentation analysis both in average micelle diameter and in the width of the distributions, apparently because of imperfections in the staining procedure. The preparation procedure described also may be useful in micelle formation from other types of protomers. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 4458–4465, 2004     

Labile Interactions Defined in Crystalline Metal Complexes

The problems involved in identifying and quantifying labile interactions considered to influence complex compound structures are highlighted through the assessment of four different families of metal complexes for which extensive crystallographic data are available. Modification of the charge distribution within a ligand molecule as a result of coordination is one factor with a number of ramifications. A detailed analysis of evidence for both intra- and inter-molecular attractions in dimethylsulfoxide complexes of metal perchlorates is used to provide a basis for the consideration of weak interactions between complex ions involving forces including phenyl-group attractions, hydrogen bonding and cavity inclusion.     

Zn(BTZ)2白色有机电致发光材料的合成及其器件制备

以PCl₃为脱水剂,将邻氨基硫酚与水杨酸脱水环化合成出2-(2-羟基苯基)苯并噻唑,并进一步将所得产物与乙酸锌反应合成出2-(2-羟基苯基)苯并噻唑螯合锌(Zn(BTZ)₂)材料。以该配合物作为发光层制备出结构为ITO/PVK:TPD/Zn(BTZ)₂/Al近白色电致发光器件,其色坐标位于白场之内(x=0.242,y=0.359),在驱动电压为16V时,亮度达3200cdm²,对应的量子效率为0.32%。进一步在Zn(BTZ)₂中掺入橙红色染料Rubrene,制成ITO/PVK:TPD/Zn(BTZ)₂:Rubrene/Al结构器件,实现了纯白色发光(色坐标值:x=0.324,y=0.343),非常接近于白色等能点,且量子效率达0.47%。最后对上述器件的发光和电学性能进行了深入的研究和探讨。     

Kinetic Studies on the Reaction of Sodium Hexa-cyanoferrate(II) Complex with Peroxydisulfate Anion

Introduction In the previous studies on the oxidation reaction,peroxydisulfate was widely used as an oxidizingagent.1-5 One of the advantages of this oxidant lies in itsstability in a wide range of pH values. The reaction be-tween Fe(CN)5L3- (L=N-aromatic heterocyclic li-gands) and S2O8 2- has been proved to proceed throughan outer-sphere electron transfer mechanism.5 For a re-action [(Eq. (1)] to be under an outer-sphere mechanismthe steps involved are the formation of a reactant …     

Theoretical Study on the Long-lived Complexes for the Na＋I2 Collision System

For the Na I2 collision system, theoretical study is performed on the QCISD(T) level by using ab initio method. The ab initio potential energy surfaces are got and on them the long-lived complexes are found and optimized. These results verify the crossed molecule beam experimental phenomenon and the detailed geometry structures are given for the first time. The role of the complexes in the reaction path is also described in detail.     

Synthesis and Photochemical Properties of a New Substituted Phenol Covalently Linked to Ruthenium （Ⅱ） Tris-bipyridine Containing Four Ester Groups as Sensitizer

As photosensitizer for solar cell, a new ruthenium (Ⅱ) complex with four ester groups had been synthesized, in which a phenol substituted by {[(2-hydroxy-5-tert-butylbenzyl)(pyridyl-2-methyl)amino]methyl} is covalently linked to ruthenium (Ⅱ) tris-bipyridine. The structures of the new compounds were confirmed by NMR and ESI-MS spectra. The electrochemical and photochemical properties were also studied.     

Continuous dependence on modelling for a complex Ginzburg–Landau equation with complex coefficients

Continuous dependence on a modelling parameter is established for solutions of a problem for a complex Ginzburg–Landau equation. A homogenizing boundary condition is also used to discuss the continuous dependence results. We derive a priori estimates that indicate that solutions depend continuously on a parameter in the governing differential equation. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.