The least element property of center location on tree networks with applications to distance and precedence constrained problems

In the classicalp-center location model on a network there is a set of customers, and the primary objective is to selectp service centers that will minimize the maximum distance of a customer to a closest center. Suppose that thep centers receive their supplies from an existing central depot on the network, e.g. a warehouse. Thus, a secondary objective is to locate the centers that optimize the primary objective as close as possible to the central depot. We consider tree networks and twop-center models. We show that the set of optimal solutions to the primary objective has a semilattice structure with respect to some natural ordering. Using this property we prove that there is ap-center solution to the primary objective that simultaneously minimizes every secondary objective function which is monotone nondecreasing in the distances of thep centers from the existing central depot.Restricting the location models to a rooted path network (real line) we prove that the above results hold for the respective classicalp-median problems as well.     

Rigorous results on the thermodynamics of the dilute Hopfield model

We study the Hopfield model of an autoassociative memory on a random graph onN vertices where the probability of two vertices being joined by a link isp(N). Assuming thatp(N) goes to zero more slowly thanO(1/N), we prove the following results: (1) If the number of stored patternsm(N) is small enough such thatm(N)/Np(N) 0, asN, then the free energy of this model converges, upon proper rescaling, to that of the standard Curie-Weiss model, for almost all choices of the random graph and the random patterns. (2) If in additionm(N) < ln N/ln 2, we prove that there exists, forT< 1, a Gibbs measure associated to each original pattern, whereas for higher temperatures the Gibbs measure is unique. The basic technical result in the proofs is a uniform bound on the difference between the Hamiltonian on a random graph and its mean value.     

Crosslinking of vinyl‐terminated biphenyl and naphthalene side‐chain liquid‐crystalline poly(epichlorohydrin) derivatives

We performed the crosslinking of vinyl‐terminated biphenyl and naphthalene side‐chain liquid‐crystalline polyethers using peroxide‐type initiators with and without the addition of tertiary amine promoters. The crosslinking temperatures were chosen in the range of mesophase stability to allow the mesophase order to be frozen. The biphenyl derivatives, with a high isotropization temperature, were crosslinked to a large extent. This led to anisotropic thermosets. To crosslink naphthalene derivatives, amine promoters were needed, but degrees of crosslinking were lower, and anisotropic elastomers were obtained. Crosslinking processes were studied by differential scanning calorimetry, polarized optical microscopy, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The nature of the frozen mesophase was confirmed by X‐ray diffraction studies on mechanically oriented samples. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 40: 2237–2244, 2002     

Miscible blends through hydrogen bonding: effects on polymer properties

Miscible blends through hydrogen bonding have been intensively studied. The effects of a variety of miscible hydrogen bonded polymer blends on properties such as thermal and thermal oxidative stability, moisture sensitivity, modulus and glass transition temperature are discussed. In addition, the preparation of semi-interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) and studies of the effect of crosslinking on the miscibility in hydrogen bonded polymer blends are reviewed.     

Prediction of Complexation Properties of Crown Ethers Using Computational Neural Networks

A computational neural network method was used for the prediction of stability constants of simple crown ether complexes. The essence of the method lies in the ability of a computer neural network to recognize the structure-property relationships in these host-guest systems. Testing of the computational method has demonstrated that stability constants of alkali metal cation (Na+, K+, Cs+)-crown ether complexes in methanol at 25 °C can be predicted with an average error of ±0.3 log K units based on the chemical structure of the crown ethers alone. The computer model was then used for the preliminary analysis of trends in the stabilities of the above complexes.     

基于支持向量机的羰基化合物红外光谱研究

设计了一个4层分等级分类系统，通过支持向量机技术对羰基化合物的红外光谱成功地进行了信息分类和提取，并与人工神经网络进行比较，结果表明：支持向量机对羰基类化合物红外光谱分类效果优于人工神经网络；另外详细探讨了表征酰胺类化合物的特征光谱峰片段对识圳伯仲叔酰胺的影响，证明了酰胺的N-H伸缩振动峰对识别伯仲叔酰胺贡献最大，为构建红外光谱智能解析系统提供了定量依据。     

神经网络法用于多元混酸同时测定

利用多层神经网络误差反向传播算法处理酸碱电位滴定数据，求得出多元混合酸各组分的浓度，优化了神经网络的结构和参数，测定了三组分有机酸混合样品，结果良好，平均相对偏差ＲＳＤ≤４％。     

Interpenetrating polymer networks of poly(carbonate-urethane) and polyvinyl pyridine

Simultaneous interpenetrating polymer networks (IPN's), pseudo IPN's, and liner blends of aliphatic poly(carbonate-urethane) (PCU) and polyvinyl pyridine (PVP) have been prepared and characterized by DSC, DMA, and TEM. The full IPN's of PCU and PVP had a single phase morphology only above 50 wt % PCU, as determined by both DSC and DMA and confirmed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM). However, in both pseudo IPN's of PCU and PVP and in their linear blends there exist multiple glass transitions and melting points seen by DSC and DMA indicating phase incompatibility. The full IPN's exhibited superior ultimate mechanical properties and solvent resistance as compared to the pseudo IPN's, liner blends, and the pure crosslinked PCU and PVP networks.     

Modeling of the relationship between electroosmotic flow and separation parameters in capillary zone electrophoresis using artificial neural networks and experimental design

The prediction of migration time of electroosmotic flow (EOF) marker was achieved by applying artificial neural networks (ANN) model based on principal component analysis (PCA) and standard normal distribution simulation to the input variables. The voltage of performance, the temperature in the capillary, the pH and the ionic strength of background electrolytes (BGE) were applied as the input variables to ANN. The range of the performance voltage studied was from 15 to 27 kV, and that of the temperature in the capillary was from 20 to 30 °C. For the pH values studied, the range was from 5.15 to 8.04. The range of the ionic strength investigated in this paper was from 0.040 to 0.097. The prediction abilities of ANN with different pre-processing procedure to the input variables were compared. Under the same performance conditions, the average prediction error of the migration time of the EOF marker was 5.46% with RSD = 1.76% according to 10 parallel runs of the optimized ANN structure by the proposed approach, and that of the 10 parallel predictions of the optimal ANN structure for the different performance conditions was 12.95% with RSD = 2.29% according to the proposed approach. The study showed that the proposed method could give better predicted results than other approaches discussed.     

Self-assembled,wormlike-cylinder network of polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) micelles in solution

We report the formation of a highly entangled and interconnected, self-assembled, wormlike-cylinder network of polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene oxide) in N, N-dimethylformamide/water. In this system, N,N-dimethylformamide was a common solvent and water was a selective solvent for the poly(ethylene oxide) blocks. The degrees of polymerization of the polystyrene and poly(ethylene oxide) blocks were 962 and 227, respectively. The network was formed at copolymer concentrations higher than 0.4 wt % and consisted of self-assembled, wormlike cylinders that were interconnected by Y-shaped, T-shaped, and multiple junctions. The network morphology was visualized with transmission electron microscopy. Capillary viscometry measurements revealed an order-of-magnitude increase in the inherent viscosity of the colloidal system upon the formation of the network. A similar effort to obtain a wormlike-cylinder network in an N,N-dimethylformamide/acetonitrile system, in which acetonitrile was a selective solvent for the poly(ethylene oxide) blocks, was unsuccessful even at high copolymer concentrations; instead, the wormlike cylinders showed a tendency to align. The viscosity measurements also did not show a substantial increase in the inherent viscosity. Thus, the solvent played a critical role in determining the formation of the self-assembled, wormlike-cylinder network. This formation of the network resulted from an interplay between the end-capping energy, bending energy (curvature), and configurational entropy of the self-assembled, wormlike-cylinder micelles that minimized the free energy. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 3605–3611, 2006