On Oscillation Criteria of Fourth Order Linear Differential Equations

The paper deals with oscillation criteria of fourth order linear differential equations with quasi-derivatives.     

OSCILLATION RESULTS FOR A SECOND ORDER NEUTRAL DELAY DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS

Some new oscillation criteria are established for a second order neutral delay differential equations. These results improve oscillation results of Y.V. Rogo-vchenko for the retarded delay differential equations. The relevance of our theorems is illustrated with two carefully selected examples.     

UV‐ignited frontal polymerization of an epoxy resin

By combining frontal polymerization and radical‐induced cationic polymerization, it was possible to cure thick samples of an epoxy monomer bleached by UV light. The effect of the relative amounts of cationic photoinitiator and radical initiator was thoroughly investigated and was related to the front's velocity and its maximum temperature. The materials obtained were characterized by quantitative conversion also in the deeper layers, not reached by UV light. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 2066–2072, 2004     

Photoinitiators with functional groups. VII. Covalently bonded camphorquinone—amines

Camphorquinone (CQ), a widely used photoinitiator (PI) in dental applications, was covalently bonded to aromatic amines to enhance the rate of electron and proton transfer effect due to the close vicinity of the diketone and the amine group. 10‐bromocamphorquinone and 10‐bromomethylcamphorquinone were selected as suitable precursors for esterification with the carboxyl group containing aromatic amines based on 4‐dimethylaminobenzoic acid. Properties of the new photoinitiating systems were investigated by UV spectroscopy and differential scanning photocalorimetry in lauryl acrylate. Compared to physical mixtures, in all cases similar or even better performance was obtained. Surprisingly, 10‐acetyl derivatives 7 – 9 and 18 especially, were found to be highly reactive. Compared to CQ/ethyl 4‐dimethylaminobenzoate, the rate of photopolymerization was increased by a factor of up to 2. Intramolecular reaction was confirmed by photo‐differential scanning calorimetry experiments with varying PI concentrations. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 4948–4963, 2004     

Synthesis and characterization of new segmented polyurethanes with side‐chain,liquid‐crystalline chain extenders

Liquid‐crystalline, segmented polyurethanes with methoxy–biphenyl mesogens pendant on the chain extender were synthesized by the conventional prepolymer technique and esterification reaction. Two, side‐chain, liquid‐crystalline (SCLC) polyurethanes with mesogens having spacers of six and eight methylene units were prepared. The structures of the mesogenic units and SCLC polyurethanes were confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and ¹H NMR. Polymer properties were also examined by solubility tests, water uptakes, and inherent viscosity measurements. Differential scanning calorimetry studies indicated that the transition temperature of the isotropic to the liquid‐crystalline phase decreased with increasing spacer length. Wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction (WAXD) studies revealed the existence of liquid‐crystalline phases for both SCLC polyurethanes. Polarized optical microscopic investigations further confirmed the thermotropic liquid‐crystalline behaviors and nematic mesophases of both samples. Thermogravimetric analysis displayed better thermal stabilities for both SCLC polymers and indicated that the presence of mesogenic side chains may increase the thermal stability of segmented polyurethanes. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 290–302, 2004     

Determination of the degree of cure under dynamic and isothermal curing conditions with electrical impedance spectroscopy

This article presents a new methodology for the quantitative determination of the progress of the curing reaction of a thermosetting resin, using the results of electrical impedance spectroscopy. The method is an extension of the use of the imaginary impedance maximum as a reaction progress indicator and is based on the demonstration of a close correlation between the reaction rate, as measured by conventional differential scanning calorimetry, and the rate of change of the value of the imaginary impedance spectrum maximum. Tests on a commercial aerospace epoxy resin under both isothermal and dynamic heating conditions with calorimetry and impedance spectroscopy have demonstrated the validity of the method and set the accuracy limits involved. This technique can be used as a real-time online control tool for thermoset composite manufacturing. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 42: 146–154, 2004     

Upper Bounds of the Pursuer Control Based on a Linear-Quadratic Differential Game

Differential game formulations provide an adequate basis for a guidance law synthesis against highly maneuvering targets. This paper deals with a guidance law based on a linear-quadratic differential game formulation. This guidance law has many attractive properties: it is continuous, linear with respect to the state variables, and its gain coefficients can be precalculated offline. Nevertheless, due to the lack of hard control constraints in the formulation, the magnitude of the control can exceed the admissible level imposed by the nature of the problem. In this paper, the upper bound of the interceptor control is obtained depending on the system parameters and the penalty coefficients of the game performance index. It is shown that the interceptor can guarantee an arbitrarily small miss distance without exceeding the control constraints if it has sufficient maneuverability and if the penalty coefficients are chosen properly. By manipulating the penalty coefficients, it is possible to reduce significantly the maneuverability requirements compared to the case of zero interceptor penalty coefficient.     

Dynamic Strategic Pricing and Speed of Diffusion

Defining speed of diffusion as the amount of time it takes to get from one penetration level to a higher one, we introduce a dynamic model in which we study the link between pricing policy, speed of diffusion, and number of competitors in the market. Our analysis shows that, in the case of strategic (oligopolistic) competition, the speed of diffusion has an important influence on the optimal pricing policy. In particular, we find that higher speeds of diffusion create an incentive to strategically interacting firms to lower their prices.     

Analysis of finite dimensional approximations to a class of partial differential equations

In this paper, a unified approach for analysing finite dimensional approximations to a class of partial differential equations boundary value problems (second‐kind Fredholm differential equations) is introduced. The approach is shown to be general despite of its extremely simple form. In particular, it is expected to be useful in the convergence analysis of finite element methods for solving PDE problems. Three specific examples are presented to illustrate the broad applicability of the approach. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Error estimates for Hermite interpolation on spheres

In this paper, we prove convergence rates for spherical spline Hermite interpolation on the sphere S^d−1 via an error estimate given in a technical report by Luo and Levesley. The functionals in the Hermite interpolation are either point evaluations of pseudodifferential operators or rotational differential operators, the desirable feature of these operators being that they map polynomials to polynomials. Convergence rates for certain derivatives are given in terms of maximum point separation.