Expert Rule Versus Majority Rule Under Partial Information, II

The main purpose of this paper is clarifying the connection between some characteristics of a deciding body and the probability of its making correct decisions. In our model a group of decision makers is required to select one of two alternatives. We assume the probabilities of the decision makers being correct are independent random variables distributed according to the same given distribution rule. This distribution belongs to a general family, containing the uniform distribution as a particular case. We investigate the behavior of the probability of the expert rule being optimal, as well as that of the majority rule, both as functions of the distribution parameter and the group size. The main result is that for any value of the distribution parameter the expert rule is far more likely to be optimal than the majority rule, especially as the deciding body becomes larger.     

Novel trialkylsilyl(germyl)-substituted thienyl- and furylbenzimidazoles and their N-substituted derivatives – synthesis,structure and cytotoxic activity

The reaction of 1,2-phenylenediamine with a variety of silicon- or germanium-containing 2-furaldehydes or 2-thienylcarbaldehydes in DMFA gave the corresponding benzimidazole derivatives in moderate yields (36–49%) in the presence of sodium hydrogen sulfite. As a result, a new series of silyl, germyl substituted hetarylbenzimidazoles were synthesized and their in vitro cytotoxicity was studied. The quaternisation of N-substituted benzimidazoles by heating with various alkyl, allyl and propargyl chlorides and bromides leads to the formation of benzimidazolinium salts. Potential cytotoxic activity of synthesized new benzimidazoles and benzimidazolinium salts was tested in vitro on two monolayer tumour cell lines: MG-22A (mouse hepatoma), HT-1080 (human fibrosarcoma) and normal mouse fibroblasts (NIH 3T3) and compared with corresponding benzimidazoles.     

Thermal processes in the systems with Li-battery cathode materials and LiPF6 -based organic solutions

Thermodynamic instability of positive electrodes (cathodes) in Li-ion batteries in humid air and battery solutions results in capacity fading and batteries degradation, especially at elevated temperatures. In this work, we studied thermal interactions between cathode materials Li₂MnO₃, xLi₂MnO₃ ^.(1???x)Li(MnNiCo)O₂,LiNi_0.33Mn_0.33Co_0.33O₂, LiNi_0.4Mn_0.4Co_0.2O₂, LiNi_0.8Co_0.15Al_0.05O₂ LiMn_1.5Ni_0.5O₄, LiMn(or Fe)PO₄, and battery solutions containing ethylene carbonate (EC) or propylene carbonate (PC), dimethyl carbonate (DMC) or ethylmethyl carbonate (EMC) and LiPF₆ salt in the temperature range of 40–400 °C. It was found that these materials are stable chemically and well performing in LiPF₆-based solutions up to 60 °C. The thermal decomposition of the electrolyte solutions starts >180 °C. The macro-structural transformations of cathode materials upon exothermic reactions were studied by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), X-ray difraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies have shown that the exothermic reactions in the temperature range of 60–140 °C lead to partial decomposition of both the cathode material and electrolyte solution. The systems thus formed consisted of partially decomposed solutions and partially chemically delithiated cathode materials covered by reactions products. Thermal reactions terminate and this system reaches equilibrium at about 120 °C. It remains stable up to the beginning of the solution decomposition at about 180 °C. The increased content of surface Li₂CO₃ is found to significantly affect the thermal processes at high temperature range due to extensive exothermic decomposition at low temperatures.     

Synthesis and Cytotoxic Activity of 1‐{3‐[1‐(5‐Organylsilylfuran‐2‐yl)silinan‐1‐yl]propyl}amines and Some Trimethylgermyl Analogues

New highly cytotoxic 1‐{3‐[1‐(5‐organylsilyl‐furan‐2‐yl)silinan‐1‐yl]propyl}amines and some trimethylgermyl analogues (IC₅₀ 1–7 μg mL^?1) have been synthesized by a hydrosilylation reaction of aliphatic and heterocyclic N‐allylamines in the presence of Speier’s catalyst. The effects of the silacycle, the element‐organic substituent in position 5 of the furan ring, and the structure of the amine on the cytotoxicity of the new compounds have been studied.     

Crystallographic report: 2‐Furfurylgermatrane

The germanium atom is penta‐coordinated and adopts a trigonal bipyramidal geometry. The 2‐furfuryl group and the nitrogen atom each occupy an apical position with a transannular N→Ge bond distance of 2.173(3) Å. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Crystallographic report: 1‐[4‐(2‐Thienyl)phenyl]germatrane

In the title compound, germanium is penta‐coordinated and adopts a trigonal bipyramidal geometry. The (2‐thienyl)phenyl group and the nitrogen atom each occupy an apical position with a transannular N→Ge bond distances of 2.247(4) and 2.219(4) Å for the two independent molecules. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

FTIR in situ transmission studies on the kinetics of paper degradation via hydrolytic and oxidative reaction paths

This study deals with the quantitative and qualitative interpretation of transmission FTIR spectra of aged model paper samples to prepare the basis for a kinetic model of cellulose degradation involving mixed hydrolytic and oxidative mechanism. The ageing experiments were performed in situ under various conditions (pure water vapour, dried air, 100, 150 °C) to discriminate between hydrolytic and oxidative paths. Our focus was on the spectra between 1500–1900 cm^-1, where the products of paper ageing appear in the form of various carbonyl groups. A procedure of spectra standardization was used to interpret the bands area in terms of the conversion of carbon atoms in cellulose. From the time evolution of the bands the overall kinetic curves were generated. The positions of the carbonyl bands were verified by independent experiments and theoretical calculations (DFT method). A simple model involving a hydrolytic reaction route and first order kinetics was positively tested on the available experimental basis. PACS 81.05.-t; 82.20.Wt; 87.15.Rn     

A sequential parametric convex approximation method with applications to nonconvex truss topology design problems

We describe a general scheme for solving nonconvex optimization problems, where in each iteration the nonconvex feasible set is approximated by an inner convex approximation. The latter is defined using an upper bound on the nonconvex constraint functions. Under appropriate conditions, a monotone convergence to a KKT point is established. The scheme is applied to truss topology design (TTD) problems, where the nonconvex constraints are associated with bounds on displacements and stresses. It is shown that the approximate convex problem solved at each inner iteration can be cast as a conic quadratic programming problem, hence large scale TTD problems can be efficiently solved by the proposed method.     

Optimality of the Expert Rule Under Partial Information

We study the uncertain dichotomous choice model. In this model a group of decision makers is required to select one of two alternatives. The applications of this model are relevant to a wide variety of areas, such as medicine, management and banking. The decision rule may be the simple majority rule; however, it is also possible to assign more weight to the opinion of members known to be more qualified. The extreme example of such a rule is the expert decision rule. We are concerned with the probability of the expert rule to be optimal. Our purpose is to investigate the behaviour of this probability as a function of the group size for several rather general types of distributions. One such family of distributions is that where the density function of the correctness probability is a polynomial (on the interval [1/2,1]). Our main result is an explicit formula for the probability in question. This contains formerly known results as very special cases.     

片层硅酸盐用于热固性PU/PLS复合可能性探讨

高岭土(Kaolinite)和蒙脱土(Montromollite)等粘土,被广泛用作添加剂来改善聚合物的耐热性能。文章用各种先进技术对高岭土与蒙脱土的形态、组成和结构进行表征比较。电子透射电镜及电子探针(TEM/EDX)结果显示高岭土较蒙脱土有较大的粒径和较小的硅铝比,TEM还显示出这些粘土是由片层粒子堆积而成。热重分析(TGA)的结果表明蒙脱土由于失去吸附水从60 ℃升温至90 ℃失重明显(约7%),而高岭土在此温度下几乎不失水。高岭土脱除结构羟基官能团脱水失重的温度大约在510 ℃,低于蒙脱土的670 ℃。室温下光声傅里叶变换(PAS-FTIR)红外光谱显示蒙脱土在羟基吸收区有较强的吸附水的吸收,1 650 cm-1处孤立的弱吸收谱带可给予左证。变温红外和TGA的结果显示,片层硅酸盐表面的结构羟基从100～500 ℃非常稳定,它可以和异氰酸酯基团(NCO)封端的预聚物反应形成热固性PU/PLS复合聚合物。