Photochemical Reactions in Supramolecular Assemblies of Gels: Dimerizations and Polymerizations via Pericyclic Reactions

Gel state reactions offer new direction for the reactivity of the organic molecules or metal‐organic materials upon photoirradiation with shorter reaction times and high yields compared to solid and solution states. The restricted molecular movement among the molecules in the soft solids control the stereoselectivity of the photoproducts in the gel state reactions. To date, most of the strategies based on self‐assembly have been demonstrated in the solid state, in particular for [2+2] reactions of olefins and polymerization reactions of diacetylenes via 1,4 addition. The soft materials are of emerging materials in recent days given their many applicative day‐to‐day aspects. This review gives a glimpse of recent reports on pericyclic reactions in the gel state that are designed based on the self‐assembly concept. Also it highlights how such reactions accompany the physical changes in the structure of the gels and stereo controlled products with high yields.     

Optimal power control for Rayleigh-faded multiuser systems with outage constraints

How can we achieve the conflicting goals of reduced transmission power and increased capacity in a wireless network, without attempting to follow the instantaneous state of a fading channel? In this paper, we address this problem by jointly considering power control and multiuser detection (MUD) with outage-probability constraints in a Rayleigh fast-fading environment. The resulting power-control algorithms (PCAs) utilize the statistics of the channel and operate on a much slower timescale than traditional schemes. We propose an optimal iterative solution that is conceptually simple and finds the minimum sum power of all users while meeting their outage targets. Using a derived bound on outage probability, we introduce a mapping from outage to average signal-to-interference ratio (SIR) constraints. This allows us to propose a suboptimal iterative scheme that is a variation of an existing solution to a joint power control and MUD problem involving SIR constraints. We further use a recent result that transforms complex SIR expressions into a compact and decoupled form, to develop a noniterative and computationally inexpensive PCA for large systems of users. Simulation results are presented showing the closeness of the optimal and mapped schemes, speed of convergence, and performance comparisons.     

An integrated modeling approach to predict flooding on urban basin.

Correct prediction of flood extents in urban catchments has become a challenging issue. The traditional urban drainage models that consider only the sewerage-network are able to simulate the drainage system correctly until there is no overflow from the network inlet or manhole. When such overflows exist due to insufficient drainage capacity of downstream pipes or channels, it becomes difficult to reproduce the actual flood extents using these traditional one-phase simulation techniques. On the other hand, the traditional 2D models that simulate the surface flooding resulting from rainfall and/or levee break do not consider the sewerage network. As a result, the correct flooding situation is rarely addressed from those available traditional 1D and 2D models. This paper presents an integrated model that simultaneously simulates the sewerage network, river network and 2D mesh network to get correct flood extents. The model has been successfully applied into the Tenpaku basin (Nagoya, Japan), which experienced severe flooding with a maximum flood depth more than 1.5 m on September 11, 2000 when heavy rainfall, 580 mm in 28 hrs (return period > 100 yr), occurred over the catchments. Close agreements between the simulated flood depths and observed data ensure that the present integrated modeling approach is able to reproduce the urban flooding situation accurately, which rarely can be obtained through the traditional 1D and 2D modeling approaches.     

A semiparametric model for compositional data analysis in presence of covariates on the simplex

Compositional data occur as natural realizations of multivariate observations comprising element proportions of some whole quantity. Such observations predominate in disciplines like geology, biology, ecology, economics and chemistry. Due to unit sum constraint on compositional data, specialized statistical methods are required for analyzing these data. Dirichlet distributions were originally used to study compositional data even though this family of distribution is not appropriate (see Aitchison, 1986) because of their extreme independence properties. Aitchison (1982) endeavored to provide a viable alternative to existing methods by employing Logistic Normal distribution to analyze such constrained data. However this family does not include the Dirichlet class and is therefore unable to address the issue of extreme independence. In this paper generalized Liouville family is investigated to model compositional data which includes covariates. This class permits distributions that admit negative or mixed correlation and also contains non-Dirichlet distributions with non-positive correlation and overcomes deficits in the Dirichlet class. Semiparametric Bayesian methods are proposed to estimate the probability density. Predictive distributions are used to assess performance of the model. The methods are illustrated on a real data set.     

A generalized gamma distribution with application to drought data

Gamma distributions are some of the most popular models for hydrological processes. In this paper, a very flexible family which contains the gamma distribution as a particular case is introduced. Evidence of flexibility is shown by examining the shape of its probability density function (pdf). A treatment of the mathematical properties is provided by deriving expressions for the n th moment. Estimation and simulation issues are also considered. Finally, a detailed application to drought data from the State of Nebraska is illustrated.     

Split and collectorless flotation to medium coking coal fines for multi-product zero waste concept

The medium coking coal fines of − 0.5 mm from Jharia coal field were taken for this investigation. The release analysis of the composite coal reveals that yield is very low at 10.0% ash, about 25% at 14% ash and 50% at 17% ash level. The low yield is caused by the presence of high ash finer fraction. The size-wise ash analysis of − 0.5 mm coal indicated that − 0.5 + 0.15 mm fraction contains less ash than − 0.15 mm fraction. Thus, the composite feed was split into − 0.5 + 0.15 mm and − 0.15 mm fractions and subjected to flotation separately. The low ash bearing fraction (− 0.5 + 0.15 mm) was subjected to two stages collectorless flotation to achieve the concentrate with 10% ash. The cleaner concentrate (18.9%) with 10% ash was recovered which has an application in metallurgical industries. The concentrate of 30.2% yield with 12.5% ash could be achieved in one stage collectorless flotation which is suitable for use in coke making as sweetener. As the − 0.15 mm fraction contains relatively high ash, collector aided flotation using sodium silicate was performed to get a concentrate of 23.6% yield with about 17% ash. The blending of this product with cleaner tail obtained from − 0.5 + 0.15 mm produces about 35.0% yield with 17% ash and that can be utilized for coke making. The reject from the two fractions can be used for conventional thermal power plant or cement industries using a 23.5% ash after one stage collector aided flotation and the final tailings produced content ash of 61.6% can be used for fluidization combustion bed (FBC). This eventually leads to complete utilization of coal.     

Conducting composites of poly(N‐vinylcarbazole), polypyrrole,and polyaniline with 13X‐zeolite

N‐vinylcarbazole (NVC) was polymerized by 13X zeolite alone in melt (65°C) or in toluene (110°C) and a poly(N‐vinylcarbazole) (PNVC)‐13X composite was isolated. Composites of polypyrrole (PPY) and polyaniline(PANI) with 13X zeolite were prepared via polymerization of the respective monomers in the presence of dispersion of 13X zeolite in water (CuCl₂ oxidant) and in CHCl₃ (FeCl₃ oxidant) at an ambient temperature. The composites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared analyses. Scanning electron microscopic analyses of various composites indicated the formation of lumpy aggregates of irregular sizes distinct from the morphology of unmodified 13X zeolite. X‐ray diffraction analysis revealed some typical differences between the various composites, depending upon the nature of the polymer incorporated. Thermogravimetric analyses revealed the stability order as: 13X‐zeolite > polymer‐13X‐zeolite > polymer. PNVC‐13X composite was essentially a nonconductor, while PPY‐13X and PANI‐13X composites showed direct current conductivity in the order of 10^?4 S/cm in either system. However, the conductivity of PNVC‐ 13X composite could be improved to 10^?5 and 10^?6 S/cm by loading PPY and PANI, respectively. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 913–921, 2006