The Knuth-Bendix algorithm and the conjugacy problem in monoids

We present an algorithmic approach to the conjugacy problem in monoids, using rewriting systems. We extend the classical theory of rewriting developed by Knuth and Bendix to a rewriting that takes into account the cyclic conjugates.     

Rapid amperometric detection of Escherichia coli in wastewater by measuring β-D glucuronidase activity with disposable carbon sensors

An assay on the indirect amperometric quantification of the β-D-Glucuronidase (GLUase) activity was developed for the rapid and specific detection of Escherichia coli (E. coli) in complex environmental samples. The p-aminophenyl β-D-glucopyranoside (PAPG) was selected as an electrochemical substrate for GLUase measurement and the p-aminophenol (PAP) released during the enzymatic hydrolysis was monitored by cyclic voltammetry with disposable carbon screen-printed sensors. The intensity of the measured anodic peak current was proportional to the amount of GLUase, and therefore to the number of E. coli in the tested sample. Once the substrate concentration and pH values optimized, a GLUase detection limit of 10 ng mL⁻¹ was achieved. Using a procedure involving a filtration step of the bacteria followed by their incubation with the substrate solution containing both the nonionic detergent Triton X-100 as permeabilization agent and the culture media Luria broth to monitor the growth, filtered bacterial cells ranging from 5 × 10⁴ to 10⁸ UFC/membrane were detected within 3 h. The amperometric assay was applied to the determination of fecal contamination in raw and treated wastewater samples and it was successfully compared with conventional bacterial plating methods and uidA gene quantitative PCR. Owing to its ability to perform measurements in turbid media, the GLUase amperometric method is a reliable tool for the rapid and decentralized quantification of viable but also nonculturable E. coli in complex environmental samples.     

Total Asymmetric Synthesis of 5-Deoxy-5-thio-l-allose

Abstract

The optically pure Diels-Alder adduct of furan to 1-cyanovinyl (1R)-camphanate was converted to methyl(methyl 5-bromo-5-deoxy-2,3-O-isopropylidene-β-l-allo-hexo-furanosid)uronate. Ester reduction, followed by HBr elimination afforded (+)-methyl 5,6-anhydro-2,3-O-isopropylidene-d-β-talo-hexofuranoside. Applying the method of Adley and Owen, (+)-methyl 5,6-dideoxy-5,6-epithio-2,3-O-isopropylidene-l-β-allo-hexofuranoside was obtained and acetolysed to give, after deprotection, (-)-5-deoxy-5-thio-l-allose.     

Nonparametric estimation in fractional SDE

Statistical Inference for Stochastic Processes - This paper deals with the consistency and a rate of convergence for a Nadaraya–Watson estimator of the drift function of a stochastic...     

Sulfur dioxide Plasma Treatment of the Clay (Laponite) Particles

Low temperature plasma treatment of the inorganic clay (Laponite) using sulfur dioxide (SO₂) as a process gas was carried out in order to graft the functional groups containing sulfur and oxygen (sulfonic acid groups) onto the inert clay surface. Conditions for SO₂ plasma modification were optimized by the measurement of the sulfur content as a function of the plasma power, gas flow rate and treatment time. It was found that the sulfur content increased with the increasing of the plasma power as well as the treatment time. Optical emission spectroscopy was presented in order to control the plasma phase and to characterize the different excitation processes of atomic species in SO₂ plasma under different discharge conditions. X-ray diffraction spectrometry, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, FTIR and thermal analysis measurements of grafted Laponite powder completed the characterization.     

DNA-polymer micelles as nanoparticles with recognition ability

The Watson-Crick binding of DNA single strands is a powerful tool for the assembly of nanostructures. Our objective is to develop polymer nanoparticles equipped with DNA strands for surface-patterning applications, taking advantage of the DNA technology, in particular, recognition and reversibility. A hybrid DNA copolymer is synthesized through the conjugation of a ssDNA (22-mer) with a poly(ethylene oxide)-poly(caprolactone) diblock copolymer (PEO-b-PCl). It is shown that, in water, the PEO-b-PCl-ssDNA(22) polymer forms micelles with a PCl hydrophobic core and a hydrophilic corona made of PEO and DNA. The micelles are thoroughly characterized using electron microscopy (TEM and cryoTEM) and small-angle neutron scattering. The binding of these DNA micelles to a surface through DNA recognition is monitored using a quartz crystal microbalance and imaged by atomic force microscopy. The micelles can be released from the surface by a competitive displacement event.     

Random walk in random scenery and self-intersection local times in dimensions d ≥ 5

Let {S _k , k ≥ 0} be a symmetric random walk on , and an independent random field of centered i.i.d. random variables with tail decay . We consider a random walk in random scenery, that is . We present asymptotics for the probability, over both randomness, that {X _n > n ^β} for β > 1/2 and α > 1. To obtain such asymptotics, we establish large deviations estimates for the self-intersection local times process , where l _n (x) is the number of visits of site x up to time n.