Adenine and thymine grafts on polyethyleneimine

Graft polymers of three different molecular weights of polyethyleneimine (PEI) with 9-(vinylsulfonylethyl) (9-VSE)-adenine and 1-(vinylsulfonylethyl) (1-VSE)-thymine were prepared. PEI's having molecular weights of 600, 1200, and 1800 were used and various ratios of VSE-nucleobases to ethyleneimine were employed in the grafting process. As expected, a decrease in the nucleobase substitution in the resulting graft polymer resulted in an increase in its water solubility. The degree of substitution in the graft polymers was calculated from sulfur determinations: in most cases this degree of substitution indicated that not all of the VSE derivative has reacted with the PEI due to the highly branched nature of the latter. The presence of nucleobase stacking in the polymers was studied by UV spectroscopy. Stacking was observed for the adenine polymers in both DMSO and 0.1N HCl while stacking in the thymine polymers was observed in 0.1N HCl but not in DMSO. The absence of stackingwithin the thymine polymers in DMSO was attributed to complexation of primary amino groups of the PEI backbone with the pyrimidine ring.     

Facile synthesis of silver chalcogenide (Ag2E; E=Se, S, Te) semiconductor nanocrystals

A general, one-pot, single-step method for producing colloidal silver chalcogenide (Ag(2)E; E = Se, S, Te) nanocrystals is presented, with an emphasis on Ag(2)Se. The method avoids exotic chemicals, high temperatures, and high pressures and requires only a few minutes of reaction time. While Ag(2)S and Ag(2)Te are formed in their low-temperature monoclinic phases, Ag(2)Se is obtained in a metastable tetragonal phase not observed in the bulk.     

Enamine carboxylates as stereodetermining intermediates in prolinate catalysis

Experimental and computational studies probing the nature of intermediates in the α-amination of aldehydes catalyzed by prolinate salts support an enamine carboxylate intermediate in the stereodetermining step.     

Molecular Control of Bioactivity in Sol-Gel Glasses

Bioactive materials can be divided into: Class A bioactive glasses which exhibit rapid bonding to bone and soft connective tissue and are osteoproductive, and osteoconductive; and Class B bioactive ceramics, which bond slowly only to bone and are only osteoconductive. Bioactive sol-gel glasses composed of SiO2-CaO-P2O5 have Class A behavior in vitro and in vivo and also resorb as they enhance the proliferation of new trabecular bone.     

A 5/4 algorithm for two-dimensional packing

This paper proposes a new algorithm for a two-dimensional packing problem first studied by Baker, Coffman, and Rivest (SIAM J. Comput. 9, No. 4(1980), 846–855). In their model, a finite list of rectangles is to be packed into a rectangular bin of finite width but infinite height. The model has applications to certain scheduling and stock-cutting problems. Since the problem of finding an optimal packing is NP-hard, previous work has been directed at finding polynomial approximation algorithms for the problem, i.e., algorithms which come within a constant times the height used by an optimal packing. For the algorithm proposed in this paper, the ratio of the height obtained by the algorithm and the height used by an optimal packing is asymptotically bounded by 5/4. This bound is an improvement over the bound of 4/3 achieved by the best previous algorithm.