Formation and characterization of a hydrophilic polymer hydrogel under gamma irradiation

Formation and characterization of hydrogel of a hydrophilic polymer in a wide range of gamma absorbed doses is reported. An aqueous solution contains 2% polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) by mass irradiated under gamma rays of ⁶⁰Co was chosen for study. The hydrogel was synthesized without using any additives. It was found that gel fraction is an exponential saturation function that increases with an increase of absorbed dose while swelling ratio is an exponential saturation function that decreases with an increase of absorbed dose. The results are described by energy transfer model.     

Dispersion in retentive pillar array columns

The method of volume averaging is applied to estimate the Taylor–Aris dispersion tensor of solute advected in columns consisting of ordered pillar arrays with wall retention of the type used in chromatographic separation. The appropriate closure equations are derived and solved in a unit cell with periodic boundary conditions to obtain the dispersion tensor (or the reduced plate height) as a function of the Peclet number (reduced velocity); pillar pattern, shape and size; partition coefficient; and resistance to mass transfer. The contributions of the velocity profile, the wall adsorption, and the mass transfer resistance to the dispersion tensor are identified and delineated. The model is verified by comparing its predictions and obtaining favorable agreement with results of direct numerical simulations and with experimental data for columns containing ordered pillars. The model is then used to study the effect of pillars’ shape and pattern on the longitudinal dispersion coefficient (plate height).     

Designing an intelligent teaching simulator for learning to teach by practicing

Learning to teach is difficult for prospective teachers because of the complex nature of the work of teaching. Practicing (Lampert in J Teach Educ 61(1–2):21–34, 2010), interacting with the practice of teaching from a first-person perspective, may give them a unique experience in learning to teach. Computer-based simulators in which the apprentice teacher can interact with virtual students may be used to create that kind of experience. In this paper, we show how to apply techniques in artificial intelligence to design an intelligent learning environment. We show how to model the apprentice’s decision making and resources that can help him or her improve the practice of teaching.     

Cubic symmetric polynomials yielding variations of the Erdős–Ginzburg–Ziv theorem

Let p be a prime and let $\varphi\in\mathbb{Z}_{p}[x_{1},x_{2},\ldots, x_{p}]$ be a symmetric polynomial, where  $\mathbb {Z}_{p}$ is the field of p elements. A sequence T in  $\mathbb {Z}_{p}$ of length p is called a φ-zero sequence if φ(T)=0; a sequence in $\mathbb {Z}_{p}$ is called a φ-zero free sequence if it does not contain any φ-zero subsequence. Motivated by the EGZ theorem for the prime p, we consider symmetric polynomials $\varphi\in \mathbb {Z}_{p}[x_{1},x_{2},\ldots, x_{p}]$ , which satisfy the following two conditions: (i) every sequence in  $\mathbb {Z}_{p}$ of length 2p?1 contains a φ-zero subsequence, and (ii) the φ-zero free sequences in  $\mathbb {Z}_{p}$ of maximal length are all those containing exactly two distinct elements, where each element appears p?1 times. In this paper, we determine all symmetric polynomials in $\mathbb {Z}_{p}[x_{1},x_{2},\ldots, x_{p}]$ of degree not exceeding 3 satisfying the conditions above.     

Comparison of three methods for fractionation and enrichment of low molecular weight proteins for SELDI-TOF-MS differential analysis

In most diseases, the clinical need for serum/plasma markers has never been so crucial, not only for diagnosis, but also for the selection of the most efficient therapies, as well as exclusion of ineffective or toxic treatment. Due to the high sample complexity, prefractionation is essential for exploring the deep proteome and finding specific markers.In this study, three different sample preparation methods (i.e., highly abundant protein precipitation, restricted access materials (RAM) combined with IMAC chromatography and peptide ligand affinity beads) were investigated in order to select the best fractionation step for further differential proteomic experiments focusing on the LMW proteome (MW inferior to 40,000 Da). Indeed, the aim was not to cover the entire plasma/serum proteome, but to enrich potentially interesting tissue leakage proteins. These three methods were evaluated on their reproducibility, on the SELDI-TOF-MS peptide/protein peaks generated after fractionation and on the information supplied.The studied methods appeared to give complementary information and presented good reproducibility (below 20%). Peptide ligand affinity beads were found to provide efficient depletion of HMW proteins and peak enrichment in protein/peptide profiles.     

A proof of zelevinski’s structure theorem for psh algebras 1

We give a new proof of the structure theorem for PSH—algebras, and of a formula for primitives