Dissolution of Cellulose and Lignin with Biobased Ionic Liquids

Journal of Solution Chemistry - Choline-based ionic liquids, involving various alkyl chains lengths and carboxylates derived from biobased acids, have been synthetized with high yields through a...     

Expanding the Range of Bioorthogonal Tags for Multiplex Stimulated Raman Scattering Microscopy

Multiplex optical detection in live cells is challenging due to overlapping signals and poor signal-to-noise associated with some chemical reporters. To address this, the application of spectral phasor analysis to stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) microscopy for unmixing three bioorthogonal Raman probes within cells is reported. Triplex detection of a metallacarborane using the B−H stretch at 2480–2650 cm⁻¹, together with a bis-alkyne and deuterated fatty acid can be achieved within the cell-silent region of the Raman spectrum. When coupled to imaging in the high-wavenumber region of the cellular Raman spectrum, nine discrete regions of interest can be spectrally unmixed from the hyperspectral SRS dataset, demonstrating a new capability in the toolkit of multiplexed Raman imaging of live cells.     

Triphilic Ionic‐Liquid Mixtures: Fluorinated and Non‐fluorinated Aprotic Ionic‐Liquid Mixtures

We present here the possibility of forming triphilic mixtures from alkyl‐ and fluoroalkylimidazolium ionic liquids, thus, macroscopically homogeneous mixtures for which instead of the often observed two domains—polar and nonpolar—three stable microphases are present: polar, lipophilic, and fluorous ones. The fluorinated side chains of the cations indeed self‐associate and form domains that are segregated from those of the polar and alkyl domains. To enable miscibility, despite the generally preferred macroscopic separation between fluorous and alkyl moieties, the importance of strong hydrogen bonding is shown. As the long‐range structure in the alkyl and fluoroalkyl domains is dependent on the composition of the liquid, we propose that the heterogeneous, triphilic structure can be easily tuned by the molar ratio of the components. We believe that further development may allow the design of switchable, smart liquids that change their properties in a predictable way according to their composition or even their environment.     

CLT for Random Walks of Commuting Endomorphisms on Compact Abelian Groups

Let \(\mathcal S\) be an abelian group of automorphisms of a probability space \((X, {\mathcal A}, \mu )\) with a finite system of generators \((A_1, \ldots , A_d).\) Let \(A^{{\underline{\ell }}}\) denote \(A_1^{\ell _1} \ldots A_d^{\ell _d}\), for \({{\underline{\ell }}}= (\ell _1, \ldots , \ell _d).\) If \((Z_k)\) is a random walk on \({\mathbb {Z}}^d\), one can study the asymptotic distribution of the sums \(\sum _{k=0}^{n-1} \, f \circ A^{\,{Z_k(\omega )}}\) and \(\sum _{{\underline{\ell }}\in {\mathbb {Z}}^d} {\mathbb {P}}(Z_n= {\underline{\ell }}) \, A^{\underline{\ell }}f\), for a function f on X. In particular, given a random walk on commuting matrices in \(SL(\rho , {\mathbb {Z}})\) or in \({\mathcal M}^*(\rho , {\mathbb {Z}})\) acting on the torus \({\mathbb {T}}^\rho \), \(\rho \ge 1\), what is the asymptotic distribution of the associated ergodic sums along the random walk for a smooth function on \({\mathbb {T}}^\rho \) after normalization? In this paper, we prove a central limit theorem when X is a compact abelian connected group G endowed with its Haar measure (e.g., a torus or a connected extension of a torus), \(\mathcal S\) a totally ergodic d-dimensional group of commuting algebraic automorphisms of G and f a regular function on G. The proof is based on the cumulant method and on preliminary results on random walks.     

A general extension theorem for cohomology classes on non reduced analytic subspaces

The main purpose of this paper is to generalize the celebrated L~2 extension theorem of Ohsawa and Takegoshi in several directions: The holomorphic sections to extend are taken in a possibly singular hermitian line bundle, the subvariety from which the extension is performed may be non reduced, the ambient manifold is K¨ahler and holomorphically convex, but not necessarily compact.     

Utilizing Paper-Based Devices for Antimicrobial-Resistant Bacteria Detection

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR), the ability of a bacterial species to resist the action of an antimicrobial drug, has been on the rise due to the widespread use of antimicrobial agents. Per the World Health Organization, AMR has an estimated annual cost of USD 34 billion in the US and is predicted to be the number one cause of death worldwide by 2050. One way AMR bacteria can spread, and by which individuals can contract AMR infections, is through contaminated water. Monitoring AMR bacteria in the environment currently requires that samples be transported to a central laboratory for slow and labor intensive tests. We have developed an inexpensive assay using paper-based analytical devices (PADs) that can test for the presence of β-lactamase-mediated resistance. To demonstrate viability, the PAD was used to detect β-lactam resistance in wastewater and sewage and identified resistance in individual bacterial species isolated from environmental water sources.     

Characterization Theorem for Best Polynomial Spline Approximation with Free Knots,Variable Degree and Fixed Tails

In this paper, we derive a necessary condition for a best approximation by piecewise polynomial functions of varying degree from one interval to another. Based on these results, we obtain a characterization theorem for the polynomial splines with fixed tails, that is the value of the spline is fixed in one or more knots (external or internal). We apply nonsmooth nonconvex analysis to obtain this result, which is also a necessary and sufficient condition for inf-stationarity in the sense of Demyanov–Rubinov. This paper is an extension of a paper where similar conditions were obtained for free tails splines. The main results of this paper are essential for the development of a Remez-type algorithm for free knot spline approximation.     

A Logical Analysis of the Anselm’s Unum Argumentum (from <Emphasis Type="BoldItalic">Proslogion</Emphasis>)

Anselm of Cantorbery wrote Proslogion (1077–1078), where is formulated the famous ‘Unum argumentum’ about the existence of God. This argument was been disputed and criticized by numerous logicians from an extensional view point. The classical predicate logic is not able to give a formal frame to develop an adequate analysis of this argument. According to us, this argument is not an ontological proof; it analyses the meaning of the “quo nihil maius cogitari posit”, a characterization of God, and establish, by absurd, that “quod non posit cogitare non esse” by using the hypothesis: “to think in re” is taller than “to think in solo intelectu”. We discuss this relation and the difference between the meanings of the elementary predicates ‘to be in re’, ‘to be in intellectu’ and ‘to be in solo intellectu’. We propose a new logical approach of this ‘Unum argumentum’ of Anselm by using Curry’s Combinatory Logic (1958, 1973). Indeed, Combinatory Logic is an abstract applicative formalism of operators applied to operands; in this formalism, the predicates, viewed as specific operators, can be composed and can be transformed, by an intrinsic way, into more complex predicates, by means of abstract operators, called “combinators”, studied by Combinatory Logic. We show that this formalism is a logical frame where it becomes possible to discuss and to formulate cognitive representations of the meanings of predicates used inside of the ‘Unum argumentum’ and to explain how the argument runs.