Linear codes from support designs of ternary cyclic codes

Designs, Codes and Cryptography - For a long time, the literature has demonstrated that designs and codes are exciting topics for combinatorics and coding theory. Linear codes and t-designs are, in...     

Physical properties of metal-doped ZnO thin films prepared by RF magnetron sputtering at room temperature

Journal of Solid State Electrochemistry - Transparent thin films of pure ZnO, Ca-doped ZnO (CZO), and Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) were deposited on glass by RF magnetron sputtering. The influence of calcium...     

Simultaneous quantification of levofloxacin,pefloxacin, ciprofloxacin and moxifloxacin in microvolumes of human plasma using high‐performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection

Levofloxacin, pefloxacin, ciprofloxacin and moxifloxacin are four fluoroquinolones used in the treatment of serious bacterial infections. The antibacterial activity of fluoroquinolones is concentration dependent. Therefore, therapeutic drug monitoring in daily clinical practice is warranted to ensure the therapy's efficacy and prevent bacterial resistance. The purpose of the present study was to develop a method using high‐pressure liquid chromatography with an ultraviolet detector for simultaneous quantification of these four fluoroquinolones in human plasma. A 50 μL aliquot of plasma was precipitated by 200 μL of methanol using gatifloxacin as internal standard. The chromatographic separation was performed on a Kinetex XB‐C₁₈ column using a mobile phase composed of a mixture of orthophosphoric acid 0.4% (v/v), acetonitrile and methanol at a flow rate of 1.2 mL/min. Dual UV wavelength mode was used, with levofloxacin and moxifloxacin monitored at 293 nm, and pefloxacin and ciprofloxacin monitored at 280 nm. The calibration was linear over the ranges of 0.125–25 mg/L for levofloxacin, 0.1–20mg/L for moxifloxacin and 0.05‐10 mg/L for both pefloxacin and ciprofloxacin. Inter‐ and intra‐day trueness and precision were <13% for all the compounds under study. The proposed method was simple, reliable, cost‐effective and suitable for therapeutic drug monitoring or pharmacokinetics studies.     

Genetic diversity and haplotype structure of 21 Y‐STRs,including nine noncore loci,in South Tunisian Population: Forensic relevance

Y chromosome STRs (Y‐STRs) are being used frequently in forensic laboratories. Previous studies of Y‐STR polymorphisms in different groups of the Tunisian population identified low levels of diversity and discrimination capacity (DC) using various commercial marker sets. This definitely limits the use of such systems for Y‐STRs genotyping in Tunisia. In our investigation on South Tunisia, 200 unrelated males were typed for the 12 conventional Y‐STRs included in the PowerPlex® Y System. Additional set of nine noncore Y‐STRs including DYS446, DYS456, DYS458, DYS388, DYS444, DYS445, DYS449, DYS710, and DYS464 markers were genotyped and evaluated for their potential in improving DC. Allele frequency, gene diversity, haplotype diversity (HD), and DC calculation revealed that DYS464 was the most diverse marker followed by DYS710 and DYS449 markers. The standard panel of 12 Y‐STRs (DC = 80.5%) and the nine markers were combined to obtain DC of 99%. Among the 198 different haplotypes observed, 196 haplotypes were unique (HD = 99.999). Out of the nine noncore set, six Y‐STRs (DYS458, DYS456, DYS449, DYS710, DYS444, and DYS464) had the greatest impact on enhancing DC. Our data provided putative Y‐STRs combination to be used for genetic and forensic applications.     

Tetrathiafulvalene based electroactive ligands and complexes: Synthesis,crystal structures and antifungal activity

The synthesis of two tetrathiafulvalene-appended pyridinehydrazone pyrimidine ligands, namely (Z)-4-(2-((5-([2,2′-bi(1,3-dithiolylidene)]-4-yl)pyridin-2-yl)methylene) hydrazinyl)-6-chloropyrimidine L1 and (Z)-4-(2-((6-([2,2′-bi(1,3-dithiolylidene)]-4-yl)pyridin-2-yl)methylene) hydrazinyl)-6-chloropyrimidine L2 is described. Ligand L1 was reacted with cobalt(II) to yield a cationic metal complex [Co(L1)₂] while ligand L2 was reacted with zinc(II) to afford a neutral metal complex [ZnL2Cl₂]. The crystal structure analysis of [Co(L1)₂] indicate that Co(II) ion is coordinated by six nitrogen atoms from two perpendicular ligands while in [ZnL2Cl₂], Zn(II) is coordinated by two chlorine atoms and three nitrogen atoms. The electrochemical behavior indicate that ligands L1 and L2 and the zinc(II) complex are suitable fort the preparation of crystalline radical cation salts. Finally the determination of MIC₈₀ values against C. albicans, C. glabrata, C. parapsilosis, C. krusei and E. dermatitidis revealed that the cobalt(II) metal complex [Co(L1)₂] is active against all the studied fungi.     

Good polynomials for optimal LRC of low locality

Designs, Codes and Cryptography - According to a magnific method due to I. Tamo and A. Barg, a class of polynomials over finite fields, called good polynomials, was introduced and used to construct...     

Price coordination in distribution channels: A dynamic perspective

In this study, we investigate two important questions related to dynamic pricing in distribution channels: (i) Are coordinated pricing decisions efficient in a context where prices have carry-over effects on demand? (ii) Should firms practice a skimming or a penetration strategy if they choose to coordinate or to decentralize their activities? To answer these questions, we consider a differential game that takes place in a bilateral monopoly where the past retail prices paid by consumers contribute to the building of a reference price. The latter is used by consumers as a benchmark to evaluate the value of the product, and by firms to decide whether to adopt a skimming or a penetration strategy.     

Compressed exponential form for disordered domain wall motion in ultra-thin Au/Co/Au ferromagnetic films

Magnetization reversal in ultra-thin Au/Co/Au films deposited on single crystal silicon (1 0 0) was investigated using Kerr microscopy. In the considered ultra-thin Co films, with a thickness between 0.7 and 1 nm, the coercivity and magnetic anisotropy decrease with decrease in cobalt layer thickness and the magnetization reversal dynamics is dominated by disordered domain wall motion. An analysis of the observed magnetization reversal dynamics is proposed, starting from the Fatuzzo-Labrune model. We show that the relaxation curves of these samples are well described by a function obtained by a technical transformation of Fatuzzo-Labrune model in the regime dominated by domain wall motion.