Crosslink effect and albumin adsorption onto chitosan/alginate multilayered systems: an in situ QCM-D study

The adsorption of HSA onto CHI/ALG multilayer assemblies was assessed in situ using QCM-D. It was found that the behavior of HSA on biomaterials surface can be tuned by adjusting parameters of the polyelectrolyte system such as pH, layer number, crosslinker and polymer terminal layer. Our results confirmed the key role of electrostatic interactions during HSA adsorption, since oppositely charged surfaces were more effective in promoting protein adhesion. QCM-D data revealed that crosslinking (CHI/ALG)(5) CHI films allows HSA to become adsorbed in physiological conditions. Our results suggested that the biological potential of biopolymers and the mild conditions of the LbL technique turn these natural nanoassemblies into a suitable choice to be used as pH-sensitive coatings.     

Determination of amylose content in starch using Raman spectroscopy and multivariate calibration analysis

Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy and chemometric tools have been used for exploratory analysis of pure corn and cassava starch samples and mixtures of both starches, as well as for the quantification of amylose content in corn and cassava starch samples. The exploratory analysis using principal component analysis shows that two natural groups of similar samples can be obtained, according to the amylose content, and consequently the botanical origins. The Raman band at 480 cm^?1, assigned to the ring vibration of starches, has the major contribution to the separation of the corn and cassava starch samples. This region was used as a marker to identify the presence of starch in different samples, as well as to characterize amylose and amylopectin. Two calibration models were developed based on partial least squares regression involving pure corn and cassava, and a third model with both starch samples was also built; the results were compared with the results of the standard colorimetric method. The samples were separated into two groups of calibration and validation by employing the Kennard-Stone algorithm and the optimum number of latent variables was chosen by the root mean square error of cross-validation obtained from the calibration set by internal validation (leave one out). The performance of each model was evaluated by the root mean square errors of calibration and prediction, and the results obtained indicate that Fourier transform Raman spectroscopy can be used for rapid determination of apparent amylose in starch samples with prediction errors similar to those of the standard method.

Moreau–Yosida Regularization of Maximal Monotone Operators of Type (D)

We propose a Moreau–Yosida regularization for maximal monotone operators of type (D), in non-reflexive Banach spaces. It generalizes the classical Moreau–Yosida regularization as well as Brezis–Crandall–Pazy’s extension of this regularization to strictly convex (reflexive) Banach spaces with strictly convex duals. Our main results are obtained by making use of recent results by the authors on convex representations of maximal monotone operators in non-reflexive Banach spaces.     

Bounds on an anomalous dijet resonance in W+jets production in pp collisions at √s = 1.96 TeV

We present a study of the dijet invariant mass spectrum in events with two jets produced in association with a W boson in data corresponding to an integrated luminosity of 4.3 fb(-1) collected with the D0 detector at √s = 1.96 TeV. We find no evidence for anomalous resonant dijet production and derive upper limits on the production cross section of an anomalous dijet resonance recently reported by the CDF Collaboration, investigating the range of dijet invariant mass from 110 to 170 GeV/c(2). The probability of the D0 data being consistent with the presence of a dijet resonance with 4 pb production cross section at 145 GeV/c(2) is 8×10(-6).     

Search for Resonant WW and WZ Production in pp collisions at √s=1.96 TeV

We search for resonant WW or WZ production by using up to 5.4 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity collected by the D0 experiment in run II of the Fermilab Tevatron Collider. The data are consistent with the standard model background expectation, and we set limits on a resonance mass by using the sequential standard model W' boson and the Randall-Sundrum model graviton G as benchmarks. We exclude a sequential standard model W' boson in the mass range 180-690 GeV and a Randall-Sundrum graviton in the range 300-754 GeV at 95% C.L.     

Time-periodic perturbation of a Liénard equation with an unbounded homoclinic loop

We consider a quadratic Liénard equation with an unbounded homoclinic loop, which is a solution tending in forward and backward time to a non-hyperbolic equilibrium point located at infinity. Under small time-periodic perturbation, this equilibrium becomes a normally hyperbolic line of singularities at infinity. We show that the perturbed system may present homoclinic bifurcations, leading to the existence of transverse intersections between the stable and unstable manifolds of such a normally hyperbolic line of singularities. The global study concerning the infinity is performed using the Poincaré compactification in polar coordinates, from which we obtain a system defined on a set equivalent to a solid torus in R³, whose boundary plays the role of the infinity. The transversality of the manifolds is proved using the Melnikov method and implies, via the Birkhoff-Smale Theorem, a complex dynamical behaviour of the perturbed system solutions in the finite part of the phase space. Numerical simulations are performed in order to illustrate this behaviour, which could be called “the chaos arising from infinity”, since it depends on the global structure of the Liénard equation, including the points at infinity. Although applied to a particular case, the analysis presented provides a geometrical approach to study periodic perturbations of homoclinic (or heteroclinic) loops to infinity of any planar polynomial vector field.     

Nonlinear perturbations of a ‐Laplacian equation with critical growth in

We prove the existence of solution for a class of ‐Laplacian equations where the nonlinearity has a critical growth. Here, we consider two cases: the first case involves the situation where the variable exponents are periodic functions. The second one involves the case where the variable exponents are nonperiodic perturbations.     

Stabilization of mixture of two rigid solids modeling temperature and porosity

In this paper we investigate the asymptotic behavior of solutions to the initial boundary value problem for a mixture of two rigid solids modeling temperature and porosity. Our main result is to establish conditions which ensure the analyticity and the exponential stability of the corresponding semigroup.     

Kneading Theory: A Functorial Approach

We study the homology theory of ? - modal maps of the interval. We give another proof of the Milnor and Thurston results about zeta-functions and we give a functorial approach to kneading theory. Our results give explicit methods for computing the sequences of lap numbers ? (f ^k ) and the sequences of numbers of periodic points in an arbitrary interval [x,y]. Received: 25 February 1998 / Accepted: 15 January 1999