Frontier orbital interactions of electron pushing and drawing substituents with ferrocenyl group

The frontier orbital interactions of electron pushing and drawing substituents with ferrocenyl group were analyzed based on the electrochemical,UV visible spectral and spectroelectrochemical results of five ferrocene derivatives,R-Fc-A1(PⅠ),A1-Fc-A1(PⅡ),D-Fc-R (PⅢ),D-Kc-A1(PIV) and D-Fc-A2(PV)(R,CH2OH;A1 CHO;A2,CH=C(CN)2 and D,(C18H37)2N-C6H4-CH=CH) It was found that there are strong interactions of the LUMO (πA) of electron drawing substituents with le2g(dxy,dx2 y2)and e2u of the ferroeenyl group because the energy levels of πA and e2g,C2U of (Cp )2 are close,which lower not only the energy levels of bonded orbits,πA+ and dx2-y2+[πA] of PⅠ,PⅡ,PⅣ and PⅤobviously,but also those of their non-bonded orbu dxy For PⅢ,PⅣ and PⅤ,there are strong interactions of HOMO(πD) of the electron pushing substituent with le of the ferrocenyl group because the levels of πD and e of (Cp)2 are close,which result in the formation of anti-bonded orbit,πD- and bonded orbit     

Adsorption on stainless steel surfaces of biosurfactants produced by gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria: Consequence on the bioadhesive behavior of Listeria monocytogenes

The ability of adsorbed biosurfactants (Pf and Lb) obtained from gram-negative bacterium (Pseudomonas fluorescens) or gram-positive bacterium (Lactobacillus helveticus) to inhibit adhesion of four listerial strains to stainless steel was investigated. These metallic surfaces were characterized using the following complementary analytical techniques: contact-angle measurements (CAM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), polarization modulation-infrared reflection-adsorption spectroscopy (PM-IRRAS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). Contact-angles with polar liquids (water and formamide) indicated that the stainless steel surface covered with adsorbed biosurfactant was more hydrophilic and electron-donating than bare stainless steel. The surface characterization by XPS and PM-IRRAS revealed that conditioning the stainless steel changes the substrate in two ways, by modifying the surface alloy composition and by leaving an thin adsorbed organic layer. AFM observations enabled to say that the layer covered entirely the surface and was probably thicker (with patches) in the case of Pf-conditioned surfaces compared to the Lb-conditioned ones, which seemed to be less homogeneous. Though the added layer was thin, significant chemical changes were observed that can account for drastic modifications in the surface adhesive properties. As a matter of fact, adhesion tests showed that both used biosurfactants were effective by decreasing strongly the level of contamination of stainless steel surfaces by the four strains of Listeria monocytogenes. The more important decrease concerned the CIP104794 and CIP103573 strains (>99.7%) on surface conditioned by L. helveticus biosurfactant. A less reduced phenomenon (75.2%) for the CIP103574 strain on stainless steel with absorbed biosurfactant from P. fluorescens was observed. Whatever the strain of L. monocytogenes and the biosurfactant used, this antiadhesive biologic coating reduced both total adhering flora and viable and cultivable adherent bacteria on stainless steel surfaces. This study confirms that biosurfactants constitute an effective strategy to prevent microbial colonization of metallic surfaces by pathogenic bacteria like the food-borne pathogen L. monocytogenes.     

Selective recognition of G-qQuadruplex telomeric DNA by a bis(quinacridine) macrocycle

The interaction of G-quadruplex DNA with the macrocyclic compound BOQ1, which possesses two dibenzophenanthroline (quinacridine) subunits, has been investigated by a variety of methods. The oligonucleotide 5'-A(GGGT(2)A)(3)G(3), which mimics the human telomeric repeat sequence and forms an intramolecular quadruplex, was used as one model system. Equilibrium binding constants measured by biosensor surface plasmon resonance (SPR) methods indicate a high affinity of the macrocycle for the quadruplex conformation (K > 1 x 10(7) M(-)(1)) with two equivalent binding sites. The affinity of BOQ1 for DNA duplexes is at least 1 order of magnitude lower. In addition, the macrocycle is more selective than the monomeric control compound (MOQ2), which is not able to discriminate between the two DNA structures (K(duplex) approximately K(quadruplex) approximately 10(6) M(-)(1)). Strong binding of BOQ1 to G4 DNA sequences was confirmed by fluorometric titrations with a tetraplex-forming oligonucleotide. Competition dialysis experiments with a panel of different DNA structures, from single strands to quadruplexes, clearly established the quadruplex binding specificity of BOQ1. Fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) T(m) experiments with a doubly labeled oligonucleotide also revealed a strong stabilization of the G4 conformation in the presence of BOQ1 (DeltaT(m) = +28 degrees C). This DeltaT(m) value is one of the highest values measured for a G-quadruplex ligand and is significantly higher than observed for the monomer control compounds (DeltaT(m) = +10-12 degrees C). Gel mobility shift assays indicated that the macrocycle efficiently induces the formation of G-tetraplexes. Strong inhibition of telomerase was observed in the submicromolar range (IC(50) = 0.13 microM). These results indicate that macrocycles represent an exciting new development opportunity for targeting DNA quadruplexes.     

Prevalence of Multifractal Functions in S<Superscript>v</Superscript> Spaces

Spaces called S^v were introduced by Jaffard [16] as spaces of functions characterized by the number ≃ 2^ν(α)j of their wavelet coefficients having a size ≳ 2^−αj at scale j . They are Polish vector spaces for a natural distance. In those spaces we show that multifractal functions are prevalent (an infinite-dimensional “almost-every”). Their spectrum of singularities can be computed from ν, which justifies a new multifractal formalism, not limited to concave spectra.     

A first assessment of the NEPTUNE_CFD code: Instabilities in a stratified flow comparison between the VOF method and a two-field approach

This paper presents some results concerning a first benchmark for the new European research code for thermal hydraulics computations: NEPTUNE_CFD. This benchmark relies on the Thorpe experiment to model the occurrence of instabilities in a stratified two-phase flow. The first part of this work is to create a numerical trial case with the VOF approach. The results, in terms of time of onset of the instability, critical wave-number or wave phase speed, are rather good compared to linear inviscid theory and experimental data. Additional numerical tests showed the effect of the surface tension and density ratio on the growing dynamics of the instability and the structure of the waves. In the second part, a code to code (VOF/multi-field) comparison is performed for a case with zero surface tension. The results showed some discrepancies in terms of wave amplitudes, growing rates and a time shifting in the global dynamics. Afterward, two surface tension formulations are proposed in the multi-field approach. Both formulations provided similar results. The time for onset of the instability, the most amplified wave-number and its amplitude were in rather good agreement with the linear analysis and VOF results. However, the time-shifted dynamics was still observed.     

Integers divisible by sums of powers of their prime factors

For each positive integer j, let βj(n):=_∑p|npj. Given a fixed positive integer k, we show that there are infinitely many positive integers n having at least two distinct prime factors and such that βj(n)|n for each j∈{1,2,…,k}.     

Double dynamers: molecular and supramolecular double dynamic polymers

The formation of double dynamers, polymers that are dynamic on both the molecular and supramolecular levels, was achieved in solution and corroborated by electron microscopy; NMR and mass spectrometry studies confirm their double molecular and supramolecular nature.