pH-Sensitive pentablock copolymer nanocapsules as nontoxic and efficient gene carriers

A biodegradable amphiphilic pentablock copolymer PAE‐PCL‐PEG‐PCL‐PAE with a pH‐sensitive unit was synthesized for use as a nontoxic, biodegradable carrier for gene delivery by forming nanocapsules entrapping nucleic acid drugs. The PAE block can interact with plasmid DNA to form polyelectrolyte complexes in an acidic environment. At physiological pH, the PAE blocks are deprotonated and form an insoluble skin, resulting in the formation of nanocapsules that encapsulate plasmid DNA. The surface charges of the nanocapsules became almost neutral at pH = 7.4, and their size ranged from 210 to 280 nm. The nanocapsule maintained most of its transfection efficiency even in the presence of serum. These nanocapsules are therefore potential carriers for systemic gene therapy.

     

Reconstruction of the laser wave-front by stimulated scatterings in the pico-second range

The reconstruction of the exciting laser wave-front by the backward Stimulated Raman Scattering (S.R.S.) and Rayleigh Wing Scattering (S.W.R.S.) is observed in benzene and cyclohexane in the case of pico-second pulses. The characteristic properties of this reconstruction are different of those obtained in the nano-second range.     

Global infimum of strictly convex quadratic functions with bounded perturbations

The problem of minimizing [(f)\tilde]=f+p{\tilde f=f+p} over some convex subset of a Euclidean space is investigated, where f(x) = x ^T Ax + b ^T x is strictly convex and |p| is only assumed to be bounded by some positive number s. It is shown that the function [(f)\tilde]{\tilde f} is strictly outer γ-convex for any γ > γ*, where γ* is determined by s and the smallest eigenvalue of A. As consequence, a γ*-local minimal solution of [(f)\tilde]{\tilde f} is its global minimal solution and the diameter of the set of global minimal solutions of [(f)\tilde]{\tilde f} is less than or equal to γ*. Especially, the distance between the global minimal solution of f and any global minimal solution of [(f)\tilde]{\tilde f} is less than or equal to γ*/2. This property is used to prove a roughly generalized support property of [(f)\tilde]{\tilde f} and some generalized optimality conditions.     

Representation of Bounded Convex Sets By Rational Convex Hull Of Its Gamma-Extreme Points

H. Minkowski proved C= convext C whenever C is a compact convex subset of a finite-dimensional linear space. If C is bounded but not closed, this representation does not hold anymore. In this case, we introduce the set of so-called γ-extreme points extγC of C and show C = convext γ C = raco extγ C, where raco M denotes the rational convex hull of M.     

Supremizers of inner <Emphasis Type="Italic">γ</Emphasis>-convex functions

A real-valued function f defined on a convex subset D of some normed linear space is said to be inner γ-convex w.r.t. some fixed roughness degree γ > 0 if there is a such that holds for all satisfying ||x ₀ − x ₁|| = νγ and . This kind of roughly generalized convex functions is introduced in order to get some properties similar to those of convex functions relative to their supremum. In this paper, numerous properties of their supremizers are given, i.e., of such satisfying lim . For instance, if an upper bounded and inner γ-convex function, which is defined on a convex and bounded subset D of some inner product space, has supremizers, then there exists a supremizer lying on the boundary of D relative to aff D or at a γ-extreme point of D, and if D is open relative to aff D or if dim D ≤ 2 then there is certainly a supremizer at a γ-extreme point of D. Another example is: if D is an affine set and is inner γ-convex and bounded above, then for all , and if 2 ≤ dim D < ∞ then each is a supremizer of f.      

On the stability of solutions to quadratic programming problems

We consider the parametric programming problem (Q _p ) of minimizing the quadratic function f(x,p):=x ^T Ax+b ^T x subject to the constraint Cx≤d, where x∈ℝ ⁿ , A∈ℝ ^n×n , b∈ℝ ⁿ , C∈ℝ ^m×n , d∈ℝ ^m , and p:=(A,b,C,d) is the parameter. Here, the matrix A is not assumed to be positive semidefinite. The set of the global minimizers and the set of the local minimizers to (Q _p ) are denoted by M(p) and M ^loc (p), respectively. It is proved that if the point-to-set mapping M ^loc (·) is lower semicontinuous at p then M ^loc (p) is a nonempty set which consists of at most ? _m,n points, where ? _m,n = is the maximal cardinality of the antichains of distinct subsets of {1,2,...,m} which have at most n elements. It is proved also that the lower semicontinuity of M(·) at p implies that M(p) is a singleton. Under some regularity assumption, these necessary conditions become the sufficient ones. Received: November 5, 1997 / Accepted: September 12, 2000?Published online November 17, 2000     

Investigation of a macroeconomic model by the method of region analysis

A macroeconomic model on the relation between economic growth and the environment is investigated with the aim of illustrating how the method of region analysis can be used in solving practical problems formulated as regular optimal control problems with state constraints.This paper was written when the author was invited by Professor R. Bulirsch to work at the Munich University of Technology with the assistance of the Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation. The author would like to express his sincere gratitude to the Alexander Von Humboldt Foundation and to Professor Bulirsch.     

An analytical model for cross-Kerr nonlinearity in a four-level N-type atomic system with Doppler broadening

We present an analytical model for cross-Kerr nonlinear coefficient in a four-level N-type atomic medium under Doppler broadening.The model is applied to87 Rb atoms to analyze the dependence of the cross-Kerr nonlinear coefficient on the external light field and the temperature of atomic vapor.The analysis shows that in the absence of electromagnetically induced transparency(EIT)the cross-Kerr nonlinear coefficient is zero,but it is significantly enhanced when the EIT is established.It means that the cross-Kerr effect can be turned on/off when the external light field is on or off.Simultaneously,the amplitude and the sign of the cross-Kerr nonlinear coefficient are easily changed according to the intensity and frequency of the external light field.The amplitude of the cross-Kerr nonlinear coefficient remarkably decreases when the temperature of atomic medium increases.The analytical model can be convenient to fit experimental observations and applied to photonic devices.     

Coexistence of positive and negative exchange bias in CrMn/Co bilayers

Exchange-biased CrMn/Co bilayers with various thicknesses of Co sputtered onto Si(1 0 0) substrates by the RF sputtering system have been studied. Double-shifted loops have been observed with the thickness of Co layer in a narrow range and become single-shifted loops after some cycles of measurement. Those results are interpreted as the association of positive and negative exchange bias.