Ternary complexes in gels from agarose and from chemically‐modified agarose

Thermodynamic data and mechanical measurements are shown for gels prepared in aqueous binary solvents (water/DMSO, water/DMF, water/methyl formamide and water/formamide). When electrostatic interactions, as opposed to hydrogen bonding, can be established with the cosolvent (DMSO, DMF, methyl formamide) we come to the conclusion that ternary complexes are formed (agarose/water/cosolvent). In the case of chemically‐modified agarose (OH groups replaced by OCH₃ groups) we suggest that these cosolvents are directly involved in the formation of the gel.     

Identification de la relation de dispersion dans les barresIdentification of the dispersion relation in rods

Dispersion and attenuation of longitudinal waves in elastic or weakly viscoelastic rods are measured by analysing the resonant frequencies present in the strain spectrum due to an unknown loading. The method takes the finite measuring time of the test into account. It is applied to an aluminium bar, in which the dispersion relation is identified very accurately at frequencies up to 60 kHz. To cite this article: R. Othman et al., C. R. Mecanique 330 (2002) 849–855.     

Fundamental strings and cosmology

We show that the velocity-dependent forces between parallel fundamental strings moving apart in a D-dimensional spacetime imply an expanding universe in (D−1)-dimensional spacetime.     

Determination of Chromium (VI) in Airborne Particulate Matter by Electrothermal Atomic Absorption Spectrometry

Hexavalent chromium Cr(VI) is a well-established carcinogen associated with lung, nasal, and sinus cancer. Cr(VI) threshold limit values in workroom air have been recently lowered. Consequently, the currently available analytical methods are insufficiently sensitive or high cost. In this paper, a simple, cost-effective, sensitive, and reproducible method using solid-phase extraction with electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry for determination of hexavalent chromium in airborne samples is reported. The method validation included selectivity, linearity, accuracy, and precision. Interferences from other ions likely to be present in airborne samples, including trivalent chromium, were tested and selectivity was demonstrated. The detection and quantification limits were, respectively, as low as 0.1 and 0.4?µg?L^?1. The linearity ranged from 0.5 to 50.0?µg?L^?1, with a regression coefficients exceeding 0.998. The extraction recovery exceeded 98%. The developed method was successfully compared with a reference spectrophotometric method. The performances achieved were similar to ion chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography approaches. The novel method was tested on airborne samples collected from the workplace. The method’s performance suggests that it may be an alternative to high-cost techniques for monitoring occupational exposure to hexavalent chromium.     

Influence of deposition conditions on the optical properties of erbium-doped yttrium oxide films grown by aerosol-UV assisted MOCVD

Erbium-doped Y₂O₃ films were prepared by aerosol-UV assisted metal-organic chemical vapour deposition (MOCVD) at 410 °C. The effects of humidity of carrier gas and UV-assistance on their structure and optical properties were investigated on the as-deposited and thermal annealed films using infrared spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. It was found that the as-deposited Er:Y₂O₃ films crystallise in the Y₂O₃ cubic structure and present a very low organic contamination when the deposition takes place under high air humidity and, even better, with UV-assistance. After annealing, two different structural phases are observed corresponding to the cubic and the monoclinic structures of Y₂O₃. The Er³⁺ luminescence analysed in the visible and IR regions, shows the classical green transitions. The best optical properties were obtained with as-deposited and annealed Er:Y₂O₃ films grown under high air humidity with UV-assistance. Under such deposition conditions, ⁴I_13/2 lifetimes was found to be 3.07 and 6.1 ms for films annealed at 800 and 1000 °C, respectively, and up-conversion phenomena were underlined. This indicates that the deposition conditions, in particular air humidity, play an important role in the luminescent properties even after annealing.     

Poly(ethylene glycol)--oligolactates with monodisperse hydrophobic blocks: preparation, characterization, and behavior in water

Methoxypoly(ethylene glycol)-b-oligo-L-lactate (mPEG-b-OLA) diblock oligomers with monodisperse OLA blocks were obtained by fractionation of polydisperse block oligomers using preparative HPLC. The fractionated oligomers were composed of an mPEG block with a molecular weight of 350, 550, or 750 and an OLA block with a degree of polymerization of 4, 6, 8, or 10. The diblock oligomers with a low PEG content were fully amorphous, with glass transition temperatures ranging from -60 to -20 degrees C, indicating that the blocks were miscible. Upon heating aqueous dispersions of the block oligomers, cloud points, depending on the PEG/OLA ratio of the block oligomer, were observed at temperatures above 40 degrees C. The monodispersity of the hydrophobic block enabled the amphiphilic molecules to form nanoparticles in water with a hydrodynamic radius of 130-300 nm, at concentrations above the critical aggregation concentration (0.4-1 mg/mL), whereas polydisperse mPEG-b-OLAs gave formation of large aggregates. Static light scattering measurements showed that the nanoparticles have a low density (0.6-25 mg/mL), indicating that the particles are highly hydrated. In agreement herewith, the (1)H NMR spectra of nanoparticles in D2O closely resembled spectra in a good solvent for both blocks (CDCl3). It is therefore suggested that the nanoparticles contain a hydrated core of mPEG-b-OLA block oligomers, stabilized by a thin outer PEG layer. The particles were stable for two weeks, except for the mPEG350 series and mPEG750-b-OLA4, indicating that both the PEG block size and the PEG weight fraction of the oligomers determine their stability. The evident self-emulsifying properties of mPEG-b-oligo-l-lactates with monodisperse hydrophobic blocks as demonstrated in this study, together with their expected biocompatibility and biodegradability, make these systems well suitable for pharmaceutical applications.     

Response of periodic structures due to moving loadsRéponse de structures périodiques à des charges mobiles

A method is proposed to calculate the response of periodic structures subjected to moving loads. It is based on the Floquet decomposition which allows the restriction of the analysis for the overall system to a generic cell. The main contribution of the approach presented hereafter is that the response is directly deduced from transfer functions in the space-wavenumber domain calculated in an unbounded generic cell. Moreover, the equivalence of this new solution with the response of invariant structures obtained using Fourier transforms is established. To cite this article: H. Chebli et al., C. R. Mecanique 334 (2006).     

Global Behavior of Positive Solutions of a Generalized Lane–Emden System of Nonlinear Differential Equations

In this paper we discuss the existence and the global behavior of positive solutions of the following generalized Lane–Emden system of differential equations:

$$\begin{aligned} -u''= & {} a(x)u^{\alpha }\,v^{r}\quad \text{ in } (0,1), \\ -v''= & {} b(x)u^{s}\,v^{\beta }\quad \, \text{ in } (0,1), \\ u'(0)= & {} v'(0)=0; \quad \, u(1)=v(1)=0, \end{aligned}$$

where \(r,\,s\in {\mathbb {R}}\), \(\alpha ,\,\beta <1\) such that \(\gamma :=(1-\alpha )(1-\beta )-rs>0\) and the nonnegative functions \(a,\,b\) satisfy some conditions related to the Karamata regular variation theory.

     

An optimisation method for separating and rebuilding one-dimensional dispersive waves from multi-point measurements. Application to elastic or viscoelastic bars

When using a classical SHPB (split Hopkinson pressure bar) set-up, the useful measuring time is limited by the length of the bars, so that the maximum strain which can be measured in material testing applications is also limited. In this paper, a new method with no time limits is presented for measuring the force and displacement at any station on a bar from strain or velocity measurements performed at various places on the bar. The method takes the wave dispersion into account, as must inevitably be done when making long time measurements. It can be applied to one-dimensional and single-mode waves of all kinds propagating through a medium (flexural waves in beams, acoustic waves in wave guides, etc.). With bars of usual sizes, the measuring time can be up to 50 times longer than the time available with classical methods. An analysis of the sensitivity of the results to the accuracy of the experimental data and to the quality of the wave propagation modelling was also carried out. Experimental results are given which show the efficiency of the method.     

Isolation and Characterization of Two Chalcone Derivatives with Anti-Hepatitis B Virus Activity from the Endemic Socotraen Dracaena cinnabari (Dragon’s Blood Tree)

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection is prevalent and continues to be a global health concern. In this study, we determined the anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) potential of the Socotra-endemic medicinal plant Dracaena cinnabari and isolated and characterized the responsible constituents. A bioassay-guided fractionation using different chromatographic techniques of the methanolic extract of D. cinnabari led to the isolation of two chalcone derivatives. Using a variety of spectroscopic techniques, including ¹H-, ¹³C-, and 2D-NMR, these derivatives were identified as 2,4’-dihydroxy-4-methoxydihydrochalcone (compound 1) and 2,4’-dihydroxy-4-methoxyhydrochalcone (compound 2). Both compounds were isolated for the first time from the red resin (dragon’s blood) of D. cinnabari. The compounds were first evaluated for cytotoxicity on HepG2.2.15 cells and 50% cytotoxicity concentration (CC50) values were determined. They were then evaluated for anti-HBV activity against HepG2.2.15 cells by assessing the suppression of HBsAg and HBeAg production in the culture supernatants and their half maximum inhibitory concentration (IC₅₀) and therapeutic index (TI) values were determined. Compounds 1 and 2 indicated inhibition of HBsAg production in a dose- and time-dependent manner with IC₅₀ values of 20.56 and 6.36 μg/mL, respectively.