Swelling of dextran gel and osmotic pressure of soluble dextran in the presence of salts

The swelling of dextran gels (Sephadex) in salt solutions with a water activity of 0.937, compared with the swelling in pure water, exhibited anion specificity as evidenced by an increased swelling ratio in the following order: Na₂SO₄ < H₂O < NaCl < NaSCN. The swelling ratio showed a good linear correlation with the osmotic pressure of dextran (500 kD) in these solutions. The salt‐concentration difference (imbalance) between the polymer‐solution side of the membrane and the polymer‐free permeate side during the osmotic‐pressure measurements positively correlated with the effect of the salt on the polymer osmotic pressure. These phenomena conform to Hofmeister‐type (or lyotropic) behavior. The diminishing augmentation of dextran osmotic pressure and the change in the salt‐concentration imbalance with rising NaSCN concentration imply a positive preferential interaction and adsorption of the salt onto the polymer. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 39: 2740–2750, 2001     

Microbial genotoxicity bioreporters based on <Emphasis Type="Italic">sulA</Emphasis> activation

A bacterial genotoxicity reporter strain was constructed in which the tightly controlled strong promoter of the Escherichia coli SOS response gene sulA was fused to the alkaline phosphatase-coding phoA reporter gene. The bioreporter responded in a dose-dependent manner to three model DNA-damaging agents—hydrogen peroxide, nalidixic acid (NA), and mitomycin C (MMC)—detected 30–60 min after exposure. Detection thresholds were 0.15 μM for MMC, 7.5 μM for nalidixic acid, and approximately 50 μM for hydrogen peroxide. A similar response to NA was observed when the bioreporter was integrated into a specially designed, portable electrochemical detection platform. Reporter sensitivity was further enhanced by single and double knockout mutations that enhanced cell membrane permeability (rfaE) and inhibited DNA damage repair mechanisms (umuD, uvrA). The rfaE mutants displayed a five- and tenfold increase in sensitivity to MMC and NA, respectively, while the uvrA mutation was advantageous in the detection of hydrogen peroxide. A similar sensitivity was displayed by the double rfaE/uvrA mutant when challenged with the pre-genotoxic agents 2-amino-3-methylimidazo[4,5-f]quinoline and 2-aminoanthracene following metabolic activation with an S9 mammalian liver fraction.     

Upper Bound on the Packing Density of Regular Tetrahedra and Octahedra

Aristotle contended that (regular) tetrahedra tile space, an opinion that remained widespread until it was observed that non-overlapping tetrahedra cannot subtend a solid angle of 4π around a point if this point lies on a tetrahedron edge. From this 15th century argument, we can deduce that tetrahedra do not tile space but, more than 500 years later, we are unaware of any known non-trivial upper bound to the packing density of tetrahedra. In this article, we calculate such a bound. To this end, we show the existence, in any packing of regular tetrahedra, of a set of disjoint spheres centered on tetrahedron edges, so that each sphere is not fully covered by the packing. The bound on the amount of space that is not covered in each sphere is obtained in a recursive way by building on the solid angle argument. The argument can be readily modified to apply to other polyhedra. The resulting lower bound on the fraction of empty space in a packing of regular tetrahedra is 2.6…×10⁻²⁵ and reaches 1.4…×10⁻¹² for regular octahedra.     

The consistency principle for games in strategic form

We start with giving an axiomatic characterization of the Nash equilibrium (NE) correspondence in terms of consistency, converse consistency, and one-person rationality. Then axiomatizations are given of the strong NE correspondence, the coalition-proof NE correspondence and the semi-strong NE. In all these characterizations consistency and suitable variants of converse consistency play a role. Finally, the dominant NE correspondence is characterized. We also indicate how to generalize our results to Bayesian and extensive games.     

Graph spanners

Given a graph G = (V, E), a subgraph Gapos; = (V, Eapos;) is a t-spanner of G if for every u, v ∈ V, the distance from u to v in Gapos; is at most t times longer than that distance in G. This paper presents some results concerning the existence and efficient constructability of sparse spanners for various classes of graphs, including general undirected graphs, undirected chordal graphs, and general directed graphs.     

On completely reducible solvable subgroups of GL(n, Δ)

Let Δ be a finite field and denote by GL(n, Δ) the group ofn×n nonsingular matrices defined over Δ. LetR⊆GL(n, Δ) be a solvable, completely reducible subgroup of maximal order. For |Δ|≧2, |Δ|≠3 we give bounds for |R| which improve previous ones. Moreover for |Δ|=3 or |Δ|>13 we determine the structure ofR, in particular we show thatR is unique, up to conjugacy. This work is part of a Ph.D. thesis done at the Hebrew University under the supervision of Professor A. Mann.     

Reversible and persistent electrical bistability in single crystals of a self-assembled pi-conjugated tetraaryl system: a submicrometer scale electrical characterization

A new pi-conjugated electroactive 4,4'-bipyridinium that bears two pyridazone self-complementary units was prepared and characterized. The new system readily assembles and forms at least two stable charge-transfer crystalline structures having a thermal population of unpaired electrons. The crystals of one phase exhibit electrical bistability, displaying either high (ON) and low (OFF) conductivity, at the same applied bias, depending on the electrical history of the system. The relation between the supramolecular structure of the crystals and their electrical properties is also discussed.     

Toward the abelian root groups conjecture for special Moufang sets

We prove that if a root group of a special Moufang set contains an element of order then it is abelian.