Correlation between macrovoid formation and the ternary phase diagram for polyethersulfone membranes prepared from two nearly similar solvents

The morphological structure of membranes prepared from two nearly similar systems consisting of water/N,N-dimethylacetamide (DMAc)/polyethersulfone (PES) and water/N-methyl-2-pyrrolidone (NMP)/polyethersulfone (PES) has been studied. The morphology of the prepared membranes showed that both systems exhibit an instantaneous liquid–liquid demixing that leads to the formation of macrovoids in the resulting structures. Nevertheless, the resulting macrovoid structures were contrary to the generally accepted concepts concerning macrovoid formation. The membranes morphologies showed that in spite of better miscibility between water and DMAc, which must promote the formation of channel- and finger-like structures, more sponge-like structures were observed in membranes prepared from the water/DMAc/PES system compared to those prepared from the water/NMP/PES system. To find the source of this unexpected phenomenon, the complete ternary phase diagrams consisting of theoretical binodal curves, vitrification boundaries, and gelation boundaries were constructed for both systems and it was shown that gelation process occurs earlier in the water/DMAc/PES system compared to the other system, which inhibits the growth of macrovoids in this system.     

Poly(<Emphasis Type="Italic">n</Emphasis>-octyl methacrylate) viscosity index improver: Kinetic study via on-line <Superscript>1</Superscript>H-NMR technique

The free radical solution polymerization of n-octyl methacrylate has been studied in benzene-d ₆ in the presence of 2,2′-azobisisobutyronitrile as thermal initiator. An on-line nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy was applied to record the reaction data and to determine the monomer conversion at different times during the polymerization reaction. Effect of monomer and initiator concentration as well as reaction temperature on polymerization rate was studied. The order of the reaction with respect to initiator (0.45) was consistent with the classical kinetic rate equation, while the order of reaction with respect to monomer (1.87) was much greater than unity. An overall activation energy (E _a = 53.8 kJ/mol) was obtained over the temperature range 328?338 K. Also, the efficiency of the synthesized poly(n-octyl methacrylate) for improving the viscosity index of the lube oil was investigated.     

Irreversible electrowetting on thin fluoropolymer films

A study was conducted to investigate electrowetting reversibility associated with repeated voltage actuations for an aqueous droplet situated on a silicon dioxide insulator coated with an amorphous fluoropolymer film ranging in thickness from 20 to 80 nm. The experimental results indicate that irreversible trapped charge may occur at the aqueous-solid interface, giving rise to contact angle relaxation. The accumulation of trapped charge was found to be related to the applied electric field intensity and the breakdown strength of the fluoropolymer. On the basis of the data, an empirical model was developed to estimate the amount of trapped charge in the fluoropolymer as well as the voltage threshold for the onset of irreversible electrowetting.     

Über Umlagerungen bei der Cyclialkylierung von Arylpentanolen zu 2,3‐Dihydro‐1H‐inden‐Derivaten, 4. Mitteilung

On Rearrangements by Cyclialkylations of Arylpentanols to 2,3‐Dihydro‐1 H ‐indene Derivatives. Part 4. The Acid‐Catalyzed Cyclialkylation of 2,4‐Dimethyl‐2‐phenyl[3‐ ¹³ C]pentan‐3‐ol The cyclialkylation of 2,4‐dimethyl‐2‐phenyl[3‐¹³C]pentan‐3‐ol ( 4 ) gives only 2,3‐dihydro‐1,1,2,3‐tetramethyl‐1H‐[3‐¹³C]indene ( 6 ) (cf. Scheme 2) and not a trace of the isotopomeric 2,3‐dihydro‐1,1,2,3‐tetramethyl‐1H‐[2‐¹³C]indene ( 5 ). The mechanism proposed in [3] for the cyclialkylation of 4 (cf. Scheme 2, Path A) has, therefore, to be abandoned. The mechanism of Scheme 2, Path B, is proposed and may be considered as definitively established.     

K-Carrageenan Stimulates Pre-Osteoblast Proliferation and Osteogenic Differentiation: A Potential Factor for the Promotion of Bone Regeneration?

Current cell-based bone tissue regeneration strategies cannot cover large bone defects. K-carrageenan is a highly hydrophilic and biocompatible seaweed-derived sulfated polysaccharide, that has been proposed as a promising candidate for tissue engineering applications. Whether κ-carrageenan can be used to enhance bone regeneration is still unclear. In this study, we aimed to investigate whether κ-carrageenan has osteogenic potential by testing its effect on pre-osteoblast proliferation and osteogenic differentiation in vitro. Treatment with κ-carrageenan (0.5 and 2 mg/mL) increased both MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblast adhesion and spreading at 1 h. K-carrageenan (0.125–2 mg/mL) dose-dependently increased pre-osteoblast proliferation and metabolic activity, with a maximum effect at 2 mg/mL at day three. K-carrageenan (0.5 and 2 mg/mL) increased osteogenic differentiation, as shown by enhanced alkaline phosphatase activity (1.8-fold increase at 2 mg/mL) at day four, and matrix mineralization (6.2-fold increase at 2 mg/mL) at day 21. K-carrageenan enhanced osteogenic gene expression (Opn, Dmp1, and Mepe) at day 14 and 21. In conclusion, κ-carrageenan promoted MC3T3-E1 pre-osteoblast adhesion and spreading, metabolic activity, proliferation, and osteogenic differentiation, suggesting that κ-carrageenan is a potential osteogenic inductive factor for clinical application to enhance bone regeneration.     

Yttrium(III) Nitrate: A Powerful Catalyst for Green and Rapid Synthesis of Some Supramolecules

A convenient and rapid procedure for the synthesis of calix[4]resorcinarenes as useful supramolecules has been developed via a reaction of aryl aldehydes with resorcinol in the presence of yttrium(III) nitrate under solvent‐free conditions. This eco‐friendly method has many appealing attributes such as excellent yields, short reactions times, and simple work‐up procedures.     

Artinian cofinite modules over complete Noetherian local rings

Let (R, m) be a complete Noetherian local ring, I an ideal of R and M a nonzero Artinian R-module. In this paper it is shown that if p is a prime ideal of R such that dim R/p = 1 and (0:M p) is not finitely generated and for each i ? 2 the R-module Ext _R ⁱ (M,R/p) is of finite length, then the R-module Ext _R ¹ (M, R/p) is not of finite length. Using this result, it is shown that for all finitely generated R-modules N with Supp(N) ? V (I) and for all integers i ? 0, the R-modules Ext _R ⁱ (N,M) are of finite length, if and only if, for all finitely generated R-modules N with Supp(N) ? V (I) and for all integers i ? 0, the R-modules Ext _R ⁱ (M,N) are of finite length.     

A New Complexity Analysis for Full-Newton Step Infeasible Interior-Point Algorithm for Horizontal Linear Complementarity Problems

In this paper, we first present a full-Newton step feasible interior-point algorithm for solving horizontal linear complementarity problems. We prove that the full-Newton step to the central path is quadratically convergent. Then, we generalize an infeasible interior-point method for linear optimization to horizontal linear complementarity problems based on new search directions. This algorithm starts from strictly feasible iterates on the central path of a perturbed problem that is produced by a suitable perturbation in the horizontal linear complementarity problem. We use the so-called feasibility steps that find strictly feasible iterates for the next perturbed problem. By using centering steps for the new perturbed problem, we obtain a strictly feasible iterate close enough to the central path of the new perturbed problem. The complexity of the algorithm coincides with the best known iteration bound for infeasible interior-point methods.     

Nanofluid flow in a catheterized tapered artery

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - This study was conducted with the aim of investigating the Newtonian nanofluid flow in a catheterized tapered artery through using a completely...     

Rearrangements and minimization of the principal eigenvalue of a nonlinear Steklov problem

This paper, motivated by Del Pezzo et al. (2006) [1], discusses the minimization of the principal eigenvalue of a nonlinear boundary value problem. In the literature, this type of problem is called Steklov eigenvalue problem. The minimization is implemented with respect to a weight function. The admissible set is a class of rearrangements generated by a bounded function. We merely assume the generator is non-negative in contrast to [1], where the authors consider weights which are positively away from zero, in addition to being two-valued. Under this generality, more physical situations can be modeled. Finally, using rearrangement theory developed by Geoffrey Burton, we are able to prove uniqueness of the optimal solution when the domain of interest is a ball.