Preparation and characterization of plasma-polymerized N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone films

Thin films (< 1 μm) of plasma polymerized N-vinyl-2-pyrrolidone (PPNVP) have been prepared, using an inductively coupled RF glow discharge in a flow-through reactor system. PPNVP films were hydrophilic, smooth, and appeared morphologically homogeneous. The polymer deposition rate was found to increase linearly with NVP flow rate, and to decrease with the distance from the induction coil. ATR–FT–IR spectral studies suggested a highly branched polymer structure and included absorptions at 2150 and 1540 cm^?1 which were unique to the plasma polymer and derived from lactam ring opening/breaking reactions. ESCA studies demonstrated that, under a given set of plasma reaction conditions, the surface composition was consistent throughout the reactor. However, polymer composition was influenced by larger changes in the plasma energy, since the nitrogen content was found to decrease with increasing W/FM. This corresponded to concomitant increases in the advancing water contact angles and to small but reproducible changes in the IR spectrum.     

Response of Human Corneal Fibroblasts on Silk Film Surface Patterns

Transparent, biodegradable, mechanically robust, and surface‐patterned silk films were evaluated for the effect of surface morphology on human corneal fibroblast (hCF) cell proliferation, orientation, and ECM deposition and alignment. A series of dimensionally different surface groove patterns were prepared from optically graded glass substrates followed by casting poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) replica molds. The features on the patterned silk films showed an array of asymmetric triangles and displayed 37–342 nm depths and 445–3 582 nm widths. hCF DNA content on all patterned films were not significantly different from that on flat silk films after 4 d in culture. However, the depth and width of the grooves influenced cell alignment, while the depth differences affected cell orientation; overall, deeper and narrower grooves induced more hCF orientation. Over 14 d in culture, cell layers and actin filament organization demonstrated that confluent hCFs and their cytoskeletal filaments were oriented along the direction of the silk film patterned groove axis. Collagen type V and proteoglycans (decorin and biglycan), important markers of corneal stromal tissue, were highly expressed with alignment. Understanding corneal stromal fibroblast responses to surface features on a protein‐based biomaterial applicable in vivo for corneal repair potential suggests options to improve corneal tissue mimics. Further, the approaches provide fundamental biomaterial designs useful for bioengineering oriented tissue layers, an endemic feature in most biological tissue structures that lead to critical tissue functions.

     

An axiomatic approach to noncompensatory sorting methods in MCDM,II: More than two categories

A number of recent papers have investigated the foundations of methods allowing to sort multi-attributed alternatives between several ordered categories. This paper has a similar objective. Our analysis uses a general conjoint measurement framework, encompassing most sorting models used in MDCM, that was proposed in the literature. Within this framework, we provide an axiomatic analysis of what we call noncompensatory sorting models, with or without veto effects. These noncompensatory sorting models contain the pessimistic version of ELECTRE TRI as a particular case. Our analysis can be seen as an attempt to give a firm axiomatic basis to ELECTRE TRI, while emphasizing its specific feature, i.e., the rather poor information that this model uses on each attribute.     

有机硅活性中间体的研究 II. 一些含环丙基的有机硅化合物的合成及其结构

用锂有机物的方法合成了四种含有环丙基有机硅化合物,对上述每种化合物中可能存在着的立体异构进行了分离和和构型测定。     

Approximate solutions for magmon propagation from a reservoir

^** Email: tim_marchant{at}uow.edu.au^*** Email: n.smyth{at}ed.ac.uk A 1D partial differential equation (pde) describing the flowof magma in the Earth's mantle is considered, this equationallowing for compaction and distension of the surrounding matrixdue to the magma. The equation has periodic travelling wavesolutions, one limit of which is a solitary wave, called a magmon.Modulation equations for the magma equation are derived andare found to be either hyperbolic or of mixed hyperbolic/elliptictype, depending on the specific values of the wave number, meanheight and amplitude of the underlying modulated wave. The periodicwave train is stable in the hyperbolic case and unstable inthe mixed case. Solutions of the modulation equations are foundfor an initial-boundary value problem on the semi-infinite line,these solutions representing the influx of magma from a largereservoir. The modulation solutions are found to consist ofa full or partial undular bore. Excellent agreement with numericalsolutions of the governing pde is obtained, except in the limitwhere the wave train becomes a train of magmons. An alternativeapproximation based on the assumption that the wave train isa series of uniform magmons is also derived and is found tobe superior to modulation theory in this limit.     

Radiofrequency Plasma Polymers Containing Ionic Phosphonate Groups: Effect of Monomer Structure and Carrier Gas on Properties and Deposition Rate

Radiofrequency (RF) plasma polymers prepared from perfluoroallylphosphonic acid (PAPA) are hydrophilic and have ionic properties. Unfortunately, deposition rates are low. The current study focuses on RF plasma polymers prepared from PAPA and pentafluoroallyldiethylphosphonate (PADP) with and without argon carrier gas. Plasma polymerized PADP films were similar in composition, structure, and properties to plasma polymerized PAPA films, but were deposited at much higher rates. The addition of argon to the PAPA discharges resulted in a decrease in mean deposition rate from 41.7 Å/min to less than 20 Å/min, while the deposition rate of plasma polymerized PADP increased significantly with the addition of argon to the discharge. PADP derived plasma polymer deposition rates ranged from 136 Å/min to 390 Å/min, depending on position in the reactor and presence or absence of argon carrier gas. PAPA-derived plasma polymers exhibited deposition rates and properties that were uniform throughout the reactor, while PADP-derived plasma polymers had maximum deposition under the upstream induction coil and linearly decreasing deposition rate with downstream distance in the reactor. Additionally, the PADP-derived plasma polymers exhibited downstream changes in atomic composition, structure, and physical properties, such as wettability and hardness. These changes were attributed to a getter effect upstream in the reactor in which ablated hydrogen species scavenge etching fluorine species in the plasma phase.     

The Borda rule and Pareto stability: a further comment

In their paper “The Borda rule and Pareto stability: a comment” published in 1979 by Econometrica, Farkas and Nitzan revealed the “intimate relationship” between the Borda rule and the Pareto criterion. The idea was the following: in a profile of total orders, when there is a candidate who obviously wins under unanimous agreement of the voters, that candidate should be in the choice set. In a profile where there is no obvious winner, the candidates that are the closest to unanimity should be chosen. According to this principle, they defined a choice rule called “closeness to unanimity” and they showed that it is equivalent to the Borda rule. In our paper, we give an equivalent result for a ranking rule. Then we try to obtain similar results when aggregating profiles of tournaments, weak orders, semiorders, fuzzy relations, … and we show that the definition of an obvious winner is no more obvious.     

Off-resonance laser frequency stabilization using the Faraday effect

We present a simple technique for stabilization of a laser frequency off resonance using the Faraday effect in a heated vapor cell with an applied magnetic field. In particular, we demonstrate stabilization of a 780 nm laser detuned up to 14 GHz from the (85)Rb D(2) 5(2)S(1/2) F = 2 to 5(2)P(3/2) F' = 3 transition. Control of the temperature of the vapor cell and the magnitude of the applied magnetic field allows locking ~6-14 GHz red and blue detuned from the atomic line. We obtain an rms fluctuation of 7 MHz over 1 h without stabilization of the cell temperature or magnetic field.     

Fast detection of Piscirickettsia salmonis in Salmo salar serum through MALDI‐TOF‐MS profiling

Piscirickettsia salmonis is a pathogenic bacteria known as the aetiological agent of the salmonid rickettsial syndrome and causes a high mortality in farmed salmonid fishes. Detection of P. salmonis in farmed fishes is based mainly on molecular biology and immunohistochemistry techniques. These techniques are in most of the cases expensive and time consuming. In the search of new alternatives to detect the presence of P. salmonis in salmonid fishes, this work proposed the use of MALDI‐TOF‐MS to compare serum protein profiles from Salmo salar fish, including experimentally infected and non‐infected fishes using principal component analysis (PCA). Samples were obtained from a controlled bioassay where S. salar was challenged with P. salmonis in a cohabitation model and classified according to the presence or absence of the bacteria by real time PCR analysis. MALDI spectra of the fish serum samples showed differences in its serum protein composition. These differences were corroborated with PCA analysis. The results demonstrated that the use of both MALDI‐TOF‐MS and PCA represents a useful tool to discriminate the fish status through the analysis of salmonid serum samples. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The microwave heating of three-dimensional blocks: semi-analytical solutions

The microwave heating of three-dimensional blocks, by the transversemagnetic waveguide mode TM₁₁, is considered in a long rectangularwaveguide. The governing equations are the forced heat equationand a steady-state version of Maxwell's equations, while theboundary conditions take into account both convective and radiativeheat loss. Semi-analytical solutions, valid for small thermalabsorptivity, are found using the Galerkin method. The electricalconductivity and the thermal absorptivity are assumed to betemperature dependent, while both the electrical permittivityand magnetic permeability are taken to be constant. Both a quadraticrelation and an Arrhenius-type law are used for the temperaturedependency. As the Arrhenius-type law is not amenable analytically,it is approximated by a rational–cubic function. A multivaluedsteady-state temperature versus power relationship is foundto be possible for both types of temperature dependency. Atthe critical power level thermal runaway occurs when the temperaturejumps from the lower (cool) temperature branch to the upper(hot) temperature branch of the solution. The semi-analyticalsolutions are compared with numerical solutions of the governingequations for various special cases such as the limits of smalland large heat loss at the edges of the block. An excellentcomparison is obtained between the semi-analytical and numericalsolutions, on both temperature branches for the Arrhenius-typelaw. For the quadratic temperature dependency the comparisonis excellent on the low branch but the semi-analytical theorysignificantly underpredicts the temperature on the upper solutionbranch.