Highly hydrophobic sisal chemithermomechanical pulp (CTMP) paper by fluorotrimethylsilane plasma treatment

Fluorinated thin layers were created on chemithermomechanical pulp (CTMP) sisal paper surfaces with fluorotrimethylsilane (FTMS) radio frequency-plasma conditions. It was found that the FTMS-discharge environments caused implantation of fluorine and –Si(CH₃) _x groups into the surface layers of the paper substrates. Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Electron Spectroscopy for Chemical Analysis, as well as Atomic Force Microscopy and Scanning Electron Microscopy analyses revealed a smooth surface for the FTMS plasma-treated paper, apparently covered completely with a cross-linked polymerized network. Although the plasma reaction takes place with the cellulose, hemicelluloses and lignin, it appears that the chemical linkage is mainly to the lignin component on the CTMP paper surface by means of mainly C–O–Si–F, with some C–Si–F structures. The CTMP fibers apparently have a high lignin surface concentration. The water absorption for the plasma-treated CTMP paper was reduced from greater than 300 to 17 g of water/m² and the contact angle increased from less than 15° to greater than 120° the strength properties were only slightly reduced and the brightness was essentially unaffected with the FTMS plasma treatment.     

A novel,integrated forensic microdevice on a rotation‐driven platform: Buccal swab to STR product in less than 2 h

This work describes the development of a novel microdevice for forensic DNA processing of reference swabs. This microdevice incorporates an enzyme‐based assay for DNA preparation, which allows for faster processing times and reduced sample handling. Infrared‐mediated PCR (IR‐PCR) is used for STR amplification using a custom reaction mixture, allowing for amplification of STR loci in 45 min while circumventing the limitations of traditional block thermocyclers. Uniquely positioned valves coupled with a simple rotational platform are used to exert fluidic control, eliminating the need for bulky external equipment. All microdevices were fabricated using laser ablation and thermal bonding of PMMA layers. Using this microdevice, the enzyme‐mediated DNA liberation module produced DNA yields similar to or higher than those produced using the traditional (tube‐based) protocol. Initial microdevice IR‐PCR experiments to test the amplification module and reaction (using Phusion Flash/SpeedSTAR) generated near‐full profiles that suffered from interlocus peak imbalance and poor adenylation (significant ?A). However, subsequent attempts using KAPA 2G and Pfu Ultra polymerases generated full STR profiles with improved interlocus balance and the expected adenylated product. A fully integrated run designed to test microfluidic control successfully generated CE‐ready STR amplicons in less than 2 h (<1 h of hands‐on time). Using this approach, high‐quality STR profiles were developed that were consistent with those produced using conventional DNA purification and STR amplification methods. This method is a smaller, more elegant solution than current microdevice methods and offers a cheaper, hands‐free, closed‐system alternative to traditional forensic methods.     

Unmixedness of some weighted oriented graphs

Journal of Algebraic Combinatorics - Let $$D=(G,\mathcal {O},w)$$ be a weighted oriented graph whose edge ideal is I(D). In this paper, we characterize the unmixed property of I(D) for each one of...     

A Characterisation of Morita Algebras in Terms of Covers

Algebras and Representation Theory - A pair (A, P) is called a cover of EndA(P)op if the Schur functor HomA(P,?) is fully faithful on the full subcategory of projective A-modules, for a given...     

A Nonequilibrium Extension of the Clausius Heat Theorem

We generalize the Clausius (in)equality to overdamped mesoscopic and macroscopic diffusions in the presence of nonconservative forces. In contrast to previous frameworks, we use a decomposition scheme for heat which is based on an exact variant of the Minimum Entropy Production Principle as obtained from dynamical fluctuation theory. This new extended heat theorem holds true for arbitrary driving and does not require assumptions of local or close to equilibrium. The argument remains exactly intact for diffusing fields where the fields correspond to macroscopic profiles of interacting particles under hydrodynamic fluctuations. We also show that the change of Shannon entropy is related to the antisymmetric part under a modified time-reversal of the time-integrated entropy flux.