Crosslink effect and albumin adsorption onto chitosan/alginate multilayered systems: an in situ QCM-D study

The adsorption of HSA onto CHI/ALG multilayer assemblies was assessed in situ using QCM-D. It was found that the behavior of HSA on biomaterials surface can be tuned by adjusting parameters of the polyelectrolyte system such as pH, layer number, crosslinker and polymer terminal layer. Our results confirmed the key role of electrostatic interactions during HSA adsorption, since oppositely charged surfaces were more effective in promoting protein adhesion. QCM-D data revealed that crosslinking (CHI/ALG)(5) CHI films allows HSA to become adsorbed in physiological conditions. Our results suggested that the biological potential of biopolymers and the mild conditions of the LbL technique turn these natural nanoassemblies into a suitable choice to be used as pH-sensitive coatings.     

<Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-Alkoxy-3,5-dinitro-4-aminobenzoic acid derivatives with controlled physico-chemical properties

Starting from 4-chloro-3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid 1, compounds 2–10 (N-alkoxy-3,5-dinitro-4-aminobenzoic acid esters where alkoxy stands for methoxy, carboxymethoxy, triphenylmethoxy, or corresponding amides) have been obtained, from which compounds 3–5 and 7–10 are new, and for the known compounds 2 and 6 the synthetic procedure has been improved. The new derivatives have been characterized by appropriate means (IR, UV–Vis, ¹H- and ¹³C-NMR, fluorescence) and their properties were studied. Thus, depending on their structure, the compounds have acid properties, fluorescence and complexing properties with alkaline cations.     

Microbial transformation of marine halogenated sesquiterpenes

The sesquiterpene pacifenol is one of the main constituents of the red alga Laurencia claviformis. Earlier work on the semisynthetic derivatives of pacifenol afforded a series of halogenated sesquiterpenes. The aim of the present work was to obtain new hydroxylated derivatives of halogenated sesquiterpenes by means of microbial transformation using Aspergillus niger, Gibberella fujikuroi and Mucor plumbeus. The best results were obtained with M. plumbeus. The microbiological transformation by M. plumbeus of pacifenol, and two semisynthetic derivatives, is described. The structures of the new compounds obtained were determined by spectroscopic means.     

On Subordination Chains with Normalization Given by a Time-dependent Linear Operator

In this paper we are concerned with solutions, in particular with univalent solutions, of the Loewner differential equation associated with non-normalized subordination chains on the Euclidean unit ball B ⁿ in \mathbbCⁿ{\mathbb{C}^n}. The main result is a generalization to higher dimensions of a well known result due to Becker. Various particular cases of this result have been recently obtained for subordination chains with normalization Df(0,t)=e^tI_n{Df(0,t)=e^tI_n} or Df(0, t) = e ^tA , t ≥ 0, where A ? L(\mathbbCⁿ,\mathbbCⁿ){A\in L(\mathbb{C}^n,\mathbb{C}^n)}. We also determine the form of the standard solutions to the Loewner differential equation associated with generalized spirallike mappings. In the last section we obtain the form of the solution in the presence of coefficient bounds.     

On the “viscous incompressible fluid + rigid body” system with Navier conditions

In this paper we consider the motion of a rigid body in a viscous incompressible fluid when some Navier slip conditions are prescribed on the body's boundary. The whole system “viscous incompressible fluid + rigid body” is assumed to occupy the full space R³${\mathbb{R}}^3$. We start by proving the existence of global weak solutions to the Cauchy problem. Then, we exhibit several properties of these solutions. First, we show that the added-mass effect can be computed which yields better-than-expected regularity (in time) of the solid velocity-field. More precisely we prove that the solid translation and rotation velocities are in the Sobolev space H¹$H^1$. Second, we show that the case with the body fixed can be thought as the limit of infinite inertia of this system, that is when the solid density is multiplied by a factor converging to +∞. Finally we prove the convergence in the energy space of weak solutions “à la Leray” to smooth solutions of the system “inviscid incompressible fluid + rigid body” as the viscosity goes to zero, till the lifetime T   of the smooth solution of the inviscid system. Moreover we show that the rate of convergence is optimal with respect to the viscosity and that the solid translation and rotation velocities converge in H¹(0,T)$H^1(0,T)$.     

Effective learning hyper-heuristics for the course timetabling problem

Course timetabling is an important and recurring administrative activity in most educational institutions. This article combines a general modeling methodology with effective learning hyper-heuristics to solve this problem. The proposed hyper-heuristics are based on an iterated local search procedure that autonomously combines a set of move operators. Two types of learning for operator selection are contrasted: a static (offline) approach, with a clear distinction between training and execution phases; and a dynamic approach that learns on the fly. The resulting algorithms are tested over the set of real-world instances collected by the first and second International Timetabling competitions. The dynamic scheme statistically outperforms the static counterpart, and produces competitive results when compared to the state-of-the-art, even producing a new best-known solution. Importantly, our study illustrates that algorithms with increased autonomy and generality can outperform human designed problem-specific algorithms.     

Variational Solutions to Nonlinear Diffusion Equations with Singular Diffusivity

We provide existence results for nonlinear diffusion equations with multivalued time-dependent nonlinearities related to convex continuous not coercive potentials. The results in this paper, following a variational principle, state that a generalized solution of the nonlinear equation can be retrieved as a solution of an appropriate minimization problem for a convex functional involving the potential and its conjugate. In the not coercive case, this assertion is conditioned by the validity of a relation between the solution and the nonlinearity. A sufficient condition, under which this relation is true, is given. At the end, we present a discussion on the solution existence for a particular equation describing a self-organized criticality model.     

Synthesis and thermal behavior of new ambazone complexes with some transitional cations

Ambazone is a pharmaceutical compound that possesses antiseptic activity and tested as well for anti-tumor properties. Metal complexes of Zn(II), Fe(III), and Cu(II) containing ambazone as ligand were synthesized using a molar ratio salt:ligand of 1:1, heating the mixture up to 50 °C for 6 h. Coordination compounds were characterized by thin-layer chromatography, FT-IR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and thermal behavior. The non-isothermal experiments were carried out in order to investigate the thermal degradation process of these complexes and were performed in a dynamic air atmosphere at a heating rate β = 10 °C min^?1 from ambient temperature, up to 500 °C. It was revealed that decomposition process is a multistadial one.     

Metal plasmon enhanced europium complex luminescence

The plasmon enhanced luminescence of a rare-earth complex Tris(6, 6, 7, 7, 8, 8, 8-heptafluoro-2, 2-dimethyl-3, 5-octanedionato) europium (Eu(fod)₃) was investigated. A polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) thin film was successfully adopted as a spacer to separate the Eu complex from the silver island film (SIF), and five-fold enhancement of the radiative decay rate of the Eu complex on SIF was demonstrated based on the luminescence intensity and lifetime measurement. Investigation of the distance dependent luminescence indicates that 7 nm is an optimal distance for SIF enhanced Eu luminescence. Plasmon enhanced rare-earth luminescence based on an organic film spacer would find potential applications in plasmon enhanced organic light emitting diode (OLED) devices.