Calculation of electric field–temperature (E,T) phase diagram of a ferroelectric liquid crystal near the SmA–SmC_α~* transition

In this work we perform a theoretical calculation in order to reconstitute the(E–T) phase diagram of a chiral smectic liquid crystal in the vicinity of the SmA–SmC_α~* transition. This reconstruction is carried out on the basis of a thermodynamic calculation of the slope of the curve joining the SmC_α~* domain and the unwound SmC~*. An empiric correction of the mean field term of Landau De-Gennes development is necessary to accomplish this reconstruction. Thereafter, an experimental validation is performed to verify our calculations.     

A new, simple approach to confer permanent antimicrobial properties to hydroxylated surfaces by surface functionalization

A new, simple method to obtain ultrathin polycationic monolayers on hydroxylated surfaces is described which uses a bifunctional copolymer comprising a reactive part (trimethoxysilane) and positive charges (quaternary ammonium salts) to confer antimicrobial properties.     

Error propagation model for microscopic magnetic resonance elastography shear-wave images

Microscopic magnetic resonance elastography is a high-resolution method for visualizing shear waves and assessing the biomechanical viscoelastic properties of small biological samples. In this work, we used error propagation to develop a simple analytical model that relates the signal-to-noise ratio of MR magnitude images to the variance in shear-wave maps collected using gradient-echo and spin-echo phase-contrast pulse sequences. Our model predicts results for shear-wave images in phantoms, which match the experimentally observed phase variance within 8%. This model can be used to optimize MR pulse sequences for elastography studies, as well as other phase-difference techniques in MRI.     

Covalent immobilization of active lysozyme on Si/glass surface using alkoxy Fischer carbene complex on SAM

A cross-metathesis reaction between an alkene terminated self-assembled monolayer (SAM) on glass/Si wafer and an alkene tethered Fischer carbene complex yielded a functionalized surface. Rapid aminolysis of the Fischer carbene moieties permit efficient anchoring of amine containing molecules on such a surface. Attachment of 1-pyrenemethylamine was thus monitored by ATR-IR spectroscopy and fluorescence microscopy. Similarly, BSA and lysozyme were individually grafted to such Fischer carbene modified surfaces using their pendant lysine residues. It has been demonstrated that the anchored lysozyme retains its bactericidal property.     

Synthesis of Some C2‐Symmetric Bidentate Ligands and Their Complexes Derived from Feist's Acid

Various new C₂‐symmetric bidentate ligands, bearing phosphorus, nitrogen, and sulfur, were obtained in an efficient manner, starting from (±)‐trans‐3‐methylidenecyclopropane‐1,2‐dicarboxylic acid (Feist's acid; (±)‐trans‐ 3 ). The structures of the new bidentate ligands, di(tert‐butyl) (±)‐[(trans‐3‐methylidenecyclopropane‐1,2‐diyl)dimethanediyl]biscarbamate ((±)‐ 9 ), (±)‐(trans‐3‐methyldienecyclopropane‐1,2‐diyl)dimethanaminium dichloride ((±)‐ 10 ), (±)‐S,S′‐[(trans‐3‐methylidenecyclopropane‐1,2‐diyl)dimethanediyl] diethanethioate ((±)‐ 11 ), and (±)‐[(trans‐3‐methylidenecyclopropane‐1,2‐diyl)dimethanediyl]bis(diphenylphosphane) ((±)‐ 12 ), were fully characterized by standard spectroscopic techniques. These new classes of C₂‐symmetric bidentate ligands have the potential to be used in asymmetric catalysis.     

Effect of rotation on plane waves in generalized thermo-microstretch elastic solid with a relaxation time

The present paper is aimed at studying the effect of rotation on the general model of the equations of generalized thermo-microstretch for a homogeneous isotropic elastic half-space solid whose surface is subjected to a Mode-I Crack problem considered. The problem is in the context of the generalized thermoelasticity Lord-?hulman??s (L-S) theory with one relaxation time, as well as the classical dynamical coupled theory (CD) The normal mode analysis is used to obtain the exact expressions for the displacement components, force stresses, temperature, couple stresses and microstress distribution. The variations of the considered variables through the horizontal distance are illustrated graphically. Comparisons are made with the results in the presence and absence of rotation and in the presence and absence of microstretch constants between the two theories.     

The effects of hazardous ions adsorption on the morphological and chemical properties of reactive cloth filter

Reactive cloth filter is fabricated by grafting of acrylonitrile/methacrylic acid onto cotton cloth, using mutual irradiation technique and the subsequent amidoximation of the reactive intermediate nitrile groups. The incorporation of the amidoxime/carboxyl groups was confirmed by different techniques. The effect of the hazardous ions chelation from radioactive waste on the morphological and chemical structure was studied. The cloth filter possessed good morphological and chemical stability suitable for practical use. The fabricated cloth filter can be used for low-level radioactive waste treatments.     

Spectrofluorimetric method for measuring the activity of the enzyme α-l-fucosidase using the ion associate of 2-chloro-4-nitro phenol-rhodamine-B

A low cost and accurate method for the detection and analytical determination of the activity of the enzyme α-l-fucosidase (AFU) was developed. The method was based upon measuring the fluorescence intensity of the complex ion associate of the ion associate of rhodamine-B and the compound 2-chloro-4-nitrophenol (RB⁺ CNP⁻) at 580 nm in phosphate buffer (pH 5) against the reagent blank. The influence of the different parameters, e.g. pH, incubation time, temperature, 2-chloro-4-nitrophenol concentration, foreign ions and surfactants that control the fluorescence intensity of the produced ion associate was critically investigated. The correlation between the fluorescence activity of the enzyme AFU by the developed procedures and the standard method was positive and highly significant in patients and controls (r² = 0.99, p < 0.001). The developed method is simple and proceeds without practical artifacts compared to the standard method.     

Synthesis and antibacterial evaluation of new N- and S-glycosides analogues with dinitrophenyl-substituted heterocyclic bases

Four N- and S-glycosides 13–16 having nucleobases 7–12 binding to sugar molecules from one side and to 3,5-dinitrophenyl moieties from another side were synthesized from 3,5-dinitrobenzoic acid 2. The synthetic intermediates, hydrazide 5 and thiosemicarbazide 6 regarded as important key compounds for the synthesis of nucleobases 7–12, each was obtained by two approaches. Structures of synthesized compounds were determined spectroscopically. Antibacterial activities for synthetic intermediates and glycosides were assessed using the paper disk diffusion method against Gram-negative bacteria: Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Pseudomonas fluorescens, and Escherichia coli and Gram-positive bacteria: Bacillus cereus and Staphylococcus aureus. Some of the synthetic compounds showed variant activity against some of the microorganisms tested. Nucleobases 8–10 and 12 showed moderate to slight activity against microorganisms under test at relatively high concentration, while the N-glycosides 14 and 15 exhibited persistent effect even at lower concentrations. Commercially available antibiotics polymyxine and oxytetracycline were used as positive controls.