Geometric rigidity of transcendental meromorphic functions

The classes of dynamically and geometrically tame functions meromorphic outside a small set are introduced. The Julia sets of geometrically tame functions are proven to be either geometrical circle (in ) or to have Hausdorff dimension strictly larger than 1. Vast classes of dynamically and geometrically tame functions are identified. The research of both authors was supported in part by the Polish KBN Grant No 2 PO3A 034 25, the Warsaw University of Technology Grant no 504G 11200043000 and by the NSF/PAN grant INT-0306004. The research of the second author was supported in part by the NSF Grant DMS 0400481.     

Rigid, perdeuterated lanthanoid cryptates: extraordinarily bright near-IR luminophores

Near-IR emissive lanthanoid cryptates have been developed with the lanthanoids Yb, Nd, Er, and Pr by designing a fully deuterated ligand environment that greatly suppresses multiphonon nonradiative deactivation pathways through avoidance of high-energy oscillators and rigidification of the ligand backbone. Strong luminescence is observed in CD(3)CN for all four lanthanoids. Luminescence lifetimes in CD(3)CN are among the highest values for molecular complexes in solution reported so far (Yb, τ(obs) = 79 μs; Nd, τ(obs) = 3.3 μs). For the ytterbium cryptate, the highest luminescence lifetime can be obtained using CD(3)OD (τ(obs) = 91 μs) and even in nondeuterated CH(3)CN the lifetime is still unusually high (τ(obs) = 53 μs). X-ray crystallography and (1)H NMR analysis of the corresponding nondeuterated lutetium cryptate suggest that the inner coordination sphere in solution is completely saturated by the octadentate cryptand and one chloride counterion. All lanthanoid cryptates remarkably show complete stability during reversed-phase HPLC measurements under strongly acidic conditions.     

A tabu search algorithm for the minmax regret minimum spanning tree problem with interval data

This paper deals with the strongly NP-hard minmax regret version of the minimum spanning tree problem with interval costs. The best known exact algorithms solve the problem in reasonable time for rather small graphs. In this paper an algorithm based on the idea of tabu search is constructed. Some properties of the local minima are shown. Exhaustive computational tests for various classes of graphs are performed. The obtained results suggest that the proposed tabu search algorithm quickly outputs optimal solutions for the smaller instances, previously discussed in the existing literature. Furthermore, some arguments that this algorithm performs well also for larger instances are provided.     

Microextraction techniques in the analysis of food flavor compounds: A review

Food flavor compounds due to the complexity of food as a matrix, and usually their very low concentrations in a product, as well as their low odor thresholds, create a challenge in their extraction, separation and quantitation. Food flavor volatiles represent compounds of different polarity, volatility and chemical character, which determine method of extraction for their isolation from food. Microextraction techniques, mainly SPME and SBSE have been used for food flavor compounds analysis for two decades. Microextraction methods other than SPME and SBSE are seldom used despite their analytical potential. The review discusses the nature of food flavor compounds, and different approaches to food flavor analysis. It summarizes the use of microextraction methods in food flavor compounds analysis based on papers published in the last 5 years, and discusses the potential of microextraction methods in this field.     

The effect of fluorine substituents on the structure of cyclopropane. The structure of 4,4,8,8-tetraf1uorotricyclo-(5.1.0.0.3,5) octane

The first x-ray structure determination of a fluorine-substituted cyclopropane is reported. The title compound was synthesized via $\text{bis}$ difluorocarbene addition to 1,4-cyc1ohexadiene and its structure determined via x-ray crystallographic techniques. Its cyclopropane bondlengths (1.552 and 1.452) are very similar to those reported earlier in a microwave study of the parent 1,1-difluorocyclopropane, while its cyclohexane ring is virtually planar.     

Synthesis and properties of sol-gel submicron silica powders doped with partly oxidized iron particles

Magnetic powders based on metallic iron crystallites encapsulated in submicron-sized spherical silica particles have been obtained and investigated. The metallic iron clusters have been produced by the exploding wire method. The silica shells have been prepared via the modified sol-gel Stöber method and the metallic particles have been entrapped by occlusion during the silica powder formation. The entrapped iron particles are partially oxidized due to the nature of the synthetic methods employed. The obtained hybrid materials have been investigated by electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, magnetic and ζ-potential techniques. Such materials can be employed in such applications as e.g. magnetically-controlled drug vectors or electromagnetic field-shielding.     

A multi-instrumental approach to identify and purify very small embryonic like stem cells (VSELs) from adult tissues

We employed several complementary cell image analytical methods including ImageStream system (ISS analysis) and molecular approaches to identify and purify from adult murine organs a population of very small embryonic like stem cells (VSELs). These cells are (i) small in size, (ii) possess high cytoplasmic/nuclear ratio, (iii) contain primitive unorganized euchromatin, (iv) in mice are found among Sca-1⁺ Lin^? CD45^? cells and in humans among CD133⁺ CXCR4⁺ CD34⁺ Lin^? CD45^? cells and (v) express embryonic markers such as Oct-4 protein in nuclei and SSEA antigens on the surface. In mice the highest number of these cells resides in brain, kidney, pancreas and bone marrow. Data from our laboratory indicate that VSELs are most likely a population of germ line/epiblast-derived pluripotent stem cells, that is deposited during organogenesis in developing tissues as a source of tissue committed stem cells and that the number of these cells decreases with the age. We believe that VSELs could be harnessed as a source of pluripotent stem cells for regenerative medicine.