Fremlin tensor products of concavifications of Banach lattices

Suppose that $E$ is a uniformly complete vector lattice and $p_1,\dots ,p_n$ are positive reals. We prove that the diagonal of the Fremlin projective tensor product of $E_{(p_1)},\dots ,E_{(p_n)}$ can be identified with $E_{(p)}$ where $p=p_1+\dots +p_n$ and $E_{(p)}$ stands for the $p$ -concavification of $E$ . We also provide a variant of this result for Banach lattices. This extends the main result of Bu et al. (Positivity, 2013).     

Description of phenomenological process during thermal formation of an epoxy system in presence of metal nanoparticles using advanced kinetics analysis

The curing process of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA)–isophoronediamine (IPDA) system filled with different contents of Fe nanoparticles (nano-Fe) has been investigated by differential scanning calorimetry and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis in order to understand the effect of nano-Fe. These studies revealed that high percentage of the nanofiller, i.e. 10 %, results in improved epoxy matrix as evidenced by increasing in the reaction heat and conversion degree. Kinetics of DGEBA/IPDA/10 % nano-Fe cure was studied by calorimetry measurements at isothermal mode. Isothermal kinetic parameters, including k ₁, k ₂, m, and n were determined and it was shown that the reaction kinetics could be expressed well by dα/dt = (k ₁ + k ₂ α ^m)(1?α)ⁿ which called Kamal model. The results also showed that the diffusion control does not occur. The excellent fitting Kamal model with experimental data at the end of the isothermal cure process could be mentioned as evidences here. The dispersion of 10 % nano-Fe into epoxy matrix was analyzed by atomic force microscopy observations.     

Integrated separation of blood plasma from whole blood for microfluidic paper-based analytical devices

Many diagnostic tests in a conventional clinical laboratory are performed on blood plasma because changes in its composition often reflect the current status of pathological processes throughout the body. Recently, a significant research effort has been invested into the development of microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (μPADs) implementing these conventional laboratory tests for point-of-care diagnostics in resource-limited settings. This paper describes the use of red blood cell (RBC) agglutination for separating plasma from finger-prick volumes of whole blood directly in paper, and demonstrates the utility of this approach by integrating plasma separation and a colorimetric assay in a single μPAD. The μPAD was fabricated by printing its pattern onto chromatography paper with a solid ink (wax) printer and melting the ink to create hydrophobic barriers spanning through the entire thickness of the paper substrate. The μPAD was functionalized by spotting agglutinating antibodies onto the plasma separation zone in the center and the reagents of the colorimetric assay onto the test readout zones on the periphery of the device. To operate the μPAD, a drop of whole blood was placed directly onto the plasma separation zone of the device. RBCs in the whole blood sample agglutinated and remained in the central zone, while separated plasma wicked through the paper substrate into the test readout zones where analyte in plasma reacted with the reagents of the colorimetric assay to produce a visible color change. The color change was digitized with a portable scanner and converted to concentration values using a calibration curve. The purity and yield of separated plasma was sufficient for successful operation of the μPAD. This approach to plasma separation based on RBC agglutination will be particularly useful for designing fully integrated μPADs operating directly on small samples of whole blood.     

A high throughput glucocerebrosidase assay using the natural substrate glucosylceramide

Glucocerebrosidase is a lysosomal enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of glucosylceramide to form ceramide and glucose. A deficiency of lysosomal glucocerebrosidase due to genetic mutations results in Gaucher disease, in which glucosylceramide accumulates in the lysosomes of certain cell types. Although enzyme replacement therapy is currently available for the treatment of type 1 Gaucher disease, the neuronopathic forms of Gaucher disease are still not treatable. Small molecule drugs that can penetrate the blood-brain barrier, such as pharmacological chaperones and enzyme activators, are new therapeutic approaches for Gaucher disease. Enzyme assays for glucocerebrosidase are used to screen compound libraries to identify new lead compounds for drug development for the treatment of Gaucher disease. But the current assays use artificial substrates that are not physiologically relevant. We developed a glucocerebrosidase assay using the natural substrate glucosylceramide coupled to an Amplex-red enzyme reporting system. This assay is in a homogenous assay format and has been miniaturized in a 1,536-well plate format for high throughput screening. The assay sensitivity and robustness is similar to those seen with other glucocerebrosidase fluorescence assays. Therefore, this new glucocerebrosidase assay is an alternative approach for high throughput screening.     

On a graph of ideals

We associate a graph Γ₊(R) to a ring R whose vertices are nonzero proper right ideals of R and two vertices I and J are adjacent if I+J=R. Then we try to translate properties of this graph into algebraic properties of R and vice versa. For example, we characterize rings R for which Γ₊(R) respectively is connected, complete, planar, complemented or a forest. Also we find the dominating number of Γ₊(R).     

β-Mannosidase and β-hexosaminidase inhibitors: synthesis of 1,2-bis-epi-valienamine and 1-epi-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-valienamine from d-mannose

A partially protected C-5C-5a unsaturated carbasugar with α-lyxo configuration is synthesised in five steps and 26% overall yield from a known mannose-derived hemiacetal, using ring-closing metathesis as a key step. This carbasugar is converted into valienamine derivatives with β-lyxo (i.e., corresponding to β-manno at C-1–C-4), α-lyxo (i.e., corresponding to α-manno at C-1–C-4) and β-2-acetamido-2-deoxy-xylo (i.e., corresponding to β-GlcNAc at C-1–C-4) configurations. This is the first report of the synthesis of the β-lyxo compound, 1,2-bis-epi-valienamine, which was found to inhibit Cellulomonas fimi β-mannosidase (CfMan2A) with K_i 140 μM. We report the crystal structures of three protected C-5C-5a unsaturated carbasugars with lyxo configuration.     

A New Aluminium Hydroxide Coating on Fused Silica Fiber for the Determination of 1,4-Dioxane in Surfactants and Detergents Using HS-SPME-GC

This paper presents a simple and convenient analytical method for determination of 1,4-dioxane in surfactants and detergents by using a novel SPME fiber. For the preparation of the fiber, the surface of a fused silica capillary tubing was modified by means of aluminium tri-tert-butoxide in a straightforward grafting process. The surface of our proposed fiber provides a Lewis acid–base interaction with analyte functional groups. The main factors affecting the extraction were optimized by using a central composite design method, which leads to the following optimum conditions: extraction temperature of 34?°C, extraction time of 4?min, equilibrium time of 13?min, and salt content of 25% (w/v). The optimum conditions showed a linear range from 0.005 to 60?μg?g^?1. LOD and LOQ of the proposed method were estimated to be 0.0015 and 0.005?μg?g^?1, respectively. This method was also applied for the analysis of some real samples including ethoxylated fatty alcohol, sodium lauryl ether sulfate, dish-washing agents, and shampoos by using the standard addition method.