Analysis of protein adsorption on regenerated cellulose-based immobilized copper ion affinity membranes

Immobilized metal affinity membranes (IMAMs) were prepared by immobilizing copper ions on microporous regenerated cellulose membranes through different types of chelating agents (dentate and triazine dye). The resulting chelator utilization percentages were 95% for iminodiacetic acid, 56% for N,N,N-tris(carboxymethyl)ethylenediamine, 52% for Cibacron blue 3GA, and 140% for Cibacron red 3BA. On the other hand, triazine dyes were slightly superior to dentate chelators on metal ion utilization for protein adsorption. In batch single-protein adsorptions, the protein adsorption capacity decreased with increasing molecular size and number of accessible surface histidine residues [lysozyme>bovine serum albumin(BSA)>gamma-globulin], while the binding strength order was the opposite (gamma-globulin>BSA>lysozyme). Moreover, the proportions of specific and nonspecific bindings were evaluated by varying pH and salt concentration conditions. A large fraction of the adsorption capacity was found to come from the nonspecific interactions for the prepared IMAMs. Lastly, batch three-protein adsorptions were performed and weak adsorption competition was observed.     

The New Minimum Distance Bounds of Goppa Codes and Their Decoding

A couple of new lower bounds of the minimum distance of Goppa codes is derived, using an extended field code for a Goppa code which contains the Goppa code as its subfield-subcode. Also presented are procedures for both error-only and error-and-erasure decoding for Goppa codes up to the new lower bounds, based on the Berlekamp-Massey algorithm and the Feng-Tzeng multisequence shift-register synthesis algorithms which have been used for decoding cyclic codes up to the BCH and HT(Hartmann-Tzeng) bounds.     

Super Hydrogen and Helium Barrier with Polyelectolyte Nanobrick Wall Thin Film

In an effort to impart light gas (i.e., H₂ and He) barrier to polymer substrates, thin films of polyethylenimine (PEI), poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), and montmorrilonite (MMT) clay are deposited via layer‐by‐layer (LbL) assembly. A five “quadlayer” (122 nm) coating deposited on 51 μm polystyrene is shown to lower both hydrogen and helium permeability three orders of magnitude against bare polystyrene, demonstrating better performance than thick‐laminated ethylene vinyl‐alcohol (EVOH) copolymer film and even metallized polyolefin/polyester film. These excellent barrier properties are attributed to a “nanobrick wall” structure. This highly flexible coating represents the first demonstration of an LbL deposited film with low hydrogen and helium permeability and is an ideal candidate for several packaging and protection applications.

     

A study of extended optimization of U-type rod for LED projectors

The paper proposes a new U-type integral rod for a miniature DLP projector's optical engine with a high-power LED source and L-type optics in order to minimize volumetric size of optical engine. In addition, Taguchi method is applied in this research in order to extendedly optimize the performance of optical engine after initial optimization by damped least square (DLS). A miniature optical engine with LED light source has the advantages of good power consumption, useable projected image, reasonable brightness and uniformity, compactness in volumetric size and decent performance specifically for high spatial frequencies. However, there are still rooms for development with regard to light efficiency and uniformity due to non-uniformity of LED light distribution. Two critical design methods are proposed in this research. Firstly, a “U-type integrator” working with high-power LED which not only causes rays to make a “U-turn” in order to minimize volumetric size of optical engine but also, after optimization, controls output uniformity well after extended optimization by Taguchi method. With regard to gain of optical efficiency, we also consider the factors of a U-type integrator: shape and length with a Taguchi optimizer. It is concluded that the newly developed design achieves good results for the performance and volumetric size of the module. Extended optimized parameter design is able to improve the luminous flux by 4.84%, the illumination uniformity 5.62% and the packing size by 12%.     

Vibronic and cation spectroscopy of m-chloroaniline

We applied the resonant two-photon ionization and mass-analyzed threshold ionization spectroscopic techniques to record the vibronic and cation spectra of m-chloroaniline. The band origin of the first electronic transition was found to be 33 658 ± 2 cm⁻¹, whereas the adiabatic ionization energy was determined to be 63 958 ± 5 cm⁻¹. Within our experimental detection limit, these measured values are the same for both of the ³⁵Cl and ³⁷Cl isotopomers. The observed active modes of this molecule in the electronically excited S₁ and cationic ground D₀ states mainly involve the in-plane ring deformation and substituent-sensitive bending vibrations.     

Quantile regression of right-censored length-biased data using the Buckley–James-type method

Length-biased data are encountered frequently due to prevalent cohort sampling in follow-up studies. Quantile regression provides great flexibility for assessing covariate effects on survival time, and is a useful alternative to Cox’s proportional hazards model and the accelerated failure time (AFT) model for survival analysis. In this paper, we develop a Buckley–James-type estimator for right-censored length-biased data under a quantile regression model. The problem of informative right-censoring of length-biased data induced by prevalent cohort sampling must be handled. Following on from the generalization of the Buckley–James-type estimator under the AFT model proposed by Ning et al. (Biometrics 67:1369–1378, 2011), we propose a Buckley–James-type estimating equation for regression coefficients in the quantile regression model and develop an iterative algorithm to obtain the estimates. The resulting estimator is consistent and asymptotically normal. We evaluate the performance of the proposed estimator on finite samples using extensive simulation studies. Analysis of real data is presented to illustrate our proposed methodology.     

Thermal tuning band gap in cholesteric liquid crystals

The phase of a liquid crystal (LC) changing from a nematic phase to a cholesteric (Ch) mesophase is achieved by adding different ratios of chiral dopants S811. By studying the transmission spectrum, we are able to measure the helical pitch in cholesteric phase. The pitch in the mixtures of nematic E7 and chiral dopants S811 as a function of the concentration of the dopant and temperature is investigated. The sensitivity of the selective reflection notch of the cholesteric phase to the thermal tuning depends strongly on the ratios of the chiral dopants. It reveals that the influence of temperature is more profound for those cholesteric liquid crystals (CLCs) which exhibit smectic A (SmA) at lower temperatures. When fitted using Keating's formula, the helical pitch calculated from our experimental results lies on the predicted curve. Optimised ratios of the mixture CLCs for the optimised reflection band with the specified wavelength ranging from 467 nm to 2123 nm are suggested.