Antibacterial poly(ethylene terephthalate) surfaces obtained from thymyl methacrylate polymerization

Thymol, an antibacterial agent was used for the preparation of a methacrylic monomer. The conventional and atom transfer radical (ATRP) polymerizations of this monomer were studied using different conditions. Then, the functionalization of poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) films by “grafting from” ATRP using this monomer was investigated. In this aim, a three steps procedure was developed. The surfaces were first treated by NH₃ plasma treatment to incorporate primary amino functions. Then, in a second step, ATRP initiator was grafted by reaction with bromoisobutyryl bromide. Surface initiated ATRP of thymyl methacrylate was performed in solution in the presence of a sacrificial initiator. The efficiency of these reactions was confirmed by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Wetting properties and surface energy were found to vary systematically depending to the type of functionalization and grafting. The poly(thymyl methacrylate)‐grafted PET surfaces exhibit resistance to bacterial adhesion toward Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus strains. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 1975–1985     

Nonlinear equations with unbounded heat conduction and integrable data

We consider a class of quasi-linear diffusion problems involving a matrix A(t,x,u) which blows up for a finite value m of the unknown u. Stationary and evolution equations are studied for L ¹ data. We focus on the case where the solution u can reach the value m. For such problems we introduce a notion of renormalized solutions and we prove the existence of such solutions.      

Structural investigation and elucidation of new communesins from a marine‐derived Penicillium expansum Link by liquid chromatography/electrospray ionization mass spectrometry

Penicillium expansum is a ubiquitous species for which there are only few reports for chemical investigation in marine environments. Among the numerous secondary metabolites produced by this species, communesins represent a new class of cytotoxic and insecticidal indole alkaloids. In this study, we investigated a marine P. expansum strain exhibiting neuroactivity on a Diptera larvae bioassay. Bio‐guided purification led to the isolation and the identification of communesin B as the main active compound by HRMS and ¹H and ¹³C NMR. Liquid chromatography analyses with detection by electrospray ionization coupled with tandem mass spectrometry (LC/ESI‐MS/MS) and high‐resolution tandem mass spectrometry (LC/HRMS/MS) allowed the identification and characterization of four other known communesins (A, D, E and F) in the crude extract. A fragmentation model for dimethyl epoxide communesins was proposed after detailed interpretation of their MS/MS spectra. Further analyses of the extract using the modelled fragmentations led to the detection of seven new communesins found as minor compounds. Chemical structural elucidation of these new derivatives is discussed based on their fragmentation characteristics. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A comparison tool between two ASN.1 specifications

ASN.1 (Abstract Syntax Notation number One) is a standardized formal notation used to describe data exchanged between heterogeneous systems. An ASN.1 specification consists of modules which break down into formal definitions. When a protocol is updated, a new version of its ASN. 1 specification is produced. To keep interoperability between applications which support different versions of the same protocol, the specifier has to ensure that the new modules are compatible with the old ones. Our comparator, based on a complete formalization of comparison rules, can indicate the potential incompatibilities between ASN. 1:1997 specifications.     

Well‐balanced finite difference weighted essentially non‐oscillatory schemes for the blood flow model

The blood flow model maintains the steady‐state solutions, in which the flux gradients are non‐zero but exactly balanced by the source term. In this paper, we design high order finite difference weighted essentially non‐oscillatory (WENO) schemes to this model with such well‐balanced property and at the same time keeping genuine high order accuracy. Rigorous theoretical analysis as well as extensive numerical results all indicate that the resulting schemes verify high order accuracy, maintain the well‐balanced property, and keep good resolution for smooth and discontinuous solutions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Optimized conditions for 2‐aminobenzamide labeling and high‐performance liquid chromatography analysis of N‐acylated monosaccharides

The monosaccharides GlcNAc (N‐acetylglucosamine) and the home‐made GlcNC₁₆ (N‐palmitoyl‐D‐glucosamine) were labeled with 2‐AB (2‐aminobenzamide) by reductive amination of the sugar. The aldehyde group of the monosaccharide reacts with the amino group of 2‐AB, forming a Schiff base. In the second step, the Schiff base is reduced with sodium cyanoborohydride to yield a stable secondary amine. We describe here a simple and fast procedure. Previous studies reported the same labeling at high concentration (10^?1 M) during 30 h with further purification steps. In the present paper all operations were carried out in an Eppendorf tube and the reaction medium was directly analyzed without purification. Using the described protocol, the whole procedure can be accomplished in less than 6 h at 65°C at very low concentration (10^?4 M). For both GlcNC₁₆ and GlcNAc, the 2‐AB labeling conditions were optimized and, in addition, new conditions of high‐performance liquid chromatography analysis were developed. These N‐alkylated sugars were analyzed on reversed‐phase HPLC with fluorimetric detection at excitation and emission wavelengths of 340 and 400 nm, respectively. The separation was achieved on a C₁₈ column with a gradient mobile phase composed of water (0.1% formic acid)–methanol (volume varying) in less than 19 min with 12.5 and 18.3 min retention times for GlcNAc and GlcNC16, respectively. Positive‐ion electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI‐MS) analysis enabled their structural determination. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Hartmann wave-front scanner

A wave-front sensor is described that uses a programmable moving aperture to scan an incoming wave front. The position of the diffraction spot is recorded behind an objective lens with a two-dimensional sensor and gives an estimate of the local slope at the aperture position. Then the wave front is reconstructed by processing of the slope data. The device is basically a programmable Hartmann wave-front sensor. Compared with a microlens Shack-Hartmann wave-front sensor, its much longer focal length provides higher resolution, although real-time operation is lost. A practical implementation of the new scanner with a liquid-crystal television as the programmable aperture is presented.     

Links between the Slater Index and the Ryser Index of Tournaments

Given a tournament T, the Slater index i(T) of T is the minimum number of arcs that must be reversed to make T transitive. The Ryser index (T) of T, defined from the out-degrees of T, measures a remoteness between T and the transitive tournaments of same order. In this paper, we study some links between i(T) and (T). More precisely, calling I(n, ) the maximum value of i(T) over the set of tournaments on n vertices and such that (T)=, we compute an upper bound of I(n,) for every value of . Then we use this upper bound to study a conjecture stated by J.-C. Bermond on the regularity (i.e., the fact that all the out-degrees are equal or almost equal) of the tournaments with a maximum Slater index by showing that the out-degrees of such tournaments cannot be too far from the ones of the regular tournaments.     

Constructing complete tables of quartic fields using Kummer theory

We explain how to construct tables of quartic fields of discriminant less than or equal to a given bound in an efficient manner using Kummer theory, instead of the traditional (and much less efficient) method using the geometry of numbers. As an application, we describe the computation of quartic fields of discriminant up to , the corresponding table being available by anonymous ftp.     

β-Cyano meso-unsubstituted porphyrins for intramolecular charge transfer

β-Cyano meso-unsubstituted porphyrin 10, synthesized via a ‘3+1’ condensation using a bromotripyrrane, shows an effective charge transfer interaction across the porphyrin between electron-acceptor and -donor groups in β-positions.