Bioengineering functional copolymers. III. Synthesis of biocompatible poly[(N‐isopropylacrylamide‐co‐maleic anhydride)‐g‐poly(ethylene oxide)]/poly(ethylene imine) macrocomplexes and their thermostabilization effect on the activity of the enzyme penicillin G acylase

Stimuli‐responsive poly[(N‐isopropylacrylamide‐co‐maleic anhydride)‐g‐poly(ethylene oxide)]/poly(ethylene imine) macrobranched macrocomplexes were synthesized by (1) the radical copolymerization of N‐isopropylacrylamide and maleic anhydride with α,α′‐azobisisobutyronitrile as an initiator in 1,4‐dioxane at 65 °C under a nitrogen atmosphere, (2) the polyesterification (grafting) of prepared poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide‐co‐maleic anhydride) containing less than 20 mol % anhydride units with α‐hydroxy‐ω‐methoxy‐poly(ethylene oxide)s having different number‐average molecular weights (M_n = 4000, 10,000, or 20,000), and (3) the incorporation of macrobranched copolymers with poly(ethylene imine) (M_n = 60,000). The composition and structure of the synthesized copolymer systems were determined by Fourier transform infrared, ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, and chemical and elemental analyses. The important properties of the copolymer systems (e.g., the viscosity, thermal and pH sensitivities, and lower critical solution temperature behavior) changed with increases in the molecular weight, composition, and length of the macrobranched hydrophobic domains. These copolymers with reactive anhydride and carboxylic groups were used for the stabilization of penicillin G acylase (PGA). The conjugation of the enzyme with the copolymers significantly increased the thermal stability of PGA (three times at 45 °C and two times at 65 °C). © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 41: 1580–1593, 2003     

Vessel Arrival Process and Queueing in Marine Ports Handling Bulk Materials

We study the vessel arrival process in bulk ports handling either cargo containers or minerals. Then we introduce the SHIP/G/1 queue to be able to study the queueing behavior at the port. We present approximations for the asymptotic probabilities of delay and the number of vessels at the port. Numerical examples show the accuracy of the approximations. In appendices, we provide details of the analysis of the number of vessels at the port and the correlation properties of the vessel arrival process.     

End effects for pre-stressed and pre-polarized piezoelectric solids in anti-plane shear

This paper is concerned with investigation of the influence of pre-stress and pre-polarization on the decay of Saint-Venant end effects in piezoelectric solids. This issue is examined within the framework of incremental anti-plane shear states for prestressed and prepolarized solids. Attention is confined to a specific class of materials, namely those of hexagonal 6mm or 4mm symmetry. It is shown that the mechanical and electrical fields uncouple in this case, and the governing system of coupled second-order linear partial differential equations uncouple to a single homogeneous second-order equation with constant coefficients for the displacement and a Poisson equation for the electric potential. The exact decay rate for mechanical and electrical end effects is determined and the influence of pre-stress and pre-polarization is assessed. Motivation for this work arises from the current rapid developments in smart materials technology.     

Approximation of a laminated microstructure for a rotationally invariant,double well energy density

Summary. We give error estimates for the approximation of a laminated microstructure which minimizes the energy for a rotationally invariant, double well energy density . We present error estimates for the convergence of the deformation in the convergence of directional derivatives of the deformation in the “twin planes,” the weak convergence of the deformation gradient, the convergence of the microstructure (or Young measure) of the deformation gradients, and the convergence of nonlinear integrals of the deformation gradient. Received July 25, 1995 / Revised version received November 20, 1995     

An interpolation approximation for the GI/G/1 queue based on multipoint Padé approximation

The performance evaluation of many complex manufacturing, communication and computer systems has been made possible by modeling them as queueing systems. Many approximations used in queueing theory have been drawn from the behavior of queues in light and heavy traffic conditions. In this paper, we propose a new approximation technique, which combines the light and heavy traffic characteristics. This interpolation approximation is based on the theory of multipoint Padé approximation which is applied at two points: light and heavy traffic. We show how this can be applied for estimating the waiting time moments of the ^GI/G/1 queue. The light traffic derivatives of any order can be evaluated using the MacLaurin series analysis procedure. The heavy traffic limits of the ^GI/G/1 queue are well known in the literature. Our technique generalizes the previously developed interpolation approximations and can be used to approximate any order of the waiting time moments. Through numerical examples, we show that the moments of the steady state waiting time can be estimated with extremely high accuracy under all ranges of traffic intensities using low orders of the approximant. We also present a framework for the development of simple analytical approximation formulas. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Défaut d'exactitude des modéles¶de Néron toriques sur un corps local

Let R be a complete discrete valuation ring with mixed characteristic. Denote by K its field of fractions and by k its residue field. Let 0 →A ^K →B ^K →C ^K → 0 be an exact sequence of abelian varieties over K and consider the corresponding complex of Nérons models 0 →A→B→C→ 0, over R. We assume that the identity component B _k ⁰ of the special fibre B _k of B is a torus and we study the defect of exactmess at B in this last sequence.

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Re?u: 4 décembre 1997/ Version revisée: 15 décembre 1997     

Bounded sets in topological groups and embeddings

We show that the existence of a non-metrizable compact subspace of a topological group G often implies that G contains an uncountable supersequence (a copy of the one-point compactification of an uncountable discrete space). The existence of uncountable supersequences in a topological group has a strong impact on bounded subsets of the group. For example, if a topological group G contains an uncountable supersequence and K is a closed bounded subset of G which does not contain uncountable supersequences, then any subset A of K is bounded in G?(K?A). We also show that every precompact Abelian topological group H can be embedded as a closed subgroup into a precompact Abelian topological group G such that H is bounded in G and all bounded subsets of the quotient group G/H are finite. This complements Ursul's result on closed embeddings of precompact groups to pseudocompact groups.     

On the analysis of the Gerber-Shiu discounted penalty function for risk processes with Markovian arrivals

In this paper, we consider an insurance risk model governed by a Markovian arrival claim process and by phase-type distributed claim amounts, which also allows for claim sizes to be correlated with the inter-claim times. A defective renewal equation of matrix form is derived for the Gerber-Shiu discounted penalty function and solved using matrix analytic methods. The use of the busy period distribution for the canonical fluid flow model is a key factor in our analysis, allowing us to obtain an explicit form of the Gerber-Shiu discounted penalty function avoiding thus the use of Lundberg’s fundamental equation roots. As a special case, we derive the triple Laplace transform of the time to ruin, surplus prior to ruin, and deficit at ruin in explicit form, further obtaining the discounted joint and marginal moments of the surplus prior to ruin and the deficit at ruin.     

The Webster scalar curvature problem on the three dimensional CR manifolds

In this paper, we prove some existence results for the Webster scalar curvature problem on the three dimensional CR compact manifolds locally conformally CR equivalent to the unit sphere S³ of C². Our methods are based on the techniques related to the theory of critical points at infinity.     

The proportional hazards regression model with staggered entries: A strong martingale approach

The proportional hazards regression model, when subjects enter the study in a staggered fashion, is studied. A strong martingale approach is used to model the two-time parameter counting processes. It is shown that well-known univariate results such as weak convergence and martingale inequalities can be extended to this two-dimensional model. Strong martingale theory is also used to prove weight convergence of a general weighted goodness-of-fit process and its weighted bootstrap counterpart.