Evaluation of epifluorescence image analysis of biofilm growth on stainless steel surfaces

Biofilm growth of Bacillus subtilis, Pseudomonas fragi, Pediococcus inopinatus and Listeria monocytogenes was studied on stainless steel surfaces at room and low temperatures to evaluate the results of traditional hygiene measures. The results were compared with those of image analysis of stainless steel surfaces in an epifluorescence microscope. Statistical analyses were carried out to determine the variations between the conventional cultivation swab method, the glycocalyx amount obtained using swabbing, and the values of the areas of the biofilm, slime and cells. As a general rule, old biofilms showed total counts at approximately the same levels as the young biofilm. The results showed that temperature affected the results for all strains except B. subtilis. The strains of Pe. inopinatus and Ps. fragi showed increased attachment at 6°C and L. monocytogenes at 25°C. The biofilm slime was more easily detached than the cells. The results indicated that the traditional swab method is not reliable for the measurement of biofilm formation on surfaces.     

Accurate values for the nonrelativistic energies of the lowest singlet and triplet S-states of the4He-Isotop

Accurate lower and upper bounds for the nonrelativistic lowest energies¹ E ₀ and³ E ₀ of the singlet and triplet-system of the⁴He-Isotop are calculated with the linearized method of variance minimization. The same was done for¹ E ₁ the energy of the first excitedS-state 2¹ S. The results especially for¹ E ₀ and³ E ₀ in a.u. are −2.9033076997₅ ≤¹ E ₀ ≤ −2.9033076921₈ −2.1749324263₇ ≤³ E ₀ ≤ −2.1749324245₉ i.e. the values are determined with an absolute error smaller than 0.00167 cm⁻¹ for¹ E ₀ and 0.00039 cm⁻¹ for³ E ₀.     

THE CORRELATION EFFECT ON THE CHAIN MOTION CONTRIBUTION TO IONIC TRANSPORT IN POLYMER ELECTROLYTES

The ionic transport process in polymer electrolytes (such as polyethylene oxide) wassimulated numerically on a two dimensional square lattice where charge carriers areaccommodated by the lattice sites connected randomly with available bonds to represent theamorphous chain configuration. Following the dynamic bond percolation theory(DBPT),the chainmotion contribution to the ionic conduction was incorporated via periodical renewal of the randombond configuration. To check and extend the prediction made by DBPT employing global abruptbond renewal,spatial correlation of the bond reassignment was introduced to the system by: 1)regional bond renewal and 2) organized bond motion. It is found that the difference between thediffusivities simulated involving regional bond renewal and those of DBPT becomes negligiblewhen the bond renewal rate approaches the carrier hopping rate.     

NMR studies on solid cyclohexaamylose inclusion compounds

Orthorhombic inclusion compounds of cyclohexaamylose with methanol,n-propanol, acetic acid and water as guest molecules were studied using¹³C and²H NMR techniques.¹³C chemical shifts were correlated with structural data, whereas²H NMR lineshapes were used to derive information on guest molecule motions.Issued as NRCC No. 25568. Presented in part at the 2nd International Symposium on Clathrate Compounds and Molecular Inclusion Phenomena, Parma, Italy, 30 Aug.–3 Sept. 1982     

Heat capacities and volumes of transfer of cholesteryl oleyl carbonate into various solvents

Heat capacities C _p and volumes V have been obtained at 25°C for the transfer of cholesteryl oleyl carbonate (ChOC) from a reference solvent, the highly-branched alkane 2,2,4,4,6,8,8-heptamethylnonane into various solvents. These include normal, branched, and cyclic alkanes as well as the pure cholesteric ChOC. V and most C _p are associated with the change of environmental free volume during the transfer process and are predicted by the Prigogine-Flory theory. However, for n-alkane solvents with more than twelve carbons, C _p is large, positive, and unattributable to free volume changes. It is consistent with a restriction of alkane segmental motion by the ChOC. The same mechanism has been proposed to explain an antiplasticization effect of ChOC on transitions in polymers.     

N-苯基苯二甲酰亚胺和2-苯基喹噁啉晶态分子动力学行为研究

本文在晶体结构分析的基础上, 对二个芳香杂环高聚物模型化合物N-苯基苯二甲酰亚胺和2-苯基喹噁啉分子的原子热振动参数进行分析, 结果表明N-苯基苯二甲酰亚胺晶态分子基本上为刚性分子, 而2-苯基喹噁啉分子的热振动应包含分子内取代苯基的内旋转运动, 其平均平方振幅为53(25) deg~2。     

Dielectric and13C NMR studies of the carbon monoxide clathrate hydrate

The structure I clathrate hydrate of carbon monoxide has been studied using dielectric measurements and¹³C NMR spectroscopy. Broad, weak dielectric absorption curves with maxima at 2.2–3.8 K yieldE _a = 0.14 kJ mol^–1 for the average Arrhenius activation energy associated with the reorientation of the low polarity guest. Except for H₂S this represents the fastest reorienting polar guest known among the clathrate hydrates. The low temperature dielectric absorption curves can best be fitted with a Cole-Davidson asymmetric distribution of relaxation times and activation energies (with = 0.06 at 4 × 10⁶ Hz), which at 10⁷ Hz has been resolved into a double symmetric distribution of discrete relaxation times for CO in the small and large cages. The cross-polarization magic angle spinning¹³C NMR spectra indicate identical chemical shifts for CO in the small and large cages, in contrast to other hydrates. The static spectra show that the CO molecules undergo anisotropic reorientation in the large cages and that there is still considerable mobility at 77 K. One possible model for the anisotropic motion has the CO rapidly moving among sites over each of the 14 faces of the cage with the CO axis orientated towards the cage centre. The cage occupancy ratio at 220 K, _s/ _L = 1.11, indicates slightly greater preference of CO for the small cage.Dedicated to Dr D. W. Davidson in honor of his great contributions to the sciences of inclusion phenomena.     

A characterization of brownian motion in a lipschitz domain by its killing distributions

Let (Y _t, Q^x) be a strong Markov process in a bounded Lipschitz domainD with continuous paths up to its lifetime , and let (X _t, P^x) be a Brownian motion inD. IfY _– exists in D andQ ^x(Y_– C)=P^x(X_– C) for all Borel subsetsC of D and allx, thenY is a time change ofX.     

Probability theory and polymer physics

This study applies the theory of stochastic processes to the equilibrium statistical physics of polymers in solution. The topics treated include random copolymers and randomly branching polymers, with self-consistent mean field effects. A new and more natural way of dealing with Boltzmann weighting is discussed, which makes it possible from the beginning of a calculation to consider only the physical polymer conformations. We also show that in general the random copolymer problem can be reduced to the ordinary polymer problem, and treat the self-consistent field problem for a general branching polymer.     

Random walk in an inhomogeneous medium with local impurities

In spite of Sinai's result that the decay of the velocity autocorrelation function for a random walk on ^d (d=2) can drastically change if local impurities are present, it is shown that local impurities can not abolish weak convergence to the Brownian motion if d2.