Crosslinked poly(ethylene oxide) containing siloxanes fabricated through thiol‐ene photochemistry

Homogenous amphiphilic crosslinked polymer films comprising of poly(ethylene oxide) and polysiloxane were synthesized utilizing thiol‐ene “ click ” photochemistry. A systematic variation in polymer composition was Carried out to obtain high quality films with varied amount of siloxane and poly(ethylene oxide). These films showed improved gas separation performance with high gas permeabilities with good CO₂/N₂ selectivity. Furthermore, the resulting films were also tested for its biocompatibility, as a carrier media which allow human adult mesenchymal stem cells to retain their capacity for osteoblastic differentiation after transplantation. The obtained crosslinked films were characterized using differential scanning calorimetry, dynamic mechanical analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, FTIR, Raman‐IR , and small angle X‐ray scattering. The synthesis ease and commercial availability of the starting materials suggests that these new crosslinked polymer networks could find applications in wide range of applications. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 1548–1557     

Exploiting the diversity of time scales in the immune system: A B-cell antibody model

Using the continuous shape space formalism, we develop an immune system model involving both B lymphocytes and antibody molecules. The binding and cross-linking of receptors on B cells stimulates the cells to divide and, with a lag, to secrete antibody. Using the method of multiple scales, we show how to correctly formulate long-time-scale equations for the population dynamics of B cells, the total antibody concentration, and rate of antibody secretion. We compare our model with previous phenomenological formulations.     

Benzotriazole is thermally more stable than 1,2,3-triazole

TGA, DTA and DSC analyses indicate that benzotriazole is significantly more stable thermally than 1,2,3-triazole.     

Quantum General Relativity,Torsion and Uncertainty Relations

It is shown that in gravitational theories with torsion one is led to commutation rules corresponding to Landau-Peierls type uncertainty relations.