Translation planes of large dimension admitting nonsolvable groups

In this article, the question is considered whether there exist finite translation planes with arbitrarily small kernels admitting nonsolvable collineation groups. For any integerN, it is shown that there exist translation planes of dimension >N and orderq ³ admittingGL(2,q) as a collineation group.     

Synthesis and characterization of novel thermoresponsive‐co‐biodegradable hydrogels composed of N‐isopropylacrylamide,poly(L‐lactic acid), and dextran

A series of novel multifunctional hydrogels that combined the merits of both thermoresponsive and biodegradable polymeric materials were designed, synthesized, and characterized. The hydrogels were copolymeric networks composed of N‐isopropylacrylamide (NIPAAM) as a thermoresponsive component, poly(L‐lactic acid) (PLLA) as a hydrolytically degradable and hydrophobic component, and dextran as an enzymatically degradable and hydrophilic component. The chemical structures of the hydrogels were characterized by an attenuated total reflection–Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR–FTIR) technique. The hydrogels were thermoresponsive, showing a lower critical solution temperature (LCST) at approximately 32 °C, and their swelling properties strongly depended on temperature changes, the balance of the hydrophilic/hydrophobic components, and the degradation of the PLLA component. The degradation of the hydrogels caused by hydrolytic cleavage of ester bonds in the PLLA component was faster at 25 °C below the LCST than at 37 °C above the LCST, determined by the ATR–FTIR technique. Due to their multifunctional properties, the designed hydrogels show great potential for biomedical applications, including drug delivery and tissue engineering. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 5054–5066, 2004     

Bounds on the inverses of nonnegative triangular matrices with monotonicity properties

Some bounds on the entries and on the norm of the inverse of triangular matrices with nonnegative and monotone entries are found. All the results are obtained by exploiting the properties of the fundamental matrix of the recurrence relation which generates the sequence of the entries of the inverse matrix. One of the results generalizes a theorem contained in a recent article of one of the authors about Toeplitz matrices.     

ENSTAR detector forη- mesic studies

We have initiated a search for a new type of nuclear matter, theη-mesic nucleus, using beams from the multi-GeV hadron facility, COSY at Juelich, Germany. A large acceptance scintillator detector, ENSTAR has been designed and built at BARC, Mumbai and fully assembled and tested at COSY. A test run for calibration and evaluation has been completed. In this contribution we present the design and technical details of the ENSTAR detector and how it will be used to detect protons and pions (the decay products ofη-mesic bound state). The detector is made of plastic scintillators arranged in three concentric cylindrical layers. The readout of the detectors is by means of optical fibres. The layers are used to generate ΔE –E spectra for particle identification and total energy information of stopped particles. The granularity of the detector allows for position (θ and ?ø determination making the event reconstruction kinematically complete     

Substituted m-phenylene bridges as strong ferromagnetic couplers for Cu(II)-bridge-Cu(II) magnetic interactions: new perspectives

Based on a combined theoretical-experimental study, we propose that substituted m-phenylene ligands (m-N-Phi-N) can act as tuneable strong ferromagnetic couplers connecting Cu(II) ions; a new complex presenting that bridge with J close to +15 cm(-1) has been suggested and synthesized.     

Concise syntheses of the cruciferous phytoalexins brassilexin, sinalexin, wasalexins, and analogues: expanding the scope of the vilsmeier formylation

Efficient syntheses of the phytoalexins brassilexin, sinalexin, and analogues are demonstrated through the application of the Vilsmeier formylation to indoline-2-thiones followed by a new aqueous ammonia workup procedure. Similarly, a very concise two-pot synthesis of the phytoalexins wasalexins using sequential formylation-amination of indolin-2-ones is described. Remarkably, this novel aqueous ammonia workup allows the sequential one-pot formylation-amination, expanding substantially the scope of the Vilsmeier formylation of both indoline-2-thiones and indolin-2-ones. The examination of the formylation-amination reaction and optimization of conditions, as well as the syntheses and antifungal activities of several brassilexin analogues, are reported.     

Necessary and sufficient conditions for mean convergence of orthogonal expansions for Freud weights

A classic 1970 paper of B. Muckenhoupt established necessary and sufficient conditions for weightedL _p convergence of Hermite series, that is, orthogonal expansions corresponding to the Hermite weight. We generalize these to orthogonal expansions for a class of Freud weightsW ²:=e ^–2Q , by first proving a bound for the difference of the orthonormal polynomials of degreen+1 andn–1 of the weightW ². Our identical necessary and sufficient conditions close a slight gap in Muckenhoupt's conditions for the Hermite weight at least forp>1. Moreover, our necessary conditions apply whenQ(x)=|x|, >1 while our sufficient conditions apply at least for =2,4,6,....Communicated by Vilmos Totik.     

A review of the role of DSC analysis in the design of fluorozirconate glasses for fibre optic applications

The relatively poor thermal stability of fluorozirconate glasses is a major factor preventing the realisation of their true potential for fibre optic applications. A range of methods based on both isothermal and non-isothermal DSC techniques, which can be employed to evaluate the thermal stability of fluorozirconate glasses, are described. The relevance of these thermal stability criteria to the design of fluorozirconate compositions capable of yielding high quality optical fibres is discussed.     

Photoaffinity labeling of bovine rhodopsin

Photoaffinity labeled (3-diazoacetoxy)-9-cis-retinal (1) and (9-methylenediazoacetoxy)-9-cis-retinal (20) were synthesized and bound to absorption maxima at 465 and 460 nm respectively. Binding studies established that synthetic retinals 1 and 2 bind to the natural binding site and that the integrity of the diazoacetoxy photoaffinity label is preserved in the process. Incorporation of 3-(O¹⁴COCHN₂)-labeled 9-cis retinal could be conveniently carried out in high yield using apomembrane solubilized in CHAPS as detergent to afford the pigment analog in a pure form. Photolysis of the diazoacetoxy group within the binding site led to 15–20%, crosslinking of rhodopsin as estimated by using radiocarbon containing labeled retinal 1 thus showing that this synthetic retinal is suitable for photoaffinity labeling of the active site in rhodopsin. Subsequent experiments to establish the site(s) of crosslinking by sequencing studies will then contribute to our knowledge of the structure of rhodopsin.