Interaction between Ti-gel and silver, copper, as well as nickel compounds under ultrasound irradiation

Ag-TiO₂, Cu-TiO₂ and Ni-TiO₂ were prepared by sonication. The interactions of Ti-gel with silver, copper and nickel ions under ultrasound irradiation are very different, although these ions can be dispersed very well in titania. The results of EDXA and XRD analysis indicate that Ti-gel does not react with AgCl and crystallizes unaffectedly to form rutile. M(OH)₂ (M = Cu and Ni), on the other hand, favors polycondensation with Ti-gel and affects the crystallization of Ti-gel. CuO favors stabilization of the anatase phase. Ni²⁺ ions tend to incorporate more easily into titania than Cu²⁺ ions do when the samples are calcined. TEM, and BET were also used to characterize the samples.     

Role of Cell Surface Lipopolysaccharides in Escherichia coli K12 adhesion and transport

The influence of bacterial surface lipopolysaccharides (LPS) on cell transport and adhesion has been examined by use of three mutants of Escherichia coli K12 with well-characterized LPS of different lengths and molecular composition. Two experimental techniques, a packed-bed column and a radial stagnation point flow system, were employed to investigate bacterial adhesion kinetics onto quartz surfaces over a wide range of solution ionic strengths. Although the two systems capture distinct deposition (adhesion) mechanisms because of their different hydrodynamics, similar deposition kinetics trends were observed for each bacterial strain. Bacterial deposition rates were directly related to the electrostatic double layer interaction between the bacteria and quartz surfaces, in qualitative agreement with classic Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory. However, DLVO theory does not fully explain the deposition behavior for the bacterial strain with the lengthy, uncharged O-antigen portion of the LPS. Neither the length nor the charge characteristics of the LPS molecule directly correlated to deposition kinetics, suggesting a complex combination of cell surface charge heterogeneity and LPS composition controls the bacterial adhesive characteristics. It is further suggested that bacterial deposition behavior is determined by the combined influence of DLVO interactions, LPS-associated chemical interactions, and the hydrodynamics of the deposition system.     

Structural requirements in chiral diphosphine-rhodium complexes. VIII. Asymmetric hydrogenation of N-acetyldehydroamino acids with rhodium(I) complexes containing chiral carbocyclic analogues of DIOP.

Z--acetamidocinnamic acid was hydrogenated with neutral diphosphine-rhodium(I) complexes containing trans-1,2-bis(diphenylphosphinomethyl) cycloalkanes to give N-acetylphenylalanine: 86 % e.e.-(R) [(1R,2R)-cyclobutane]; 63 % e.e.-(R) [(1R,2R)-cyclopentane]; 35 % e.e.-(S) [(1S,2S)-cyclohexane]; and 82 % e.e.-(R) [(2R,3R)-DIOP]. Similarly, -acetamidoacrylic acid was hydrogenated to give N-acetylalanine: 72 % e.e.-(R) [(1R,2R)-cyclobutane]; 72 % e.e.-(R) [(1R,2R)-cyclopentane]; 40 % e.e.-(S) [(1S,2S)-cyclohexane]; and 73 % e.e.-(R) [(2R,3R)-DIOP].     

Effect of solution chemistry on the surface charge of polymeric reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes

A streaming potential analyzer has been used to investigate the effect of solution chemistry on the surface charge of four commercial reverse osmosis and nanofiltration membranes. Zeta potentials of these membranes were analyzed for aqueous solutions of various chemical compositions over a pH range of 2 to 9. In the presence of an indifferent electrolyte (NaCl), the isoelectric points of these membranes range from 3.0 to 5.2. The curves of zeta potential versus solution pH for all membranes display a shape characteristic of amphoteric surfaces with acidic and basic functional groups. Results with salts containing divalent ions (CaCl₂, Na₂SO₄, and MgSO₄) indicate that divalent cations more readily adsorb to the membrane surface than divalent anions, especially in the higher pH range. Three sources of humic acid, Suwannee River humic acid, peat humic acid, and Aldrich humic acid, were used to investigate the effect of dissolved natural organic matter on membrane surface charge. Other solution chemistries involved in this investigation include an anionic surfactant (sodium dodecyl sulfate) and a cationic surfactant (dodecyltrimethylammonium bromide). Results show that humic substances and surfactants readily adsorb to the membrane surface and markedly influence the membrane surface charge.     

The mechanism of proton transfer between adjacent sites exposed to water

The surface of a protein, or a membrane, is spotted with a multitude of proton-binding sites, some of which are only a few angstroms apart. When a proton is released from one site, it propagates through the water by a random walk under the bias of the local electrostatic potential determined by the distribution of the charges on the protein. Some of the released protons disperse into the bulk, but during the first few nanoseconds, the released protons can be trapped by encounter with nearby acceptor sites. This process resembles a scenario which corresponds with the time-dependent Debye-Smoluchowski equation. In the present study, we investigated the mechanism of proton transfer between sites that are only a few angstroms apart, using as a model the proton exchange between sites on a small molecule, fluorescein, having two, spectrally distinguishable, proton-binding sites. The first site is the oxyanion on the chromophore ring structure. The second site is the carboxylate moiety on the benzene ring of the molecule. Through our experiments, we were able to reconstruct the state of protonation at each site and the velocity of proton transfer between them. The fluorescein was protonated by a few nanosecond long proton pulse under specific conditions that ensured that the dye molecules would be protonated only by a single proton. The dynamics of the protonation of the chromophore were measured under varying initial conditions (temperature, ionic strength, and different solvents (H(2)O or D(2)O)), and the velocity of the proton transfer between the two sites was extracted from the overall global analysis of the signals. The dynamics of the proton transfer between the two proton-binding sites of the fluorescein indicated that the efficiency of the site-to-site proton transfer is very sensitive to the presence of the screening electrolyte and has a very high kinetic isotope effect (KIE = 55). These two parameters clearly distinguish the mechanism from proton diffusion in bulk water. The activation energy of the reaction (E(a) = 11 kcal mol(-1)) is also significantly higher than the activation energy for proton dissociation in bulk water (E(a) approximately 2.5 kcal mol(-1)). These observations are discussed with respect to the effect of the solute on the water molecules located within the solvation layer.     

Relevance of electrokinetic theory for "soft" particles to bacterial cells: implications for bacterial adhesion

Bacterial cells and other biological particles carry charged macromolecules on their surface that form a "soft" ion-permeable layer. In this paper, we test the applicability of an electrokinetic theory for soft particles to characterize the electrophoretic mobility (EPM) and adhesion kinetics of bacterial cells. The theory allows the calculation of two parameters--the electrophoretic softness and the fixed charged density--that define the characteristics of the polyelectrolyte layer at the soft particle surface. The theory also allows the calculation of an outer-surface potential that may better predict the electrostatic interaction of soft particles with solid surfaces. To verify its relevance for bacterial cells, the theory was applied to EPM measurements of two well-characterized Escherichia coli K12 mutants having lipopolysaccharide (LPS) layers of different lengths and molecular compositions. Results showed that the obtained softness and fixed charge density were not directly related to the known characteristics of the LPS of the selected strains. Interaction energy profiles calculated from Derjaguin-Landau-Verwey-Overbeek (DLVO) theory were used to interpret bacterial deposition (adhesion) rates on a pure quartz surface. The outer surface potential failed to predict the low attachment efficiencies of the two bacterial strains. The lack of success in the application of the theory for soft particles to bacterial cells is attributed to chemical and physical heterogeneities of the polyelectrolyte layer at the cell surface.     

Splitting families of sets in ZFC

Miller's 1937 splitting theorem was proved for every finite n>0$n>0$ for all ρ-uniform families of sets in which ρ is infinite. A simple method for proving Miller-type splitting theorems is presented here and an extension of Miller's theorem is proved in ZFC for every cardinal ν for all ρ  -uniform families in which ρ≥_?ω(ν)$\rho \ge {\mathrm{?}}_{\omega }(\nu )$. The main ingredient in the method is an asymptotic infinitary Löwenheim–Skolem theorem for anti-monotone set functions.     

Electrical properties study of multi-walled carbon nanotubes/hybrid-glass nanocomposites

Electrical properties of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWNTs)/hybrid-glass nanocomposites prepared by the fast-sol–gel reaction were investigated in light of percolation theory. A good correlation was found between the experimental results and the theory. We obtained a percolation threshold ? _c  = 0.22 wt%, and a critical exponent of t = 1.73. These values are reported for the first time for a silica-based system. The highest conductivity measured on the MWNT/hybrid-glass nanocomposites was σ ≈ 10^?3(Ω cm)^?1 for 2 wt% carbon nanotube (CNT) loading. The electrical conductivity was at least 12 orders of magnitude higher than that of pure silica. Electrostatic force microscopy and conductive-mode atomic force microscopy studies demonstrated conductivity at the micro-level, which was attributed to the CNT dispersed in the matrix. It appears that the dispersion in our MWNT/hybrid-glass system yields a particularly low percolation threshold compared with that of a MWNT/silica-glass system. Materials with electrical conductivities described in this work can be exploited for anti-static coating.     

Hindman spaces

A topological space is Hindman if for every sequence in there exists an infinite so that the sequence , indexed by all finite sums over , is IP-converging in . Not all sequentially compact spaces are Hindman. The product of two Hindman spaces is Hindman.

Furstenberg and Weiss proved that all compact metric spaces are Hindman. We show that every Hausdorff space that satisfies the following condition is Hindman:

Consequently, there exist nonmetrizable and noncompact Hindman spaces. The following is a particular consequence of the main result: every bounded sequence of monotone (not necessarily continuous) real functions on has an IP-converging subsequences.

     

Rules and reals

A ``-rule" is a sequence of pairwise disjoint sets , each of cardinality and subsets . A subset (a ``real') follows a rule if for infinitely many , .

Two obvious cardinal invariants arise from this definition: the least number of reals needed to follow all -rules, , and the least number of -rules with no real that follows all of them, .

Call a bounded rule if is a -rule for some . Let be the least cardinality of a set of bounded rules with no real following all rules in the set.

We prove the following: and for all . However, in the Laver model, .

An application of is in Section 3: we show that below one can find proper extensions of dense independent families which preserve a pre-assigned group of automorphisms. The original motivation for discovering rules was an attempt to construct a maximal homogeneous family over . The consistency of such a family is still open.