The potentiometric behaviour of copolymers of methacrylic acid in water-ethanol solutions

Summary The synthesis is reported of copolymers of styrene with methacrylic acid and of methyl methacrylate with methacrylic acid by radical copolymerization, of copolymers of methyl methacrylate with methacrylic acid by partial alkaline hydrolysis of poly(methyl methacrylate), and of block copolymers of styrene with methacrylic acid. Modified titration curves of all these copolymers were recorded in water and water-ethanol solutions. In a solution containing 50 mass.% ethanol, only small differences could be observed between the potentiometric behaviour of the individual copolymers and polymethacrylic acid. Also, there were no essential differences in any of the solvents used between the potentiometric behaviour of block copolymers of styrene with methacrylic acid, on the one hand, and polymethacrylic acid, on the other. On the contrary, maxima and minima were always observed on the modified titration curves of statistical copolymers with a higher content of the hydrophobic comonomer in solutions with a high water content. Thus, using the modified titration curves, it is possible to decide whether a given copolymer is of the block or statistical type.     

Analysis of multi-agent activity using petri nets

This paper presents the use of place/transition petri nets (PNs) for the recognition and evaluation of complex multi-agent activities. The PNs were built automatically from the activity templates that are routinely used by experts to encode domain-specific knowledge. The PNs were built in such a way that they encoded the complex temporal relations between the individual activity actions. We extended the original PN formalism to handle the propagation of evidence using net tokens. The evaluation of the spatial and temporal properties of the actions was carried out using trajectory-based action detectors and probabilistic models of the action durations. The presented approach was evaluated using several examples of real basketball activities. The obtained experimental results suggest that this approach can be used to determine the type of activity that a team has performed as well as the stage at which the activity ended.     

The Network as a Storage Device: Dynamic Routing with Bounded Buffers

We study dynamic routing in store-and-forward packet networks where each network link has bounded buffer capacity for receiving incoming packets and is capable of transmitting a fixed number of packets per unit of time. At any moment in time, packets are injected at various network nodes with each packet specifying its destination node. The goal is to maximize the throughput, defined as the number of packets delivered to their destinations. In this paper, we make some progress on throughput maximization in various network topologies. Let n and m denote the number of nodes and links in the network, respectively. For line networks, we show that Nearest-to-Go (NTG), a natural distributed greedy algorithm, is -competitive, essentially matching a known lower bound on the performance of any greedy algorithm. We also show that if we allow the online routing algorithm to make centralized decisions, there is a randomized polylog(n)-competitive algorithm for line networks as well as for rooted tree networks, where each packet is destined for the root of the tree. For grid graphs, we show that NTG has a competitive ratio of while no greedy algorithm can achieve a ratio better than . Finally, for arbitrary network topologies, we show that NTG is -competitive, improving upon an earlier bound of O(mn). An extended abstract appeared in the Proceedings of the 8th Workshop on Approximation Algorithms for Combinatorial Optimization Problems, APPROX 2005, Berkeley, CA, USA, pp. 1–13, Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 1741, Springer, Berlin. S. Angelov is supported in part by NSF Career Award CCR-0093117, NSF Award ITR 0205456 and NIGMS Award 1-P20-GM-6912-1. S. Khanna is supported in part by an NSF Career Award CCR-0093117, NSF Award CCF-0429836, and a US-Israel Binational Science Foundation Grant. K. Kunal is supported in part by an NSF Career Award CCR-0093117 and NSF Award CCF-0429836.     

A Preparative Method for the Isolation of Calponin from Molluscan Catch Muscle

We describe the development of a preparative method to isolate molluscan catch muscle, calponin. This method is based on the ability of calponin to interact with actin in a temperature-dependent manner. After extracting thin filaments, as previously described, the extract was ultracentrifuged at 2 °C. While other surface proteins of thin filaments co-precipitated with actin, calponin, along with some minor contaminants, remained in the supernatant. Calponin was purified through cation-exchange chromatography. The yield of pure protein was four-fold higher than that achieved through high-temperature extraction. To evaluate functionally isolated proteins, we determined the effect of calponin on Mg²⁺-ATPase activity of hybrid and non-hybrid actomyosin. The degree of ATPase inhibition was consistent with previously published data but strongly dependent on the environmental conditions and source of actin and myosin used. Furthermore, at low concentrations, calponin could induce the ATPase activity of hybrid actomyosin. This result was consistent with data indicating that calponin can modulate actin conformation to increase the relative content of “switched on” actin monomers in thin filaments. We assume that calponin obtained by the isolation method proposed herein is a fully functional protein that can both inhibit and induce the ATPase activity.     

Comparative study of the fluid viscosity in tarsal hairy attachment systems of flies and beetles

Wet adhesive systems of insects strongly rely for their function on the formation of capillary bridges with the substrate. Studies on the chemical composition and evaporation dynamics of tarsal secretions strongly suggest a difference in chemistry of secretion in beetles and flies, both possessing hairy attachment devices. This difference is assumed to influence the viscosity of the secretion. Here, we applied a microrheological technique, based on the immersion of nanometric beads in the collected tarsal footprints, to estimate secretion viscosity in a beetle (Coccinella septempunctata) and a fly (Calliphora vicina). Both species studied possess distinct differences in viscosity, the median of which was calculated as 21.8 and 10.9 mPa s, respectively. We further present an approximate theoretical model to calculate the contact formation time of spatula-like terminal contact elements using the viscosity data of the covering fluid. The estimated contact formation time is proportional to the tarsal secretion viscosity and to the square of the contact radius of the contact element.     

The Effect of Titanium, Zirconium and Tin on the Growth of Diatom Synedra Acus and Morphology of Its Silica Valves

The effect of three Group IV metals (titanium, zirconium and tin) on the growth, morphology and chemical composition of the freshwater diatom Synedra acus subsp. radians (Kützing) Skabichevsky was studied and compared with germanium. The elements in their highest oxidation states were introduced into the culture medium in the form of hydroxides. Germanium was found to be toxic at ??5?mol. % of the total Ge-Si content in the culture medium. In the presence of other elements, a slight decrease in the cell division rate was observed independent of the element within 1?C15% content interval. The analysis of the obtained biomass and silica valves revealed the presence of all the added elements within the cells. However, only germanium was incorporated into the valves in considerable amounts. S. acus cultivation with the addition of 5% Group IV elements resulted in cells having the following aberrations in the structure of the silica valves: changes in valve shape, thickening of valves, alterations of the areolae rows, irregularity or absence of the areolae and a decrease in the mechanical strength of valves. Moreover, the effect of Group IV elements on silica formation was simulated in vitro using a synthetic polymer bearing polyamine and phosphate groups found in silaffines (proteins from diatom frustules). The studied elements were observed to provoke the formation of unstable silica particles in solution. We propose that the observed effects of germanium, titanium, zirconium and tin on diatom growth and structure are due to uncontrollable silica condensation.     

Charge Migration in Organic Materials: Can Propagating Charges Affect the Key Physical Quantities Controlling Their Motion?

Charge migration is a ubiquitous phenomenon with profound implications throughout many areas of chemistry, physics, biology, and materials science. The long-term vision of designing functional materials with tailored molecular-scale properties has triggered an increasing quest to identify prototypical systems where truly molecular conduction pathways play a fundamental role. Such pathways can be formed due to the molecular organization of various organic materials and are widely used to discuss electronic properties at the nanometer scale. Here, we present a computational methodology to study charge propagation in organic molecular stacks at nano and sub-nanoscales and exploit this methodology to demonstrate that moving charge carriers strongly affect the values of the physical quantities controlling their motion. The approach is also expected to find broad application in the field of charge migration in soft matter systems.     

Structure–properties investigations in hydrophilic nanocomposites based on polyurethane/poly(2–hydroxyethyl methacrylate) semi‐interpenetrating polymer networks and nanofiller densil for biomedical application

Nanocomposites based on sequential semi–interpenetrating polymer networks (semi–IPNs) of crosslinked polyurethane and linear poly(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate) filled with 1–15 wt % of nanofiller densil were prepared and investigated. Nanofiller densil used in an attempt to control the microphase separation of the polymer matrix by polymer–filler interactions. The morphology (SAXS, AFM), mechanical properties (stress–strain), thermal transitions (DSC) and polymer dynamics (DRS, TSDC) of the nanocomposites were investigated. Special attention has been paid to the raising of the hydration properties and the dynamics of water molecules in the nanocomposites in the perspective of biomedical applications. Nanoparticles were found to aggregate partially for higher than 3 and 5 wt % filler loading in semi–IPNs with 17 and 37 wt % PHEMA, respectively. The results show that the good hydration properties of the semi–IPN matrix are preserved in the nanocomposites, which in combination with results of thermal and dielectric techniques revealed also the existence of polymer–polymer and polymer–filler interactions. These interactions results also in the improvement of physical and mechanical properties of the nanocomposites in compare with the neat matrix. The improvement of mechanical properties in combination with hydrophilicity and biocompatibility of nanocomposites are promising for use these materials for biomedical application namely as surgical films for wound treatment and as material for producing the medical devises. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43122.     

The Effect of La2O3 Addition on Sol–Gel Derived Mullitization

Monophasic gel with stoichiometric 3Al₂O₃·2SiO₂ composition and gels with 0.99, 1.96, and 2.91 mol% La₂O₃ added were sol–gel derived. The crystallization path, structure evolution, microstructure, and morphology of calcined premullite powders and sintered ceramic bodies have been investigated as a function of La₂O₃ content and sintering temperature. In addition to mullite, spinel phase at about 980°C, and α‐alumina at above 1000°C were determined; however, neither La₂O₃ nor La‐related compounds had crystallized. The La₂O₃ predominately incorporated into the glassy phase, enhanced with La₂O₃ level, which affected both mullite structure and composition, as confirmed by electron microscopy, Rietveld structure refinement, determination of unit cell parameters, electron microscopy, and achieved density of the sintered bodies. Increased thermal treatment changes the alumina/silica ratio in mullite (towards 3:2 below 1200°C, and toward 2:1 above), and decreases the mullite/amorphous ratio. Sintered dense ceramic bodies revealed a positive densification effect and increased sinterability as a result of the lanthanum‐induced increase in glassy phase.