Random poly(ε‐caprolactone‐L‐alanine) by direct melt copolymerization

A series of random polyesteramides (PEAs) with a range of molar composition from 90/10 to 50/50 were synthesized by direct melt polycondensation of ε‐caprolactone and l ‐alanine. Their structure was fully characterized by Fourier transform IR and NMR spectroscopy. The resulting copolymers are completely amorphous with the exception of PEA‐90/10 which possesses a semicrystalline structure. These PEAs present increasing glass transition temperatures at increasing l ‐alanine contents and exhibit fairly good thermal stability with 10% mass loss temperatures reaching 315 °C. © 2020 Society of Industrial Chemistry     

Pharmacological distribution diagrams: a tool for de novo drug design

BACKGROUND: There is no empirical data available on attitudes concerning AIDS and habits towards HIV infected patients of physicians in general or private practice. In this study results of a self-evaluation are presented. METHODS: 178 physicians working with out-patients in different medical fields were randomly selected for a cross sectional study and interviewed using a standardised questionnaire. RESULTS: 89% think that they are sufficiently informed about AIDS (in the USA 20%). They regarded the risk of infection to be lower than the Anglo-American physicians. They believed there is a lack of interchange of information between colleagues regarding the degree of infectiousness of referred patients. A third of the physicians fear that other patients will go elsewhere if they find out that their physician is treating AIDS patients. 54% would hold special clinic sessions for HIV-patients outside the normal schedule for practice times. 89% believed that HIV patients were partly to blame for their illness. CONCLUSIONS: Although the physicians recognise the problem of HIV-infection, they partly deny the real necessities and facts. A reason for this could be the emotions underlying the general attitude to everything pertaining to HIV-disease. Attitudes to HIV-disease and the dealing with it in daily practice must be considered on the basis of individual emotional motives.     

Fluctuation conductivity in Li-doped YBa2Cu3O7−x

The paraconductivity of Li-doped YBa₂Cu₃O_7?x was measured. We have found that the character of the fluctuation changes as lithium content increases: instead of a crossover from 2D to 3D behavior (D is the dimensionality), as we have observed for a low doping level, a double crossover to the 2D percolative and 3D percolative regimes becomes manifest by increasing the lithium content.     

On the dissipation process in Bi2Sr2Ca2Cu3O10 tapes and bulk samples with preferential grain orientation in zero external magnetic field

Current-voltage characteristics of Bi₂Sr₂Ca₂Cu₃O₁₀ tapes and bulk samples with preferentially oriented crystallites have been measured in zero applied magnetic field and for temperatures close to the mean-field critical-temperature,T _c0. It was shown that the power-law dependence,V=AI ^a, valid for two-dimensional systems, does not correctly describe the data, which clearly indicate the existence of a finite critical-current density,J _c. The experimentalI-V curves are fitted quite well with the model which attributes the finite critical-current density to the coupling between the CuO₂ double layers. It was found thatJ _c vanishes at a temperature value belowT _c0. This behavior can result from the occurrence of vortex fluctuation-induced layer decoupling and/or from the contribution of entropy to the vortex unbinding process.     

Turbulent Details Simulation for SPH Fluids via Vorticity Refinement

A major issue in smoothed particle hydrodynamics (SPH) approaches is the numerical dissipation during the projection process, especially under coarse discretizations. High‐frequency details, such as turbulence and vortices, are smoothed out, leading to unrealistic results. To address this issue, we introduce a vorticity refinement (VR) solver for SPH fluids with negligible computational overhead. In this method, the numerical dissipation of the vorticity field is recovered by the difference between the theoretical and the actual vorticity, so as to enhance turbulence details. Instead of solving the Biot‐Savart integrals, a stream function, which is easier and more efficient to solve, is used to relate the vorticity field to the velocity field. We obtain turbulence effects of different intensity levels by changing an adjustable parameter. Since the vorticity field is enhanced according to the curl field, our method can not only amplify existing vortices, but also capture additional turbulence. Our VR solver is straightforward to implement and can be easily integrated into existing SPH methods.     

A new approach to predict ulcerative colitis activity through standard clinical–biological parameters using a robust neural network model

Neural Computing and Applications - Colonoscopy is the “gold” standard for evaluating disease activity in ulcerative colitis (UC). An important area of research is finding a...     

Novel (Phenothiazinyl)Vinyl-Pyridinium Dyes and Their Potential Applications as Cellular Staining Agents

We report here the synthesis and structural characterization of novel cationic (phenothiazinyl)vinyl-pyridinium (PVP) dyes, together with optical (absorption/emission) properties and their potential applicability as fluorescent labels. Convective heating, ultrasound irradiation and mechanochemical synthesis were considered as alternative synthetic methodologies proficient for overcoming drawbacks such as long reaction time, nonsatisfactory yields or solvent requirements in the synthesis of novel dye (E)-1-(3-chloropropyl)-4-(2-(10-methyl-10H-phenothiazin-3-yl)vinyl)pyridin-1-ium bromide 3d and its N-alkyl-2-methylpyridinium precursor 1c. The trans geometry of the newly synthesized (E)-4-(2-(7-bromo-10-ethyl-10H-phenothiazin-3-yl)vinyl)-1-methylpyridin-1-ium iodide 3b and (E)-1-methyl-4-(2-(10-methyl-10H-phenothiazin-3-yl)vinyl)pyridin-1-ium tetrafluoroborate 3a′ was confirmed by single crystal X-ray diffraction. A negative solvatochromism of the dyes in polar solvents was highlighted by UV-Vis spectroscopy and explanatory insights were supported by molecular modeling which suggested a better stabilization of the lowest unoccupied molecular orbitals (LUMO). The photostability of the dye 3b was investigated by irradiation at 365 nm in different solvents, while the steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence properties of dye 3b and 3a′ in solid state were evaluated under one-photon excitation at 485 nm. The in vitro cytotoxicity of the new PVP dyes on B16-F10 melanoma cells was evaluated by WST-1 assay, while their intracellular localization was assessed by epi-fluorescence conventional microscopy imaging as well as one- and two-photon excited confocal fluorescence lifetime imaging microscopy (FLIM). PVP dyes displayed low cytotoxicity, good internalization inside melanoma cells and intense fluorescence emission inside the B16-F10 murine melanoma cells, making them suitable staining agents for imaging applications.     

New high-temperature copper alloys

New high-strength, high-temperature Cu-Ni-Si alloys have been developed using additions of Cr, Zr, and/or Ti. These new alloys remain as precipitation hardenable as the base alloy, but the main strengthening phase may be different than Ni₂Si (e.g., Cr₂Ti). Substantial increases in mechanical strength were observed at both room and high temperature (773 K) when additions of Cr+Zr+Ti and Cr+Zr were made. Industrial testing of these alloys indicated a sevenfold increase in the lifetime of lateral blocks in continuous casting equipment of copper alloys.     

Bifunctional initiators: synthesis of phenylazo-formamidoethyl 4-t-butylazo-4-cyanovalerate

Summary The paper deals with the synthesis of the phenylazo-formamidoethyl 4-t-butylazo-4-cyanovalerate, a product which — by its two azo groups having different thermal stabilities — may be used in initiating processes of stepwise radicalic polymerization. The preparation is based on the condensation of the 4-t-butylazo-4-cyanovaleric acid chloride with N-hydroxy ethyl-phenylazoformamide (HEPF) in anhydrous chloroform, in the presence of pyridine. The initiator purification involves its passing over an alumina column, on using methylene chloride as eluent. HEPF is a new intermediate obtained by the reaction of the ethyl phenylazocarboxylate with ethanolamine. Both the HEPF structure and that of the bis-azo initiator is confirmed by elemental analysis and spectroscopic measurements (IR and H-NMR spectra), as well.