Unique nanoporous antibacterial membranes derived through crystallization induced phase separation in PVDF/PMMA blends

In this study, a unique method was adopted to design porous membranes through crystallization induced phase separation in PVDF/PMMA (poly(vinylidene fluoride)/poly(methyl methacrylate)) blends. By etching out PMMA, which segregates either in the interlamellar and/or in the interspherulitic regions of the blends, nanoporous hierarchical structures can be derived. Different nanoparticles like titanium dioxide (TiO2), silver nanoparticle (Ag) decorated carbon nanotubes (Ag-CNTs), TiO2 decorated CNTs (TiO2-CNTs), Ag decorated TiO2 (Ag-TiO2) and Ag-TiO2 decorated CNTs (Ag@TiO2-CNTs) were synthesized and melt mixed with 80/20 PVDF/PMMA blends to render antibacterial activity to the membranes. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to study the crystalline morphology of the membranes. A significant improvement in the trans-membrane flux was obtained in the blends with Ag@TiO2 decorated CNTs as compared to the membranes derived from the neat blends, which can be attributed to the interconnected pores in these membranes. Both qualitative and quantitative studies of antifouling and antibacterial activity (using E. coli as a model bacterium) were performed using the standard plate count method. SEM micrographs clearly showed that the antifouling activity of the membranes was improved with addition of Ag@TiO2-CNTs. In the quantitative standard plate count method, the bacterial colony significantly decreased with the addition of Ag@TiO2-CNTs as against neat blends. This study opens a new avenue in the fabrication of polymer blend based membranes for water filtration.

A unique strategy towards high dielectric constant and low loss with multiwall carbon nanotubes anchored onto graphene oxide sheets

Multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWNTs) were anchored onto graphene oxide sheets (GOs) via diazonium and C-C coupling reactions and characterized by spectroscopic and electron microscopic techniques. The thus synthesized MWNT-GO hybrid was then melt mixed with 50/50 polyamide6-maleic anhydride-modified acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (PA6-mABS) blend to design materials with high dielectric constant (30) and low dielectric loss. The phase morphology was studied by SEM and it was observed that the MWNT-GO hybrid was selectively localized in the PA6 phase of the blend. The 30 scales with the concentration of MWNT-GO in the blends, which interestingly showed a very low dielectric loss (< 0.2) making them potential candidate for capacitors. In addition, the dynamic storage modulus scales with the fraction of MWNT-GO in the blends, demonstrating their reinforcing capability as well.

Structural variations in aromatic 2 pi-electron three-membered rings of the main group elements

Structural variations of different Z pi-aromatic three-membered ring systems of main group elements, especially group 14 and 13 elements as compared to the classical description of cyclopropenyl cation has been reviewed in this article. The structures of heavier analogues as well as group 13 analogues of cyclopropenyl cation showed an emergence of dramatic structural patterns which do not conform, to the general norms of carbon chemistry. Isolobal analogies between the main group fragments have been efficiently used to explain the peculiarities observed in these three-membered ring systems.

A faster algorithm for testing polynomial representability of functions over finite integer rings

Given a function from Z(n) to itself one can determine its polynomial representability by using Kempner function. In this paper we present an alternative characterization of polynomial functions over Z(n) by constructing a generating set for the Z(n)-module of polynomial functions. This characterization results in an algorithm that is faster on average in deciding polynomial representability. We also extend the characterization to functions in several variables. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Measurement of Large Dipolar Couplings of a Liquid Crystal with Terminal Phenyl Rings and Estimation of the Order Parameters

NMR spectroscopy is a powerful means of studying liquid-crystalline systems at atomic resolutions. Of the many parameters that can provide information on the dynamics and order of the systems, H-1-C-13 dipolar couplings are an important means of obtaining such information. Depending on the details of the molecular structure and the magnitude of the order parameters, the dipolar couplings can vary over a wide range of values. Thus the method employed to estimate the dipolar couplings should be capable of estimating both large and small dipolar couplings at the same time. For this purpose, we consider here a two-dimensional NMR experiment that works similar to the insensitive nuclei enhanced by polarization transfer (INEPT) experiment in solution. With the incorporation of a modification proposed earlier for experiments with low radio frequency power, the scheme is observed to enable a wide range of dipolar couplings to be estimated at the same time. We utilized this approach to obtain dipolar couplings in a liquid crystal with phenyl rings attached to either end of the molecule, and estimated its local order parameters.

Towards an exact factorization of the molecular wave function

An exact single-product factorisation of the molecular wave function for the timedependent Schrodinger equation is investigated by using an ansatz involving a phasefactor. By using the Frenkel variational method, we obtain the Schrodinger equations for the electronic and nuclear wave functions. The concept of a potential energy surface (PES) is retained by introducing a modified Hamiltonian as suggested earlier by Cederbaum. The parameter in the phase factor is chosen such that the equations of motion retain the physically appealing Born- Oppenheimer-like form, and is therefore unique.

Similarity of Matrices Over Local Rings of Length Two

Let R be a (commutative) local principal ideal ring of length two, for example, the ring R = Z/p(2)Z with p prime. In this paper, we develop a theory of normal forms for similarity classes in the matrix rings M-n (R) by interpreting them in terms of extensions of R t]-modules. Using this theory, we describe the similarity classes in M-n (R) for n <= 4, along with their centralizers. Among these, we characterize those classes which are similar to their transposes. Non-self-transpose classes are shown to exist for all n > 3. When R has finite residue field of order q, we enumerate the similarity classes and the cardinalities of their centralizers as polynomials in q. Surprisingly, the polynomials representing the number of similarity classes in M-n (R) turn out to have non-negative integer coefficients.

Unique Covering Problems with Geometric Sets

The Exact Cover problem takes a universe U of n elements, a family F of m subsets of U and a positive integer k, and decides whether there exists a subfamily(set cover) F' of size at most k such that each element is covered by exactly one set. The Unique Cover problem also takes the same input and decides whether there is a subfamily F' subset of F such that at least k of the elements F' covers are covered uniquely(by exactly one set). Both these problems are known to be NP-complete. In the parameterized setting, when parameterized by k, Exact Cover is W1]-hard. While Unique Cover is FPT under the same parameter, it is known to not admit a polynomial kernel under standard complexity-theoretic assumptions. In this paper, we investigate these two problems under the assumption that every set satisfies a given geometric property Pi. Specifically, we consider the universe to be a set of n points in a real space R-d, d being a positive integer. When d = 2 we consider the problem when. requires all sets to be unit squares or lines. When d > 2, we consider the problem where. requires all sets to be hyperplanes in R-d. These special versions of the problems are also known to be NP-complete. When parameterizing by k, the Unique Cover problem has a polynomial size kernel for all the above geometric versions. The Exact Cover problem turns out to be W1]-hard for squares, but FPT for lines and hyperplanes. Further, we also consider the Unique Set Cover problem, which takes the same input and decides whether there is a set cover which covers at least k elements uniquely. To the best of our knowledge, this is a new problem, and we show that it is NP-complete (even for the case of lines). In fact, the problem turns out to be W1]-hard in the abstract setting, when parameterized by k. However, when we restrict ourselves to the lines and hyperplanes versions, we obtain FPT algorithms.

A unique uracil-DNA binding protein of the uracil DNA glycosylase superfamily

Uracil DNA glycosylases (UDGs) are an important group of DNA repair enzymes, which pioneer the base excision repair pathway by recognizing and excising uracil from DNA. Based on two short conserved sequences (motifs A and B), UDGs have been classified into six families. Here we report a novel UDG, UdgX, from Mycobacterium smegmatis and other organisms. UdgX specifically recognizes uracil in DNA, forms a tight complex stable to sodium dodecyl sulphate, 2-mercaptoethanol, urea and heat treatment, and shows no detectable uracil excision. UdgX shares highest homology to family 4 UDGs possessing Fe-S cluster. UdgX possesses a conserved sequence, KRRIH, which forms a flexible loop playing an important role in its activity. Mutations of H in the KRRIH sequence to S, G, A or Q lead to gain of uracil excision activity in MsmUdgX, establishing it as a novel member of the UDG superfamily. Our observations suggest that UdgX marks the uracil-DNA for its repair by a RecA dependent process. Finally, we observed that the tight binding activity of UdgX is useful in detecting uracils in the genomes.

Explicit and Unique Construction of Tetrablock Unitary Dilation in a Certain Case

Consider the domain E in defined by This is called the tetrablock. This paper constructs explicit boundary normal dilation for a triple (A, B, P) of commuting bounded operators which has as a spectral set. We show that the dilation is minimal and unique under a certain natural condition. As is well-known, uniqueness of minimal dilation usually does not hold good in several variables, e.g., Ando's dilation is known to be not unique, see Li and Timotin (J Funct Anal 154:1-16, 1998). However, in the case of the tetrablock, the third component of the dilation can be chosen in such a way as to ensure uniqueness.