Recent advances in theoretical models of respiratory mechanics

As an important branch of biomedical engineering, respiratory mechanics helps to understand the physiology of the respiratory system and provides fundamental data for developing such clinical technologies as ventilators. To solve different clinical problems, researchers have developed numerous models at various scales that describe biological and mechanical properties of the respiratory system. During the past decade, benefiting from the continuous accumulation of clinical data and the dramatic progress of biomedical technologies (e.g. biomedical imaging), the theoretical modeling of respiratory mechanics has made remarkable progress regarding the macroscopic properties of the respiratory process, complexities of the respiratory system, gas exchange within the lungs, and the coupling interaction between lung and heart. The present paper reviews the advances in the above fields and proposes potential future projects.     

Hard nanocomposite comprising stereoregular syndiotactic polypropylene with chemically bonded gold nanoparticles

An effective method to synthesize directly a hard composite material containing uniformly dispersed nanogold particles chemically bonded with a stereospecific, crystalline polymer matrix has been developed. Syndiotactic polypropylene was synthesized and functionalized to have a hydroxyl terminal group (sPP_OH) via a metallocene catalysis with a selective chain transfer. Next, sPP_OH was activated to react with ethylene sulfide forming the thiol‐terminated polymer, sPP_SH. sPP_SH was then chemically bonded to gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) formed in situ via a reduction of HAuCl₄. The bonding between thiol and AuNP stabilized the AuNPs and led to the formation of sPP_AuNPs composite containing uniformly‐dispersed AuNPs of a 19–40 nm size without noticeable aggregation. Furthermore, the chemical bonding of AuNPs has afforded sPP_AuNPs a thermal degradation temperature (T_D) 49.4 °C higher than the pristine sPP or sPP_OH and 25.7 °C higher than sPP_SH without any adverse effect on the crystalline temperature and melting temperature. In addition, the characteristic UV‐Vis absorption wavelength of sPP_AuNPs remains the same at various temperatures, thus indicating the independence of optical property on temperature as well as the good thermal stability of the sPP_AuNPs composite. ¹H NMR, ¹³C NMR, FESEM, STEM, XPS, TGA and DSC were used to investigate the molecular structure, morphology and thermal properties of the resulting sPP_AuNPs nanocomposite. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2010     

Synthesis and Effect of Cation Binding on Photophysical Properties of 1,8-Anthraceno-18-Crown-5

ThesystemsconsistingofafluorophorelinkedtoacrownethermoietyareeXtensivelyinvestigated'-'.Sincedrasticchangesintheirphotophysicalpropertiescanbeobservedbycomplexationwithion,theycanbeusedforionicdetection"'.Recentreportsfocusonazamacrocyclicderivativeswithfluorophores"',inwhichthefluorophoreandcrownethermoietywerelinkedvianitrogenatom.Thepresenceofabasicnitrogenatomwhichiseasytobeprotonatedleadstoelthancementoffluorescencequantumyield""'.Wereplacedthenitrogenatomofthecrownbyoxygenwhichisexpect…     

Effects of anions on rapid growth and growth habit of KDP crystals

The synthesis of KDP from its raw material has been found exist in the growth solution. In the crystal growth experiment, significant extension of specific faces was observed at low dopant concentration. At high doping concentration, the growth rate of the whole crystal decreased with no significant habit modification. The inhibiting effects of phosphite and other H-bonding anionic ions on the growth of pyramidal faces are discussed. Rapid growth rate experiments have been carried out with purified material and an averaged growth rate of 18.6mm/day was obtained.     

A New Method for Separation of Hydrophobic Au Nanoparticles in the Reversal Micelle

In this article, a new method which not only can separate hydrophobic Au nanoparticles (NPs), but also obtain highly monodisperse NPs is discussed. A self‐made device of two same burettes, one of which was inserted into the other, was used for separating the nanoparticles by washing the reversal micelle. The effects of separation were characterized and analyzed by micrograph of transmission electron microscope (TEM), UV‐vis spectra, quartz crystal microbalance (QCM), and energy dispersive x‐ray analysis (EDX). It has been shown that, the smaller nanoparticles are, the easier they are to stay at the reversal micelle and the narrower the sizes are. This method can be applied to synthesize highly monodisperse Au NPs.     

A New Simple Route To N-Substituted 2-Aminoethylphosphonic Acids

2-Aminoethylphosphonic acid (AEPA) and its N-substituted compounds were prepared by one step reaction using 2-chloroethylphosphonic acid with ammonia and amines (H₂NMe, HNMeMe, HNEtEt, H₂NPr-n, H₂NCH₂ph, H₂NCH₂CH₂NH₂ and H₂N(C=NH)NH₂ in a dilute alkaline solution below 20 °C with simple work-up and easy purification. The reaction was accelerated by catalytic amount of potassium iodide. The yield for the reaction products were 35.6 to 48.6% for the KI absence and 78.2 to 88.0% for the KI presence.     

Correlation lengths in quasi-one-dimensional systems via transfer matrices

ABSTRACT

Using transfer matrices up to next-nearest-neighbour interactions, we examine the structural correlations of quasi-one-dimensional systems of hard disks confined by two parallel lines and hard spheres confined in cylinders. Simulations have shown that the non-monotonic and non-smooth growth of the correlation length in these systems accompanies structural crossovers [Fu et al., Soft Matter 13, 3296 (2017)]. Here, we identify the theoretical basis for these behaviours. In particular, we associate kinks in the growth of correlation lengths with eigenvalue crossing and splitting. Understanding the origin of such structural crossovers answers questions raised by earlier studies, and thus bridges the gap between theory and simulations for these reference models.     

Neolignans and Caffeoyl Derivatives from Selaginella moellendorffii

Ten new phenolic compounds including the six neolignans 1 – 3 and 6 – 8 and four caffeoyl derivatives, i.e., myo‐inositol 1‐caffeate ( 9 ), myo‐inositol 6‐caffeate ( 10 ), myo‐inositol 5‐caffeate ( 11 ), and paucine 3′‐β‐D ‐glucopyranoside ( 12 ) were isolated from the whole plants of Selaginella moellendorffii (caffeic acid=3‐(3,4‐dihydroxyphenyl)prop‐2‐enoic acid). Their structures were established by spectroscopic and chemical methods.