Oxidation of isobutane over hydrothermally synthesized Mo-V-Te-Nb-O mixed oxide catalysts

MoV_0.3Te_0.17 and MoV_0.3Te_0.17Nb_0.12 catalysts were prepared by a hydrothermal synthesis route and tested for the oxidation of isobutane and isobutene. Characterization results showed that the structure and property of Mo-V-Te-based catalysts are relatively different depending on the presence of the Nb element. Catalytic tests showed that the selectivity of methacrolein can comparatively be improved by the addition of Nb into the MoV_0.3Te_0.17 catalyst for the selective oxidation of isobutane.     

最小叉熵优化模型在保险定价中的应用研究

为了更加合理解决保险定价问题，本文引入金融风险中性定价思想，提出新的保险定价方法。在不完全的保险市场，利用信息论领域中推测概率分布的最小叉熵优化模型，对经验损失分布进行调整，得到保险风险中性最小叉熵密度，进而确定新的保费。结果表明最小叉熵密度使高风险的比例增大，这体现了风险中性的本质。该保险定价方法的形式是确定的，且所建的最小叉熵优化模型具有灵活、简便的特性。     

Orientational Behaviour of the Nematic Director upon Macroscopic Rotation at the Magic Angle

The ¹⁹F N.M.R. spectrum of 1,2,2,2-tetrachloro-l,l-difluoroethane has been studied in the nematic liquid crystal ZLI1167 (Merck) upon rotation at the magic angle. The director of the liquid crystal is oriented perpendicular to the spinning axis when the angle between the rotation axis and the magnetic field is less than the magic angle and parallel when this angle is more than the magic angle. It is shown that exactly at the magic angle the spectrum corresponds to a frequency modulated powder pattern. This powder pattern leads to an understanding of the orientational behaviour of the director when a nematic is spun at the magic angle.     

The effects of melt annealing and counterpart's molecular weight on the thermal properties and phase morphology of poly(L‐lactide)‐based blends

The thermal properties and phase morphology of poly(L ‐lactide) (PLLA)‐based blends have been studied. Two poly(ethylene glycol)s (PEGs) with molecular weight (MW) of about 1,500 (1.5k) g/mol and 2,000,000 (2M) g/mol, respectively, were used as counterparts. The blends were annealed at a preselected temperature of 200 °C for either 2 min or 30 min before the characterizations. Both PEGs were determined to enhance the crystallizability of PLLA. After a 2‐min process of annealing, the PEG(1.5k)'s crystallization efficiency on PLLA has been noted to increase with the increase of its content. Conversely, PEG(2M)'s crystallization efficiency declined with the increase of its content. Extending the annealing time has evidently changed the PEGs' crystallization effect on PLLA. Moreover, the PEG(1.5k) has, to a greater extent, brought about the depression of PLLA's melting temperature by increasing its content, and this depression increased with the annealing time. The blends exhibited lower thermal stability than those of the parent components, particularly for the PEG(1.5k)‐included system with a higher PEG content. Regardless of the annealing time, the PEG(1.5k)‐included blends have shown homogeneous melt morphology under light microscope, whereas the PEG(2M)‐included blends have displayed phase‐separated melt morphology. In addition to the composition, PEG's MW and annealing time influence the crystalline morphology of the blends. The ringed PLLA spherulites have appeared mostly in the 2‐min annealed PEG(1.5k)‐included blends. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 47: 1497–1510, 2009     

Concurrent stochastic methods for global optimization

The global optimization problem, finding the lowest minimizer of a nonlinear function of several variables that has multiple local minimizers, appears well suited to concurrent computation. This paper presents a new parallel algorithm for the global optimization problem. The algorithm is a stochastic method related to the multi-level single-linkage methods of Rinnooy Kan and Timmer for sequential computers. Concurrency is achieved by partitioning the work of each of the three main parts of the algorithm, sampling, local minimization start point selection, and multiple local minimizations, among the processors. This parallelism is of a coarse grain type and is especially well suited to a local memory multiprocessing environment. The paper presents test results of a distributed implementation of this algorithm on a local area network of computer workstations. It also summarizes the theoretical properties of the algorithm.Research supported by AFOSR grant AFOSR-85-0251, ARO contract DAAG 29-84-K-0140, NSF grant DCR-8403483, and NSF cooperative agreement DCR-8420944.     

基于1085 km实地光纤链路的双波长光纤时间同步研究

在长距离高精度光纤时间同步系统中,为了减少后向反射光与光纤色散对传输精度的影响,本文在双波长光纤时间同步传输方法之上,提出了一种具有色散误差修正功能的双波长光纤时间同步传输方法.以自行研制的工程样机在长度约为800 km的实验室光纤链路上和1085 km的实地光纤链路上进行了实验测试,也是国内首次实现千公里级实地光纤时间同步传输.在实验室光纤链路上,测得传输链路色散补偿后的色散时延误差为10 ps,时间同步标准差为5.7 ps,稳定度为1.12 ps@105 s,不确定度为18.4 ps.在实地光纤链路上,测得传输链路色散补偿后的色散时延误差为60 ps,时间同步标准差为18 ps,稳定度为5.4 ps@4×10⁴ s,不确定度为63.5 ps.     

Mechanism of the decrease in catalytic activity of human cytochrome P450 2C9 polymorphic variants investigated by computational analysis

Cytochrome P450 (CYP) is deeply involved in the metabolism of chemicals including pharmaceuticals. Therefore, polymorphisms of this enzyme have been widely studied to avoid unfavorable side effects of drugs in chemotherapy. In this work, we performed computational analysis of the mechanism of the decrease in enzymatic activity for three typical polymorphisms in CYP 2C9 species: *2, *3, and *5. Based on the equilibrated structure obtained by molecular dynamics simulation, the volume of the binding pocket and the fluctuation of amino residues responsible for substrate holding were compared between the wild type and the three variants. Further docking simulation was carried out to evaluate the appropriateness of the binding pocket to accommodate substrate chemicals. Every polymorphic variant was suggested to be inferior to the wild type in enzymatic ability from the structural viewpoint. F‐G helices were obviously displaced outward in CYP2C9*2. Expansion of the binding pocket, especially the space near F′ helix, was remarkable in CYP2C9*3. Disappearance of the hydrogen bond between K helix and β4 loop was observed in CYP2C9*5. The reduction of catalytic activity of those variants can be explained from the deformation of the binding pocket and the consequent change in binding mode of substrate chemicals. The computational approach is effective for predicting the enzymatic activity of polymorphic variants of CYP. This prediction will be helpful for advanced drug design because calculations forecast unexpected change in drug efficacy for individuals. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comput Chem, 2010     

紫外光照射下 Fe-碳纳米管/TiO2 复合材料降解罗丹明 B

 The composites comprising Fe-carbon nanotubes (CNTs) on TiO2 were prepared by a modified sol-gel method and characterized by nitrogen adsorption, scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The photocatalytic decomposition of rhodamine B (Rh.B) under UV irradiation and air aeration catalyzed by the composites was measured. The photocatalytic activity of TiO2 nanoparticles was significantly enhanced by the large CNT network that facilitated electron transfer between adsorbed Rh.B molecules and the catalyst substrate and the simultaneous occurrence of the photo-Fenton reaction in the presence of Fe particles. A marked acceleration of the decomposition rate was observed with aeration by flowing air aeration due to the formation of the circulatory photo-Fenton system. Chemical oxygen demand of piggery waste was measured at regular intervals to evaluate the mineralization of wastewater.     

Thermal loading induced near-infrared broadband upconversion emission of Sm-doped β-NaYbF4 nano-phosphors

A non-closed hydrothermal synthetic processing is improved to synthesize Sm³⁺ doped β-NaYbF₄ nano-phosphors at 98 °C without any high-temperature and high-pressure treatments as a final step. Novel green, red, and near-infrared broadband (799-873 nm) upconversion emissions of Sm³⁺-doped β-NaYbF₄ nano-phosphors under 980 nm excitation are observed. These UC emissions can be assigned to the Sm³⁺ transitions of ⁴G_J, ⁴F_3/2 and ⁶F_11/2→⁶H_J. The half-width of 873 nm emission band is broadened nearly two-fold through the annealing treatment for nano-phosphors. The upconversion process in Yb³⁺-Sm³⁺ system is discussed based on energy transfer mechanisms.