Two Novel and Anti‐Inflammatory Constituents of Artocarpus rigida

With the scope of our search for biologically active compounds, two new phenolic compounds, artocarpols G ( 1 ) and H ( 2 ), and two known compounds, rubraflavone C ( 3 ) and trans‐stilbene‐2,4,3′,5′‐tetrol, were isolated from the root bark of Artocarpus rigida. Their structures were determined by spectroscopic methods and comparison with data reported in the literature. Compound 4 , previously isolated from this plant, strongly inhibited in a concentration‐dependent manner the release of β‐glucuronidase and histamine from mast cell degranulation caused by compound 48/80, with IC₅₀ values of 10.9±1.4 and 13.2±0.6 μM , respectively. Compound 4 also showed a concentration‐dependent inhibitory effect on the formyl‐peptide‐stimulated superoxide anion formation in neutrophils with an IC₅₀ value of 26.0±5.6 μM .     

Reynolds stress modelling of jet and swirl interaction inside a gas turbine combustor

Influences of the inlet swirl levels on the interaction between the dilution air jets and the swirling cross‐flow to the interior flow field inside a gas turbine combustor were investigated numerically by Reynolds stress transport model (RSTM). Due to the intense swirl and jet interaction, a high level of swirl momentum is transported to the centreline and hence, an intense vortex core is formed. The strength of the centreline vortex core was found to depend on the inlet swirl levels. For the higher swirling inlet, the decay of the swirling motion causes strong streamline variation of pressure; and consequently leads to an elevated level of deceleration of its axial velocity. Predictions contrasted with measurements indicate that the stress model reproduces the flow correctly and is able to reflect the influences of inlet swirl levels on the interior flow structure. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Femtosecond compensated pair-pulses generation with nonlinear SOI-MZI waveguides

In this paper, we propose and simulate the generation of femtosecond compensated pair-pulses (bright and dark pulses), obtained simultaneously at the same center wavelength. The proposed configuration is based on a silicon-on-insulator (SOI) Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) waveguide. The ultrafast pair-pulses are pumped at the mid-wave infrared wavelength (MWIR) injected in one arm of MZI, and a continuous-wave (CW) at the near infrared wavelength (specific communication wavelength) is launched from the other arm of MZI and divided equally into the two MZI arms. Numerical results show that femtosecond compensated pair-pulses with little pedestal shoulders in optical communication window can be simultaneously generated. In addition, the output properties, including the extinction ratio (ER) and contrast of compensated pair-pulses, are studied. The relation between the launching optical powers and the length of the Nonlinear SOI-MZI Waveguides are also explored. Such a work is helpful to dual binary code optical communication systems, opto-electronic devices and spectroscopy, etc.     

Effect of Initiator on the Over-Voltage Positive Temperature Coefficient of Linear Low Density Polyethylene/Carbon Black Nano Composites

The composite of linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE) with carbon black (CB) and inorganic flame retardant (aluminum hydroxide, Al(OH)₃) was prepared by melt-blending method. The effect of cross-linking on the stability of positive temperature coefficient (PTC) of composite and the elimination of negative temperature coefficient (NTC) of composite were investigated. LLDPE was chemically cross-linking with different contents of initiator (dicumyl peroxide, DCP). The cross-linking effects of composite were analyzed by gel content analysis, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). By the effect of DCP, not only the composite appeared a high PTC intensity, but also the NTC effect of composite was eliminated. In this investigation, the optimum PTC intensity of composite reached 5.87 orders of magnitude for the composition of LLD0.l0C33.7A28, and the PTC transitional temperature of composite decreased with increasing of DCP content. In addition, the good reproducibility of composites was proved by thermal cycling, and successfully passed the test of over-voltage resistance.     

Conformational entropy of a pseudoknot polymer

The thermodynamics and kinetics of ABAB pseudoknot formation owing to reversible intrachain reactions are investigated for a flexible polymer based on the off-lattice Monte Carlo simulations. The polymer is made of N hard spheres tethered by inextensible bonds and consists of two reactive pairs AA and BB with binding energies -epsilon1 and -epsilon2, respectively, and three loop lengths (l1, l2, and l3). Although two intermediate states, loops A and B, may be formed, the folding path goes mainly through the intermediate loop whose free energy reduction associated with coil-to-loop crossover is greater. The conformational entropy loss is found to follow DeltaS=alpha ln N+G, where alpha approximately 2.48 for coil-loop crossover and alpha approximately 2.43 for loop-pseudoknot crossover. The constant G depends on the three loop lengths and the two end-to-reactive site lengths (L1 and L2). For a given total loop length, G is maximum when the three loop lengths are equal (l1=l2=l3). When l1=l3, the entropy loss is minimum if l2=0. However, the condition l1 not equal l3 makes G even smaller. This consequence indicates that asymmetry in loop lengths is thermodynamically favorable and this fact is consistent with observations of pseudoknotted RNA structures.     

Fractal aggregates of conjugated polymer in solution state

Semirigid conjugated polymers have received much scientific and technological interest due to their unique electrical and photonic semiconducting properties. Spectroscopic studies have indicated that these polymers underwent interchain aggregation in the solution state even at large dilution; however, the origin of this event and the structure of the resultant aggregates remained the crucial issues to be resolved. In the present study, we revealed that the interchain aggregation of a conjugated polymer, poly(2,3-diphenyl-5-hexyl-1,4-phenylenevinylene) (DP6-PPV), in solutions with chloroform and toluene generated network aggregates with the hydrodynamic radii of several micrometers. Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) demonstrated that the internal structure of these aggregates could be characterized by the mass fractal dimensions of 2.2-2.7. The networks were looser in chloroform but became highly compact in the poorer toluene solvent due to severe segmental association. Increasing the temperature alleviated the segmental association in toluene while largely retaining the mass fractal dimension of the aggregates. However, the interchain aggregation was never completely dissipated by the heating, suggesting the existence of two types of segmental association with distinct stability. The highly stable segmental association that could neither be solvated by chloroform nor be disrupted thermally in toluene was attributed to the pi-pi complex already present in the DP6-PPV powder used for the solution preparation. The chains tied firmly by this complex formed network aggregates in the solution and hence reduced the entropy of mixing of the polymer. In the poorer toluene solvent, further segmental association took place within the preexisting aggregates, making the networks more compact. This type of segmental association could be disrupted by moderate heating, and its occurrence was ascribed to the poor affinity of the aliphatic side chains of DP6-PPV for toluene.     

A novel 1 × 2 optical power splitter with PBG structures on SOI substrate

A novel 1 × 2 optical power splitter in size of 8.0 μm × 4.2 μm is presented in this paper, by using photonic bandgap (PBG) structures on silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrate. The splitting ratio can be adjusted by changing the air hole position to get wide tuning range. The design is examined by the commercial finite-difference-time-domain (FDTD) software for various splitting ratios. Some approximated formulas are obtained through curve-fitting to facilitate design process.     

Translation drag coefficient of a self-similar assembly of spheres immersed in an incompressible fluid.

On the basis of deterministic fractals and the Rotne-Prager hydrodynamic interaction tensor, we confirm the asymptotic as well as the finite size scaling of the friction coefficient lambda of a self-similar structure. The fractal assembly is made of N spheres with its dimension varying from D < 1 to D = 3. The number of spheres can be as high as N approximately O(10(4)). The asymptotic scaling behavior of the friction coefficient per sphere is lambda approximately N(1/D-1) for D > 1, lambda approximately (lnN)(-1) for D = 1, and lambda approximately N(0) for D < 1. The crossover behavior indicates that while in the regime of D > 1 the hydrodynamic screening effect grows with the size, for D<1 it is limited in a finite range, which decays with decreasing D.     

Solid-state fermentation with Aspergillus niger for cellobiase production

Aspergillus niger NRRL3 was cultivated in a moist wheat bran and ground corncob solid medium supplemented with inorganic minerals for the production of cellobiase (β-1,4-glucosidase, EC 3.2.1.21). With this method, A. niger NRRL3 was able to produce a high concentration of cellobiase (215 IU/gofsolid substrate) after 96 h of incubation. Temperature and moisture content affected final cellobiase titers. The best conditions for cell obiase production from solid substrate by A. niger NRRL3 were determined to be 70% moisture and 35°C.     

Photophysical studies of uranyl complexes 5. Luminescence spectrum of K4UO2(CO3)3

The photoluminescence of K₄UO₂(CO₃)₃ has been studied under conditions of high resolution at cryogenic temperatures. The origin corresponding to the pure electronic transition was located at 4774 Å (20945 cm^-1), and it was found that the totally symmetric uranyl stretching mode was coupled to this transition. A progression of four band systems thus resulted, and from an examination of the energies of corresponding peaks in each system, a value of 813 cm^-1 for the U-O stretching mode was determined. Two lattice modes (34 and 80 cm^-1) and two molecular vibrational modes (205 and 276 cm^-1) were also found to couple with the pure electronic transition, thus yielding approximately 15 major peaks in each band system. The 205 cm^-1 vibration corresponded to a CO^2-₃ vibration, while the 276 cm^-1 vibration was a UO²⁺₂ deformation. The low values obtained for the force constant and totally symmetric stretching frequency of the U-O bond suggested that in UO₂(CO)^4-₃, the uranium atom is bound in a complex species that may be considered as an intermediate between that of a uranyl (UO²⁺₂) and a uranate (UO^10-₈) ion.