Thermodynamic properties of laburnine in saline and glucose solutions

Laburnine’s dissolution behaviors in glucose and saline solution were studied by a micro-calorimetry method. The measured integral and differential heats of solution were utilized to build equations of the solute and the heat, so that dissolution thermodynamic equations and half-time periods, Δ_sol H _m, Δ_sol G _m, and Δ_sol S _m were obtained. The results show that this study does not only provide a simple method for the determination of the half-life period for a drug but also offer a theoretical reference for the clinical application of laburnine.     

Thermal degradation kinetics and heat properties of cellulosic cigarette paper: influence of potassium carboxylate as combustion improver

Accurate determination of the thermal properties of cellulose is of particular significance in studying the mechanism of cellulosic cigarette paper combustion. This paper probes into the influence of four kinds of potassium carboxylates on the thermal degradation kinetics and the heat properties of cigarette paper through simultaneous thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) coupled with differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurement under air atmosphere. Reduced mass loss and mass loss rate, and increased solid residue for samples containing four potassium salts implied that potassium carboxylates may retard the formation of levoglucosan and volatiles by inhibiting the depolymerization reaction and simultaneously accelerate char formation by catalyzing the dehydration reaction. Kinetic parameters were analyzed based on three non-isothermal models available in literature. The results indicated that three modeling methods exhibit good consistency. A global activation energy range of 106–155 kJ mol^?1 was proposed for cigarette paper with potassium carboxylates. The four potassium salts studied considerably reduced the activation energy in the following descending order: potassium 1,2,3,4-butane tetracarboxylate (PBTCA) > citrate > gluconate > ascorbate. The heat properties of cigarette paper were also determined by integrating the DSC curves. The results demonstrated that both cellulose degradation and char oxidation have strong exothermic peaks. Cigarette paper samples with potassium salts have lower exothermic cellulose degradation process and higher exothermic char oxidation process, which were further confirmed by greater differences as the amounts of salt citrate or PBTCA increased.     

Stochastic SIRS model under regime switching

We propose a new stochastic SIRS model under regime switching in which both white and color environmental noises are taken into account. We show that white noise suppresses explosions in the model and the disease-free equilibrium of the model is stochastically asymptotically stable under certain conditions. Moreover, we show that the model is stochastically ultimately bounded and the moment average in time of the model solution is bounded. An example illustrates the boundedness of the moment average in time of the model solution.     

Monte Carlo simulations of down-scattered neutron and knock-on deuteron spectra in deuterium-tritium capsule implosions

A Monte Carlo particle tracking (MCPT) code has been developed and coupled to hydrodynamic simulations to generate and track primary and scattered neutrons in addition to scattered charged particles by post-processing. This code uses one dimensional (1-D) deuterium-tritium implosion profiles, and the computed down-scattered neutron and knock-on deuteron spectra are analyzed for different areal densities. The mixing effects on the spectra of down-scattered neutron and knock-on deuteron are also investigated. The implementation of the numerical scheme is analyzed, and the particle splitting technique is adopted, which is proven to efficiently reduce computational effort.     

An Ultrastable Crystalline Acylhydrazone-Linked Covalent Organic Framework for Efficient Removal of Organic Micropollutants from Water

As an important member of crystalline porous polymers, acylhydrazone-linked covalent organic frameworks (COFs) have gained much attention in recent years. However, the low structural stability imparts a limit on their practical applications. To tackle this problem, we report a simple strategy to increase the chemical stability of acylhydrazone-linked COFs by incorporating azobenzene groups in the conjugated framework. Through reinforcing the π-π stacking interactions between the adjacent layers with increased π-surface, it is surprising to find that the resulting materials exhibit extreme stability in harsh environments, such as in strong acid, strong base, aqueous educing agent and boiling water, even exposed to air for one year. As a proof-of-concept, such frameworks have been used to remove various organic micropollutants such as antibiotics, plastic components, endocrine disruptors, and carcinogens from water with high capacity, fast speed and excellent reusability over a wide pH range at environmentally relevant concentrations. The results provide a new avenue to significantly enhance the stability of COFs for practical applications.     

Blue-emitting LaAlO3:Tm3+, In3+ phosphors for field emission displays

Tm³⁺ and In³⁺ co-doped LaAlO₃ phosphors were prepared by a Pechini sol–gel method and characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, and cathodoluminescence spectrum. The phosphor is composed of slightly aggregated particles with approximately spherical shape and a narrow size range of 1.0–1.5 μm. Under voltage electron beam excitation, the phosphor shows the characteristic emissions of Tm³⁺. All the color purity, radiant efficiency, luminous efficiency, and stability of the optimum LaAlO₃:0.01Tm³⁺, 0.04In³⁺ phosphor are superior to these of commercial ZnS:Ag,Cl phosphor. These tests suggest that it could be a potential candidate as a blue phosphor for field emission displays.