Binding position of azathioprine with bovine serum albumin determined by measuring nuclear magnetic resonance relaxation time.

The interaction between azathioprine (AZ) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) is mainly due to hydrophobic binding according to the dependence of the binding constant on the ionic strength obtained by equilibrium dialysis. The binding constant and partition coefficient of AZ were smaller than those of warfarin, phenylbutazone and ibuprofen. Little variation in the proton chemical shift of AZ was observed whether there was an absence or presence of BSA (7.25 x 10(-5) M). The spin-lattice relaxation time (T1) of AZ decreased in the presence of BSA to 6-22%. The spin-spin relaxation rate (1/T2) of AZ increased 16-24 times for the methyl group and the imidazole ring and 8-13 times for the purine ring in the presence of BSA. The ratio of the spin-spin relaxation rate of the free AZ to the bound AZ ((1/T2)b/(1/T2)f) of the methyl group and the imidazole ring was 2-3 times larger than that of the purine ring. The binding of AZ to BSA was concluded to be mainly at the methyl group on the imidazole ring of AZ.     

平面火花隙三电极开关研制及性能测试

 研制了一种适用于平行板传输连接的平面火花隙三电极开关，开关正负电极为半圆形状，触发电极为细条状。将之替代立体式（半球形电极）火花隙三电极开关并应用于爆炸箔起爆装置中，装置回路参数将得以优化。实验测试了空气间隙为4.12， 3.14和2.2 mm的平面火花隙三电极开关的性能。结果表明，在开关间隙间距一定的情况下，随着电压的升高，开关间隙的放电时延和分散时间呈指数降低，开关电感小于15 nH；对于不同范围内的应用电压，使用不同间隙间距的开关，其分散时间不大于10 ns。该开关应用于较低充电电压（小于10 kV）的脉冲功率装置中，与立体式火花隙三电极开关相比，回路电感降低了约50 nH，放电周期缩短近1/3，峰值电流增加约1/3。     

Molecular dynamics simulation of processing using AFM pin tool

A three-dimensional molecular dynamics (MD) model is utilized to investigate the effect of tool geometry on the deformation process of the workpiece and the nature of deformation process at the atomic-scale. Results show that different states exist between the atomic force microscope (AFM) pin tool and the workpiece surface, i.e. the non-wear state, the ploughing state, the state in which ploughing is dominant and the state in which cutting plays a key role. A relationship between the deformation process of the workpiece and the potential energy variation is presented. The potential energy variation of atoms in different deformed regions in the workpiece such as plastically deformed region, elastically deformed region and the mixed deformation region is different. The features of variations of potential energy are discussed.     

科学和艺术

科学与完美是不是一致的？科学家们是否有权使用完美这个词？至少，对于物理学家和数学家来说答案是肯定的“是”．2002年，温伯格（Steven Weinberg）写道：“近代物理学的一些重要方程式是科学知识的永久部分，甚至比它们较早出现的美丽大教堂还要经久不衰．”1960年代，狄拉克（Paul A．M．Dirac）有句名言：“完整的方程式之完美较之它们适合实验结果更为重要．”1965年诺贝尔物理学奖获得者费因曼（Richard P．Feynman）也坚信他提出的一项理论，即使该理论显得与实验数据有矛盾．1957年，他写道：“理论是优雅和完美的，重大事件是短暂的闪光．”     

Determination of trace levels of diosmin in a pharmaceutical preparation by adsorptive stripping voltammetry at a glassy carbon electrode.

A systematic study on the electrochemical behavior of diosmin in Britton-Robinson buffer (pH 2.0-10.0) at a glassy carbon electrode (GCE) was made. The oxidation process of the drug was found to be quasi-reversible with an adsorption-controlled step. The adsorption stripping response was evaluated with respect to various experimental conditions, such as the pH of the supporting electrolyte, the accumulation potential and the accumulation time. The observed anodic peak current at +0.73 V vs. Ag/AgCl reference electrode increased linearly over two orders of magnitude from 5.0x10(-8) M to 9.0x10(-6) M. A limit of detection down to 3.5x10(-8) M of diosmin at the GCE was achieved with a mean recovery of 97+/-2.1%. Based on the electrochemical data, an open-circuit accumulation step in a stirred sample solution of BR at pH 3.0 was developed. The proposed method was successfully applied to the determination of the drug in pharmaceutical formulations. The results compared favorably with the data obtained via spectrophotometric and HPLC methods.     

Adaptive Algorithm for Constrained Least-Squares Problems

This paper is concerned with the implementation and testing of an algorithm for solving constrained least-squares problems. The algorithm is an adaptation to the least-squares case of sequential quadratic programming (SQP) trust-region methods for solving general constrained optimization problems. At each iteration, our local quadratic subproblem includes the use of the Gauss–Newton approximation but also encompasses a structured secant approximation along with tests of when to use this approximation. This method has been tested on a selection of standard problems. The results indicate that, for least-squares problems, the approach taken here is a viable alternative to standard general optimization methods such as the Byrd–Omojokun trust-region method and the Powell damped BFGS line search method.