Thermal impact on spiking properties in Hodgkin-Huxley neuron with synaptic stimulus

The effect of environmental temperature on neuronal spiking behaviors is investigated by numerically simulating the temperature dependence of spiking threshold of the Hodgkin-Huxley neuron subject to synaptic stimulus. We find that the spiking threshold exhibits a global minimum in a specific temperature range where spike initiation needs weakest synaptic strength, which form the engineering perspective indicates the occurrence of optimal use of synaptic transmission in the nervous system. We further explore the biophysical origin of this phenomenon associated with ion channel gating kinetics and also discuss its possible biological relevance in information processing in neuronal systems.      

Polyamide 11/Poly(vinylidene fluoride) Blends as Novel Flexible Materials for Capacitors

A novel capacitor with high dielectric constant (ε) has been developed by blending poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) with polyamide (PA11). The blends show high dielectric constants (ε_blend = 40), which give better frequency stability (1 MHz), and excellent mechanical properties. Based on certain volume fractions, the measured dielectric constants (ε _blend ) were found to exceed those of the corresponding polymers, in contrasted to conventional composites, where ε_polymerA < ε_composite < ε_polymerB. SEM investigations suggest that the enhanced dielectric behavior originates from significant interfacial polymer‐polymer interactions. DSC and XRD demonstrate that blending PA11 with PVDF affects the crystalline behavior of each component. However, the PA11/PVDF blends exhibit a slightly high dielectric loss (tanδ ≈ 0.17), which is a great disadvantage to a capacitor. Adding a copolymer of styrene and maleic anhydride decreased the dielectric loss (tanδ ≈ 0.057) and increased the dielectric constant (ε_blend = 60). Our findings suggest that the high‐ε polymeric blends created represent a novel type of material that is flexible and easy to process, of relatively high dielectric constant, of high breakdown strength and, moreover, is suited to applications in flexible electronics.

     

An Evolving Technology That Integrates Classical Methods with Continuous Technological Developments: Thin-Layer Chromatography Bioautography

Thin-layer chromatography (TLC) bioautography is an evolving technology that integrates the separation and analysis technology of TLC with biological activity detection technology, which has shown a steep rise in popularity over the past few decades. It connects TLC with convenient, economic and intuitive features and bioautography with high levels of sensitivity and specificity. In this study, we discuss the research progress of TLC bioautography and then establish a definite timeline to introduce it. This review summarizes known TLC bioautography types and practical applications for determining antibacterial, antifungal, antitumor and antioxidant compounds and for inhibiting glucosidase, pancreatic lipase, tyrosinase and cholinesterase activity constitutes. Nowadays, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to identify original, natural products with anti-COVID potential compounds from Chinese traditional medicine and natural medicinal plants. We also give an account of detection techniques, including in situ and ex situ techniques; even in situ ion sources represent a major reform. Considering the current technical innovations, we propose that the technology will make more progress in TLC plates with higher separation and detection technology with a more portable and extensive scope of application. We believe this technology will be diffusely applied in medicine, biology, agriculture, animal husbandry, garden forestry, environmental management and other fields in the future.     

Organic–Inorganic Hybrid Zinc Phosphate with 28‐Ring Channels

An organic–inorganic hybrid zinc phosphate with 28‐ring channels was synthesized by use of an organic ligand instead of organic amine template under a hydro(solvo)thermal condition. This crystalline zinc phosphate contains large channels constructed from 28 zinc and phosphate tetrahedral units. The walls of the channels consist of two types of zincophosphate chains, in which the Zn atoms are coordinated by 2,4,5‐tri(4‐pyridyl)‐imidazole ligands as pendent groups. This compound exhibits yellow emission and interesting properties of removing cobalt, cadmium, and mercury cations from aqueous solution. A new two‐dimensional organic–inorganic hybrid zincophosphate was also obtained by changing the solvent mixture ratios in the synthesis.     

Spleen and thymus metabolomics strategy to explore the immunoregulatory mechanism of total withanolides from the leaves of Datura metel L. on imiquimod-induced psoriatic skin dermatitis in mice

Our previous work demonstrated that total withanolides of Datura metel L. leaves (TWD) exhibited excellent therapeutic effects on psoriasis. However, current knowledge of its mechanisms is incomplete. In this study, integrated spleen and thymus untargeted metabolomics were used to analyze the changes in endogenous metabolites underlying the immunosuppressive activity of TWD on psoriasis animal models induced by imiquimod. The results suggested that TWD treatment markedly attenuated imiquimod-induced psoriasis and showed significant immunosuppressive activity as evidenced by decreased elevation index of spleen and thymus. Meanwhile, TWD significantly reversed the elevation of immunoregulatory factors, including IL-10, IL-17, IL-22 and IL-23. Multivariate trajectory analysis revealed that TWD treatment could restore the psoriasis-disturbed spleen and thymus metabolite profiles towards the normal metabolic status. A total of 25 and 27 metabolites associated with the immunomodulatory effects for which levels changed markedly upon treatment have been identified in spleen and thymus, respectively. These differential metabolites were mainly involved in amino acid metabolism, nucleotide metabolism, fatty acid metabolism and lipid metabolism. Our investigation provided a holistic view of TWD for intervention in psoriasis through immunoregulation and provided further scientific information in vivo about a clinical value of TWD for psoriasis.     

Rapid Deoxyfluorination of Alcohols with N-Tosyl-4-chlorobenzenesulfonimidoyl Fluoride (SulfoxFluor) at Room Temperature

The deoxyfluorination of alcohols is a fundamentally important approach to access alkyl fluorides, and thus the development of shelf-stable, easy-to-handle, fluorine-economical, and highly selective deoxyfluorination reagents is highly desired. This work describes the development of a crystalline compound, N-tosyl-4-chlorobenzenesulfonimidoyl fluoride (SulfoxFluor), as a novel deoxyfluorination reagent that possesses all of the aforementioned merits, which is rare in the arena of deoxyfluorination. Endowed by the multi-dimensional modulating ability of the sulfonimidoyl group, SulfoxFluor is superior to 2-pyridinesulfonyl fluoride (PyFluor) in fluorination rate, and is also superior to perfluorobutanesulfonyl fluoride (PBSF) in fluorine-economy. Its reaction with alcohols not only tolerates a wide range of functionalities including the more sterically hindered alcoholic hydroxyl groups, but also exhibits high fluorination/elimination selectivity. Because SulfoxFluor can be easily prepared from inexpensive materials and can be safely handled without special techniques, it promises to serve as a practical deoxyfluorination reagent for the synthesis of various alkyl fluorides.     

MOF Encapsulated AuPt Bimetallic Nanoparticles for Improved Plasmonic-induced Photothermal Catalysis of CO2 Hydrogenation

Exploring new catalytic strategies for achieving efficient CO₂ hydrogenation under mild conditions is of great significance for environmental remediation. Herein, a composite photocatalyst Zr-based MOF encapsulated plasmonic AuPt alloy nanoparticles (AuPt@UiO-66-NH₂) was successfully constructed for the efficient photothermal catalysis of CO₂ hydrogenation. Under light irradiation at 150 °C, AuPt@UiO-66-NH₂ achieved a CO production rate of 1451 μmol g_metal⁻¹ h⁻¹ with 91 % selectivity, which far exceeded those obtained by Au@Pt@UiO-66-NH₂ with Pt shell on Au (599 μmol g_metal⁻¹ h⁻¹) and Au@UiO-66-NH₂ (218 μmol g_metal⁻¹ h⁻¹). The outstanding performances of AuPt@UiO-66-NH₂ were attributed to the synergetic effect originating from the plasmonic metal Au, doped active metal Pt, and encapsulation structure of UiO-66-NH₂ shell. This work provides a new way for photothermal catalysis of CO₂ and a reference for the design of high-performance plasmonic catalysts.     

Approximate time-optimal control of quantum ensembles based on sampling and learning

For a general quantum ensemble with Hamiltonian fluctuations, this paper proposes a sampling-based two-stage approximate time-optimal control algorithm with momentum terms and achieves a high-fidelity state transition of all member systems to a common target state within an approximate minimum time. The fidelity and the control time are respectively optimized in the two stages. In particular, the introduction of momentum terms greatly improves the convergence rate of the algorithm. Simulation experiments on a two-level quantum ensemble verify the effectiveness of the proposed algorithm.     

制备方法对煤焦油模型化合物裂解催化剂Ni/Al_2O_3结构及性能的影响

采用等体积浸渍法、浸渍沉淀法和机械化学法(市售载体和自制载体)制备了Cat-1、Cat-2、Cat-3和Cat-4四种催化剂,通过BET、H_2-TPR、XRD、XPS和NH_3-TPD等表征催化剂的结构特征,考察了各催化剂对煤焦油模型化合物甲苯和芘(3%,质量分数)裂解反应性能的影响。结果表明,四种催化剂均为介孔材料,且Cat-4的介孔有序度更高,比表面积最大,达235 m~2/g。Cat-4催化剂中,NiAl_2O_4尖晶石的还原峰面积最高,占总面积的85.2%,还原后Ni的分散度最大,粒径最小,约为10.0 nm,意味着活性位点多。实验表明,除Cat-1外,其他催化剂对芘的裂解活性基本相当,其中,Cat-4作用下的析碳量最低,为10.84%,经Cat-1、Cat-2和Cat-3裂解后,体系中的析碳量分别较Cat-4增加了35.0%、74.7%和45.7%。可见,机械化学法制备的催化剂不仅具有最高的比表面积利于活性组分分散,而且NiAl_2O_4尖晶石含量最高,可抑制裂解过程中积炭的生成,因而最适宜于甲苯+芘裂解体系。     

Scalable total synthesis of horsfiequinone A

Starting from two commercially available substrates, methoxyhydroquinone and piperonyl alcohol, a scalable four-step total synthesis of horsfiequinone A was developed. The notable feature of the synthesis is the application of two continuous sequential transformations. Namely, the key aldehyde 9 and horsfiequinone A were prepared via scalable Wittig/hydrolysis and Wittig/catalytic hydrogenation/oxidation sequences, respectively. Importantly, the synthetic route required only three recrystallizations and one column chromatography purification step.