A direct‐forcing pressure‐based lattice Boltzmann method for solving fluid–particle interaction problems

A direct‐forcing immersed boundary‐lattice Boltzmann method (IB–LBM) is developed to simulate fluid–particle interaction problems. This method uses the pressure‐based LBM to solve the incompressible flow field and the immersed boundary method to handle the fluid–particle interactions. The pressure‐based LBM uses the pressure distribution functions instead of the density distribution functions as the independent dynamic variables. The main idea is to explicitly eliminate the compressible effect due to the density fluctuation. In the IB method, a direct‐forcing method is introduced to capture the particle motion. It directly computes an IB force density at each lattice grid from the differences between the pressure distribution functions obtained by the LBM and the equilibrium pressure distribution functions computed from the particle velocity. By applying this direct‐forcing method, the IB–LBM becomes a purely LBM version. Also, by applying the Gauss theorem, the formulas for computing the force and the torque acting on the particle from the flows are derived from the volume integrals over the particle volume instead of from the surface integrals over the particle surface. The order of accuracy of the IB–LBM is demonstrated on the errors of velocity field, wall stress, and gradients of velocity and pressure. As a demonstration of the efficiency and capabilities of the new method, sedimentation of a large number of spherical particles in an enclosure is simulated. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Bäcklund transformations and abundant exact explicit solutions of the Sharma-Tasso-Olver equation

By using an extension of the homogeneous balance method and Maple, the Bäcklund transformations for the Sharma-Tasso-Olver equation are derived. The connections between the Sharma-Tasso-Olver equation and some linear partial differential equations are found. With the aid of the transformations given here and the computer program Maple 12, abundant exact explicit special solutions to the Sharma-Tasso-Olver equation are constructed. In addition to all known solutions re-deriving in a systematic way, several entirely new and more general exact explicit solitary wave solutions can also be obtained. These solutions include (a) the algebraic solitary wave solution of rational function, (b) single-soliton solutions, (c) double-soliton solutions, (d) N-soliton solutions, (e) singular traveling solutions, (f) the periodic wave solutions of trigonometric function type, and (g) many non-traveling solutions. By using the Airy’s function and the Bäcklund transformations obtained here, the exact explicit solution of the initial value problem for the STO equation is presented. The variety of the structure of the solutions for the Sharma-Tasso-Olver equation is illustrated.     

LC–APCI–MS Quantitative Analysis of Curcumin in Rabbit Plasma

A simple and specific liquid chromatography–atmospheric pressure chemical ionization–mass spectrometry (LC–APCI–MS) method was developed and validated for quantitative analysis of curcumin in rabbit plasma. Chromatographic separation was carried out on Zorbax SB-C18 column, acetonitrile-methanol–water used as mobile phase with gradient elution. APCI source was applied and operated in negative ion mode, and selective ion monitoring mode used to quantify curcumin. The method showed excellent intra-assay and inter-assay precision (relative standard deviations and bias <15%) for quality control (QC) samples. This method was successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of curcumin after intravenous administration to rabbits.     

Synthesis,characterization, and properties of tunable thermosensitive amphiphilic dendrimer‐star copolymers with Y‐shaped arms

Novel and well‐defined amphiphilic dendrimer‐star copolymer poly(ε‐caprolactone)‐block‐(poly(2‐(2‐methoxyethoxy)ethylmethacrylate‐co‐oligo(ethylene glycol) methacrylate))₂ with Y‐shaped arms were synthesized by the combination of ring‐opening polymerization (ROP) and atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP). The investigation of thermal properties and the analysis of crystalline morphology indicate that the high‐branched structure of dendrimer‐star copolymers with Y‐shaped arms and the presence of amorphous P(MEO₂MA‐co‐OEGMA) segments together led to the complete destruction of crystallinity of the PCL segments in the dendrimer‐star copolymer. In addition, the hydrophilicity–hydrophobicity transition of the dendrimer‐star copolymer film can be achieved by altering the external temperatures. The amphiphilic copolymers can self‐assemble into spherical nanomicelles in water. Because the lower critical solution temperature of the copolymers can be adjusted by varying the ratio of MEO₂MA and OEGMA, the tunable thermosensitive properties can be observed by transmittance, dynamic laser light scattering, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The release rate of model drug chlorambucil from the micelles can be effectively controlled by changing the external temperatures, which indicates that these unique high‐branched amphiphilic copolymers have the potential applications in biomedical field. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

A facile pathway for the fast synthesis of colloidal crystal‐loaded hydrogels via frontal polymerization

In this work, a dually sensitive colloidal crystal (CC)‐loaded hydrogel has been synthesized via frontal polymerization (FP) in a facile and rapid way. First, a polystyrene CC film was fabricated by vertical deposition on the inner wall of a test tube. Then, a mixture of acrylic acid (AAc), 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), and glycerol along with the initiator and crosslinker was added to this test tube to carry out FP, resulting in the formation of CC‐loaded hydrogel. The influence of the mass ratios of HEMA/AAc on front velocity and temperatures were studied. The swelling behavior, the morphology, and the stimuli‐responsive behavior of the CC‐loaded hydrogels prepared via FP were thoroughly investigated on the basis of swelling measurement, scanning electron microscopy, and reflection spectra. Results show that the as‐prepared CC‐loaded hydrogels exhibit excellent dual sensitivity to both methanol concentrations and pH values with very short response time, which can be observed visually without the aid of instruments. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Anionic alternating copolymerization of epoxide and six‐membered lactone bearing naphthyl moiety

This article describes the anionic copolymerization of glycidyl phenyl ether (GPE) and 1,2‐dihydro‐3H‐naphtho[2,1‐b]pyran‐3‐one (DHNP), a six‐membered aromatic lactone bearing naphthyl moiety. The copolymerization proceeded in a 1:1 alternating manner, to afford the corresponding polyester. The ester linkage in the main chain was cleavable by reduction with lithium aluminum hydride to give the corresponding diol that inherited the structure of the alternating sequence. The copolymerization ability of DHNP permitted its addition as a comonomer to an imidazole‐initiated polymerization of bisphenol A diglycidyl ether. The resulting networked polymer, of which main chain was endowed with the DHNP‐derived rigid naphthalene moieties, showed a higher glass transition temperature than that obtained similarly with using 3,4‐dihydrocoumarin (DHCM) as a comonomer, an analogous aromatic lactone bearing phenylene moiety instead of naphthalene moiety of DHNP. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem, 2011     

Modeling of the Temporally and Spatially Modulated Fourier Transform Imaging Spectrometer working in orbit

Temporally and Spatially Modulated Fourier Transform Imaging Spectrometer (TSMFTIS) is a new kind of imaging spectrometer and is applicable in remote sensing. Compared with Temporally Modulated Imaging Interferometer and Spatially Modulated Imaging Interferometer, it employs immovable parts and abandons slit. Based on the analysis of its physical theory, optical principle, data gathering and processing, the mathematical model of the TSMFTIS working in orbit is proposed in this paper. The model is comprised of different function blocks, such as fore-optics, interferometer and so on. For simulation, a big remote sensing image is utilized as ground scene, and a conversion which is similar to color mode conversion from RGB to Lab is made to produce artificial spectra of various ground objects. At last, a validation experiment is performed with real-world spectra of four pieces of colorful cloths by using a commercially available spectrometer.