The Role of Radical Bridges in Polynuclear Single-Molecule Magnets

Employing radical bridges between anisotropic metal ions has been a viable route to achieve high-performance single-molecule magnets (SMMs). While the bridges have been mainly considered for their ability to promote exchange interactions, the crystal-field effect arising from them has not been taken into account explicitly. This lack of consideration may distort the understanding and limit the development of the entire family. To shed light on this aspect, herein we report a theoretical investigation of a series of N -radical-bridged diterbium complexes. It is found that while promoting strong exchange coupling between the terbium ions, the N -radical induces a crystal field that interferes destructively with that of the outer ligands, and thus reduces the overall SMM behavior. Based on the theoretical results, we conclude that the SMM behavior in this series could be further maximized if the crystal field of the outer ligands is designed to be collinear with that of the radical bridge. This conclusion can be generalized to all exchange-coupled SMMs.     

突出矿井瓦斯抽放限制影响因素的AHP-熵权法评价模型

为提高煤与瓦斯突出矿井瓦斯抽放效果,建立了3个一级指标、14个二级指标的突出矿井瓦斯抽放限制影响因素评价指标体系,利用AHP和熵权法分别确定指标因子主、客观权重.通过实地调研分析和反馈验证了AHP-熵权法的可行性和正确性,利用加权平均法确定评价模型的综合权重.研究表明:封孔方式、钻孔半径、抽放时间、煤体裂隙发育程度和抽放负压是目前影响煤矿瓦斯抽放效果的主控因素.     

Flow-induced shear stress and deformation of a core–shell-structured microcapsule in a microchannel

A numerical model was developed and validated to investigate the fluid–structure interactions between fully developed pipe flow and core–shell-structured microcapsule in a microchannel. Different flow rates and microcapsule shell thicknesses were considered. A sixth-order rotational symmetric distribution of von Mises stress over the microcapsule shell can be observed on the microcapsule with a thinner shell configuration, especially at higher flow rate conditions. It is also observed that when being carried along in a fully developed pipe flow, the microcapsule with a thinner shell tends to accumulate stress at a higher rate compared to that with a thicker shell. In general, for the same microcapsule configuration, higher flow velocity would induce a higher stress level over the microcapsule shell. The deformation gradient was used to capture the microcapsule's deformation in the present study. The effect of Young's modulus on the microcapsule shell on the microcapsule deformation was investigated as well. Our findings will shed light on the understanding of the stability of core–shell-structured microcapsule when subjected to flow-induced shear stress in a microfluidic system, enabling a more exquisite control over the breakup dynamics of drug-loaded microcapsule for biomedical applications.     

A branch-and-bound method for the minimum k−enclosing ball problem

The minimum k-enclosing ball problem seeks the ball with smallest radius that contains at least k of m given points. This problem is NP-hard. We present a branch-and-bound algorithm on the tree of the subsets of k points to solve this problem. Our method is able to solve the problem exactly in a short amount of time for small and medium sized datasets.     

A sensitive and efficient method for trace analysis of some phenolic compounds using simultaneous derivatization and air‐assisted liquid–liquid microextraction from human urine and plasma samples followed by gas chromatography–nitrogen phosphorous detection

In present study, a simultaneous derivatization and air‐assisted liquid–liquid microextraction method combined with gas chromatography–nitrogen phosphorous detection has been developed for the determination of some phenolic compounds in biological samples. The analytes are derivatized and extracted simultaneously by a fast reaction with 1‐flouro‐2,4‐dinitrobenzene under mild conditions. Under optimal conditions low limits of detection in the range of 0.05–0.34 ng mL^?1 are achievable. The obtained extraction recoveries are between 84 and 97% and the relative standard deviations are less than 7.2% for intraday (n = 6) and interday (n = 4) precisions. The proposed method was demonstrated to be a simple and efficient method for the analysis of phenols in biological samples. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Functional Binding Surface of a β‐Hairpin VEGF Receptor Targeting Peptide Determined by NMR Spectroscopy in Living Cells

In this study, the functional interaction of HPLW peptide with VEGFR2 (Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Receptor 2) was determined by using fast ¹⁵N‐edited NMR spectroscopic experiments. To this aim, ¹⁵N uniformly labelled HPLW has been added to Porcine Aortic Endothelial Cells. The acquisition of isotope‐edited NMR spectroscopic experiments, including ¹⁵N relaxation measurements, allowed a precise characterization of the in‐cell HPLW epitope recognized by VEGFR2.     

Evolution of weak noise and regular waves on dissipative shock fronts described by the Burgers model

The interaction of weak noise and regular signals with a shock wave having a finite width is studied in the framework of the Burgers equation model. The temporal realization of the random process located behind the front approaches it at supersonic speed. In the process of moving to the front, the intensity of noise decreases and the correlation time increases. In the central region of the shock front, noise reveals non-trivial behaviour. For large acoustic Reynolds numbers the average intensity can increase and reach a maximum value at a definite distance. The behaviour of statistical characteristics is studied using linearized Burgers equation with variable coefficients reducible to an autonomous equation. This model allows one to take into account not only the finite width of the front, but the attenuation and diverse character of initial profiles and spectra as well. Analytical solutions of this equation are derived. Interaction of regular signals of complex shape with the front is studied by numerical methods. Some illustrative examples of ongoing processes are given. Among possible applications, the controlling the spectra of signals, in particular, noise suppression by irradiating it with shocks or sawtooth waves can be mentioned.