Self-assembly mechanism of PEG-b-PCL and PEG-b-PBO-b-PCL amphiphilic copolymer micelles in aqueous solution from coarse grain modeling

We followed the self-assembly of high-molecular weight MePEG- b -PCL (poly(methyl ethylene glycol)-block-poly(ε-caprolactone)) diblock and MePEG- b -PBO- b -PCL (poly(methyl ethylene glycol)-block-poly(1,2-butylene oxide)-block-poly(ε-caprolactone)) into micelles using molecular dynamics simulation with a coarse grain (CG) force field based on quantum mechanics (CGq FF). The triblock polymer included a short poly(1,2-butylene oxide) (PBO) at the hydrophilic-hydrophobic interface of these systems. Keeping the hydrophilic length fixed (MePEG₄₅), we considered 250 chains in which the hydrophobic length changed from PCL₄₄ or PBO₆- b -PCL₄₃ to PCL₆₂ or PBO₉- b -PCL₆₁. The polymers were solvated in explicit water for 2 μs of simulations at 310.15 K. We found that the longer diblock system undergoes a morphological transition from an intermediate rod-like micelle to a prolate-sphere, while the micelle formed from the longer triblock system is a stable rod-like micelle. The two shorter diblock and triblock systems show similar self-assembly processes, both resulting in slightly prolate-spheres. The dynamics of the self-assembly is quantified in terms of chain radius of gyration, shape anisotropy, and hydration of the micelle cores. The final micelle structures are analyzed in terms of the local density components. We conclude that the CG model accurately describes the molecular mechanisms of self-assembly and the equilibrium micellar structures of hydrophilic and hydrophobic chains, including the quantity of solvent trapped inside the micellar core.     

基于Rietveld精修方法解析Bi2O3的原子热振动

三氧化二铋(Bi₂O₃)是氧离子导电体,为了获得它的原子热振动各向同性温度因子,对该粉末晶体进行X射线衍射实验,建立了晶体结构模型,利用Rietveld 精修方法的RIETAN-2000 程序对所得实验结果进行了晶体结构精修,通过最大熵方法(MEM)解析得到了粉末晶体的等高电子密度分布三维(3D) 和二维(2D)可视化图谱。结果表明,各原子Bi₍₁₎、Bi₍₂₎、O₍₁₎、O₍₂₎和O₍₃₎的原子热振动各向同性温度因子分别为0.004 938 nm²、0.004 174 nm²、0.007 344 nm²、0.007 462 nm²、和0.007 857 nm²,等高电子密度分布的可视化,进一步验证了晶体结构模型和原子位置的准确性,这些参数对研究晶体材料的热性质具有一定参考意义。     

Investigation of 500 keV Si ion induced surface structuring of Ni and Ti for enhancement of field emission properties

The present paper reports the investigation of surface morphology, elemental composition, phase changes and field emission properties of Si ion irradiated nickel (Ni) and titanium (Ti). The Ni and Ti targets have been irradiated with 500 keV Si ions generated by Pelletron accelerator at various fluences ranging from 6.9 × 10¹³ to 77.1 × 10¹³ ions/cm². Stopping range of ions in matter analysis revealed higher values of electronic stopping and sputtering yield for Ni as compared with Ti. For both irradiated metals, electronic energy loss dominant over the nuclear stopping. The growth of induced surface structures have been analysed by using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) analysis. In case of Ni, as the ion fluence increases from 6.9 × 10¹³ to 65.8 × 10¹³ ions/cm², the formation of spherical particulates, agglomers and sputtering is observed. Although in the case of Ti, with the increase of Si ion fluence from 11.6 × 10¹³ to 77.1 × 10¹³ ions/cm², the formation of irregular-shaped particulates along with crater and sputtered channels is observed. X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis shows that no new phase is identified. However, a significant increase in peak intensity is observed with increasing ion fluence. The variation in crystallite size and dislocation line density is also observed as a function of Si ion fluence. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy analysis shows that no bands are formed after the Si ion irradiation. Field emission properties of ion-structured Ni and Ti are well correlated with the growth of surface structures observed by SEM and dislocation line density evaluated by XRD analysis.     

Pesticidal potential of some wild plant essential oils against grain pests Tribolium castaneum (Herbst, 1797) and Aspergillus flavus (Link, 1809)

The red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum, and the mold Aspergillus flavus are well known threats of stored grain commodities, causing nutritional loss and poisoning of stored products, respectively. T. castaneum has developed resistance against most insecticides, leading to the use of extensive amounts of synthetic insecticides to protect stored grains. Synthetic pesticides not only toxify the environment but also cause serious health issues in humans using pesticide treated grains. This study aimed to identify plant-based natural pesticides to control T. castaneum and A. flavus. Essential oils were extracted from fresh aerial parts of Chenopodium ambrosioides, Conyza sumatrensis, Erigeron canadensis, and Tagetes minuta through steam distillation and investigated for insecticidal and anti-fungal activities against adult T. castaneum and A. flavus, respectively. GC–MS analysis of C. sumatrensis revealed the presence of 37.7% cis-lachnophyllum ester, 13.4% germacrene D, and 21.6% limonene, whereas in E. canadensis the major compounds were limonene, germacrene D, and cis-lachnophyllum ester (43.4%, 12.9% and 5.9%, respectively). In bioassays with treated grain, C. sumatrensis and E. canadensis essential oils exhibited excellent toxicity against adult T. castaneum with LD₅₀ of 3.7 and 5.6 mg per 10 g grains whereas in a fumigation bioassay they showed LD₅₀ of 6.6 and 10.6 mg/L, respectively. The essential oils extracted from C. ambrosioides and E. canadensis exhibited good anti-fungal activity against A. flavus. Our findings suggest that essential oils of C. sumatrensis and E. canadensis can play an important role in protecting stored grains from T. castaneum and A. flavus contamination.     

粮食最低收购价政策问题研究

利用聚类分析、逐步回归分析确定小麦与稻谷种植面积模型和指标体系.建立综合指标评价模型和ARMA模型,可知:最低收购政策具有托市效应.结合时间趋势剔除法、蛛网模型,可知:小麦和稻谷价格波动呈现5、3年的周期性,分别满足发散型、收敛型蛛网形态.建立基于补偿法的最低收购价定价模型并用BP神经网络模型进行检验.基于反证法,推知调控最低收购价提高5%小麦种植面积的做法是不可行的.最后提出了调控粮食种植的建议·     

Ultrafine grain formation and coating mechanism arising from a blast coating process: A transmission electron microscopy analysis

This article examines the substrate/coating interface of a coating deposited onto mild steel and stainless steel substrates using an ambient temperature blast coating technique known as CoBlast. The process uses a coincident stream of an abrasive blast medium and coating medium particles to modify the substrate surface. The hypothesis for the high bond strength is that the abrasive medium roughens the surface while simultaneously disrupting the passivating oxide layer of the substrate, thereby exposing the reactive metal that then reacts with the coating medium. The aim of this study is to provide greater insight into the coating/substrate bonding mechanism by analysing the interface between a hydroxyapatite coating on both mild and stainless steel substrates. The coating adhesion was measured via a tensile test, and bond strengths of approximately 45 MPa were measured. The substrate/coating interface was examined using transmission electron microscopy and selected area diffraction. The analysis of the substrate/coating interface revealed the presence of ultrafine grains in both the coating and substrate at interface associated with deformation at the interface caused by particle impaction during deposition. The chemical reactivity resulting from the creation of these ultrafine grains is proposed to explain the high adhesive strength of CoBlast coatings.     

Spent Grain from Malt Whisky: Assessment of the Phenolic Compounds

In order to extract antioxidant phenolic compounds from spent grain (SG) two extraction methods were studied: the ultrasound-assisted method (US) and the Ultra-Turrax method (high stirring rate) (UT). Liquid to solid ratios, solvent concentration, time, and temperature/stirring rate were optimized. Spent grain extracts were analyzed for their total phenol content (TPC) (0.62 to 1.76 mg GAE/g SG DW for Ultra-Turrax pretreatment, and 0.57 to 2.11 mg GAE/g SG DW for ultrasound-assisted pretreatment), total flavonoid content (TFC) (0.6 to 1.67 mg QE/g SG DW for UT, and 0.5 to 1.63 mg QE/g SG DW for US), and antioxidant activity was measured using 2,2-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) free radical (25.88% to 79.58% for UT, and 27.49% to 78.30% for UT). TPC was greater at a high stirring rate and high exposure time up to a certain extent for the Ultra-Turrax method, and at a high temperature for the ultrasound-assisted method. P-coumaric acid (20.4 ± 1.72 mg/100 SG DW for UT, and 14.0 ± 1.14 mg/100 SG DW for US) accounted for the majority of the phenolic found compounds, followed by rosmarinic (6.5 ± 0.96 mg/100 SG DW for UT, and 4.0 ± 0.76 mg/100 SG DW for US), chlorogenic (5.4 ± 1.1 mg/100 SG DW for UT, and non-detectable for US), and vanillic acids (3.1 ± 0.8 mg/100 SG DW for UT, and 10.0 ± 1.03 mg/100 SG DW for US) were found in lower quantities. Protocatechuic (0.7 ± 0.05 mg/100 SG DW for UT, and non-detectable for US), 4-hydroxy benzoic (1.1 ± 0.06 mg/100 SG DW for UT, and non-detectable for US), and caffeic acids (0.7 ± 0.03 mg/100 SG DW for UT, and non-detectable for US) were present in very small amounts. Ultrasound-assisted and Ultra-Turrax pretreatments were demonstrated to be efficient methods to recover these value-added compounds.     

Eco friendly synthesis of fluorescent carbon dots for the sensitive detection of ferric ions and cell imaging

This study established a ferric ion (Fe³⁺) detection method as a result of the fluorescence quenching effect of Fe³⁺ on carbon dots (CDs). Specifically, we proposed, a green microwave synthesis route towards fluorescent CDs that requires only the brewer’s spent grain as starting materials. Transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared spectra and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy were performed to investigate the CDs characteristic: morphology, size distribution, functional groups, and composition, respectively. The experimental results, which were run under optimal experimental conditions, indicated that the fluorescence intensity and concentration of Fe³⁺ were within the desired linear range (0.3–7 μM). The detection limit of this assay towards Fe³⁺ was 95 nM. The proposed method showed significant selectivity with respect to interfering ions. We evaluated the potential application of this method with tap water, lake water and fetal bovine serum as real samples. Additionally, the CDs could be served as superior bioimaging probes in Hela cells as a result of their excellent optical stability and good biocompatibility. In a word, the present study provides a new idea for CDs derived from the waste of agricultural products for detecting food or environmental contaminants and cell imaging.     

Molecular dynamics studies on the local disordering of Σ3 and Σ11 grain boundaries in aluminium bicrystal

Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations using Morse interaction potential are performed in studies of [110] symmetrical tilt grain boundary (GB) structures with mis-orientation angles 50.5°(Σ11), 129.5°(Σ11), 70.5°(Σ3) and 109.5°(Σ3) at various tempratures. The GB structures are found to start local disordering at about 0.5T _m (T _m is the melting point of aluminium) for 50.5°(Σ11), 0.32T _m for 129.5° (Σ11) and 0.38T _m for 70.5°(Σ3), respectively. These results agree with conclusions deduced from the anelastic measurements. But, for twin-boundary structure 109.5°(Σ3), this disordering has not been found even when temperature increases up to 0.9T _m . The project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Laboratory for Non-linear Mechanics of Continuous Media, Institute of Mechanics, Academia Sinica.