Charge density effects in salt‐free polyelectrolyte solution rheology

Solution rheology of 2‐vinyl pyridine and N‐methyl‐2‐vinyl pyridinium chloride random copolymers in ethylene glycol was studied over wide ranges of concentration and effective charge. The fraction of quaternized monomers α and the fraction of monomers bearing an effective charge f of these copolymers were measured using counterion titration and dielectric spectroscopy, respectively. Ethylene glycol is a good solvent for neutral poly(2‐vinyl pyridine), with very few ionic impurities. The viscosity η and relaxation time τ of dilute and semidilute unentangled solutions exhibit the scaling with concentration and effective charge expected by the Dobrynin model. Reduced viscosity data are independent of concentration in dilute solution, giving an intrinsic viscosity that depends on effective charge, and the experimental data obey the Fuoss law in the semidilute unentangled regime. Scaling concentration with the overlap concentration (c/c*) reduces these data to common curves, and c* ～ f ^?12/7 as predicted by the Dobrynin model, where f is the fraction of monomers bearing an effective charge. While the overlap concentration depends strongly on effective charge until counterion condensation occurs, the entanglement concentration c_e is surprisingly insensitive to effective charge, indicating that entanglement effects are not understood using the Dobrynin model. The terminal modulus G = η/τ depends only on the number density of chains G = ckT/N for c* < c < c_e, and G ～ c^3/2 for c > c_e independent of the effective charge. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part B: Polym Phys 44: 2001–2013, 2006     

Alkylation d'anions ambidents en catalyse par transfert de phase. Cas des hydroxypyridines

Alkylation of ambident-anions derived from 2- and 4-pyridones yield by phase transfer catalysis, 80% of N-substitution and 20% of O-substitution. Change of salts, solvents, temperature and alkyl halide do not interfere very much with the N- and O-alkylation percentage of substitution. Overall yields range from 40 to 80% with primary or secondary alkyl halides.     

Full-wave analysis of waveguide-to-microstrip transitions for millimeter wave applications

A full-wave solution is presented for the waveguide to microstrip transition. The exact Green's function of the transition is used in a moment method procedure. The behavior of the microstrip transition to a rectangular waveguide is studied with respect to the critical dimensions of the microstrip width, length and backshort location. The convergence characteristics of the full wave analysis method are investigated, along with the current distribution and the input impedance. Results given for the return loss is compared with measurements.     

Cloning,Expression, Purification,and Characterization of β-Galactosidase from Bifidobacterium longum and Bifidobacterium pseudocatenulatum

Expression and purification of β-galactosidases derived from Bifidobacterium provide a new resource for efficient lactose hydrolysis and lactose intolerance alleviation. Here, we cloned and expressed two β-galactosidases derived from Bifidobacterium. The optimal pH for BLGLB1 was 5.5, and the optimal temperature was 45 °C, at which the enzyme activity of BLGLB1 was higher than that of commercial enzyme E (300 ± 3.6 U/mg) under its optimal conditions, reaching 2200 ± 15 U/mg. The optimal pH and temperature for BPGLB1 were 6.0 and 45 °C, respectively, and the enzyme activity (0.58 ± 0.03 U/mg) under optimum conditions was significantly lower than that of BLGLB1. The structures of the two β-galactosidase were similar, with all known key sites conserved. When o-nitrophenyl-β-D-galactoside (oNPG) was used as an enzyme reaction substrate, the maximum reaction velocity (V_max) for BLGLB1 and BPGLB1 was 3700 ± 100 U/mg and 1.1 ± 0.1 U/mg, respectively. The kinetic constant (K_m) of BLGLB1 and BPGLB1 was 1.9 ± 0.1 and 1.3 ± 0.3 mmol/L, respectively. The respective catalytic constant (k_cat) of BLGLB1 and BPGLB1 was 1700 ± 40 s⁻¹ and 0.5 ± 0.02 s⁻¹, respectively; the respective k_cat/K_m value of BLGLB1 and BPGLB1 was 870 L/(mmol∙s) and 0.36 L/(mmol∙s), respectively. The K_m, k_cat and V_max values of BLGLB1 were superior to those of earlier reported β-galactosidase derived from Bifidobacterium. Overall, BLGLB1 has potential application in the food industry.     

Bioavailability Enhancement of Cepharanthine via Pulmonary Administration in Rats and Its Therapeutic Potential for Pulmonary Fibrosis Associated with COVID-19 Infection

Cepharanthine (CEP) has excellent anti-SARS-CoV-2 properties, indicating its favorable potential for COVID-19 treatment. However, its application is challenged by its poor dissolubility and oral bioavailability. The present study aimed to improve the bioavailability of CEP by optimizing its solubility and through a pulmonary delivery method, which improved its bioavailability by five times when compared to that through the oral delivery method (68.07% vs. 13.15%). An ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method for quantification of CEP in rat plasma was developed and validated to support the bioavailability and pharmacokinetic studies. In addition, pulmonary fibrosis was recognized as a sequela of COVID-19 infection, warranting further evaluation of the therapeutic potential of CEP on a rat lung fibrosis model. The antifibrotic effect was assessed by analysis of lung index and histopathological examination, detection of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, interleukin-6 (IL-6), α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), and hydroxyproline level in serum or lung tissues. Our data demonstrated that CEP could significantly alleviate bleomycin (BLM)-induced collagen accumulation and inflammation, thereby exerting protective effects against pulmonary fibrosis. Our results provide evidence supporting the hypothesis that pulmonary delivery CEP may be a promising therapy for pulmonary fibrosis associated with COVID-19 infection.     

Mössbauer study of a novel series of ternary rare-earth iron-rich intermetallics: ND(Fe1-xTi x )6+y(x ∼ 0.1 and 0≤y≤5)

A study of the Nd-Fe-Ti phases at the Fe-rich end of the phase diagram has been carried out using⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDAX). In particular,⁵⁷Fe Mössbauer spectroscopy has been used to characterize the phases present in these samples. In addition to the two well-known 217 and 112 phases, twonovel phases have been identified, with compositions denoted by3–29 and9–94, which are closely linked to the orthorhombic ScFe₆Ga₆-type and the hexagonal TbCu₇-type structures, respectively. The possible crystal structures of these new phases will be discussed in terms of the dumbbell substitution sequence in the CaCu₅ structure.     

EFFECT OF CRYSTALLIZATION TEMPERATURE ON MCM-41 SYNTHESIS

在Ｎａ２ＯＳｉＯ２ＣＴＡＢＨ２Ｏ四元水热体系中系统地考察了晶化温度对中孔ＭＣＭ４１分子筛合成及其骨架结构的影响。实验结果表明，提高晶化温度虽然能明显加快晶化速率，缩短晶化时间，但同时样品的结晶度和中孔骨架结构的有序度却被迅速破坏。这些特点与传统沸石的合成过程完全不同，其原因主要是合成ＭＣＭ４ｌ时所用的模板剂及其在合成中所起的模板作用与传统沸石完全不同。相对低的晶化温度（如１００℃）有利于高质量和高热稳定性的中孔ＭＣＭ４ｌ分子筛的合成。     

KERNEL ESTIMATION OF HIGHER DERIVATIVES OF DENSITY AND HAZARD RATE FUNCTION FOR TRUNCATED AND CENSORED DEPENDENT DATA

Based on left truncated and right censored dependent data, the estimators of higher derivatives of density function and hazard rate function are given by kernel smoothing method. When observed data exhibit α-mixing dependence, local properties including strong consistency and law of iterated logarithm are presented. Moreover, when the mode estimator is defined as the random variable that maximizes the kernel density estimator, the asymptotic normality of the mode estimator is established.     

关于不完全双二次非协调板元的误差估计

本文在[1,2]的基础上,对不完全双二次板元作了进一步的讨论,不仅得到了最优的L~2—误差估计,改进了[1]的相应结果,而且利用“辅助元技巧”并结合正则Green函数法,得到了拟最优的L~∞—误差估计.     

脉冲磁场处理对碳纳米管掺杂MgB2线材临界电流密度的影响

对碳纳米管(CNT)掺杂MgB₂超导体磁场处理后的行为进行了研究. 结果表明，CNT掺杂MgB₂超导体经5T脉冲磁场处理后临界电流密度J_c(H)在低磁场下提高了2—3倍，高场下提高一个数量级以上，扫描电镜结果显示CNT沿着处理磁场方向规则排列并且成为MgB₂基体的形核中心和高效的磁通钉扎中心. 关键词： 2')" href="#">MgB₂ 碳纳米管 脉冲磁场处理