An adaptive anisotropic perfectly matched layer method for 3-D time harmonic electromagnetic scattering problems

We develop an anisotropic perfectly matched layer (PML) method for solving the time harmonic electromagnetic scattering problems in which the PML coordinate stretching is performed only in one direction outside a cuboid domain. The PML parameters such as the thickness of the layer and the absorbing medium property are determined through sharp a posteriori error estimates. Combined with the adaptive finite element method, the proposed adaptive anisotropic PML method provides a complete numerical strategy to solve the scattering problem in the framework of FEM which produces automatically a coarse mesh size away from the fixed domain and thus makes the total computational costs insensitive to the choice of the thickness of the PML layer. Numerical experiments are included to illustrate the competitive behavior of the proposed adaptive method.     

Approach for the Direct Synthesis of β-Dichlorosubstituted Acetanilides Using Iodine Trichloride (ICl3) as the Oxidant and Catalyst

A reliable method for direct synthesis of β‐dichlorosubstituted acetanilides is reported. The key transformation involves the oxidative and catalytic cleavage of a carbon‐carbon bond in the presence of iodine trichloride (ICl₃). In this protocol ICl₃ is used not only as the catalyst but also as the oxidant which widely broadens the scope of its application in organic synthetic chemistry.     

Trends of Atmospheric CCl 3 F,CCl 2 F 2 and CCl 2 FCClF 2 in Shanghai (China)

Atmospheric concentrations of CCl 3 F (CFC-11), CCl 2 F 2 (CFC-12), and CCl 2 FCClF 2 (CFC-113) in troposphere in Shanghai, China (31°1N) have been routinely monitored by using gas chromatography with electron capture detector from November 1997 to December 2000. The observation shows that there is a slowly declining trend of the three compounds. On the other hand, a comparison has been drawn between the concentrations observed and the ones calculated by 2-box model on the basis of the global statistical data of CFCs production and emission. Our observation agrees with the calculations. It shows that production and emission of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in China are still at a low level and gradually decreasing.     

Ferroelectric liquid crystals with axially chiral 2,2′-spirobiindan-1,1′-dione cores

The axially chiral mesogens 5-alkoxy-5′-[(4-alkoxybenzoyl)oxy]-2,2′-spirobiindan-1,1′-dione (QL7-n) were synthesised as racemic mixtures and resolved as single enantiomers by preparative chiral phase HPLC. The shorter homologues (R)-QL7-8 and QL7-9 form enantiotropic N* and SmC* phases, whereas the longer homologues (R)-QL7-10 and QL7-12 form an enantiotropic SmC* phase only. Texture analysis showed that the helical pitch of the N* phase is below the wavelength range of visible light; a helical pitch of 187 nm was measured at T – T_NI = –5 K by selective reflection using enantiomerically enriched mixtures of (R)- and (S)-QL7-8 (0.35 ≤ ee ≤ 0.80). Spontaneous polarisations were measured as a function of temperature in the SmC* phase by the triangular wave method. P_S values at saturation range from 102 nC cm^–2 for (R)-QL7-8 to 120 nC cm^?2 for (R)-QL7-9, which are up to three times greater than the highest polarisation previously reported for an axially chiral SmC* mesogen. Optical tilt angles θ were measured as a function of temperature and showed a sharp rise consistent with first-order N*–SmC* or I–SmC* transitions, with values at saturation ranging from 42 to 44°.     

Ag/CNT‐catalyzed hydroamination of activated alkynes with aromatic amines

As a nanoparticle support material, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) provide a certain potential activation of catalysis in heterogeneous catalytic organic reactions. Herein, an efficient Ag/CNT‐catalyzed synthesis of enamines via hydroamination of activated alkynes with aromatic amines has been described. This catalyst still retains catalytic activity after being recycled and reused three times. In addition, it represents a green and environmentally friendly process for preparation of enamines. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Role of Tryptophan in the Active Site of Plant Esterase: Chemical Modification and Fluorometric Studies

Plant esterase extracted from wheat flour play key roles in the spectrophotometric detection of organophosphorus compounds (OPs) for food safety and human health. The purpose of the present study was to investigate the role of tryptophan residues in the activity and structure of plant esterase by chemical modification and fluorometric studies. Active site characterization of purified plant esterase showed the involvement of tryptophan in the catalytic activity. Only one was essential for the enzyme activity by the Tsou’s analysis. Substrate protection experiments further confirmed that the tryptophan residue was located at the substrate-binding site. Fluorescence quenching studies elucidated that the tryptophan residues were largely exposed to the solvent, and a smaller fraction of the surface tryptophan residues had electropositively charged amino acids around them. Experimental results obtained here are expected to promote the applications of plant esterase in OPs detection. Further confirmation of the existence of other critical residues and detailed explanation of their functions were also required for the elucidation of the mechanism involved in the detection of OPs.     

Reliability of flexible electrically conductive adhesives

Based on our previous work about electrically conductive adhesives (ECAs), a flexibilizer named 1,3‐propanediol bis (4‐aminobenzoate) was used to fabricate flexible ECAs (FECAs). ECAs, FECAs, and electronic devices connected by them were carried out the hot and humid aging test under constant humidity level of 85% relative humidity at 85 °C for 600 h. After aging, the bulk resistance change of ECAs was about 26%, that of FECAs was a little higher, about 29%. The contact resistance change of devices connected by ECAs and FECAs was very great, about 450% and 410%, respectively. The bonding area at connection interface between colloids and devices had delamination, even cracks. The delamination of ECAs was calculated about 60%, the average shear strength of ECAs was reduced about 45%, and those of FECAs were about 50% and 30%, respectively, so FECAs had a higher bonding stability in hot and humid environment. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Nonlinear optical metal-organic frameworks for ratiometric temperature sensing in physiological range

The precise and real-time sensing of the temperature within the physiological range is of great significance in biology and medicine. Here, a Zn-based metal-organic framework (MOF) named Zn-TCOMA is synthesized with good SHG performance due to its unique structure of the ligand and 3D frameworks. By encapsulating the two-photon fluorescent dye DMASE into the pores of Zn-TCOMA, the composite Zn-TCOMA?DMASE is obtained and simultaneously exhibits SHG response and two-photon fluorescence. Utilizing the intensity ratio between two-photon fluorescence of DMASE and SHG signal of Zn-TCOMA, Zn-TCOMA?DMASE exhibits ratiometric temperature sensing property at physiological temperature region of 20～60 °C with high sensitivity. This MOF thermometer also shows excellent repeatability, good biocompatibility, and high temperature resolution of 0.018 °C, opening a new avenue to develop diverse optical thermometric or thermographic applications in biotechnology or other areas.     

Optimal lower eigenvalue estimates for Hodge-Laplacian and applications

We consider the eigenvalue problem for Hodge-Laplacian on a Riemannian manifold M isometrically immersed into another Riemannian manifold $\overline{M}$. We first assume the pull back Weitzenböck operator of $\overline{M}$ bounded from below, and obtain an extrinsic lower bound for the first eigenvalue of Hodge-Laplacian. As applications, we obtain some rigidity results. Second, when the pull back Weitzenböck operator of $\overline{M}$ bounded from both sides, we give a lower bound of the first eigenvalue by the Ricci curvature of M and some extrinsic geometry. As a consequence, we prove a weak Ejiri type theorem, that is, if the Ricci curvature bounded from below pointwisely by a function of the norm square of the mean curvature vector, then M is a homology sphere. In the end, we give an example to show that all the eigenvalue estimates are optimal when $\overline{M}$ is the space form.