Song of the dunes as a self-synchronized instrument

Since Marco Polo it has been known that some sand dunes have the peculiar ability to emit a loud sound with a well-defined frequency, sometimes for several minutes. The origin of this sustained sound has remained mysterious, partly because of its rarity in nature. It has been recognized that the sound is not due to the air flow around the dunes but to the motion of an avalanche, and not to an acoustic excitation of the grains but to their relative motion. By comparing singing dunes around the world and two controlled experiments, in the laboratory and the field, we prove that the frequency of the sound is the frequency of the relative motion of the sand grains. Sound is produced because moving grains synchronize their motions. The laboratory experiment shows that the dune is not needed for sound emission. A velocity threshold for sound emission is found in both experiments, and an interpretation is proposed.     

基于惩罚与补贴的再制造闭环供应链网络均衡模型

为研究我国废旧电子产品(WEEE)立法的问题,分析了供应商、制造商、零售商、需求市场及回收商的行为,分别建立了变分不等式模型,并在此基础上建立了五级再制造闭环供应链网络均衡模型。模型考虑了政府对于制造商的惩罚政策与对于回收商的补贴政策。通过修正投影算法求解算例,仿真分析了旧材料转化率、回收率、惩罚及补贴政策对闭环供应链网络均衡结果的影响。结果表明,随着政府对于回收商的补贴的增加,不但回收商的回收量提高,闭环供应链的新材料需求量、旧材料需求量、销售量均增加;相反,随着政府对于制造商未完成的回收量的罚款增加,回收量、新材料需求量、旧材料需求量、销售量均降低;追求高回收率的政策并不总是有效的;而提高WEEE的旧材料转化率对于闭环供应链有利。     

Regio‐ and Enantio‐selective Chemo‐enzymatic C−H‐Lactonization of Decanoic Acid to (S)‐δ‐Decalactone

The conversion of saturated fatty acids to high value chiral hydroxy‐acids and lactones poses a number of synthetic challenges: the activation of unreactive C?H bonds and the need for regio‐ and stereoselectivity. Here the first example of a wild‐type cytochrome P450 monooxygenase (CYP116B46 from Tepidiphilus thermophilus) capable of enantio‐ and regioselective C5 hydroxylation of decanoic acid 1 to (S)‐5‐hydroxydecanoic acid 2 is reported. Subsequent lactonization yields (S)‐δ‐decalactone 3 , a high value fragrance compound, with greater than 90 % ee. Docking studies provide a rationale for the high regio‐ and enantioselectivity of the reaction.     

Synthesis and liquid crystalline behavior of bulky poly(methacrylamide)s

N‐(Bis(4‐(2‐ethylhexyloxy)phenyl)(phenyl)‐methyl)methacrylamide was synthesized and polymerized via reversible addition‐fragmentation chain‐transfer (RAFT) polymerization. The chain‐transfer agent (4‐cyano‐4‐(phenylcarbonothioylthio) pentanoic acid (CPADB)), combined with a chiral additive, and a radical initiator yielded polymers with dispersities between 1.2 and 1.4. At low concentrations, the polymers are soluble in hexanes and chloroform while at higher concentrations they swell in these solvents. Characterization of the polymers by wide‐angle X‐ray scattering (WAXS) revealed an interplanar distance of 19.0 Å. The WAXS data combined with polarized optical microscopy support a lamellar crystallization and lyotropic liquid crystalline behavior in hexanes and chloroform. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2015 , 53, 2563–2568     

Estimating rate constants in a convection-diffusion system with a boundary reaction

While performing biomolecular interaction analysis (BIA), scientistsoften use surface plasmon resonance (SPR) to measure rate constantsof the associated reactions. A mathematical model of a BIAcore^TM,a common SPR device, consists of a convection-diffusion equationin a channel with a reacting surface at the channel ceiling.Asymptotic and singular perturbation techniques are used toanalyse the concentration of the reacting species in two cases:when the reaction occurs much more slowly than diffusion, andwhen the reaction occurs on the same time-scale as diffusion.Linear and nonlinear integral equations result from the analysis;explicit and asymptotic solutions are constructed for physicallyrealizable cases. These expressions provide a direct way toestimate the rate constants from raw data.