Operation principle of self-phase compensated optical waveguide isolator

A theory is developed for the self-phase compensated optical waveguide isolator recently reported in the literature. The operation principle of such device is explained in terms of synchronization of phase and power conversion. The effect of balancing phase mismatches of the two convertors on achieving a proper percentage of mode conversion is revealed. The way to make use of the phase mismatches of different sections to accommodate the different requirements in phase relationship for the reciprocal and nonreciprocal mode convertors is discussed. The theory is extended to the case where phase compensator is used. It is demonstrated that the introduction of phase compensator separates the adjustment of phase from the adjustment of power for the mode convertors so that relaxes fabrication tolerances of such devices. An isolator consists of three phase mismatched waveguide sections is designed and simulated. The simulation results confirm the self-phase compensation theory.     

Magnetic properties and large cryogenic low-field magnetocaloric effect of HoCo<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanoparticles without core/shell structure

The HoCo₂ nanoparticles are found to be stable in air without any shell protection. The HoCo₂ nanoparticles display superparamagnetic properties between their blocking temperature of 40 K and Curie temperature of 78 K. The magnetic-entropy change increases with decreasing temperature at a certain magnetic-field change, which is ascribed to the competition between the Zeeman energy and thermal-agitation energy at low temperatures. A large magnetic-entropy change of 19.4 J kg⁻¹ K⁻¹ was found at 7.5 K in an applied-field change from 1 to 7 T, while 6.1 J kg⁻¹ K⁻¹ was achieved in a low field change of 1 T. HoCo₂ nanoparticles are useful for application of magnetic refrigeration at low temperatures.     

LC‐MS/MS determination of 1‐O‐acetylbritannilactone in rat plasma and its application to a preclinical pharmacokinetic study

A novel, rapid and sensitive LC‐MS/MS method for the determination of 1‐O‐Acetylbritannilactone (ABL), a sesquiterpene lactone abundant in Inula britannica, was developed and validated using heteroclitin D as internal standard. Separation was achieved on a reversed phase Hypersil Gold C₁₈ column (50 × 4.6 mm, i.d., 3.0 µm) using isocratic elution with methanol–5 mM ammonium acetate buffer aqueous solution (80:20, v/v) at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min. Calibration curve was linear (r > 0.99) in a concentration range of 1.60–800 ng/mL with the lower limit of quantification of 1.60 ng/mL. Intra‐ and inter‐day accuracy and precision were validated by relative error (RE) and relative standard deviation (RSD) values, respectively, which were both less than ±15%. The validated method has been successfully applied to a pharmacokinetic study of ABL in rats. The elimination half‐lives were 0.412 ± 0.068, 0.415 ± 0.092 and 0.453 ± 0.071 h after a single intravenous administration of 0.14, 0.42, and 1.26 mg/kg ABL, respectively. The area under the plasma concentration–time curve from time zero to the last quantifiable time point and from time zero to infinity and the plasma concentrations at 2 min were linearly related to the doses tested. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Fe2O3-catalyzed Pummerer rearrangement of acyl chlorides and sulfoxides: Facile synthesis of alkylthiomethyl ester

A simple, effective approach for the Pummerer rearrangement of acyl chlorides with sulfoxides by using a low-cost and more abundant Fe catalyst has been described. The alkylthiomethyl ester products were prepared in good to excellent yields for a range of different substrates including asymmetrical sulfoxides and acyl chlorides with a variety of functional groups under mild reaction conditions. The reaction features short reaction time, simple manipulation, cheap reagents and a broad substrate scope. Single crystal X-ray analysis of a representative methylthiomethyl (MTM) group containing product was also reported.