Structure and Dynamic of Three Indole Alkaloids from the Campylospermum Genus (Ochnaceae)

A new indole alkaloid, calanthumindole ( 4 ), and three known biflavonoids, amentoflavone, sequoiaflavone, and podoscarpusflavone B, were isolated from Campylospermum calanthum (Ochnaceae). Calanthumindole is a new indole alkaloid of the serotobenine family characterized by the presence of a C?C bond between atoms C(7′) and C(8′) of the furan ring. This is the first compound to have a fully unsaturated furan ring among the members of this family. The combination of NMR and DFT allowed the determination and comparison of the 3D structures and relevant conformational characteristics of serotobenine ( 1 ), flavumindole ( 2 ), and calanthumindole ( 4 ).     

Multiscale physicochemical characterization of a short glass fiber–reinforced polyphenylene sulfide composite under aging and its thermo‐oxidative mechanism

In this paper, the thermo‐oxidation for a short glass fiber–reinforced polyphenylene sulfide (PPS/GF) composite was experimentally and theoretically studied by a wide range of physicochemical and mechanical techniques. The accelerated thermal aging temperatures were fixed at 100°C, 140°C, 160°C, 180°C, and 200°C. Firstly, the results of weight loss under aging indicate the formation of volatile products because of chain scission of end groups. Also, Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) results suggest that the formation and accumulation of carbonyl group arising from the formation of hydroperoxides in oxidative propagation process. In all cases of different thermal oxidation temperatures, it is hard to observe some significant change about the concentration of carbonyl group during the induction time. This induction time depends inversely on the oxidation temperature. Moreover, the cross‐linking and chain scissions exist together according to the results of rheological results and it is easier to see the cross‐linking phenomenon at the beginning of oxidation while the chain scissions are more pronounced, with the oxidation process developing further. In aspect of mechanical properties, σ_max increases at the beginning of oxidation because of cross‐linking, and subsequently, the σ_max always decreases because of thermo‐oxidation of the PPS matrix. In addition, the detailed thermo‐oxidation processes are fully discussed in the end of this study. A mechanistic schema has been proposed to present different oxidation reactions of PPS polymer and then a kinetic model has been extracted from this mechanism. Afterwards, the model has been verified by experimental results at different temperatures.     

Nanosecond laser damage resistance of differently prepared semi-finished parts of optical multimode fibers

Optical multimode fibers are applied in materials processing (e.g. automotive industry), defense, aviation technology, medicine and biotechnology. One challenging task concerning the production of multimode fibers is the enhancement of laser-induced damage thresholds. A higher damage threshold enables a higher transmitted average power at a given fiber diameter or the same power inside a thinner fiber to obtain smaller focus spots.In principle, different material parameters affect the damage threshold. Besides the quality of the preform bulk material itself, the drawing process during the production of the fiber and the preparation of the fiber end surfaces influence the resistance. Therefore, the change of the laser-induced damage threshold of preform materials was investigated in dependence on a varying thermal treatment and preparation procedure.Single and multi-pulse laser-induced damage thresholds of preforms (F300, Heraeus) were measured using a Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm wavelength emitting pulses with a duration of 15 ns, a pulse energy of 12 mJ and a repetition rate of 10 Hz. The temporal and spatial shape of the laser pulses were controlled accurately.Laser-induced damage thresholds in a range from 150 J cm⁻² to 350 J cm⁻² were determined depending on the number of pulses applied to the same spot, the thermal history and the polishing quality of the samples, respectively.     

A toolbox of HSQC experiments for small molecules at high 13C‐enrichment. Artifact‐free,fully 13C‐homodecoupled and JCC‐encoding pulse sequences

A set of modified HSQC experiments designed for the study of ¹³C‐enriched small molecules is introduced. It includes an improved sensitivity‐enhanced HSQC experiment eliminating signal artifacts because of high‐order ¹³C magnetization terms generated at high ¹³C enrichment. A broadband homonuclear ¹³C decoupling sequence based on Zangger and Sterk's method simplifies the complex ¹³C–¹³C multiplet structure in the F1 dimension of HSQC. When recording spectra at high resolution, the combination with a multiple‐site modulation of the selective pulse outperforms the constant‐time HSQC in terms of sensitivity and reliability. Finally, two pulse sequences reintroducing selected J_CC couplings with selective pulses facilitate their assignments and measurements either in the splitting of the resulting doublets or by modulation of the signal amplitude. A sample of uniformly 92% ¹³C‐enriched cholesterol is used as an example. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Solving the minimum toll revenue problem in real transportation networks

As a means to relieve traffic congestion, toll pricing has recently received significant attention by transportation planners. Inappropriate use of transportation networks is one of the major causes of network congestion. Toll pricing is a method of traffic management in which traffic flow is guided to proper time and path in order to reduce the total delay in the network. This article investigates a method for solving the minimum toll revenue problem in real and large-scale transportation networks. The objective of this problem is to find link tolls that simultaneously cause users to efficiently use the transportation network and to minimize the total toll revenues to be collected. Although this model is linear, excessive number of variables and constraints make it very difficult to solve for large-scale networks. In this paper, a path-generation algorithm is proposed for solving the model. Implementation of this algorithm for different networks indicates that this method can achieve the optimal solution after a few iterations and a proper CPU time.     

Study of the vibrational characteristics of the homonuclear diatomic nuclear schrödinger equation with a numerov method using a number of empirical potential functions

Many empirical potential energy functions have been modeled to represent the potential energy function of a diatomic molecule along whole range of internuclear distance coordinate, whereby one can determine certain molecular constants. Here we employ various potential functions such as Morse, Rydberg, Varshni(II), Varshni(III), Varshni(VI), Pöschl-Teller, Hulburt-Hirschfelder, Lippincott, Frost-Musulin, Linnet, and Rosen-Morse, and the Numerov method to solve the nuclear Schrödinger equation for F2, as an example of a homonuclear diatomic molecule. Herewith, the vibrational and vibration-rotation energy levels are obtained and excellent accuracy is achieved. The potential of employing the Numerov method in engineering physics computations is emphasized.     

Description of 160Dy nucleus by partial dynamical SU(3) symmetry

We considered the characteristic features of SU(3) partial dynamical symmetry in the interacting boson model framework to show the relevance of such intermediate symmetry structure in the nuclear spectroscopy of the ¹⁶⁰Dy nucleus. The predictions of SU(3)-PDS for the energy spectrum and the transition probabilities were compared with the most recent experimental data and an acceptable degree of agreement was achieved.     

Microfluidic channel with embedded SERS 2D platform for the aptamer detection of ochratoxin A

A selective aptameric sequence is adsorbed on a two-dimensional nanostructured metallic platform optimized for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) measurements. Using nanofabrication methods, a metallic nanostructure was prepared by electron-beam lithography onto a glass coverslip surface and embedded within a microfluidic channel made of polydimethylsiloxane, allowing one to monitor in situ SERS fingerprint spectra from the adsorbed molecules on the metallic nanostructures. The gold structure was designed so that its localized surface plasmon resonance matches the excitation wavelength used for the Raman measurement. This optofluidic device is then used to detect the presence of a toxin, namely ochratoxin-A (OTA), in a confined environment, using very small amounts of chemicals, and short data acquisition times, by taking advantage of the optical properties of a SERS platform to magnify the Raman signals of the aptameric monolayer system and avoiding chemical labeling of the aptamer or the OTA target.

Clean synthesis of 1,8-dioxooctahydroxanthenes promoted by DABCO-bromine in aqueous media

<正>An efficient procedure is reported for the synthesis of 3,3,6,6-tetramethyl-9-aryl-1,8-dioxooctahydroxanthenes using a one-pot condensation of arylaldehydes and 5,5-dimethyl-1,3-cyclohexandione in the presence of DABCO-bromine(TDB) as an acid catalyst.To the best of our knowledge this is the first time that DABCO-bromine is used as an acid catalyst in aqueous media for this type of reaction.This method provides several advantages such as use of water as solvent,easy and clean synthesis,simple work up and versatility.